By Joanne Chen and Annie Chou
If you wake up confused and panicked at the sound of an alarm clock beeping in the dark, you may find mornings more pleasant with a sunrise alarm clock, also called a wake-up light.
We dove into the research on circadian rhythms, and we woke before dawn with 10 different sunrise alarm clocks and two non-clock lighting devices.
Our favorite, the Philips SmartSleep Wake-Up Light HF3520, emits soothing, red-tinted dawn-and-dusk simulations and gentle wake-up sounds.
Everything we recommend
Our pick
This sleek alarm has the most soothing simulated sunrise and sunset, which may help you feel less groggy. It has a good range of alarm sounds and other useful features, but programming the clock is awkward.
Upgrade pick
This Bluetooth-connected model has many of the same features as our main pick, but with some nice-to-have extras like a USB charging port, soothing sunrise lighting, and multiple alarms. It’s also easier to change the settings via the intuitive app.
What we looked for
- Bright light
A sunrise alarm clock should offer enough brightness to rouse you from slumber.
- User-friendliness
We sought out sunrise alarm clocks that were intuitive to use. No hard-to-access snooze buttons.
- Pleasant alarms
Mornings shouldn’t feel like a jolt but instead a gentle nudge. We favored options that offered pleasant wake-up sounds.
- Nice-to-haves
Sunrise alarm clocks with companion apps and charging ports make it convenient to set your wake-up routines.
Our pick
This sleek alarm has the most soothing simulated sunrise and sunset, which may help you feel less groggy. It has a good range of alarm sounds and other useful features, but programming the clock is awkward.
Many sunrise alarms use white light to wake you, which can be irritating in the early morning. The Philips SmartSleep Wake-Up Light HF3520 starts with a more soothing, red-tinted light that gradually grows into a bright white light. This approach feels more natural and may be more effective at helping you feel less groggy when you wake up.
The HF3520 has a good range of five alarm sounds, a backup alarm, a backup power source (so your alarm will still function in case of a power outage), and a decent radio. But it lacks an app, and manually programming the clock is awkward.
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SKIP ADVERTISEMENTUpgrade pick
This Bluetooth-connected model has many of the same features as our main pick, but with some nice-to-have extras like a USB charging port, soothing sunrise lighting, and multiple alarms. It’s also easier to change the settings via the intuitive app.
We’ve noticed stock issues with this product; we’re monitoring availability and will update this guide when it’s back in stock.
The Philips SmartSleep Connected Sleep and Wake-Up Light has many of the same features as our top pick, including a natural, red-tinted sunrise and sunset light.
But it offers more alarm sounds and a wider range of brightness levels and programmable sunrise nuances. It also has sensors that detect temperature and humidity, noise, and light levels (which post readings on its app), a built-in nightlight (just tap if you need it), and a USB port.
It’s the intuitive app that truly makes the upgrade worth it, allowing you to program your sunrise and sunset times and other features much more easily than navigating the buttons on the clock. We also like that you can set multiple alarms during the week and that the sunset component comes with the option of several “wind down” routines.
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SKIP ADVERTISEMENTThe research
- Why you should trust us
- Who this is for
- How we picked and tested
- Our pick: Philips Wake-Up Light HF3520
- Flaws but not dealbreakers
- Upgrade pick: Philips SmartSleep Connected Sleep and Wake-Up Light HF3670
- What about the Casper Glow Light?
- What about sunrise alarm apps or smart bulbs?
- Other good sunrise alarm clocks
- The competition
- Sources
Why you should trust us
Writer Joanne Chen wrote earlier versions of this guide, for which she interviewed two sleep researchers and three light scientists about the usefulness of light therapy and tested several sunrise alarm clock options over the course of a month.
In 2023, updates writer Annie Chou completed a new round of testing for this guide, comparing seven new sunrise alarm clocks against our current picks.
Who this is for
![A close-up of our three picks side-by-side](https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/sunrisealarmclocks-lowres-6102.jpg?auto=webp&quality=60&width=570)
If it’s hard for you to wake up in the morning, or if you find it harder as the days grow darker in the fall and winter, a sunrise alarm may help you feel less groggy. Biologically, people are wired to wake up as the sun rises, and wake-up-light alarm clocks are designed to simulate that effect, starting with a dim light that builds up to the brilliance of a bright spring day over the course of about 30 minutes. (However, if you have trouble getting out of bed, a dedicated wake-up alarm clock probably remains best.)
