Atomic American English Talking Watch Speaks Clear and Loud Time, Date and Alarm time Stretch Band is Best Gift for Senior,Visually impaired, or Blind People

I was looking for a birthday gift for my dad. He's getting old and his eyes aren't as strong as they used to be, so I thought a talking watch might be a nice gift. There are several models of talking atomic watches on Amazon that look similar and are priced similarly. I chose this one because it's priced a bit lower than the others (and I'm a frugal Irishman) and it looked fine in the pictures. The reviews are mixed which made me hesitate a bit, but I went ahead and ordered it because if I didn't like it Amazon has a great return policy.It arrived on Saturday and... ...get ready, when I write reviews I really get into details. I hope this will be helpful…The packaging is a plain white box - nothing fancy, but it protects the watch. The watch itself looked fine. You can see the picture I posted. Fresh out of the box, the time on the watch was about one hour (and a couple of minutes) off from my time zone - Pacific Daylight Time.The instruction manual tells how to set the watch for your local time. There is one sheet of paper that specifically tells you how to set the time, and another sheet with complete instructions of all of the functions of the watch. The manual is well written and easy to understand. I was half-expecting the manual to have botched English that you often see in products that are made overseas, but this manual was good.I followed the directions for setting the watch and it didn't adjust to my time zone. My first thought was that the watch wasn't adjusting for daylight savings time -- but the manual said that it would do that automatically. That brings me to a tip for setting the time.The watch gets its time signal from the US standard atomic clock in Ft. Collins, CO. It's the most accurate clock you'll find in the US - maybe in the world. (And I think that's why they call it an "atomic watch". The watch isn't atomic, but it gets its time signal from the US atomic clock.) The atomic clock center sends out a radio blast every 10 seconds with the exact time. The signal is supposed to be powerful enough to blanket all of the US (and parts of Canada and Mexico). However, if you live kind of far from Ft. Collins (I'm in San Diego) you might have to be clever about where you are when you sync the watch to the atomic clock.When I first tried to sync the watch, I was on the west side of my house - the side that is away from Ft. Collins. That turned out to be the problem. I brought the watch to a second-floor window on the east side of the house - facing Ft. Collins - and performed the steps for manually syncing the time (it's in the manual and easy to do). The watch synced perfectly.My tip is: If the watch doesn't sync the first time, figure out where Ft. Collins is relative to your home. Literally stretch out your arm and point your finger in the direction of Ft. Collins from your home. Then find a window (preferably on a 2nd floor) that is on that side of your house and do the manual time sync with the watch on the window sill and you'll be fine.Out of curiosity (because that's how I am) I looked up the US atomic clock on the internet and learned that the signal tends to be stronger at night and weaker during the day. So if you're really far from Ft. Collins (like the tip of Florida or northern Maine) you can try syncing at night.The instruction manual tells you that the atomic clock is in Ft. Collins, and the manual says that if the watch isn't syncing with the atomic clock to try setting it by a different window. I just had to take that a step further and realize that the window should be facing in the direction of Ft. Collins.Now the watch is working fine. If I press the button by the number 4, it announces the time. If I press the button by the number 2 it announces the date. The other buttons (by 8 and 10) are for setting the time, setting alarms, etc.One minor nitpick I have: When you're pressing the buttons to adjust the settings, a recorded voice announces what's going on. The voice comes out really quickly and if you're pressing the buttons quickly, you'll get recordings on top of recordings. If you press the buttons more slowly you can hear the complete recordings. Or you can just follow the directions and press the "10" button three times (to sync the time) and ignore the voice and you'll be OK.But that is so minor that I don't think it's worth deducting a star for. I'll be giving this watch to my dad as a birthday gift later this week. I'm happy with this purchase.The model I got has a stainless-steel case and a black leather wristband. The face is easy to read with big black numbers on a white background - good for older people. The hour and minute hands glow in the dark.I gave the watch 5 stars because it does everything as advertised, the quality is good and the price is good. I consider that good value. I would recommend it to others and would buy it again as a gift for anybody else who would appreciate it.

My dad loved this watch. Perfect for vision impaired.

This is the second watch of this type I've had. The first one, from Cirbic, failed after 3 years--a burned out coil the jeweler said. So, I purchased a 3 year warranty on this Hearkent watch. I am Vision Impaired and a talking watch is a huge help to me--I'd recommend it for anyone with vision problems. But this version is different in these respects:The Cirbic watch had a raised rim at the 7-8 o'clock position, which is the only way I could tell it the watch was right side up. This watch does not have this. And I preferred the speech on the Cirbic watch--a well spoken British gentelman. But it is waht it is and I'm happy to have this watch

My wife has lost about 90 % of her vision and depends on a talking watch very much. She has had 2 other brands but likes this one the best. It takes a little while to get it set up, but once set it works great. Just don't go swimming in it. Thats why I bought the 2nd one.

This product stopped working after 30 days - just after the return deadline.

This is the 3rd talking watch that I have purchased for my elderly, visually impaired Mother. She wore out the first one I got her. I always keep a backup for when she runs the battery down by frequently checking the time or when the clocks jump forward or backward due to seasonal changes.Changing the battery takes some patience and a very, very tiny Phillips head screwdriver. Fortunately, I have the right tools and patience to do this. You can't be in a rush to do it.The voices seem to change from vendor to vendor, so be aware of this. They are all soothing male voices, with no option to change them. I accidentally bought her one that had a British male voice, which amused her, but she did not like for the long term. Just be aware of this when buying any talking watch. Even though this vendor's watch uses an American male voice, it is different that the others I have bought her in the past.Overall, this watch is a good thing to have for anyone who is visually impaired. It is easy to use and loud enough to hear without being too loud. Recommended.

Works great

The price for the HearKent Atomic Talking Watch from Amazon was about $20 less than a similar watch on a website that markets to blind and visually impaired customers. I received the watch from Amazon promptly and all functions of the watch work. The quality of the speech is adequate, but it is significantly less clear than the last time I ordered a similar watch several years ago. The watch came with an expansion band attached and an extra leather band as an option. I think that the size of my wrist is normal. The expansion band is OK, but it is a little bit snug.