Philips SmartSleep Wake-Up Light Therapy Alarm Clock with Sunrise Simulation, White, HF3500/60

I was skeptical at first but this alarm really works! I can sleep through most alarms and phone calls but this thing is really working. It's easy to set time and alarm in a few short moments. The lamp feature is handy as well for an adjustable glow to a nice bright reading light. The sound of the alarm is pretty basic but the real magic is in the light that brightens over about 15 minutes of the set time for the alarm to go off. Set near your head, facing where you will be facing the alarm clock when waking; thats all it takes. This alarm seems to bring you to wakefulness naturally without jolting you awake or being too quiet. To snooze the alarm is a light tap on the top of the alarm itself. Snooze gives you a pre-set 9 minutes but you probably won't use it cause it seems to be able to give you a decent wake up and more ready to get up than other alarms I have used. The shape of this clock is about 10 inches in diameter. It's lighter weight than I expected but it's not an issue because it works quite nicely. The time display is also easy to adjust the brightness. The shape of this alarm makes it almost require a flat smooth surface, so it doesn't roll or get wobbly. It similar to a photo frame with an easel type leg at the rear of the alarm. Overall it's been a pleasant surprise as to how well it has been working after 2 weeks of use. Now no matter the weather, this alarm is waking me up to what seems like a sunrise! My only issue is that it's so lightweight. That might be a huge bonus if you want to use it as a travel alarm though!

I absolutely love this alarm clock. As someone who normally has to set 11 different alarms to wake up and is the opposite of a morning person, I am very impressed by how this actually wakes me up and doesn't make me want to throw it against the wall. Starting 30 minutes before your set alarm time, the clock slowly subtly brighter and brighter. Once it's your alarm time, the clock reaches full brightness (which is a level 1-10 that you can set) and starts beeping like a typical alarm clock. I find this especially helpful for days when you have to get up before the sun has actually risen; it really help transition the body to an awakened state in a more natural way than most alarms. It mimics the sun rising, only you also get to dictate when the sun rises, how bright it is, and place it where ever you want. You can also change the brightness of the clock numbers so they aren't too bright at night. This alarm style definitely beats the rude awakening most alarms give and lets you start the day off right. Bonus: you can use it as a light when you wake up in the middle of the night and need to use the bathroom( just press the button with the sun on it- instant light!) A possible limitation one might need to consider when using is that you cannot set it for specific days; the alarm is either on or off. Additionally, I would have preferred the clock to have a backup battery, but setting the clock and alarm is rather simple and easy so that isn't a big issue for me. Despite those two small drawbacks, this is still by far the best alarm clock I have ever used! I will probably end up buying the same clock when the one I currently have eventually dies in the far off distant future.

I really like this clock. I usually hate alarm clocks because the time display is so bright I cannot sleep. This clock allows you to dim the time display light and it is dim enough to not bother me. I did expect the wake up light to be a little brighter, but it is definitely bright enough. I think my expectation was probably a little too high and my room is naturally rather dark because of the paint. My night stand is a little bit lower than my bed, so I had to put the clock on a couple of books so that the full face of the light is unobstructed. It still works fine without doing that, but it really helps me get up better since I put it on books. I did expect the beep to be different. I thought it was going to be just one beep to kind of nudge you awake (beep.........beep.....beep). but this is three beeps that were a little louder than I expected (BEEPBEEPBEEP....BEEPBEEPBEEP). But it is still way way better than the traditional alarm clock sound. Regular alarm clocks make me wake up instantly angry with the sound they make. To snooze the alarm, you just tap the top of the clock. I don't always hit it at the right angle to actually make it stop so the quick beeping and not tapping it right can stress me out in my sleepy haze. lol but its good because since i have to make a better effort to make it stop I end up waking up more quickly because i have to pay attention and think about it. My goal is to place it across my room so I have to physically get up to turn it off. The light does not turn off when you hit snooze or turn the alarm off. I was worried that the light might snooze along with the beeping. I am not sure if the light gradually comes on to wake you up or not, if it does that, it is not enough for me to notice before its at its full brightness. The clock is a little tricky to set, you definitely need to use the instructions.

