The Philips SmartSleep Wake-Up Light Is a Fantastic Sunrise Alarm

Sunrise alarms play a wonderful trick on your body, taking a cue from nature. Scientifically speaking, we feel best when we wake up to the gradually brightening, intensifying sunlight as it rises and shifts from a mellow orange to an intense blue-white.

When you can’t wake up to the rhythms of a real sunrise or go to bed with a real sunset, a sunrise alarm uses its built-in lamp to mimic the gradual rising and setting, running the full gamut from dim orange to radiant blue-white.

I’ve used an awful lot of them, and the best one I’ve ever used is the Philips SmartSleep Wake-Up Light. There are several models that Philips sells, which makes it a bit confusing, but the HF3520 is the one to get.

best of the bunch

The light that spills out of this sunrise alarm is beautifully diffused. It spreads its warm, yellow light like melted butter all across the room, rather than piercing the darkness with a harsh and concentrated, flashlight-like beam

Don’t underestimate how important that diffusion is when a sunrise alarm is sitting on your nightstand right next to your face. Of all the sunrise alarms I tested, it had the nicest quality light as it spread its sunrises and sunsets across the room.

It also casts more light than most other sunrise alarms I’ve used, and I’ve tested almost all of them. That makes it a good choice for small and large bedrooms alike. Because the lens curves around the back a bit, it shines light in more directions than other similarly shaped sunrise alarms.

As bonus features, there are five wake-up soundtracks, plus standard an alarm noise and FM radio. They’re not as good as a dedicated sound machine, but they’re fine for a nice extra.

The Philips’ build quality is among the best of the sunrise alarms on the market, and its touch-activated controls and display felt of higher quality, too.