Home > Consumer Reviews > Honeywell RC182WS Atomic Clock with Indoor Thermometer

I was looking for a clock that would be simple to use, battery driven, and small enough to pick up easily. I like to reach over to the nightstand and grab the alarm clock to read the time - a habit from when I still wore glasses and needed to bring it up close to read the numbers.

This clock had a lot of features I thought would be perfect: automatic setting, battery operated, small, temperature reading, pleasant shape.

Sadly, it didn't fit my needs. It didn't synch up with the atomic clock at all the first day so I ended up setting it manually. The manual setting process was not intuitive or even easy to do with the directions.

The round shape, while more attractive than some, was just a little to large for me to easily grab off the nightstand. Which led to it getting knocked off the nightstand once. That was all it took to break the snooze/light button.

I did like having the thermometer reading and the fact that you could set two different alarms. But the light was a little weak, the snooze button a little small, and the operation non-intuitive. Also, the numbers weren't in focus unless you had a certain angle. I wish it had worked out better, but I had to replace it within a week.

This clock works great once it is synched to the Atomic clock. The instructions are a little vague, especially switching between 12Hr and 24Hr displays. The light on the clock is minimal at best.

Synching the clock was a pain. It only synches between midnight and 4AM. You have to manually set the time or else it will not find the signal during the day. The atomic signal is weak during the day and the clock will not look for it unless it is set to 12AM-4AM. The thermometer is very accurate but we do not use it.

This clock reset itself to the wrong time twice within one week, and it was by a matter of 10 hours or more, not just a few seconds. It is the fourth self-setting timepiece I have owned and the only one to do this. One would think the designers would have done a sanity check on time resets.

Aside from that, the user interface is somewhat confusing, which is odd for a brand name that is associated with good human factors in the industrial world.

For the price, this is a great product. Small enough to tuck away on your desk at work. Useful enough to want to have with you everywhere.

This a nice attractive clock thermometer, but it failed to pick up the atomic clock time both at work in the same spot as a co-worker's atomic clock, and at home next to our LaCross atomic clock thermometer. Returned this clock and will replace it with another manufacturer's model, probably a LaCrosse.