Waking up in the morning isn't easy for everybody, and waking up to a loud, shrill alarm can be particularly annoying. It may wake you up, but it can leave you in a bad mood for the rest of the day. If you're looking for a calmer but effective way to wake up, a sunrise alarm clock may be the best way to get your morning started.
Unlike your regular alarm clock, a sunrise alarm clock is designed with more peaceful mornings and wake-up routines in mind. Since I replaced my regular alarm clock with a sunrise, my mornings have been better than ever. Sunrise alarm clocks emit light instead of an anxiety-inducing sound, creating the illusion that you're waking up to the sun peeking through your window. Additionally, they can also help your mental health in winter or if you live in a place where sun exposure is limited and seasonal affective disorder takes hold.
Jamie Gold, a wellness design consultant and author, told CNET she came across these types of noise-optional alarm clocks during her research surrounding noise pollution.
"Our lives and homes are filled with noise, and this creates the potential for insomnia, anxiety and stress," Gold says. "I love the idea of these silent alarm clocks for tying in with our natural circadian rhythms and helping start our days on a calmer note. Some heavy sleepers may need a stronger wake-up system, but if you're not one of them, it's definitely a solution worth considering."
Wellness design focuses on designing spaces that promote emotional and physical health, and creating or redoing bedrooms to reduce noise pollution and enhance sleep is a crucial component of it, she added.
Since I've started using a sunrise alarm clock, I feel like I've had a better night's sleep. Waking up without the loud sound of an alarm has also made my mornings happier and my days more productive. According to a small study in the journal Behavioral Brain Research, exposure to artificial light in the mornings can improve cognitive performance throughout the day, so my reaction may not be all placebo effect.
We've carefully selected a few options from the market that would make a great gift for anyone looking to find a better way to wake up. You get various features with these sunrise alarm clocks -- a sleep timer, snooze functionality; some even double up as a reading light. Pick your perfect sunrise simulation clock, and enjoy deep sleep and better mornings.
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With a natural shape inspired by the rising and setting sun, plenty of customizable features and extras like guided meditations and morning affirmations, the Hatch Restore 2 tops our list for the best sunrise alarm clock. It's Hatch's second-generation model and has a simple but elegant design with large, tactile wake and sleep buttons at the top to initiate sleep sounds or turn off your alarm.
I found myself waking up much more gently with the Hatch Restore than I did with any sound-only alarm clock. In the morning, I programmed the Hatch to emit a "Malibu sunrise," a white, peachy glow that gently woke me up each morning, paired with the relaxing sounds of ocean waves and seagull chirps. Let me tell you, it's a much more enjoyable sound to wake up to than "beep, beep, beep." The possibilities are also endless when it comes to the sound and light combo you want to wake up to.
You can customize the Restore's sunrise duration, the amount of time you want it to illuminate before it sounds an alarm. I think 30 minutes was my sweet spot, starting its glow and gradually getting brighter half an hour before I wanted to be fully awake.
I also ended each night with a cozy campfire sound to soothe me to sleep -- one of my favorite features from the Hatch, as I typically listen to ASMR when I go to bed. It plays from the Hatch machine itself rather than my phone, a function I like so I don't have to keep my phone on loud and near my bedside while I'm trying to sleep.
For additional features like morning affirmations and wind-down routines, you'll have to sign up for the membership at $5 a month, a cost I think is worth it if you're interesting in meditating to promote better sleep, and more energy in the morning. The Hatch Restore 2 is available in three different neutral colors: putty, slate and latte.
If you're not quite ready to shell out $100 or more on a sunrise alarm clock, this budget-friendly sunrise simulation clock from Jall should do the trick. It has all of the basics and makes for a rather customizable sunrise: Choose from seven colors and 20 brightness levels to end your sunrise, as well as seven natural sounds to accompany the light. You can also choose to wake up to FM radio.
The Jall Wake Up Light Sunrise Alarm Clock functions as a night light and bedside lamp, too, and you can adjust the brightness level for both. It doesn't have a sunset function like some others on this list, nor does it double as a white noise machine -- but if you only want the sunrise function, that doesn't matter.
The majority of reviewers on Amazon love this clock: It has 4.3 stars and nearly 100% of the reviews are favorable. It seems that most people who bought this clock were looking for a less abrupt way to wake up, and the Jall Wake Up Light did the trick for them. Buyers also love that it's easy to set up and simple enough for kids to operate on their own.
The Lumie Bodyclock Rise 100 is a simpler version of the Lumie Shine 300. It's a high-quality intro-level sunrise simulator alarm clock for people who are looking for just the basics: The Lumie Rise 100 features a 30-minute sunrise with the option to set the final light intensity. You can also program a sunset to help you fall asleep.
The Lumie Rise 100 does not have nature or ambient sounds to add to your sunrise and sunset, although you can program the optional beeping alarm to start when your sunrise reaches maximum light intensity. Like the Lumie Shine 300, the Lumie Rise 100 has a tap-control snooze feature and an auto-dimming display.
If you have a bedside lamp already, you can make a DIY sunrise alarm clock by replacing regular light bulbs with smart light bulbs from Lifx. These Wi-Fi-enabled bulbs connect to Alexa, Google Assistant, Cortana and Apple HomeKit, and you can program them to dim and brighten like a sunrise and sunset as you fall asleep and wake up, respectively.
You won't get any sound, obviously, but if you're a relatively light sleeper who wakes up to changing light, these programmable light bulbs will still get you up in the morning. You can also combine with Lifx light panels and strips in fun colors for the coolest faux sunrise ever.
If you want a broader selection -- not just sunrise clocks -- check out our separate list of the best alarm clocks for 2024. And if you need a good night's sleep, check out the best mattresses you can buy online and the best pillows too.