While doctors recommend getting a solid eight hours of sleep per night, studies show that nearly a third of all Americans get less than six hours. Many stress-inducing, scary, disheartening things have happened in the year 2020, which has made it even harder to get a good night’s sleep. Plus, if the clock strikes 7:30 and you’re suddenly startled awake by your smartphone — you’re already starting the day on a cortisol-heavy note. Why not wake up naturally, gently and feeling refreshed with a sunrise alarm clock? Turns out it might be a much better alternative.
Unlike your smartphone, which forcefully drags you from your dreams with those awfully jarring jingles, these sunrise models help nudge you awake more gracefully, mirroring natural sunlight and helping you get enough sleep without feeling groggy or grumpy. They’re designed to help you create a working circadian rhythm, which in turn can help you fall asleep—and wake up—easier.
So what are you waiting for? Ditch your digital alarm and check out our favorite sunrise models below.
1. Philips SmartSleep Wake-Up Light
This is Philips’ best selling sunrise alarm clock with over 8,500 reviews on Amazon and a 4.5-star rating. It’s clinically proven to help you wake up feeling rested and refreshed after falling asleep easier. It has a dimming sunset feature and soothing sounds for bedtime as well, and the sunrise simulation cycles between different colors to wake you up gradually. It also has a new PowerBackUp+ feature that maintains the internal clock for up to eight hours in case of a power outage, so you won’t oversleep even if your house loses power.
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2. hOmeLabs Sunrise Alarm Clock
BEST OVERALL
Wake up to the sweet and sultry rays of light with this easygoing alarm clock. This alarm features eight different light options for added versatility. By using LED lights to wake you up gently over a 30-minute period, you’ll feel more refreshed and less sluggish.
3. LittleHippo Ready to Rise Children’s Trainer, Alarm Clock
BEST FOR YOUNG KIDS
Great for kids who need a little helping hand waking up in the morning, this LittleHippo alarm is a delight. Presented as the clock that strikes a smart balance between efficiency and usability, this is the one alarm your kids will have no problem using. The different lights correspond to different actions, helping to teach your kids when to go to bed—and when to wake up.
4. TITIROBA Wake-Up Light
MOST FEATURES
This cone-shaped wake-up light works by stimulating actual sunlight, helping you wake up gradually and thereby feeling more refreshed. It features three different programmable light settings to help you find the right fit, but where it really shines is in the number of color combinations. In fact, the Titiroba light features 256 RGB different combinations to help add a little diversity to your morning routine.
5. Philips SmartSleep Sunrise Alarm Clock
BRIGHTEST LIGHT
This smart sunrise alarm clock from Philips has a variety of added features including clinically-proven 200 lux light therapy to help you wake up refreshed and fall asleep faster. It has 10 different brightness settings for using at night as a reading light and it displays the time in the middle of the clock for easy reference. The alarm function starts 30 minutes before your set alarm time and ends with a gentle beeping to ensure you wake up. You can easily snooze if you want to, and the personalized light settings are 100% in your hands so you can tailor the experience to your liking and snooze depth.
6. Hatch Restore Smart Light
MOST RELAXING
This smart light from Hatch is all about keeping your mind and body relaxed at bedtime and in the morning so your sleep routine is as nourishing as possible. The wake-up is gentle with the sunrise light to support healthy cortisol levels. The clock also has a library of soothing, relaxing sounds to keep your brain calm and a glow reading light without blue hues to avoid eye strain. The clock also has a bunch of soothing content for preparing your body and mind for sleep that you can use at any time whenever you want to unplug or unwind.
7. Philips SmartSleep Therapy Lamp
BEST SPLURGE
This Philips sunrise alarm clock is on the pricier end when it comes to clocks, but it has added in features that make it a worthwhile purchase. It’s smartphone-enabled so you can customize every feature from your phone and has bedroom monitoring capabilities that track the temperature, noise levels, light and humidity levels in your space. Based on the data it gathers it makes recommendations for better sleep. You can customize the sunset theme through the app and it has a RelaxBreathe light-guided breathing ritual you can use to zen out after a long day or first thing in the morning.
8. Homagical Wake-Up Light Alarm Clock
MOST VARIETY
Tired of waking up groggy? This smart alarm gradually grows brighter to help you wake up feeling more refreshed and relaxed. Starting at any point between 10 and 60 minutes before your alarm is set to go off, this alarm clock also comes with seven natural alarm sounds and 16 adjustable volume specs to help you wake up with light, sound or both.
9. Wake-Up Light Sunrise Simulation Digital LED Clock
BEST FOR SLUGGISH SLEEPERS
This cool-looking alarm cube starts growing brighter 30 minutes before your alarm is set to go off, helping you wake up gradually instead of being hit all at once. With a fancy multi-color light design with three dimmable modes, it works as both a sunrise alarm and an everyday lamp. How cool is that?
10. LBell Sunrise Alarm Clock
BEST FOR FALLING ASLEEP
Not only does this option do all the usual things you’d expect from a sunrise clock, it also helps you fall asleep. That’s right, this sunrise clock is also a sunset clock. If falling asleep is an issue for you, give this clock a try. It will play music and slowly dim its light as you get into bed. As you start to snooze, it will softly silence the tunes to help you drift off to sleep. And when it’s time to wake up, this sunrise clock from LBell will start the process up in reverse, and gently wake you from your slumber.
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