The WiiM is the easiest alarm I've used. There is very little learning curve: Just load the Light app onto your smartphone, and plug the lamp into an outlet. As soon as you open the app it'll automatically discover the lamp. Well-designed screens walk you through the setup. The WiiM's app explains everything clearly, and there are physical buttons for snooze, brightness, volume, light modes, and mute. If you’re looking for a light you can control via your phone, the Hatch Restore 2 is the one to go for. This is a really sleek design, which sits nicely on your bedside table. The front is covered with a linen fabric, which helps to diffuse the light, and it’s available in three colors, Putty, Latte and Slate (that's brown, cream and gray, for the rest of us). Setup is easy in the app and you can then control the light entirely through your phone. Light has a physiological direct impact on our mood,” which is why light therapy helps with seasonal depression, Robbins explained. No other audio:you can't stream music or listen to the radio with this alarm - you have to use Hatch's library of sounds Alarm Option - Touch to turn on alarm mode. The existing alarm time will display for 2 seconds. To adjust the alarm time, hold for 3 seconds then use (+) and (-) to adjust the hour. Tap again to adjust the minute, and one last time to confirm.

John Hanifin, PhD, assistant professor of neurology at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, phone interview, September 21, 2018 Robert Leeming, How to design human centric lighting -- by scientist who discovered it, Lux, January 11, 2017 This premium option from Philips looks great on your nightstand but the design also helps to diffuse the light evenly. The convex design helps to cast light at wider angles than other options and the light quality is superb. Why is this so heavy? And big? Those were my first thoughts when I took Philips' alarm out of the box. It reminded me of my college job at a hot rod shop, lugging around headlights from old 1950s Mercurys and Chevys. That's a good thing. The Philips HF3520 oozes build quality and is easily the nicest alarm in this guide. It has the usual features, such as an audible alarm, five natural wake-up sounds, and an FM radio.

You have to have all the right pieces to complete that puzzle to get that good sleep,” he said. “When people try different things to get good sleep, it really depends on what puzzle piece is missing.” The gradual increase in light allows our bodies to awaken when we transition to a lighter sleep stage, helping to prevent the sleep inertia we sometimes get when awakened from a deep stage of sleep,” says Holliday-Bell. Plus, there are both short and long-term benefits of making the switch to this kind of wake-up device. She says it allows for a gentler wakeup that can lead to more energy, alertness and positive mood first thing in the morning. In the long-term, it can stabilize and reinforce the circadian rhythm, which may even improve sleep-wake cycles for easier mornings and nights. Color temperature – Look for a light that offers as natural a light as possible by adhering to the color temperature of light at sunrise and sunset. Those with LED technology have been proven to improve mood and energy levels in the morning.

Touch the Sleep Timer button once to set at 15 minutes. Light will gradually dim until it turns off over the course of 15 minutes.LED Light - Press once to turn on the light, then press and hold (+) and (-) to adjust among 10 levels of brightness. Press a second time to switch on light colors, using (+) and (-) to choose between 8 colors (from C1 to C8): warm white, cycling color, red, green, orange, pink, blue, and light green. Press and hold to switch off. My wake up lights review was based on the first-hand experience of using these products at home. I used every of the wake up lights for a week at a time and noted how well the lights performed over that period of time. Audio – Is the light on its own going to be enough to wake you up, or do you need sounds alongside it? If you’re a heavy sleeper then you will probably want sounds to accompany the light, or you might prefer to wake up to a FM radio station. Snooze - Press to momentarily stop alarm sound. The default snooze time is 5 minutes. Press to change it to 10/15/20 minutes. After that time, the alarm tone will resume playing. It has only one shade of light, and while you can adjust the brightness, you can't make it warmer (yellower) or cooler (bluer). But it's a gorgeously warm yellow light. You can pair several together, and they'll sync so you can have one in the living room and another in the bedroom, which will ease your whole apartment into a sunset as you near bedtime. Or just have two on both nightstands. They recharge on a pad the size of a coaster.

In a word, yes. Using light to wake up and wind down can help regulate your cortisol and melatonin production respectively. These hormones help control the wake / sleep cycles. Is it better to wake up to sound or light? Use (+) and (-) to set up alarm light rising time: 10/20/30/40/50/60 min/ OFF. Tap Alarm Option button to confirm. It features a vibrant design with 8 emitting colors that can double as a table or bedside lamp during your non-sleep time. When you’re in the mood for a relaxing playlist or catching up with recent events, tune in to the FM radio and set your preferred station. Yes it’s an investment, but the Philips SmartSleep Wake-Up Light has been shown to work. Independent studies concluded that it not only wakes you up more naturally (with 25 brightness intensities, it floods your room with bright yellow light) but also more energized.Brightness –It’s down to personal preference as to how bright you’d like the wake up light to be, so we’d recommend looking for a light that offers adjustable brightness levels. SAD is a type of depression that’s most common in fall and winter months, when there are fewer hours of sunlight per day, although it can occur in summer in some people. People who have SAD experience symptoms for about 40% of the year, and it’s more common in women than men. With 14 specially designed light therapy programs, 16 soothing nature or white noise recordings, and full-spectrum LED color-changing modes, this sleep therapy machine is ideal to relax and ease anxiety at any time of the day. Of course, it has gradual sleep and wake features that you can customize with the light and sound of your choice, but it can also come in handy whenever you need to unwind. It connects to Bluetooth for wireless audio streaming of your favorite podcasts or songs in case that’s what you’d prefer to lull you to sleep.

Switches – Think about how you want to control your light, particularly in the morning when you’re half asleep. Do you want a touch sensitive light that you can hit snooze on? Or one with buttons to press? Or are you tech-savvy and want to control everything through an app? It did a good job of casting enough light when it was the only lamp in my otherwise dark bedroom, but it's a bit on the small side, and because of its headlamp-like shape it shines most in a particular direction. The light is also not as diffused as the higher-end alarms on this list—certainly enough to read by before bed, but not quite as able to bathe the whole room in light. It's still plenty bright to help wake you up, though.It’s completed with a 12 or 24-hour time display, 3 brightness options, and an easy-to-use snooze button that turns off the sounds and lights for 5 minutes. Smart bulbs are one of the best aspects of the smart home concept today. With the right bulbs and a bit of tinkering, you can set up sunrise and sunset routines using your existing lamps and overhead lights. There are lots of good smart bulbs. I used Philips Hue for this article.