This is the best light-up alarm clock that I've used. PROS 1. I can't sleep with light in the room, and even I can handle the time on this clock. I had assumed I’d be putting a post-it over it at bedtime, but it’s actually dim enough. When my GF visits, I turn the clock so that the side of the clock faces the bed. The time is so dim that it doesn’t create a glow anywhere visible. 2. When you snooze, the light stays on. 3. The beeps are not harsh or loud. I have a second alarm on my phone in case I miss the sound (it’s not super quiet, but I’m a sound sleeper). I’ve had this a week and haven’t needed the phone alarm – although I’m still using it because it reminds me that I need to get out of bed and not just sit there snuggling my kitty cat ;-) 4. It’s attractive and looks nice on the side of my bed. 5. I don’t have space for a bedside light, so I used to have to snap on a very bright overhead light as soon I woke up. It makes a great bedside clock that is very easy to turn off and on. I like that when I turn it off, it takes several seconds to reach total darkness. It’s the right amount of time to snuggle into bed. 6. It’s more stable than I expected considering the shape of it. 7. The light has a warm tint to it (unlike the regular bulb in my overhead light. The clock isn’t warm – just the color of the light when it turns on in the morning. It’s much nicer than if a regular lamp lights up (which is what my old light-up alarm clock did). CONS 1. I have to change the time’s brightness depending on if it’s day or night. If it’s dark enough for sleeping then it isn’t visible during the day or if a full light is on. This wouldn’t be a big deal if the time’s brightness setting wasn’t set in a weird spot that requires me to use two hands. 2. It takes up more space on my bedside table than my old alarm clock. The roundness means it actually takes up more space than just the space that immediately touches the table. 3. It’s stable for me, but I live alone and have an older cat. I don’t think this would be stable if I still lived in a home with children, or if I had younger cats, this would probably be knocked over regularly. When I did have a visitor in my room, it was jostled enough that to be safe I had to place the clock on its back. 4. The snooze is actually placed in a useful manner – just tap the top of the clock. However, I’m used to slapping the top of my alarm clock to snooze it (which this clock can’t handle). The clock and the sound and the light are new enough that I’m still remembering to tap instead of slap the clock, and hopefully that becomes second nature before the novelty of waking up to this clock happens. 5. It’s white. I’m not sure if it will stay white over time. It’s such a beautiful clock, and I hope that it doesn’t stain as time goes on – I’m going to take a damp cloth to it every weekend when I clean house, so hopefully this doesn’t become an issue. Overall, the PROS far outweigh the CONS for my purposes, but if I still had a rowdy home with kids and cats and lots of adults and constant clatter this would be the wrong clock for me.

