I purchased this light in 2015 upon moving to Boston. I've never been a morning person and noticed that it was much easier for me to wake up on days when the sun was up early than long winter days in New England. A friend stated she used this light to "become a morning person" so I decided to give it a try.
HOW IT WORKS
This unit requires a cord--batteries are not an option. You have custom settings for the duration of the "sunrise" (20-40 minutes), as well as options for no actual alarm noise, a radio station, or five nature sounds (birds, forest sounds, piano, water, and garden noises). You can adjust the volume of the sound you've selected, and when it's time for the alarm, it starts off quieter then builds quickly to that volume.
If you set that you want the sunrise option to take 20 minutes, the SUNRISE WILL BEGIN 20 minutes PRIOR to when you've set your alarm to sound, so you will be up at the time you've selected.
SNOOZE is an option, which if activated, you can initiate by touching the reactive face of the lamp (the light portion). The light stays on after pressing the snooze option, which will sound again after 9 minutes (this time is NOT adjustable) until you turn off the alarm or reset it for the next day. A gentle touch anywhere on the face of the light puts the alarm in snooze mode.
You have the option of two preset alarm times, and can also adjust the brightness of the clock face (which is red on mine, not the yellow-orange shown in the photos).
Once set, you can preview what your choices will be like in a much quicker timeline using "demonstrate" mode. This is a nice feature to make sure you've set the sounds options to a high enough setting you'll be able to hear, and that the light is neither too light or too dark.
When you've set up your profile for alarm A and alarm B, all you have to do to initiate all the choices you've made is press a single button on either the left or right side of the light to turn them on.
SETTING THE ALARM FOR THE NEXT DAY
There seems to be confusion in the comments about having to set the sunrise features above every night before use, but once your personal preferences are entered it's as easy as any normal alarm: 1) Press the option you've set up (A and/or B), 2) Sleep, 3) Turn alarm off and get up. You don't have to re-set the "sunrise" timing and brightness every night before you use the alarm.
TURNING OFF THE ALARM
When you are ready to get up, you can press the alarm button, the FM button, or the Menu button to deactivate the alarm. I personally use the alarm button because it's the easiest for me to tap quickly. If you chose the alarm button, you'll need to reset it again that night (or just press it twice so it deactivates then resets). The light stays on when pressing the alarm button as well, so I leave it on while gathering my things during the morning, and then turn it off as I leave the room by pressing the sun symbol on the top of the alarm.
I've read that the other two buttons turn it off without deactivating it, but I've gotten into the habit of using the alarm button and don't see myself changing that.
ADDITIONAL FEATURES
The alarm can be used as a normal room lamp, and on the brightest setting is light enough to illuminate the entire room (the brightness is adjustable, if you like it dimmer at night).
There is a "sleep" option which allows you to select a time you'd like for the light to turn itself off. If you're prone to reading before bed and falling asleep while doing so, like me, this is a nice option.
LIGHT COLOR
The sunrise feature does cycle through the colors mentioned in the description (red, orange, yellow). The lightest color is a little softer than the harsh white they show in the photos and is more a very slightly off-white.
WAKING SPOUSE
While my husband was still working in a nearby town the time it takes for the "sunrise' to happen and the alarm to finally sound wasn't an issue at all, but he's an extremely light sleeper and that means he always gets woken up 20 minutes prior to whenever I need to get up because he's awake the moment the light starts to come on (I have the duration set at 20 minutes). He has used the alarm in the morning too though, and it didn't wake me up from his side of the bed, but I'm both not a morning person and a heavy sleeper.
He doesn't mind it because he's naturally a morning person and an early riser. If your husband isn't, or if they get to bed much later than you do, I don't know how they'd like this. If they aren't a light sleeper, like I am, they might still be okay, but I'd keep the box that first night just to make sure it works out.
BECOMING A MORNING PERSON
I do think this light has made the transition to an earlier morning much easier than when I did so with a normal alarm. I don't awake as groggy as before, and actually get up MUCH earlier than my earliest wake time prior to getting this alarm. I feel more rested when it finally sounds so I'm less likely to hit snooze a bunch of times, as the light in the room is also already on, which further pushes me into getting out of bed.
