Philips Wake Up Light, White, 5 Natural Alarm Sounds, Sunrise Simulation, Midnight Light, HF3519/01

I've been putting off writing a review because I wanted to be sure of my opinion.My previous alarm clock was a bog standard £25 Philips one. It was a no frills item and did the job. However I HATE getting out of bed on a morning. I'm one of these people that has 8 alarms set on my mobile phone (that is hidden across the bedroom so I have to physically get out of bed to silence it) along with alarms set on my alarm clock.I'd recently managed to kill my old alarm clock when vacuuming behind the bed (the vacuum ate the wire) so figured I'd check out amazon since I'm a prime member and get the free delivery. I'd set out with a £30 budget but once browsing amazon I discovered the wonders and promises of these wake up light alarm clocks and the £30 budget went out of the window.So. First impressions. It is nicely constructed and has a reasonable weight to it. As another reviewer has said it wouldn't look out of place in an Apple showroom. In terms of build quality I don't see any issues.For me (I'm 28 and quite into tech) it is very easy to use and operate. Although I did have to sit for 10 minutes with the user manual to figure out how to change the alarm sound effects, alarm volume and wake up light brightness.When it comes to the wake up light alarm feature. It really does work! I don't spring out of bed on a morning full of beans. But I no longer need multiple alarms and I no longer fall back asleep after the alarm has sounded.There have been a few days where I wasn't quite sure if the wakeup light had woken me up before the alarm had sounded or if I'd been woken by family members clattering about the house. I have mine set so that the gradual sunrise effect starts 30 mins before the alarm sounds... by the time the 30 minutes is up the sunrise has completed, the sound effects start and the light is burning a hole in your eyelids if you have it set to its brightest setting and on a bedside unit.There was one day where the wake up light feature didn't really work because I'd slept facing away from it... however once the alarm itself started to sound I woke up and stayed awake because the bedroom was light from the wake up light feature.This morning confirmed it for me. At first I thought I was dreaming. It was one of those weird half dreams where you're half asleep and half awake. I was dreaming I was stood on a hill watching the sun rise, but then I mentally woke up a bit more and realised it wasn't a dream and what I was seeing was the light from the alarm clock, through my eyelids, nearing its brightest setting prior to the alarm sounding. I opened my eyes and woke up properly just as the alarm started with the sound of birds tweeting. I felt refreshed and properly awake.... something that never usually happens for me at 5am!In a nutshell.... For me it does work and I'm very happy with it. Yes it is expensive at £120 but it makes waking up on a dark winters morning much easier. It is nicely constructed and knowing what I know now, if I was to go back in time I'd have no hesitations in buying this item again.

I love my wake up light!! It took a long time for me to choose which one to get and to finally purchase one due to the price. Very glad I did!!!! I now wake up before the alarm and have been able to put a stop to the 5 alarms I used to use. Admittedly I still struggle to get out of bed though I am now wide awake and in a much better mood.I did read some reviews about the sound quality of the radio which did give me some concerns, though having had the unit for a couple of weeks I now find myself using it as just a radio. If you are expecting the type of sound quality you'd get from a stand alone stereo then yes you may be disappointed. It is by no means has a "tinny" sound or "echos".I was also pleasantly surprised at how easy it is to change the settings as many reviews make it seem really complicated. Setting times for the alarm is really easy to do and if you are using the same time each day you just press the alarm button on the side and select twice.The snooze is a little too long at 9 minutes thought I do tend to use the touch snooze to just turn off the birds and not actually as a snooze function.I particularly like the sunset feature and have found it really does help you drift off into a good sleep.The digital display does stay lit up all the time though the brightness of this changes with the light i.e it dims in the dark. It is not a harsh light and have not had any issues with it keeping me awake or waking me up and I am highly sensitive to outside lights.

I'll try to make this helpful, as there are already so many reviews. The '3519' model is the one Amazon calls '5 natural alarm sounds', it is the cheapest of this type and it also has FM radio.After lots of reading and deliberation, I chose this model because it has all the features I particularly wanted:*Clinically proven/medical grade*Customisable settings*Two separate alarms*Battery backup (up to 8 hours)*Birdsong wakeup sound*Sunset (also customisable)*Option to turn the display completely OFF*Doubles up as a bedside lampOther pros: It doesn't lose time [UPDATE: after 8 months and two power cuts, it lost 1 minute; I'm happy with that)]; you can change the time of the alarm without going through all the other settings; the light graduation is pleasant (both sunrise and sunset); and it's intuitive to use, which I hadn't expected from the negative reviews. In fact, the only functions I wouldn't have figured out without the instructions were how to demo the alarm/s, which buttons turn the alarm off whilst leaving it set for the next day (for me tapping Menu is easiest - if the display is off, it lights up again when your hand gets near); and toggling the feedback beep on or off. Everything else is easy to figure out straight out of the box.It may go without saying, but most importantly, it is a much more pleasant way to wake up than an alarm jolting you from your slumber. I have the light and sound set to well below max and it always wakes me up gently without the need for a backup alarm. I am also trying to train myself to fall asleep with the sunset - that's still a work in progress, but at worst it is a lovely soothing fading light.There are of course some cons, the main one being it is VERY expensive for what it is, I've wanted/needed something like this for decades, but couldn't afford a decent Philips/Lumie until now (and very much expect the cheap versions are false economy). I also can't see any sense in paying more for the similar Philips options, unless the extra wakeup sounds are very important to you. Which brings me to my next con: the birdsong is awful! Not pleasant sounding at all, with only a short loop and some unintelligible background noise. It's really not difficult to find a beautiful morning chorus, and for the very premium price, this was very disappointing. However, it does make me snooze or turn it off and get up quicker, so mission accomplished I guess!?The radio is also pretty pants, as others have said, so if that's important to you, you'll be very disappointed with this product. I actually thought mine was faulty because when I demo'd the alarms, it only ever played the radio, not the wakeup sound I'd set. I decided that rather than have the faff of returning it, I'd just tune the radio to nothing and have it play quiet white noise. But then it did play the wakeup sound in the morning.Unlike some other reviewers, I do not find the buttons difficult to find or use when sleepy at all. Pressing the sunset button can move the whole unit, though, as it's situated at 3 o'clock - Philips could have added a weight inside to counter this, which would also have made it feel more premium!In summary, a good quality wakeup light is a truly wonderful gadget that many of us need and most of us would greatly benefit from. But the price is prohibitive, and much too high for what it is.