Context: I hate alarms. I haven't used an alarm regularly for years, and love to wake up with the sun. Unfortunately, during winter, I have to wake up before sunrise, which gets difficult at times. So, I looked into the options for timed/fader lights, and this seemed like the best deal (read: cheapest). This unit has one fatal flaw: It has an audible alarm that you can't turn off, and is the standard, annoying beep. This seems very poorly thought-out, because the whole point of this light is to avoid audible alarms. This would have made it a 1/5 star product and a swift return, but fortunately, this can be fixed if you have some basic electronics knowledge, and are willing to void your warranty (see end of review). After disabling the speaker, I have used the light for several weeks, and I love it. It would have been a 5/5 star product if it came shipped that way. As far as the light itself, it fades in over 30 minutes, reaching the brightness setting at the designated alarm time, which is a very pleasant way to wake up. Normally, the audible alarm goes off as well at the designated time. Then you have to turn off the alarm, and turn off the light with separate button presses. Also, if you turn the light off before it reaches maximum intensity (i.e. before the audible alarm goes off), the brightness setting will stay set at the level it was when you turned it off. Then you have to reset the brightness to make sure that tomorrow it will get to your usual setting. Without the audible alarm, it actually works wonderfully. I have the unit set to a brightness that wakes me up, and soon after it reaches that brightness, I wake up. I just press the light button to turn the light off, and forget about the alarm button (the alarm stays set for the next day). As far as waking up without an alarm, all I can say is you have to try it. It is so much better to wake up naturally, feeling refreshed, than to wake up startled by a loud beeping noise in the middle of REM sleep. The clock display cannot be turned off, but it gets dim enough that all but the most light sensitive won't have a problem with it. It also brightens when the light is on so that you can still see it (although the alarm light nearly overpowers the clock display, making it difficult to read). Overall: I would only recommend this product if you can work with electronics and disable the speaker. If not, I would recommend looking for a different product. How to remove the speaker: Disclaimer: This is provided for information only, to those with the skill and knowledge to work with electronics and PCBs. I take no responsibility for anything you do. To get to the PCB, the face has to be removed, which is glued on. There is a small tab at the junction of the face and the white plastic body at the 6 o'clock position which can be pried open with a small flathead screwdriver. Under the face, there are two screws at 12 and 6 o'clock positions just above and below the clock display, hidden by the gray sticker/cover. There is another screw hidden under the product ID sticker on the stand (where it says "Warning no serviceable parts inside"). There are some more obvious screws, and there are two small buttons that can fall out when the stand is opened. The PCB is held in by small plastic hooks, and the speaker is directly soldered to the PCB. I didn't glue the face back on because it stays on pretty well with just the little tab, but you might want to.

I've always been interested in waking up smoother. I have just used a typical iPhone alarm to wake me up in the mornings, jarring me awake no matter how deep asleep I was. I tried those apps that would attempt to wake you up in not REM sleep, really anything that would make waking up easier. Nothing worked, well, until this. I bought this little light on sale for $50 and it has been completely worth it. - It makes a great night light if you need to see your surroundings for a moment. - It goes from very dull to painfully bright (looking at it will hurt your eyes) - Adjustable clock brightness, won't strain your eyes if you happen to wake during the wee-hours of the morning (opposed to checking your phone which just kills your retinas) - I seem to wakeup easier. I am still tired when I get up, but it is a very calm wakening. The little beep it gives off is quaint and just loud enough to wake you and sometimes I find myself waking up with the light itself, getting up just before the alarm. My only real complaint lies in that you can only set one alarm and if you want to change it, your other alarm is now gone. It's not all that difficult to change your alarm and it only takes a moment, but a small function that allows multiple alarms would be appreciated. All in all, waking up is smoother and while I am certainly still tired (I am waking up after all), I am happy with the purchase.

I absolutely LOATHED morning and was an incredible grump. I'm not sure if it was this alarm clock, or I'm getting older, but I will say that after buying this wake-up light things did change. I'm a very light sleeper until about 2 hours before waking up then I sleep like the dead. The jarring screech of my old alarm clocks just set my morning off wrong. I was grumpy until about mid-morning. So, I heard about this sort of alarm clock and invest in it. Now, I know there is a more expensive model, but I can't imagine paying more when this one does all I need it to do. So this is my morning with the Wake-Up Light: I set the alarm for some ungodly time (5:45 a.m.) so I can be at work before my students get there and get situated. I set the light setting at #10 (VERY BRIGHT). About a half an hour before my alarm "goes off" the LED lights start to glow ever so faintly (I don't notice unless it's a sleepless night; then even that light wakes me up). Typically though, I don't notice the light until the relatively soft beep goes off. Then the lamp is bright as the sun. Apparently it's supposed to mimic waking up to the sun. All I know is when I wake up my eyes aren't sensitive to light, and I start my day ready to go and in a good mood. So whatever it is, I'm giving credit to this little lamp. Best purchase I've made in a long time.