You might be wondering how a sunrise alarm works, considering that your eyes are closed when you sleep. It turns out that your eyes are not just for seeing but also for adjusting your biological clock (just as your ears aren’t only for hearing but also for helping you maintain your balance). Inside the retina are light-sensitive cells that detect light changes at dawn and dusk, sensing light even if your eyes are closed. Once detected at dawn, light of sufficient intensity helps to suppress your levels of melatonin. This may make you feel less tired.
You don’t really need a special clock to wake yourself up with light—any ol’ lamp with a timer will do. The simple introduction of bright light itself may be helpful to vanquish jet lag, but there’s something about the gradual reveal of light that makes these clocks more appealing to folks who aren’t morning people, who despise the jolt of a conventional alarm, or who need help rolling out of bed during darker fall and winter mornings. One small study that asked subjects to do math problems and go biking after waking up suggests that dawn simulation could be useful for reducing sleep inertia and getting your daytime on. Preliminary studies suggest that it can lower the risk of heart attacks (PDF).
Sunrise alarm clocks may be helpful for people with seasonal affective disorder or a clinically diagnosed case of delayed sleep-phase syndrome. But you can’t rely on these clocks alone as treatment. The typical treatment for SAD is bright-light therapy, which requires a medical-grade device that shines 20 to 50 times brighter light than what these alarms provide. A severe case of DSPS requires a regimen prescribed by a sleep doctor.
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SKIP ADVERTISEMENTHow we picked and tested
In our most recent round of testing, we tried seven new models against our current picks. Here is what we looked for:
Intense brightness: A sunrise alarm clock needs to be bright enough to wake you up from a deep slumber. We measured each sunrise alarm clock’s maximum brightness level with a light meter in a pitch black room.
An elegant appearance: You can’t help but notice the device on your nightstand, so it’s ideal to have something that can hold its own in a well-kept bedroom. We set out to find a dependable clock that most people would be happy to look at every morning and evening.
User-friendliness: It’s important for a sunrise alarm clock to have easy-to-use and accessible buttons (so you can easily hit that snooze button on days where light alone won’t get you up). We also preferred clocks with a companion app that allows you to set your alarms and customize sunrises and sunsets through your phone.
Pleasant alarm tones: These typically clocks have an audio alarm, which kicks in at the height of the light’s brightness. We favored alarm clocks with a variety of sounds to choose from, and listened to each (like chirping birds or crashing waves) to evaluate the selection and sound quality.
Backup power and alarms: We favored options with power back-up capabilities in the event your power blows. And for those occasions when you ambitiously set the alarm at 5 a.m. to get stuff done—only to deeply regret it when the alarm actually goes off—the ability to set a second alarm can prove useful.
We slept with each model at home for at least one night, using blackout curtains to ensure a pitch black environment, and took note of which sunrises genuinely helped us get out of bed. We also measured each sunrise alarm clock’s brightness levels in a pitch dark room with a light meter to determine which models were the brightest of the bunch.
Our pick: Philips Wake-Up Light HF3520
![A close-up of the Philips Wake-Up Light HF3520 illuminated and displaying the time](https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/sunrisealarmclocks-lowres-5997.jpg?auto=webp&quality=60&width=570)
Our pick
This sleek alarm has the most soothing simulated sunrise and sunset, which may help you feel less groggy. It has a good range of alarm sounds and other useful features, but programming the clock is awkward.
The Philips Wake-Up Light HF3520 offers the best features at the most reasonable price. It’s the least expensive alarm we’ve found that offers a realistic, red-tinted dawn and dusk simulation, which feels more natural and may work better than white light at helping you feel less groggy. It also offers thoughtful extras such as five alarm tones, a good radio, and a backup alarm; plus, it looks sleeker and feels sturdier than similarly priced and cheaper models.
The HF3520 and Philips’s two premium models, the SmartSleep HF3650 and HF3670 (our upgrade pick), are the only Philips alarms that offer a red-light component in their simulation, and science suggests that this approach may be more than a gimmick. A 2015 PLoS Biology study on mice suggests that the more natural the light, the more effective it is at shifting the internal circadian clock. Humans aren’t mice, of course, but the concept is rational, said Dan Oren, MD, associate adjunct professor of psychiatry at Yale University, in an interview.
