Why You Can Trust CNET SDI iHome iH8 review: SDI iHome iH8
If all you have is $100 to spend on an iPod speaker system, the iHome iH8 iPod clock radio is one of your better bets.
- Maggie Award for Best Regularly Featured Web Column/Consumer
Editors' Note: As of December 2007, this product has been replaced by the iHome iH9, which offers an updated design and some feature upgrades for roughly the same price.
SDI iHome iH8
The Good
The Bad
The Bottom Line
In 2006, SDI Technologies followed up on its original iHome iH5 iPod-compatible clock radio with the iH7BR, an enhanced version of the iH5 that carried a more expensive price tag ($150 list) and featured an expansion "bedside speaker" that provided better stereo separation for slightly improved sound. Now we have the iH8, which costs $50 less and is essentially an iH7BR minus the extra speaker and the USB slot for an iPod Shuffle.
When we described the iHome iH5 in our original review, we couldn't decide whether its look was truly modern or retrofuturistic in a 1960s Space Odyssey sort of way. The same holds true for the iH8, given that its design is virtually identical. The biggest cosmetic difference is that SDI has given the plastic on top of the unit a brushed-like finish instead of the shiny, reflective style found on the earlier models (the iH8 is available in black, white, and silver). We suspect that's because the shiny finish was a fingerprint magnet. Unfortunately, the brushed styling doesn't eliminate the fingerprint situation, but it arguably makes the unit look a little more upscale.
The product ships with the usual assortment of "sleeves" that make earlier dockable iPods fit snugly and securely in the cradle. When your iPod is in the dock and the iH8 is plugged in, your iPod will draw power from the clock radio and recharge. You choose songs, playlists, or podcasts with the iPod's scroll wheel as usual, but hear the audio through the iH8's speakers. Of course, you can't get today's news and weather on the iPod--yet--but you can toggle to the iHome's AM or FM bands with the touch of a button. We also appreciate the line-in connection on the back of the unit, which allows you to connect other audio devices, including iPod models that aren't dockable (instead of a built-in USB slot for the original iPod Shuffle, you get a little stand that props up the device and a cable that connects to the Shuffle's headphone jack). A line-out connection also is available for hooking up larger audio systems.
We found setting the dual alarms easy enough (you can choose to wake up to your iPod, the radio, or a buzzer), and the display is amply sized and easy to read. Nice touches include backlight buttons on the radio, the ability to dim the LCD display, and a well-placed snooze bar. Some buyers of the iH5 complained that the dimmer didn't really dim the LCD, but you can turn it completely off if you want. Others took issue with the viciously loud, nonadjustable volume of the iH5's alarm, which made folks literally jump out of bed. SDI has thankfully corrected that problem (to quote the company's Web site) with a "Gradual Wake and Gradual Sleep increase/decrease Alarm/Sleep volume," which offers the potential for a gentler beginning and end to your day. (This upgrade was also included in later versions of the iH5.) A pair of AA batteries keeps the alarm and radio presets intact during power outages.
This model has four preset (favorites) buttons, for a total of 12 stations: four for AM and eight for FM (because there are two FM bands, FM1 and FM2). To change stations manually, you have to turn one of the faux iPod scroll wheels on top of the unit--the other is for adjusting the volume--and make sure you don't go past the station you want. We have mixed feelings about the slippery dials, but it helps that the iH8 ships with a remote. Using that remote allows you to toggle through radio presets, autoscan for radio stations, skip forward and backward through your songs, adjust base and treble levels (yes, there's a EQ in this model), and hit the snooze/dimmer button remotely. Even with the remote, you'll still have to use the controls on your docked iPod to navigate through menus and playlists. As with all dock-based iPod accessories, using the scroll wheel when the device is docked is a bit awkward, but at least the remote gives you some rudimentary control if you want turn the iH8 into a mini home stereo system.
Without the expansion speaker connected, the iH8 sounds about the same as the iH5--which is to say, not bad for a $100 clock radio. However, that doesn't mean the iH8 is on a par with more expensive iPod clock radio systems such as the Tivoli Audio iYiYi and the JBL On Time, nor is it in the same league as higher-end iPod docks such as the Logitech AudioStation or even SDI's own mini separates system, the iHome iH52. We also should note that the iH8's main unit doesn't exactly look like an expensive piece of gear either, but the speaker grilles and attractive button design give it just enough of an edge that it wouldn't seem out of place in a Sharper Image catalog.
The system sounds best when you're sitting or lying just a few feet away from it, but it can fill a small room or office with sound. Not surprisingly, the iH8 shows its audio chops on light-listening favorites such as Mike Bublé's sentimental ballad "Home." However, as with most tiny speaker systems, the iH8 doesn't deliver much in the way of bass, so anything more demanding, such as rock or hip-hop, and the clock radio starts to sound less like a boom box and more like a clock radio. But as long as you don't crank the volume too high, tunes hold together well, and the sound compares favorably to other entry-level iPod speaker systems.
In the final analysis, SDI has made a couple of smart moves in updating its iPod clock radio. Turning the arguably superfluous extra speaker into an optional accessory and bringing the cost of the unit down to $100 makes the iH8 an easier sell than the iH7BR. In fact, in our earlier review of the iH7BR, we suggested that SDI would be much better off playing at this price point. Factor in a street price that's $10 to $20 off the list price, and the iH8 almost becomes a bargain.