When the Dream machine that I had used since the early 90s started making a strange electronic buzzing sound, I decided it was time to get a new alarm clock. I had heard about wake up lights and wanted to try one out. I chose this one even though there were no reviews because it was cheaper than most of the others and because I liked the look. I've used it two mornings now, and both have been some of the most pleasant mornings I've had! I wake up to the feeling of a slowly increasing light behind my eyelids. A few minutes later, a beeping alarm starts, which also increases in volume. Both mornings I've woken up with the light and didn't really need the buzzer, although it is nice for peace of mind. The time can be dimmed at night, so if the light from the display bothers you at all it can be significantly reduced. I'm deducting a star because there are a few things that could be improved on this clock. There is a snooze feature that is a bit hard to activate. The clock is very lightweight, so when you hit the snooze the clock wants to move around on the night stand. I also like using the clock as a bedside lamp and when you turn the light off it fades down which is a nice feature. However, there are 10 brightness settings. 10 is quite bright, and is what I like to wake up to. However, I prefer 4 or 5 when using it as a bedside table. After turning the light off at night, you have to crank the brightness back up to 10 for the alarm. Not a huge deal, but I'm worried I will forget to do it one night. It would be nice if you could set the alarm brightness independently. All in all I am happy with my purchase and would choose this clock again!

It's the simplest and cheapest of these light options that I found and it works great. Pretty much a must if you live in a northern city or are always having to wake up before sunrise! The nice easy slow wake up of the brightening light is much better than being jarred awake by your normal alarm! I tried out a mid-range version that friend had but I found the limited extra features weren't worth the extra cost. This model gives you the option to set the light brightness (1-10), dim the clock (but not turn it off completely), and set the volume of the alarm (1-10) which is a simple beeping style alarm sound. On these lights I prefer the actual buttons over the "touch sensitive" buttons of the mid-range versions and the simple beeping sound, though not as cool as the 4 "natural" sounds of some of the other versions.... is fine especially since by the time the alarm sound goes off you are pretty much awake anyway. The alarm sound just helps ensure you actually get up out of bed at that time.

Es excelente producto, Me lo recomendó un doctor para regular el cansancio crónico. Dudé comprarla por las opiniones respecto a la alarma, no es molesta, pero para no escuchar la alarma tan fuerte yo coloqué una calcomanía encima de la bocina y se escucha poco, lo suficiente para oírla sin estresarte, la la alarma ayuda en caso de que no te llegaras a parar con la luz (que no creo que pase, ya que es bastante luminosa para que te despierte) la luz no lastima los ojos y cuando me levanto ya no es necesario prender la luz de mi cuarto, al principio no confié mucho que me despertara, pero en tres días logré acostumbrarme y ahora no me despierto estresada tratando de apagar la alarma de mi celular. Mejoró mi ciclo de sueño, ya sólo tengo esa alarma para despertar y no las 20 alarmas que ponía antes en mi celular, definitivamente lo recomiendo.

I bought this for a friend in India. I actually got the right one for me in Europe and when I saw the same product on amazon, I ordered it. But the product is totally different as I saw in the picture. Disappointed with this order.

ラインナップは、HF3500、HF3510、HF3520、HF3550の4種（HF3530、HF3540も未確認ですが存在するかも）で、HF3500は一番下位モデルです。上位モデルになると、自然な音による目覚まし音、光の色味の調整、夜明けの光の再現機能、タッチパネル操作、アプリとの連携機能などが付きます。試しに買ってみて自分の体質に合うか試してみるには、最低限の機能を備えていると思います。 設定した時間の少し前から徐々に明るくなります。体調次第では設定している時間よりも早く目が醒めることもあります。設定した時間にはアラームも鳴るので、万一光だけで起きないときも安心。アラーム音だけよりも目覚めた際の意識はすっきりしていて、睡眠時間が少ない場合でも自然に起きられるようになりました。 上位モデルよりも奥行きがなく省スペースで軽量。目覚まし時間のセットと、明るさの設定以外に設定することがないので、２つのボタン操作で特に迷うことなく使いこなせます。 気になる点 アラームの音量は中の下くらいの大きさで、音量は調整できません。寝不足のときは、予備の目覚ましを用意されたほうが失敗がないと思います。

Después de configurarlo, que es sencillo, la luz se intensifica media hora antes hasta llegar al 100%, y empieza el sonido despertador, es lo que menciona el producto