"Ignite your life," says the retro alarm clock "FlowToo." No, thanks!
13/8/2026
Translation: machine translated
Pictures: Debora Pape
Cute pixel art and an irresistible retro look: The Divoom 'FlowToo' is love at first sight. But in the bedroom, the multifunctional device puts my patience to a tough test.
My work at Digitec Galaxus often costs me money when I report on a new product and like it so much that I buy it myself. This most recently happened with the "FlowToo" from Divoom. Divoom markets it as a 3-in-1 combination of an alarm clock, Bluetooth speaker, and white noise machine in a charming retro look.
For years, I have been using my smartphone to wake me up. An unusual alarm clock is exactly the kind of device that could finally banish my phone from the bedroom. I like personalizing devices, and the "FlowToo" with its display offers many possibilities for that. Furthermore, it can be taken on trips and also used as a portable Bluetooth speaker. Immediately after publishing my news, the "FlowToo" landed in my shopping cart.
But now that I have the device in my hands, I am disillusioned. It is difficult for me to reach a final verdict because the "FlowToo" covers so many aspects, and not all of them are bad. It is polarizing: on one hand, I immediately took it to my heart. On the other hand, it is not usable for me as an alarm clock. And the accompanying smartphone app is an absolute crime. But let's start from the beginning.
Design and build quality: 5 stars
When unboxing, I fall in love immediately. The cream-colored plastic housing with rounded corners looks really pretty and feels high-quality. Nothing creaks or wobbles, nothing sticks out anywhere, and the plastic feels pleasant, almost soft. On the side frame, covered by a rubberized seal, there is a card slot as well as the USB-C power port.
The 2.26-inch display renders 8-bit pixel images and animations beautifully. However, the IPS display is hardly suitable for hi-res images. The image quality reminds me of mobile phone displays just before the rise of smartphones.
But that doesn't bother me. After all, the charm of the device lies in the retro graphics. The menus and most of the pre-installed faces (backgrounds) look great. The faces show, among other things, the current time and vary greatly in their complexity. Some are animated, others also contain a frame that I can fill with self-created pixel graphics. For that, however, I need the app – more on that below.
Included are a USB-C cable, a braided carrying strap, two sheets of cute retro stickers, and a folded, colored manual. An empty gift bag with a golden cord is thrown in on top. Why? No idea.
Operation on the device: 3 stars
The folding manual explains the functions of the individual buttons on the device, but a functional description is missing. With the timer, for example, I am surprised that the "FlowToo" does not emit an alarm sound after the set time has elapsed, but simply switches off. I also find it a pity that I can only use preset times for timers, mostly in 15-minute increments.
With the eye-catching golden rotary knob on the top, I start and stop music playback and adjust the volume. The small red button on the front is a D-pad: I use it to navigate through the menus, and pressing it confirms a selection.
The individual items in the main menu are represented by pretty pixel-art icons. That is really cute. The submenus immediately remind me of old Super Nintendo games and evoke nostalgic feelings.
While some menu items are easy to understand, others leave me with question marks. This is likely due to the sloppy translation. The face selection menu, for example, is simply called "Select". As a test, I set the system language to English, which didn't bring any clarity either.
Speaking of translation: The motto of the "FlowToo", "Spark your life", appears in several faces. The German translation is "Entfache dein Leben". And that sounds so crummy that I get annoyed seeing the stupid sentence constantly in the faces. Unfortunately, the text cannot be personalized.
Unsuitable as an alarm clock: 2 stars
The "FlowToo" is primarily intended to be used as an alarm clock for me. That's why it's important to me that it at least meets my basic requirements for one. The existing alarm sounds in the device are sufficient for me. There are twelve sounds, most of them from nature, such as the sound of waves or birds chirping. That fits. Alternatively, I can use my own recordings as an alarm tone.
I have ten alarm memory slots available. For each, the tone and repetitions can be set. However, a practical convenience feature that I am used to from my smartphone is missing: I would like to be able to pause alarms for a set period. For example, during holidays: then I wouldn't have to remember to reactivate the alarm at the end of the period.
More importantly, the display is still too bright for me even at the lowest setting. In daylight, it is barely readable, but at night, it casts a disturbing glow. I prefer to sleep in absolute darkness.
Furthermore, the "FlowToo" is not intended for morning klutzes like me. If I press the D-pad, the alarm goes into snooze mode for nine minutes. To turn it off, I have to be awake enough to tilt the D-pad in any direction once before pressing it. As a late sleeper, I already have difficulty correctly identifying the two large snooze and stop buttons on my smartphone in the morning. That I would operate the delicate D-pad correctly is utopian.
And that brings me to another annoyance. As good as the "FlowToo" looks: its upright format is predestined for being accidentally knocked over. Once clumsily bumped, the thing flies off the nightstand. That happened to me on the very first evening, even though I was mentally alert. With the power cable wedged to the nightstand, falling can be avoided – but I have a problem with that too.
I want to power the alarm clock permanently. That works, but then the cover over the USB port is always open. That doesn't look nice. I have the impression that the device was designed for occasional charging and not for permanent power connection. In any case, the "FlowToo" will not have a career as an alarm clock for me.
Bluetooth speaker: 3 stars
I want to give the "FlowToo" another chance: as a portable Bluetooth speaker. The manufacturer promises "rich, room-filling sound from a 10W speaker with a 45mm full-range driver".
