UPDATE Soundcore Wakey Wakey Review

#101

Hello there, I bought the Wakey for myself and for my mother about 2 years ago (Summer 2019), I am in love with it. Just a couple of days ago (October 2021), I bought a couple more; a Black for my office (work) and White for my sister.

I was really shocked to see the brightness to be extremely dim to the point you barely see text on highest setting. I took it home to compare it with the one I got in 2019, and you can see the the difference in Brightness. The White one was matching my old black one but the issue is with the new black.

wakey%20occt%2021
wakey occt 21.jpg1861×805 493 KB

note: Top is Old and Bottom is new. Both are set on MAX brightness (manually). I also noticed that the symbols/icons printed on the Wakey unit are more brighter in the new one vs old one.

I see your unit had extremely bright LED like a flash light (you cannot see the LED dots), in my case its extremely dim that if you look at it in a slight angle you cannot see any text at all and if you set lowest brightness you barely see any light.

I took it to the Authorized dealer, they did open two additional units (a white one and a black one), checked the brightness which matched the too dim one. I left the Wakey for their workshop to figure why its very dim, if they cannot figure it out I will sadly return and refund it.

I am not sure if a feedback here would be useful to: 1- Point out if there was any changes in the LED/Brightness setting or design or simply a flaw in LED choice. and; 2- to suggest to make it with a wider range of brightness with ability to set range or category as (bedroom/office) to auto adjust the brightness. Maybe in the future design.

Anyways, I’m waiting on workshop reply. I really hope they manage to fix this brightness issue.

2 Likes
#102

This is a true question for the support.

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#103

Very nice and honest review. Well done!

1 Like
#104

Hey @Ivoryian
Glad to hear your a fan of the Wakey.
Isn’t it odd that the original was far to bright even on lowest setting and now it appears the brightness is too low.
Please feedback what you hear from the dealer, it will be interesting to know if the units are faulty or whether Anker has addressed the brightness issue but gone too far!
As you say, what’s needed is a wider range of brightness.

2 Likes
#105

I’d check:

  • is this supported in the Soundcore app? This may have moved into a configurable setting.
  • if you find the Soundcore app supports the Wakey, then play with the options.
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#106

Agreed a wider range would be better not them forcing it to be dim. People complained it was to bright at night but if they make it really dim like this you won’t be able to see it during the day either

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#107

Hey @professor
@Ivoryian The Soundcore app gives manual control over the brightness when Auto is turned off.

#108

Yes @ktkundy
They just need a variable scale from its lowest to highest.
You can do that with a £5 LED torch so it’s achievable on a £100 alarm clock!

1 Like
#109

I tried everything in the app before visiting the authorized dealer. That includes installing the app on 2 different phones (hoping it might be a glitch). Also changing power adapter -since we have 3 other Wakeys in the house- (in case the new didnt’ deliver enough voltage/current) but Nope, the lights are dim in all scenarios. Also Soundcore App’s Wakey settings are very basic.

  1. LED off/on.
  2. Auto-brightness (or Manual Brightness of 5 levels).
  3. Nightmode (set period time when the LED should be off).

So, nope. it seems that there is an issue with not enough power delivered to the LEDs. This would make sense; more power delivered = the more brighter. in Mr. Paul’s case, the LED are receiving too much power hence the super bright LEDs.

1 Like
#110

If the the brightness doesn’t change the item seems really defective

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#111

I don’t think it’s defective, I remember early on people complained the led lights were too bright even when dimmed all the way down. So they revised it and made the lights dimmer as to satisfy those who requires a not so bright led panel

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#112

But if there is no change when adjusting the brightness per app? :roll_eyes:

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#113

[Dim LED update from Authorized Anker Dealer]

The support called me and told me they sent the photo of the comparison of the LED brightness betwen my Wakey & the one I bought recently. Workshop report mentioned nothing is wrong with the Wakey, and all new batch that arrived are of the same Dim Level.

They couldn’t tell apart the older Wakey batch in stock (which I criticized), but they mentioned that they opened several random units to get me the brighter displayed Wakey but with no avail. I settled with a refund with a heavy heart. I told them I will check again in a year probably when they order a new batch of units (hoping it will be updated). end.

Speaking my mind; Anker/Soundcore should really look this issue and invest more into the Wakey Project. Its one of a kind in the market, and one of the few devices I ever bought with zero-regret. The competitors are either a good clock or a good speaker. Oh well I tried.

2 Likes
#114

Thats a real shame @Ivoryian
So it appears our call to reduce the brightness was heard, but reduce is all they did as opposed to give a wider range of adjustment.
So it like “they” listened but didn’t quite understand :confounded:

#115

Further [Dim LED update from Authorized Anker Dealer]

Following my previous update, I was awaiting a call to confirm my refund. Waited 3 days with no call, so I called customer support and they instructed that to initiate a refund I need to visit the store where I dropped the Wakey to be checked (which again I criticized and asked not to). After explaining, the support told me he will check with the workshop. I got a call from him again, he confirmed that I don’t have to come in person to the store/workshop since the workshop confirmed with Anker that there is -in fact- a manufacturing defect in a number of Wakey units and the LED brightness shouldn’t be that dim as in the photo they took. Which I asked him to confirm what he said and he did. He mentioned that hopefully the error will be removed in a future batch. My refund is processed. The online store seems to have the Wakey on sale, I assumed it will be withdrawn till they check all the units they have, but that’s another story on their side. end.

TL;DR: At first Anker Authorized Dealer/Distributor told me that the Wakey’s Dim Light is normal to the whole batch. Later via customer support call they told me that Anker confirmed with the workshop that there is a defect in manufacturing Wakey units and the light should not be that dim.

[For New Buyers]
Make sure you try your Wakey’s brightness as soon as possible, and see if you’re satisfied with what you get. Remember that LEDs are long-life light sources which do not suddenly fail most time, but gradually lose their brightness and performance over time. If your Wakey is weak from day one, it won’t get brighter and you might lose all the visibility in time.

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#116

Great update @Ivoryian
Isnt it ironic that Anker can reduce the display brightness by accident but not when buyers go them ideas for improvement.
At least you have an answer and your money back.
Hopefully soon you will be able to buy another without the fault.
Thanks for the update.

#117

Interesting.
So all are in such a dark mode. :new_moon_with_face:
“Defective production series”

1 Like