As I’ve aged, it seems as though the quality of my sleep as declined. I’m up 1-2 times a night to go the bathroom and just generally sleep lighter, meaning noises and my wife stirring now tend to wake me, whereas before they didn’t.
One of the ways this lack of quality sleep has affected me is in waking up, in that it’s much harder for me to climb out of bed in the morning. My alarm wakes me, to be sure, but it’s more of a slow climb out of a muddy pit to consciousness rather than any sort of alert awakening.
With that in mind, i was poking around on a search for ‘better sleep” and read about Sunrise Alarm Clocks. I’d heard of them – clocks that slowly build in light intensity to wake you, sort of simulating the sun coming up and shining in your window. I decided to do some research on some of them and put together what users though.
First off, the party line from the clock manufacturers is that a sunrise alarm clock allows yo to wake up naturally to light, the way we did before the advent of electricity and electric lights.
Lowest Price
For $27.99 and free shipping (as of this date), you can get the Jingoudian Wake Up Light Sunrise Simulation Alarm Clock. As well as the light, it also comes with six nature sounds, a radio, and can be used as an atmosphere lamp, bedside light, or sunrise alarm.
It works by simulating a slow sunrise which begins thirty minutes prior to your alarm time and increases from one to one-hundred percent brightness over that half an hour period. The lamp includes five colors and four brightness settings. There’s no snooze, which could be a pro or a con depending on your preference. Overall, this product appears to be priced fairly in comparison to some of its competitors.
Economy Price
The TSTAR Sunrise Simulation Alarm Clock priced at $56.99 (as of this date), marked down from its original price of $76.00. This alarm operates in the same way mentioned above, with a gradually increasing sunrise simulation light beginning thirty minutes prior to alarm set time.
The TSTAR version includes five colors, four brightness options, and seven nature sounds to choose from, as well as a radio. Most notably, this product was rated five out of five stars, based off of more than 40 customer reviews.
Reviewers stated the sunrise simulation alarm was “Much better than traditional alarms” and one even credited it as “Life-changing”. I’ll admit, my research on this product actually made me want to purchase one myself!
All in all, I feel this option is most likely the best product for the price, and probably of equal or better quality than many of its pricier competitors.
High End
In the mid-range of pricing options I stumbled across the Philips HF3520 Wake-Up Light With Colored Sunrise Simulation. This product is priced at $135.94 (as of this date).
There are some notable advantages to the Phillips HF3520 when compared to the less expensive versions, including twenty brightness settings instead of only four, a sunrise span option of twenty to forty minutes, and a tap-to-snooze feature.
Philips references clinical research suggesting that sunrise lights wake you up more naturally, with improved energy and mood. These clinical findings support Philip’s claim that their products are the only ones “Scientifically proven to work.”
There are currently more than 2,800 customer reviews on this alarm, which comes in at an average rating of 4.3 out of 5 stars. Many customers wrote reviews crediting the sunrise feature for helping them to”Beat the winter blues”.
Top End
The Natural Dawn Simulator Alarm Clock Light Box by Sunrise System occupies the top spot as far as pricing: currently selling for $369, although after researching this product I’m not sure it’s the best option. The only real notable differences were that the sunlight feature spans over a larger set of time options and it is listed to have a “Security feature” although there are not further details on what that actually means.
It does claim a power-fail back up (many of the cheaper models used battery backups as well). The Light Box also claims to use low power and be energy efficient, but I’m not sure if that makes it worth the extra cost. More than 150 customer ratings give it a 4.5 star rating, so it must have something going for it.
These are only four examples of several versions of sunrise alarms.
Whatever your sleeping and waking needs may be, it is very likely that Amazon has the perfect product for you. When you can’t be woken by actual nature, why not get the next best thing?
Share!