![Red-infused sunrise lighting of two sunrise alarm clock models](https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/sunrisealarmclocks-lowres-6030.jpg?auto=webp&quality=60&width=570)
The HF3520 also features a red-toned sunset simulation, meant to help you wind down for bed. As with simulated dawn, more research is needed to prove the benefits of a faux sunset, but it’s reasonable to think that it may help you get on a better sleep cycle, said Oren. Any light at night can suppress melatonin, but dimmer, longer-wavelength lights (such as the red of the HF3520) suppress it less. So when you program a simulated sunset, you’re allowing your body to feel sleepy as it naturally should—in turn, you get to bed earlier, you get more sleep, and ultimately you get up more easily when the simulated dawn kicks in.
We like that the numbers on the clock dim when the room dims, just as with the SmartSleep. Darker rooms foster more restorative sleep. With the cheaper models, you have to adjust the brightness yourself. Our pick isn’t as bright as the SmartSleep, however—its maximum intensity is 300 lux as opposed to 315 lux (a measure of light intensity as picked up by your retina). But that isn’t a big deal. “We don’t have any data that this small difference would be noticeable,” explained Kathryn Roecklein, PhD, associate professor of psychology at the University of Pittsburgh, in an interview.
For those days when you’re really wiped out and you need the sound of an alarm to nudge you awake, the clock has five alarm tones you can choose from: yoga-ish music with chirping birds, chirping only, chirping with a cuckoo, gentle piano music, and ocean waves with seagulls. The Philips model that’s the next level down has only three choices (piano music, plain chirping, and chirping with the cuckoo). There’s also a radio, which sounds as good as on our upgrade pick, the Philips SmartSleep, and can serve as an alarm tone too. If these sounds don’t get you up, you can also set a backup alarm. To snooze an alarm, all you have to do is touch the clock anywhere—a convenience that’s unique to this model.
![The Philips HF3520 next to the Philips Somneo](https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/sunrisealarmclocks-lowres-6005.jpg?auto=webp&quality=60&width=570)
The glossy orb design is arguably as attractive as that of the more expensive Philips models, and it’s definitely an upgrade from the plasticky designs of the lower-end choices. What’s more, its shape (a sort of a sideways cone) and weight keep it from toppling over.
This clock is missing certain bells and whistles of our upgrade pick—a phone charger, an aux cable and port to play music from your phone over the alarm’s speaker, a midnight light, and extra sounds—but we think most people won’t miss them.
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SKIP ADVERTISEMENTFlaws but not dealbreakers
Programming and controlling the HF3250 is awkward and complicated. Changing the time and settings and programming alarms requires clicking menu/select and +/- buttons multiple times. Turning an alarm on or off, or changing the brightness of the light, requires fiddling with tiny buttons along the rim of the clock. All this can be difficult and frustrating, especially in the dark or if you have dexterity issues, and it’s easy to accidentally knock the clock over while trying to find the right button. If this will annoy you too, consider our upgrade pick, which can be controlled with an app.
As with all Philips models, the LED in the HF3520 can’t be replaced when it goes out, so you’ll have to replace the entire clock. However, as Philips’s product development team wrote to us, the clocks are “tested to last for seven years with regular use.” It comes with a two-year warranty.
Upgrade pick: Philips SmartSleep Connected Sleep and Wake-Up Light HF3670
![The Philips SmartSleep HF3670 sitting on a night stand.](https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/sunrisealarmclock-lowres-1344.jpg?auto=webp&quality=60&width=570)
Upgrade pick
This Bluetooth-connected model has many of the same features as our main pick, but with some nice-to-have extras like a USB charging port, soothing sunrise lighting, and multiple alarms. It’s also easier to change the settings via the intuitive app.
We’ve noticed stock issues with this product; we’re monitoring availability and will update this guide when it’s back in stock.
Overall, our wake-up experience with the Bluetooth-connected Philips SmartSleep HF3670 felt no different from the one we had with our main pick. But if you like the convenience of programming your alarms via an intuitive app, setting multiple alarms during the week (including a very loud, very bright get-up-or-else one), customizing your sunrise themes, and using the clock as a calming tool for falling asleep, you may find the Philips SmartSleep HF3670 to be worth the extra cost. It also offers some other special features, like temperature, humidity and light sensors, and the ability to log your sleep and wake up times in the app, but these are simply nice-to-haves.
The SmartSleep’s SleepMapper app makes navigating the clock’s functions intuitive. With it, you can program wake-up alarms for every day of the week (as opposed to just two in the HF3520) and designate wind-down times, along with corresponding brightness levels, alarm sounds, radio stations, and the volume. You can also do all this directly with the buttons on the clock, but that’s a lot of settings and a lot of buttons, which can get frustrating.