I slowly dialed back the alarm in 15-20 minute intervals every 2-3 days to and managed to go from a 7AM alarm (rolling out of bed at 7:30AM) to a wake time of 4:50AM without any real difficulty and without going to sleep any earlier than before. This was particularly helpful during the dark mornings from November to March.
This isn't really a comment on the light, but I like having the extra time in the morning. I do laundry in a busy building without having to wait, I prep for coming home so I don't have more obligation waiting for me after a long day at work, and I get to spend a little extra time with my husband, who has always been a morning person.
CONS
Because this alarm works best when it's relatively close to the sleeper, and level with the bed, one person is going to get a better experience using the sunrise feature than the other, even with the two alarms set.
Having the option to set the days of the week, not just two time options would be nice. I still get up pretty early on the weekends, but it would be nice for it to automatically transition from "A" to "B" based on the day of the week. This is pretty minor, considering it's just a second button, but if that is already set for a spouse's wake time, it means resetting one of the two preset options.
A cordless/ battery powered option would also be nice, considering not everyone has convenient plugs right next to their bed. A slightly longer cord would also accomplish the same thing.
These few things are what dropped it from a five star product, to a four star for me.
RECOMMEND?
If you're looking for something to make getting up a smoother transition, I'd recommend this product, and if given the chance, it's something I would repurchase.
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From the brand
From the manufacturer
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|---|---|---|---|---|
| Philips SmartSleep Wake-up Light HF3520/60 | Philips SmartSleep Connected Sleep and Wake-Up Light HF3670/60 | Philips SmartSleep Sleep and Wake-Up Light HF3650/60 | Philips Wake-up Light HF3500/60 | |
| Simulation | Sunrise and sunset | Sunrise and sunset | Sunrise and sunset | Sunrise |
| Brightness Settings | 20 | 25 | 25 | 10 |
| Light intensity | 300 LUX | 315 LUX | 310 LUX | 200 LUX |
| Wake-up sounds | 5 | 8 | 7 | 1 |
| Wind-down Program | ✓ | ✓ | ||
| SleepMapper app enabled | ✓ | |||
| Charges mobile phone | ✓ | ✓ | ||
| Sleep Environment Tracker | ✓ | |||
| Midnight Light | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Power back-up alarm | ✓ | ✓ |
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Lumie Bodyclock Shine 300
Lumie USA
Here's the deal. It's awesome. My cousin convinced me to buy one, she is a nurse, and with her flex schedule she has used it for years. Most Important, READ THE INSTRUCTIONS! DO NOT TRY TO JUST FIGURE OUT IY ON YOUR OWN. LOL The instructions are easy and even come with pictures for those who dislike reading. The instructions also come in several languages. The first morning I woke up freaking out. Thought I was late to work because the "sun" was up. Had myself laughing that morning. I love the 5 options for sound! Note, when you play the demo it doesn't play the sound you chose but only uses the white noise/fan. I use a brightness setting of 13 out of 20. NOTE: I am also hearing impaired and I use 15 out of 20 for sound. I am a night owl and getting to sleep before midnight is very difficult and I HATE mornings. This doesn't come with a magic wand that makes me suddenly love getting up, but it definitely makes it easier. Feels more natural and I find myself hesitating less to get out of bed and get my day started.
