Last Updated March 7, 2009   Product Rating   Dual docks with compatibility with all iPods and an iPhone Sleek design and large, very readable LCD Very functional remote control   Mediocre audio performance

With almost everyone possessing an Apple iPod or iPhone these days, it would be advantageous to integrate it into the traditional alarm clock. With the iLuv iMM173, it is a fully-featured alarm clock that actually has two iPod docks built right in. The wake-up alarms can utilize the iPod/iPhone's music library, FM radio, or a traditional buzzer. The large backlit blue LCD display is really visible from long distances and it will automatically charge your iPod while it's docked too.

All together, the glossy, black plastic body of the iLuv iMM173 measures 3.4 x 11.2 x 7.2-inches with a very sleek rounded body design. On the front face of the device, there's a very large 4.2-inch LCD that has nice and big blue-backlit numbers for easy readability from even across a large room. On the top of the iLuv is where all of the buttons and controls for it are located. The first large button is a snooze button and dimmer controller for the LCD. Along the left and right are two scrolling wheels for volume and tuning, respectively. Towards the back of the top are the two iPod docks, the left one is for iPod's only and the right supports either an iPod or iPhone. In the middle of all of that are the rest of the buttons for playback control and 8 radio presets.

The back of the device holds all of the input and outputs for the audio. There's an FM antenna, power input, 3.5-mm aux input, a headphone output, and a DST switch to quickly enable or disable daylight savings time. The remote control also has a magnetic attachment area to store it when not in use, which is pretty handy. There's a battery compartment that holds two AAA batteries under the device to supply backup power in case of power loss.

The remote that comes with the iLuv iMM173 is pretty standard and works nicely, although some of the sensitivity of the buttons is not as high as it should be. The remote controls virtually every function of the device, such as playback control, snooze, volume, input source (radio, aux input, or iPod/iPhone). There's a way to also access your radio presets and adjust a few audio settings such as the bass and treble.

The dual iPod/iPhone docking allows for the ability to simultaneously charge two different iPod/iPhones. From the remote, you can switch between each dock with one click and it will automatically pause the previous iPod accessed. When you have an alarm set, it will play the song that was last paused or if nothing was paused, the first song on the playlist. This also means that if one person removes their iPod before the alarm goes off, it will simply default to the other plugged in iPod. There is also the ability to set two different alarms for different times.

When using an iPhone, it may interfere with the sound system due to the nature of GSM phones and their ability to sometimes interfere with speakers. If it does, you can disable the phone radio by going into "Airport Mode" on your iPhone. However, you will probably be fine and any GSM buzzing that you get will be quick and infrequent. If a call comes into the iPhone while music is being play off of it, it will automatically pause the music playback and allow you to answer the call. One note on using the iPhone; when you first dock it you will get a message about it being plugged into a non-iPhone compatible accessory, but after the first docking, the message won't appear again.

The audio performance of the iLuv iMM173 is moderately good due to the lack of a lot of depth to the audio quality. The loudness of the audio is pretty good, but it just sounds empty sometimes. However, for the casual user and most people, it will suit you just fine, especially if you want the ability to use and charge up to two iPods at the same time with the compatibility to use an iPhone as well.