A bedside clock is one of those small purchases that quietly shapes how you start and end the day. Get it right and you stop reaching for your phone at 2am. Get it wrong and you spend the next three years listening to a tick you can't unhear.
This guide covers what actually matters when you're choosing an alarm clock in Australia: silent versus ticking movements, analogue versus digital, night lights, the size that suits a bedside table, and what to look for if the clock is for a child's room. Everything below draws on the alarm clocks we make at One Six Eight London, so you can see how the choices play out in real pieces.
Why people are buying alarm clocks again
The obvious question first: why buy an alarm clock when your phone has one? Two reasons come up again and again. The first is sleep — keeping the phone out of the bedroom removes the scroll before bed and the scroll at 3am. The second is that a bedside table looks better with a considered object on it than with a charging cable and a slab of glass. And a bedside clock sits at eye level every morning and every night, so it earns more looking-at than almost anything else you own.
Silent or ticking? Start here
This is the single biggest decision, and it is the one most people regret not thinking about.
A standard quartz movement steps the second hand once per second, and each step makes a small mechanical click. In a living room with the television on you'll never notice. Thirty centimetres from your ear at 1am, you will — and once you've heard it, you tend to keep hearing it.
A silent (or "sweep") movement moves the second hand in a continuous glide instead of a step, which removes the tick almost entirely. For a bedside clock, we'd suggest silent as the default rather than the upgrade. Most of the pieces in our alarm clocks collection use a silent movement for exactly this reason.
What "silent" doesn't mean
Silent refers to the movement, not the alarm. The alarm still sounds — that's the job. And a silent movement doesn't mean an absolutely soundless room; it means no rhythmic ticking. If you share a bed with a light sleeper, this distinction matters more than any other spec on the page.
Analogue or digital?
Both are good choices for different reasons, and it's less about function than about how you want to read the time when you're half asleep.
Analogue
An analogue face gives you the time as a shape rather than a number, which many people find easier to process in the dark without fully waking up. It also reads as an object rather than a device. The MAISIE White Silent Alarm Clock is a good example of the type — a clean contemporary face with a silent quartz movement that keeps the room quiet.
If you want something with a bit more presence, Jasper in navy brings colour to a bedside table without shouting, and works well against pale timber or white bedding.
Digital
Digital wins on precision and on features. The RIELLY White Digital Rectangle Alarm Clock has a daylight/darkness sensor that activates the nightlight automatically and shuts it off when daylight returns, with manual touch control if you prefer a pitch-dark room. It also carries a backlight, 12/24-hour time, calendar and temperature display.
If you want the digital format at a scale you can read from across the room — useful in a home office or a large bedroom — the DYLAN Oversize Digital Clock works on a wall or a tabletop.
Do you need a night light?
A night light turns a clock from a timekeeper into something genuinely useful at 3am — you can check the time without switching on a lamp and waking yourself properly. It's also the feature parents ask for most often.
The NOAH Charcoal Grey Silent Alarm Clock combines both: a silent sweep movement so there's no ticking while you sleep, plus a night light for checking how much dream time is left. It has a clear numerical dial and slim champagne gold hands, and measures 11cm in diameter — small enough to sit on a narrow bedside table without crowding it.
Choosing a clock for a child's room
Children's bedside clocks have a different job: they need to be readable by someone still learning to tell the time.
Our LEARN The Time White Alarm Clock is built around that. It has an easy-read face with rainbow numbers, and — this is the part that does the teaching — differently coloured hour and minute hands so a child can tell which is which at a glance. Quarterly marks around the dial show whether it's "past" the hour or "to" the hour. It comes in soft mint, white or grey, in a twin bell format that looks like a clock is supposed to look.
A practical note for kids' rooms: a night light is close to essential, and a clock that survives being knocked off a bedside table is worth more than one that photographs well.
Size, placement and the small stuff
Size
For a bedside table, somewhere around 10–12cm across is the sweet spot — large enough to read from a pillow, small enough to leave room for a book and a glass of water. Anything much bigger belongs on a mantel or a shelf. If you're looking at something to anchor a wall instead, our wall clocks range covers that end of the scale.
Placement
Put the clock where you can read it without lifting your head, and ideally not in the direct path of a window — morning sun on a glass face makes it harder to read, not easier. If you're using a clock with a light sensor, don't tuck it behind a lamp or a stack of books; it needs to see the room to work properly.
Batteries and care
Most analogue alarm clocks run on a single AA battery, and a quality alkaline one is worth the extra dollar or two — cheap batteries leak, and a leak will finish a movement. Our clock care guide covers replacement and general upkeep.
What we back our clocks with
Every One Six Eight London clock movement carries a 5-year warranty, our alarm clocks are designed in London, and orders over $99 ship free across Australia. Full terms are on our warranty page. If you'd rather browse the whole timepiece range in one place, our clocks collection brings the alarm, wall and mantel pieces together.
Frequently asked questions
Are silent alarm clocks completely silent?
The movement is — there's no ticking, because the second hand sweeps rather than steps. The alarm itself still sounds when it goes off. "Silent" describes how the clock behaves while it's simply keeping time.
What size alarm clock is best for a bedside table?
Around 10–12cm in diameter suits most bedside tables. NOAH, for instance, measures 11cm across. Larger clocks are better suited to a mantel, a shelf or a wall.
Analogue or digital for a bedroom?
Analogue if you want an object you enjoy looking at and prefer reading time as a shape; digital if you want a backlight, temperature and calendar, or an automatic night light. Neither is more accurate in any way you'll notice day to day.
Which alarm clock is best for a child?
Look for a large, clearly numbered face, differently coloured hour and minute hands, and a night light. The LEARN The Time range was designed around exactly those requirements, with rainbow numbers and quarterly "past/to" markings to support learning.
How long do the batteries last?
Battery life varies with use — a night light and alarm draw more than a movement alone. Use a good-quality alkaline battery and replace it as soon as the clock starts running slow rather than waiting for it to stop, which reduces the risk of a leak inside the movement.
Do you deliver across Australia?
Yes, Australia-wide, with free delivery on orders over $99.
Where to start
One recommendation if you want it: choose a silent movement, pick the size that suits your bedside table rather than the one that looks best in a photo, and add a night light if you're a 3am clock-checker or buying for a child. From there it's a question of which one you want to look at every morning. Browse the full alarm clocks collection, or read our companion guide to the best bedside clocks for a better night's sleep.
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