Images in this review
Top reviews from other countries
Laurent Duchastel
Okay, but not as fantastic as promised
Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on November 29, 2017
Alissa
There are some things I like about it
Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on February 25, 2018Seld17
however after using this I feel it is totally worth it and I'm extremely satisfied having bought it on sale
Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on September 10, 2016
Seld17
Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on September 10, 2016
Main features :
-whole wake-up light thing:
As advertised you set a time and set a sunrise time. The sunrise time is how long before your alarm goes off the product starts emulating a sunrise i.e alarm clock set at 6 am and sunrise time is 30 min : at 5:30 the sunrise starts and at 6 the alarm starts accompanied by the max brightness setting you chose. Basically, it'll start with very deep red all the way to searing of your eyes **insert spongebob patrick meme** (by which I mean this lamp gets really bright) white light with your alarm going off. You choose how bright you want it to be so you can tone down the whole searing your eyes part to satisfaction. I personally have trouble getting up and thought I might as well try this product to remedy the getting up part and it has helped immensely. It has happened to me multiple times in my past few week to wake up BEFORE my alarm goes off. I'm waking up just to the light and it feels awesome with minimal drowsiness and with a state of rest that i'm able to get up. There is no zombie like wake up part. Works for me just as advertised. Also, there is a demo mode so you can see in accelerated mode (90 seconds) the sunrise from deep red to white with the alarm sound/music of your alarm. To snooze you just touch the front part pretty much anywhere and it will snooze.
- overlooked sunset feature:
This is by far my favorite feature. You set a time between 5 and 60 minutes(available options : 0,5,10,15,20,30,45,60) for your sunset. You set the initial brightness to adjust again the whole searing eyes part. It then goes in reverse order of sunrise from white through orange then red till off. The red is really deep and I got slightly scared the 1st time it felt like my room was suddenly out of the shining or Dexter being covered in blood. The best part is it really triggers you to fall asleep. I've also a lot of trouble falling asleep and this really eases me into drowsiness without drugs regardless what I'm doing (in my case reading). Also, it helps get to bed on a more precise time. In my case I'd usually try and read to fall asleep and i'd just end up reading for hours and not falling asleep or going to sleep really late. With this, well it's time to go to sleep when there is no more light since it goes completely off (time display remains on) and I'm usually real sleepy by the end of the cycle. I honestly love this feature more then the wake-up. It give a limit on your bedtime routine and I really like that.
Other features:
The product obviously offers regular options 2 alarms, sounds or fm radio(no am if i remember correctly), 12h or 24h time display and awesome rubber feet to keep it on your table. Honestly, those rubber feet have serious traction i.e i have a train track nearby that usually shakes the hell of everything on my bedside table, this lamp doesn't give a s*** about it and stays firmly in place.
Downsides (or what I've read) :
I read quite a bit online to see if there were any glaring issues with the product. What I've found :
-button placement hard to find:
FALSE, the buttons are placed on the edge of the product so looking directly at the product(like looking at the time display) you can't really see them since you would only be seeing the height of the button/ travel distance of the button. It's true you have to grope around a little to find the correct button but I don't feel this is a problem. 1. they are well spaced (see pictures) 2. the buttons that are grouped up (radio and brightness) have a high ridge separating each button of the group so you can easily distinguish the different buttons (see pictures with 3 buttons close up).
-12h to 24h switch complicated:
FALSE, the manual that comes with the product has extremely clear instructions of how to change it between 12h and 24h setting.
-disappointing waves (sounds):
TRUE, this is the sad one. One of the available 5 sounds that can be chosen instead of the radio, is supposed to be waves/ocean sounds. It actually is more of seagulls squealing with a little bit of waves in the background. However, there are 4 other choices which you should be able to find something to float your boat (satisfaction).
Final thoughts:
The display has various brightness settings that can make it very dim. The display menu to set alarm/clock time/brightness/etc. is very easy to use the only tricky thing can be to touch the buttons (capacitive) which sometimes doesn't register your touch or you're not pressing the adequate location, but it's not something I usually play a lot with since I dont constantly change my settings. Also, it usually takes 1 failed attempt to get a good feel of where to press so it registers on all following attempts. Also, I wouldn't recommend using this as a night lamp replacement to read from a book. I feel the light it shines is too diffuse. Don't get me wrong the light can get very bright but it's all over the place so to read from a book(paper) using only this product as lighting may require some fancy footwork or positioning to get the right angle to have enough light.
So, this product has met everything specified by the manufacturer, the manual is crystal clear, everything works as advertised and it works for me. I highly recommend this product if you have trouble going to sleep / waking up. This product has no marketing scams that I have found. If it goes on sale buy it and enjoy!
Images in this review
