TCL Pulse – Small, But Powerful Enough to Wake a Sleeping Teenager!

If you have teenagers, you’ve probably struggled with getting them out of bed in the morning. With my older son, it’s like an arms race of alarms vs. his ability to sleep through them! So when I had the chance to check out the TCL Pulse, I was skeptical – ok, downright dubious – that it would actually work.

TCL Pulse - Small, But Powerful Enough to Wake a Sleeping Teenager!

Description

Here are some of the features:

  • Bluetooth 4.0
  • Each iOS device can monitor 5 TCL Pulse vibration alarms
  • Program up to 10 alarms for any day of the week
  • LED indicator shows status with colors and patterns
  • Adjustable vibration/sound levels with snooze
  • Countdown timer
  • Wake up by vibration, sound or both

For more information head to the product page

TCL Pulse - Small, But Powerful Enough to Wake a Sleeping Teenager!

Overall Impressions

An smartphone alarm ‘clock’ that is nothing but a remote box that buzzes and beeps has pretty much a ‘Fail/review’ standard for me – if it doesn’t meet a minimum standard of ease of use and functionality it isn’t worth consideration. Fortunately the TCL Pulse not only passes, it has become a ‘go to alarm’ for my older son who is a deep sleeping high school senior!

There are three main things that I like about the TCL Pulse:

  • Simple design: The TCL Pulse is a small box that provides pulsed patterns and vibrations as alarms and simple Bluetooth control via iPhone app.
  • Portable and Light: My son made this work for him by putting it inside his pillowcase under his pillow. Try THAT with a normal alarm clock!
  • Made to Be USED: The big thing for me was watching how the TCL Pulse held up over time – across a couple of trips and weeks of school. It is easy to use, adjust and adapt, and the battery seems to last forever.

The thing is – that tells you pretty much everything. The TCL Pulse is simple, small, and effective at doing just what you want it to do.

It is not a radio, CD player, sound system – it isn’t even a clock! It is an alarm that you set using an app, and comes with plenty of power to make changes to the patterns you hear or feel, and whether you want both sound and vibration or just one of them.

The iPhone app allows you to pair devices – and name each of them if you have multiple, set up to 10 different alarm times including tone pattern and volume, vibration pattern and volume, and whether to use sound or vibration or both. The alarm lets you set options by day, which is obvious for a phone but not so much for a standalone alarm.

TCL Pulse - Small, But Powerful Enough to Wake a Sleeping Teenager!

You can also use the TCL Pulse as a timer, and it is possible for more than one user to set alarms on it!

Another great thing for me is how long it works on a single set of batteries – we’ve had it for a couple of months and only recharged the batteries once. Nothing worse than having an alarm fail due to short battery life. The TCL Pulse is quite portable and comes with a travel pouch that will keep it safe.

The one comment I have to share is that when we first played around with the TCL Pulse in my kitchen, the level of sound and volume was … not impressive. I assumed it wouldn’t work well.

But it DID work, and worked well. The reality is that the sound and vibration level needed to wake someone up from under their pillow is much lower than you might think. The upside of this is that your alarm isn’t going to wake up the rest of the house with blaring beeps and music. Overall I was very impressed with the TCL Pulse and definitely recommend it!

TCL Pulse - Small, But Powerful Enough to Wake a Sleeping Teenager!

MSRP: $39.95 at Amazon.com (Current price is $37.45). The iPhone control app is free (Android app coming soon)

What I Like: Great design; solid build quality; easy to use iPhone app; effective at waking even a sleeping teenager!

What Needs Improvement: Nothing.

Source: Manufacturer provided review sample

Check out the video of the TCL Pulse called ‘teenager’:

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About the Author

Michael Anderson
I have loved technology for as long as I can remember - and have been a computer gamer since the PDP-10! Mobile Technology has played a major role in my life - I have used an electronic companion since the HP95LX more than 20 years ago, and have been a 'Laptop First' person since my Compaq LTE Lite 3/20 and Powerbook 170 back in 1991! As an avid gamer and gadget-junkie I was constantly asked for my opinions on new technology, which led to writing small blurbs ... and eventually becoming a reviewer many years ago. My family is my biggest priority in life, and they alternate between loving and tolerating my gaming and gadget hobbies ... but ultimately benefits from the addition of technology to our lives!