The 9 Best Sunrise Alarms to Wake You Up Gently

Waking up sucks. Unless you’re one of those rare, enviable unicorns who pops up from your cozy pillow in the morning as fresh as a daisy, then you know what it’s like to groan, moan, and snooze your way through six alarms before lurching out of bed like a bowl of Jell-O sliding down the garbage disposal. 

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.

Nearly every sunrise alarm also has a sunset feature meant to lull you to sleep at night, too. Quit fighting the blaring, air-raid-siren alarms. Instead, ease along your mornings and evenings with a bit of good ol’ not-so-genuine sunlight.

Quick Look at the Best Sunrise Alarms

• Best Overall – Philips SmartSleep Wake-Up Light (HF3520)
• Slickest Design – Casper Glow Light
• Easiest to Use – WiiM Wake-Up Light
• Most Beautiful – Hatch Restore 2
• A Soft Touch – Lumie Bodyclock Shine 300
• For Audio Ambiance – Lumie Bodyclock Glow 150
• A Solid Budget Alarm – Jall Wake Up Light
• Sunsets Over Sunrises – Dekala Sunrise
• Too Much for Too Little – Lumie Bodyclock Rise 100

How We Evaluated

Light quality was the main attribute I was on the lookout for. That means not just how bright the lamps got in my test bedroom in New York City, which was equipped with blackout curtains, but also how realistically the shifting light mimicked actual sunrises and sunsets.

Good lamps had to be intuitive to use; nobody has the brainpower to figure out a complicated alarm first thing in the morning or when they’re climbing, exhausted, into bed.

And finally, extra features scored points with us. Most often, that meant soothing, ambient soundtracks to lull you asleep or rustle you awake.

Best Overall – Philips SmartSleep Wake-Up Light (HF3520)

Light spills out of this lamp beautifully in diffused abundance, so that none of it feels glaring when you open your eyes in the morning. That’s important for something designed to sit on a nightstand just a few inches from your face.

The quality of its light, too, was a pleasant surprise. Like warm caramel melting over the room when in the more yellowy orange stages of its sunrises and sunsets, the Philips had the nicest light to sit and look at.

Out of all the lamps tested, this one cast more light than most, making a solid choice for small and large bedrooms alike. Because the lens curves around the back a bit, it splashes light in more directions than other similarly shaped sunrise alarms. It’s not particularly distracting, though.

The five wake-up soundtracks (plus standard alarm noise and FM radio) were nothing outstanding, but adequate bonus features. The touch-activated controls and display felt of higher quality than most sunrise alarms, too.

Philips markets several models of sunrise alarm, which makes selecting the right one a bit of a head scratcher. The HF3520 is the one you want if you’re after the best overall experience.

Slickest Design – Casper Glow Light

This wireless sunrise alarm was just plain fun to use, and unique looking enough to be a conversation piece. Just flip it over to start the sunset program, and when it’s on its charging pad, spin it to adjust brightness.

You can pause and restart the sunset countdown by pushing the big, wide button that functions as the Casper’s top. Through a rather intuitive and easy-to-navigate app, you can program the sunrise functions.

Everything else, such as setting the wake-up time and lengthening the sunrise and sunset countdowns in 15-minute increments (up to 90 minutes), is done through the app. You can’t change the color of the light (how blue or yellow it appears), though, and there are no sleep sounds.

Its light quality was very nice, though. Not quite Philips SmartSleep nice, with that model’s color temperature adjustments, but very warm and toasty yellow all the same.

You can buy the Caspers in a two-pack, although you won’t save money by buying them together. They’ll pair, though, so you can set a single routine that’ll activate in sync on both lamps, which comes in handy in large bedrooms, for which any single lamp wouldn’t throw enough light, or if you want to put one lamp in two different rooms.

I enjoyed beginning to wind down at night in the living room next to one lamp and then moseying into the bedroom with the other when I got sleepy.