The SleepMapper app will ask you to create an account to use it, but it’s not required. The privacy policy says the app does collect data about how you use the SmartSleep clock (for example, your alarm settings and tones) and other data (like sensor readings and Wi-Fi data). Philips states that the app will ask for your consent before this data is collected, and that the information may be used for sleep-related research. You should review the app’s privacy policy for more information.
Besides three extra alarm sounds (think wind chimes and yoga music), higher maximum brightness (315 instead of just 310 lux), and the added amber nuances in the light, you can choose from four sun “themes,” such as a pink “Caribbean” sunrise versus the frostier “Nordic” one. The so-called Power WakeUp alarm commands attention. For the mornings you absolutely must be up by a certain time (like for a 4 a.m. flight), you can program it to go off after your regular alarm. When your tough-love moment arrives, the device flashes urgently like hazard lights and emits a sound like a car that won’t start—right next to your bed.
If you need help decompressing at night, the Philips HF 3670’s upgraded wind-down feature provides a benefit that our main pick’s sunset doesn’t. As the light dims gradually according to your set time interval, over the course of, say, 15 or 30 minutes, you can choose from seven “wind-down” programs to go with it, complete with breathing exercises and relaxation sounds. Of course, you might not be into this sort of thing, or you could simply pair the sunset feature on our main pick with a white-noise machine, sleep-tracking app, or meditation app. But we appreciate the virtue of a streamlined sleep tool.
![The Philips SmartSleep HF3670 with its dimmed display.](https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/sunrisealarmclock-fullres-1320-scaled.jpg?auto=webp&quality=75&width=1024)
The Philips HF3670 has sensors in the back to detect your room’s temperature as well as its humidity, light, and noise levels. (Don’t worry: It doesn’t actually listen in; it just reads decibel changes.) You can check the app to find out whether you need to make any changes appropriate for sleep.
The HF 3670 also has a USB charging port, an on-demand nightlight, the ability to record your wake and sleep times in the app, an easier-to-maneuver donut shape, and an arguably more stylish look. You also can record your bedtime and wake time by tapping a button in the app. We considered these features to be “nice-to-haves” but not on their own worthy of the higher price.
![The sensor for the Philips HF3670.](https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/sunrisealarmclock-fullres-1324-scaled.jpg?auto=webp&quality=75&width=1024)
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SKIP ADVERTISEMENTWhat about the Casper Glow Light?
Casper’s Glow Light is a 3-by-5-inch cylindrical lighting device that the popular mattress brand touts as “a magical light for better sleep.” We found the Glow Light fun and intuitive to use, but we don’t think it has enough useful features to justify its $130 price tag.
You can program the Glow Light to brighten and dim gradually to ease you into your morning or evening, but unlike our sunrise alarm clock picks, it does not have a dedicated clock or audio alarm (bad news for heavy sleepers). Our tester enjoyed its portability and its gentle ambient lighting, which can be adjusted with a simple twist. But if you’re aiming to use the Glow Light as a way to wake up in the morning and don’t care about having a clock or audio alarm, a smart bulb could work just as well and is more cost effective.
What about sunrise alarm apps or smart bulbs?
We’ve tested a handful of sunrise alarm apps, and found they tended to have mixed reviews and emit meager light compared with a dedicated sunrise alarm clock. As John Hanifin, PhD, assistant professor of neurology at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, explained in an interview, it’s preferable to have a “bedroom-filling” light to wake up—and that’s hard for these apps to do.
To achieve that “bedroom-filling” light for less than a sunrise alarm clock would cost, you could try a smart bulb or network of smart bulbs, such as from Philips Hue. This approach works best if you’re confident about getting up without the help of a just-in-case audio alarm (though you can use a regular alarm clock or your phone as backup, of course). You can use a smart bulb with a regular lamp and control it with an app or smart speaker such as an Amazon Echo or Google Nest.
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SKIP ADVERTISEMENTOther good sunrise alarm clocks
![Three Hatch Restore 2 sunrise alarm clocks in different colors.](https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/media/2023/01/best-of-ces-2023-2048px-6713.jpg?auto=webp&width=1024)
If you are looking for a chic sunrise alarm clock with curated light colors and soundscapes, the Hatch Restore 2 might be a good option. The second iteration of Hatch’s sunrise alarm clock, the Restore 2 offers far more than sunrises and sunsets: users can set up morning and bedtime routines with color variations (like turquoise and lilac instead of just pre-set yellows and oranges) and pick from various soundscapes or music, like “Pacific Northwest Riverside” or “Midnight Jazz Piano.” However, the Restore 2’s sunrise simulation wasn’t nearly as bright compared to our picks (it failed to wake our testers up). You’ll need a $50 premium membership to access their full catalog of curated soundscapes. With its stylish, earth-toned linen exterior, we think the $200 device is a nice addition to your nightstand, but not worthwhile as a sunrise alarm clock.