As far as audio quality is concerned, I don't have high expectations. I also lack the comparison with a Bluetooth speaker rated as "good". The first thing I notice is that the little "FlowToo" has quite a punch. In the living room, I don't turn the volume above 60 percent because otherwise the roommates (husband, cats) would complain. I wouldn't have expected that from the little thing.
At moderate volume, the "FlowToo" seems to me to be set to be rather bass-heavy. The music sounds a bit muffled and the highs don't come through that well. I would like to readjust that, but the device does not have an equalizer.
Music control via the physical buttons works flawlessly. Depending on the set display background, the current track can be seen. I like that.
White noise machine, Pomodoro timer, pixel art, and music composer: 3 stars
The other functions of the "FlowToo" are not relevant to me. I tried a few of them anyway just for the test.
White noise, such as quietly pattering rain or gentle rushing, can have a calming effect and help with falling asleep. I've never had trouble falling asleep, and my husband would divorce me if the soundscape of a train compartment suddenly prevailed in the bedroom. You read that right: The clattering of iron wheels on rails as well as the humming of turbines in an airplane cabin can also be found among the more than 90 white noise sounds according to Divoom. They are played for an adjustable time together with an animation on the display. In my test, neither the volume nor the screen brightness is dimmed during this.
After the sleep timer expires, the "FlowToo" switches off. Completely. I want to check the time at night? Then I have to press the power button and wait until the device has booted up, including the startup sound. Suboptimal. At least: If I have set an alarm, it works – and without a previous startup sound. Additionally, the item "Masking after sleep" can be activated, whatever that means. Then the sleep aid sound transitions into another white noise sound after the timer expires, the volume and timer of which can be set separately. After that, the "FlowToo" switches off anyway.
But it is nice that I can mix some of the sounds with each other, such as the crackling of a campfire and croaking frogs.
The Pomodoro timer is supposed to help with time management. In the device, I set the duration of focus times and interrupting breaks. With this, the "FlowToo" could also be suitable as a clock and helper for the desk. However, Pomodoro does not fit my way of working.
The app has more gimmicks in store. Pixel art is Divoom's core theme, and that's why it shouldn't be missing here either. In the app, I can design my own pixel art or have it generated by AI. Animations are also possible. If I draw on the canvas in the app, my lines are immediately displayed on the "FlowToo" screen. Nice! With a corresponding tool, I can also set points pixel-perfectly. I myself am absolutely untalented, but in the community area of the app, I can download the artworks of others.
A music composer is also on board the app. I can mix together various preset sounds, record my singing, and play around on virtual instruments – everything is played back directly on the "FlowToo". However, due to my lack of musical talent, surely no one wants to hear that.
The app of horror: 0 stars
The worst for last. I am already used to translation and navigation accidents from apps from distant countries, but Divoom tops everything. Fortunately, I don't need it for the main functions of the "FlowToo", but it still deserves a stinging rant.
For one thing, the structure and navigation within the app seem like a jumbled conglomerate of strange graphics and unusual UX elements. For example, the list of alarm tones simply shows pictures instead of text. The selected tone is marked with an orange rectangle. Another feature, the music composer, suddenly appears in pink-beige.
The stopwatch shows a huge picture of a pocket watch. If I tap on "Start", I don't even see the running time – it only appears on the "FlowToo" display. The whole app doesn't feel like it's from one piece. I am reminded of websites from the nineties, when there were no fixed navigation standards yet. That is simply too much retro charm.
In terms of translation, the app is a pure massacre. Menu items are not self-explanatory, sometimes not fully readable, sometimes in English despite the German language being set, and once there is an explanation only in a Scandinavian language. And what exactly does "SHAKE-SHAKE" mean? Here, too, I switched to English out of curiosity and see exactly the same misery.
In a nutshell
The "FlowToo" can do many things, but nothing properly
I find it difficult to give a final rating. Two stars would be appropriate because I can't use the "FlowToo" as I had hoped. In the end, I'm giving it three stars because of its retro charm: I like the device despite its drawbacks.
I had hoped to get a nice and solid alarm clock with the "FlowToo" that wouldn't bore me. I find the look and feel outstanding, and I really like the implementation with a display for customizable 8-bit content.
However, the housing format makes it too wobbly as an alarm clock, and when used continuously with the cable, the cover is always open. That would bother me even if I only wanted to use the "FlowToo" as a clock gadget. I can only imagine using it as a decorative object with a speaker function. Then I could also operate it only for a few hours and without a cable.
Another annoying aspect is the partially incomprehensible menu. Missing explanations make it difficult to understand some functions. The abysmal app doesn't fully factor into my rating because I don't need it for the main functions.
Pro
- looks pretty
- good workmanship
- physical buttons
- sweet retro charm, also on the software side
- many sleep sounds
- many gadgets for those who like that kind of thing
Contra
- unfavorable alarm clock format
- Connection cover open during continuous operation
- missing equalizer
- partially incomprehensible menu items
- switches off completely after the sleep timer
- the app is only good for deleting
Header image: Debora Pape
Feels just as comfortable in front of a gaming PC as she does in a hammock in the garden. Likes the Roman Empire, container ships and science fiction books. Focuses mostly on unearthing news stories about IT and smart products.
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