Because it casts light in 360 degrees, it was the best sunrise alarm at lighting up a dark room evenly, rather than in the more directional pattern of most sunrise alarms. And because it’s wireless, I’d often begin a sunset routine in my office while I read, and then carry it into my bedroom as I started getting ready for bed.

There’s no display for showing the time, no radio, and no audible alarm to help wake you up, though. And beyond the pause/unpause buttons and the gestures, you need to use the app. If you want a more fully featured sunrise alarm, look elsewhere. But while it may be a one-trick pony, it’s a thoroughbred in that regard.

Easiest to Use – WiiM Wake-Up Light

No alarm was as easy to set up and customize as the WiiM Wake-Up Light. I just downloaded the Light app to a smartphone or tablet, and the lamp nearby automatically discovered and paired with the app once I plugged it into the wall. That was it.

Extraordinarily intuitive tutorial screens explained how to set the brightness (which can go quite high), set wake-up and nighttime routines, use sleep sounds, and change light modes. It also has Amazon Alexa voice assistant built in, but you can turn it off if it creeps you out.

Physical buttons let you slap snooze for a few more minutes of ZZZs, and you can use them to change the brightness, light modes, alarm volume, and mute it when it’s going off. You’re not locked into using the app for almost everything after the initial setup, like with the Casper.

Although linking your phone to the WiiM app lets you choose your own preferred music to wake up to, if you don’t feel like selecting any of the included sleep sounds (or just turn it off).

Of all the alarms, the WiiM was the brightest. So bright, in fact, that at full brightness it could be almost painful to keep on the nightstand near my face. I had to lower the brightness a bit to maintain my eyesight, but given that some alarms don’t get bright enough, I’d rather have it bright and turn it down than have it be too dim.

Most Beautiful – Hatch Restore 2

Of all the sunrise alarms I tested, the Hatch Restore 2 is the adult in the room. None of the other models could match the modernist beauty of this well-made lamp.

Take your pick of three earth tones: khaki Putty, silvery green Slate, and dull bronze Latte. That fabric covering on the front, the blend of edges and curves—we think we’re in love.

It was the library of sleep sounds that also stood out. All the tracks—from thunderstorms to birds singing to campfires—sounded of high quality. I lived at the beach for years, and while I wasn’t close enough to hear it when I woke up, setting the Hatch to nudge me awake with sounds of sea breezes never failed to bring me a rush of nostalgia. What a great way to wake up in the morning.

Downsides? It was bright enough, but not exceedingly so. Kept on a nightstand near your bed, it should be sufficient, although I wouldn’t put it across the room on a dresser. You can adjust the sunrises’ and sunsets’ color temperatures and intensity, if you wish.

Then there’s the Hatch+ membership that unlocks curated sleep music, bedtime stories (really), guided rest exercises, and sound routines. It costs $5 per month or $50 per year. You don’t really need it. All the important stuff, such as the sunrises, sunsets, and sleep sounds are available for free, so skip the membership.

A Soft Touch – Lumie Bodyclock Shine 300

This is one expensive alarm. While the amount of light was so-so, it performed OK when set on a nightstand close to my face. Unlike the other Lumies, you can customize the length of the sunrises and sunsets from 15 to 90 minutes.

I liked being able to set the sunset for 90 minutes when I was good about going to bed on time, and then also set for a quick 15 when I was slipping back home after being out way too late.

The cloth covering on the speaker at the base of the alarm was a nice aesthetic touch that helps justify at least some of the Shine 300’s premium price, even though the plastic lens feels thick, yet cheap.

The display also looks dated, as if taken from a TI-83 calculator. Or actually, you know those aftermarket CD players they put in cars in the 2000s? It looks like the display on the one I had in high school. A throwback, but not in an intentional way.

There are 15 included sleep sounds to help lull you to bed, which is more than most sunrise alarms, and they sound adequate enough. “Adequate enough” was the mood for this alarm in its entirety (except for its price). It didn’t perform poorly. There are just better options for this much money.

