4 Of The Best Sunrise Alarm Clocks To Upgrade Your Morning Routine

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Depending on your morning routine, a little bit of dread may trickle into the process of waking up. If you utilize your smartphone as an alarm clock, for example, the tone can trigger a startle reflex, which can lead to a day started with an over-alert nervous system. Hitting the snooze button doesn't necessarily solve the problem either, as it just buys you a little additional sleep time before you're forced to repeat the same jolt a few minutes later.

Physical alarm clocks are back in style to an extent for this very reason. And while they can eliminate the harsh light and sound of a smartphone alarm going off near one's face, the noise can still be a bit jarring. Sunrise alarm clocks, on the other hand, use light that brightens over a 20- or 30-minute window before the set alarm time, mimicking the more natural process of waking up to sunrise. The gradual light exposure is designed to work with the body's natural wake cycle rather than perking the body up all at once through the element of surprise.

There are a lot of sleek gadgets that can replace a morning alarm, but the inherent science and the general approach of sunrise alarm clocks have made them quite popular. Here we're taking a look at some of the best sunrise alarm clocks the tech world has to offer, applying our own tech expertise and the input of customers with hands-on experience to make our selections.

The Hatch Restore 3 is highly regarded by customers at Amazon for its wide range of customization options. It's designed to support the body's natural circadian rhythm and even chips in at night, giving you the ability to set up different bedtime routines. It's a quality sunrise alarm clock that can easily replace your alarm clock app or even a traditional alarm clock.

Priced at $170 at Amazon, the Hatch Restore 3 isn't particularly cheap. It's one of the more expensive sunrise alarm clocks we came across, though it does have a lot of quality features to tap into. It comes with five built-in bedtime routines, 20 soft alarm sounds, and 40 sleep sounds to choose from. You also get a 30-day free trial of Hatch+, which is a monthly subscription that expands the total available routines, alarm sounds, sleep sounds, and more.

Amazon customers have given the Hatch Restore 3 an overall rating of 4.3 out of 5 stars, and 82% of reviewers have rated it favorably. While some users may have hesitation about a piece of tech that places some features behind a monthly subscription, plenty of reviewers have stated that they love everything that comes with a purchase of the Hatch Restore 3.

A less expensive sunrise alarm clock is the Philips SmartSleep Wake-up Light, which Amazon prices at $117. It comes with some quality brand reputation, as Philips is one of the biggest names in smart home devices. In addition to its capabilities as a sunrise alarm clock, the SmartSleep Wake-up Light can also simulate sunset to prepare your body to fall asleep.

As far as personalization goes, the SmartSleep Wake-up Light offers five different wake-up sounds, each of them more natural than a jarring alarm clock sound. It also has a built-in FM radio that you can wake up to should you prefer the sound of certain kinds of music or news to start the day. This is also a sunrise alarm clock you can put to use more frequently, as it can function as a bedside reading lamp at any time of the day.

With brand recognition can come a lot of sales, and the Philips SmartSleep Wake-up Light has amassed more than 14,700 reviews at Amazon. 82% of those reviews are on the favorable side of the spectrum, and the SmartSleep Wake-up Light averages a 4.3 out of 5 stars. It's still a little expensive compared to some other sunrise alarm clocks we came across, but the SmartSleep Wake-up Light does offer good overall value for those who don't mind investing in such a device.

If your search for a more peaceful way to wake up is even more limited by budget, one sunrise alarm clock worth taking a look at is the Stillstorm Hatch. It's priced at just $40 and has received one of the highest overall ratings from Amazon customers. It's a smaller sample size, but 94% of reviewers rate it favorably, and 70% of them have given it a 5-star rating. Overall, the Stillstorm Hatch has a 4.6 out of 5 star rating at Amazon.

The features of this sunrise alarm clock aren't much different than the standard features you'll find on more expensive options. It has 10 different white noise settings and 20 different nature sounds, including rain, birds, and campfire sounds. When it's time to wake up, the Hatch has eight natural wake-up sounds to choose from, and a 0-30 level volume control that allows you to set the volume at just the right level to keep you from being jarred awake.

Also included among the features are a number of different lighting effects. The Hatch can display gradient color lights as well as white and yellow lighting. It's available in two different design styles, and despite a sample size of just 40 customer reviews at Amazon, they're overwhelmingly in the positive and make the Stillstorm Hatch a low-risk, high-reward sunrise alarm clock option.

Another potential value play is the Reacher Smart Sunrise Alarm Clock. Priced at $80, it is another affordable pick on the list. It has features that allow you to personalize your own sleep rituals. That includes the ability to set custom wind-down routines and the different sounds it can produce, such as fan sounds, white noise, and nature-inspired audio.

While most sunrise alarm clocks will have some amount of compatibility with smartphones included, Reacher has made it one of the primary features on its Smart Sunrise Alarm Clock. When connected to Wi-Fi, you can adjust the sunrise alarm clock's lights, sounds, and sleep settings from anywhere in the house. You can even control the device while away from home, which makes it suitable for kids' rooms when parents have a babysitter at home.

With a 4.2 out of 5 star overall customer rating at Amazon, this sunrise alarm clock does well among reviewers, but not as well as some of the others we've selected. But Reacher makes some other quality sleep products, including an alarm clock that's among the cool alarm clocks for heavy sleepers.

We didn't restrict ourselves to any kind of price limitations for these sunrise alarm clocks, but instead tried to find options at a number of different price points. We used our own smart home and general tech expertise to research a wide variety of devices, and turned to customers at Amazon to help us narrow down which might be worth placing at the bedside. While models from some more recognizable brands see more attention across the internet, for lesser-known sunrise alarm clocks we wanted to ensure we relied upon hands-on experience with the devices where we could.