I have it in black with red letters. It reflects the glass and looks elegant. I only got it to see the time when I wake up at night and I have no idea how it works as an alarm clock. It has 3 brightness settings. I have it on the lowest and it is still quite bright for me, as I'm used to sleeping in the dark. However, it has been very convenient for me. To constantly display the time, it needs to be plugged in. When it works on battery, the light turns off after a while to save energy, and if you want to see the time, you have to press a button.