For Audio Ambiance – Lumie Bodyclock Glow 150

The Glow 150 just couldn’t get bright enough to fill larger bedrooms with sufficient light. It’s funny, considering its name. Perhaps it was a case of wishful thinking on Lumie’s part to name their mid-level sunrise alarm the “Glow.”

Even in the rather small bedroom of my New York City apartment, it seemed kind of dim, so forget about reading as you wind down with this one. I could only set the sunrise and sunset programs for 20, 30, or 45 minutes, too. I’d have preferred a longer option.

Whether it’s a TV, back from when I used to keep a TV in my bedroom, or a white noise machine, any time limit as short as the Glow 150’s sunset options would leave me lying in bed, anxiously anticipating the moment the lamp would turn off.

“Is it now? Now? Is it… NOW?” I’d lie there, wondering. I need the option for at least an hour of countdown time. I wonder why Lumie omitted it. It’s not like they couldn’t put that capability in there for nothing (or next to nothing).

The 10 included sleep sounds were adequate; café ambiance was a nice touch for a soundtrack, in addition to the standard array of nature sounds. At full price, you can find our top picks for less, though.

A Solid Budget Alarm – Jall Wake Up Light

This budget lamp is light on features—it doesn’t even have a sunset function—but is a fair entry point into the sunrise alarm world for those who remain unconvinced of shelling out big money for a new-to-them technology.

The seven built-in sleep sounds, such as birds chirping, sound cheap and thin through the Jall’s speaker, but the 20 selectable brightness levels offer an acceptable level of light for an average-sized bedroom.

Who should consider this? Well, somebody who doesn’t give a rat’s ass about sunsets luring them to sleep, for one. That’s a basic feature included on the vast majority of sunrise alarms, and I’m baffled as to why Jall didn’t include this capability.

More or less, it’s just doing the sunrise function in reverse, so I can’t imagine a situation in which a Jall engineer was looking at the drawing board, saying, “Nope, we just can’t afford to put sunsets in there. It’d cost too much.” It really hamstrings the alarm.

Aside from that, it’s a viable option for somebody who wants to dip their toe into the water of sunrise alarms and discover whether it’s for them without shelling out a hundred bucks on a more expensive model right out of the gate.

Sunsets Over Sunrises – Dekala Sunrise

For a Big Mac’s worth of cash more than the budget Jall, the Dekala Sunrise offered the sunset function missing in the Jall at the trade-off of not offering much brightness. Would I take that trade? No, I would not.

Waking up to its anemic light was less like experiencing a sunrise and more like somebody waving a dying flashlight in my face at summer camp while they tried to rouse all us kids out of our bunks before the sun came up.

For rooms that aren’t particularly large, it can wake up a single sleeper when it’s positioned close enough to their sleeping face, but in my (admittedly small) test bedroom with blackout curtains, it was anemic.

Aesthetically, its build quality was a cut above what we’d expect for the price. Its form isn’t anything mind-blowing, and you won’t ever see it in the Museum of Modern Art, but it’s handsome enough. Too bad it looks better when the light is off than when it’s on.

Too Much for Too Little – Lumie Bodyclock Rise 100

Like its bigger sibling, the Glow 150, the Rise 100 wasn’t the brightest bulb in the box. Must run in the family. You’re stuck with a 30-minute setting for the sunrise program on this one, too, which just outright sucks.

Seriously, Lumie, are you just removing timer customization the further down the product ladder you go just so your cheaper alarms don’t cannibalize the more expensive Bodyclock Shine 300?

There’s no good reason we can think of for not including customizable length to this degree, except to convince buyers to step up to the only slightly more expensive Glow 150. Wrapped up in an inexpensive-feeling case, $100 is too much to ask for this one.

Even if it were half the price, I’d have a hard time urging people to purchase it in lieu of the already compromised Jall and Dekala Sunstone. At least with all three on a somewhat level field of pricing, I could say that the Rise 100 has the adequate brightness of the Jall with the sunset features of the Dekala. But it isn’t that cheap, so the answer is easy: Skip it.