The competition
In our most recent round of testing in 2023, we evaluated three models from Lumie: the Bodyclock Rise 100, the Glow 150, and the Bodyclock Shine 300. Though we liked the futuristic, flat-base design of these clocks, none of them were as bright as our picks in our light measuring tests. We also disliked that each model’s control buttons are inconveniently located on the face of the device, requiring you to stabilize the machine with both hands before pressing any button (no small feat in the middle of the night). The Bodyclock Shine 300, the most expensive model, costs nearly $50 more than our top pick, despite delivering far less brightness.
Dekala Sunstone: We liked this alarm clock’s unobtrusive design, but we found its sunrise simulation to be too dim. In our tests with a light meter, the Sunstone offered roughly just one-third of our top pick’s brightness levels.
Philips SmartSleep Sleep and Wake-Up Light HF3650: This model is essentially our current upgrade pick, the HF3670, but without Bluetooth connectivity (and thus the ability to control the clock’s settings from an app.) It has one less wake-up sound and relaxation sound than the HF3670 and just one sunrise to choose from (as opposed to four). Because the HF3650 typically costs the same as the HF 3670, our upgrade pick, we think you’re better off going with the HF3670.
Philips Wake-Up Light HF3500: Instead of multiple alarm tones, this cheaper Philips model offers just a “gentle” beep, which, in fact, sounds about as soothing as being in a hospital. We first tested this model in 2018, and retested it in late 2023. Both times we found it felt flimsy and didn’t offer enough customization, so we ultimately decided that it’s not worth the $60 price tag.
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SKIP ADVERTISEMENTThis article was edited by Christina Colizza and Courtney Schley.
Sources
Mark Aloia, PhD, global lead, behavior change with Philips Respironics and psychologist in the sleep department at National Jewish Health in Denver, phone interview, September 11, 2018
John Hanifin, PhD, assistant professor of neurology at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, phone interview, September 21, 2018
Dan Oren, MD, associate professor of psychiatry (adjunct) at Yale University and board member at the Center for Environmental Therapeutics, phone and email interview, September 24, 2018
Kathryn Roecklein, PhD, associate professor of psychology at University of Pittsburgh, phone interview, September 20, 2018
Orie Shafer, PhD, professor of molecular, cellular, and developmental biology at University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, phone interview, September 17, 2018
Meet your guides
Joanne Chen is the senior editor on the home-decor team. Before covering sofas, lamps, candles, and other pretty things, she was the senior staff writer on the sleep team. She has also been an editor at Vogue, Martha Stewart Living, and Consumer Reports. In her free time, she enjoys organizing her closets and binge-watching HGTV, often both at the same time.
![](https://cdn.thewirecutter.com/wp-content/media/2023/11/annie-chou.jpg?auto=webp&quality=60&crop=1:1&width=150)
Annie Chou
Associate Staff Writer
Annie Chou is an associate staff writer for Wirecutter’s sleep and appliance team. She got her master’s in anthropology from the University of Chicago and worked for years in the restaurant service industry. In her spare time, she hangs out with (and obsesses over) her chocolate lab mix, Mochi Q.
Further reading
I’ve Slept Through Fire Alarms and Bumpy Car Rides. This Calming Sunrise Alarm Clock Always Wakes Me Up.
by Phillip Zminda
The Philips SmartSleep Wake-Up Light HF3520’s gradual rays of red-tinted light and tranquil sounds have woken me up for nearly three years.
The Best Alarm Clocks
by Gregory Han
We found the best alarm clocks for all kinds of spaces, from analog and digital ones to smart alarms that gradually wake you up.
Wirecutter Picks to Revamp Your Bedroom on the Cheap(ish)
by Gabriella DePinho
Redoing your room doesn’t have to blow your budget. Here’s a handful of less-pricey picks for mattresses, pillows, and everything in between (ahem, sheets).
4 Smart(ish) Things to Help You Wake Up Easier
by Rachel Cericola
No one really enjoys waking up, but using smart-home devices can certainly help you rise, shine, and streamline your morning routine.
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