7 Best Sunrise Alarm Clocks (2025), Tested and Reviewed | WIRED

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The Best Sunrise Alarm Clock

Amazon

Most Futuristic Sunrise Alarm Clock

Amazon

Best Budget Sunrise Alarm Clock

Amazon

Best Intuitive Controls (and Portability!)

Amazon (Pack of 2)

If you aren’t feeling rested when your alarm goes off, a sunrise alarm clock could change your life (or at least your mornings). Waking up to a sudden loud alarm isn’t exactly a fun way to start your day, and the disruptive jolt might not work to tell your body it’s time to rise. I’m a chronic snooze-button kind of gal, and I find a sunrise alarm clock is super helpful for me to actually wake up when my alarm goes off, since the growing light helps tell my body it’s time to wake up—and that bright light is much, much harder to ignore.

After weeks of sleeping with a sunrise alarm clock at my bedside, I've seen a nice improvement in how alert I feel in the mornings. I'm still not a hop-out-of-bed morning person, but I find myself actually staying awake after my alarm in the gentle glow of these sunrise lamps rather than just going back to bed for another hour. Plus, as someone who has trouble falling asleep at night, alarms with a sunset routine option have become a boon to help me both go to sleep and wake up.

After trying nearly every sunrise alarm clock on the market, my favorite to recommend is the Lumie Bodyclock Luxe 700FM ($249). It's beautiful and bright, easily doubling as both a sunrise alarm clock and a bedside lamp (and can do wind-down routines, too!). The Philips SmartSleep Sleep and Wake-Up Light ($195) is another great option with similar capabilities. Looking for something super easy to use? The Casper Glow Light ($111) is small but powerful, letting you physically twist it to brighten or lower the lamp, and flip it upside down to turn it on or off.

While you’re here, don't miss our other sleep guides, including the Best Extreme Alarm Clocks, Best Sheets, Best Pillows, Best Weighted Blankets, Best Sound Machines, and Best Mattresses.

Updated May 2025: The Lumie Bodyclock Luxe 700FM is the new top pick in this guide, and we've also added the Dreamegg Sunrise Alarm as a new budget pick. We've also added a new FAQ section.

Lumie

Amazon

Lumie

This sunrise alarm clock has it all, and looks good while doing it. The Lumie Bodyclock Luxe 700FM's light gets bright enough to fill my bedroom with plenty of light to get ready for bed and read a book, and it's easy to quickly switch on the light using one of the two dials on the Luxe 700FM's face. It also has a nice range of 27 sound options, though some are a little weird—I'm not sure if anyone would want to wake up to the sound of goats or a movie projector, but the options are there if you want them. The FM in the name comes from the built-in radio, and there's a telescoping antenna in the back.

You can set up both sunrise and sunset routines, but you'll need the manual to figure it out. The manual is plenty easy to follow, and the steps aren't complicated, but the device itself and its buttons aren't super intuitive. You'll also need to switch on the alarm each night for the following day, or painstakingly set up weekly routines, but it's nice that you can easily toggle it on for the weekdays and not turn it on for Saturday morning. Once you get the controls down and routines set, it’s easy and enjoyable to use as a bedside lamp and an alarm clock, and I also enjoyed the sunset routine to help me wind down as I read my Kindle. The fabric finish also gives it a nice look on my bedside table.

Philips

Amazon

This futuristic-looking, circular sunrise alarm clock from Philips looks straight from a sci-fi movie, but packs all the features you'll want in a modern sunrise alarm. It has both sunrise and sunset routines, nine relaxing sounds to use for either bedtime or the morning, an easy setup that you won't need a manual for, a built-in FM radio (though it's best for selecting a single station to wake up to rather than surfing the channels), and a soft night-light you can easily tap on and off for a quick dash to the bathroom.

Everything on the Philips SmartSleep Sleep and Wake-Up Light is done on the touchscreen, which has deep-yellow lettering that navigates you through setting up the time and your sunrise alarm. My only complaint about this touchscreen panel is that the lettering is a little hard to read when the light is at its full brightness. But that might be the point, since you can only turn off the sunrise alarm by touching the alarm button on the screen, requiring you to face the sunlight in order to try and stop it. You can tap the top of the device to turn off whatever music you've chosen, but the light itself will stay on—perfect for actually staying awake. Sadly, there's only 10 sounds total, which is a bummer for the price.

Dreamegg

Amazon

Walmart

This petite sunrise alarm clock is smaller than the Hatch and a similar size to the WiiM below, but the Dreamegg Sunrise 1 is cheaper (often for close to half the price of the Hatch), still gets surprisingly bright, and has a range of colors. It's usually on sale, too. It has all the basic features you could want: simple sunrise programming, six sound and nine color options, and easy access to activate those colors as a small bedside nightlight. There's no sunset option, but for this price you're still getting a nice range of features.

There are several buttons on the top to control the clock, alarm, and light features. I also really like the two dials on the side: One controls the brightness of the clock face, so you can brighten it to see the time and easily dim it so it doesn't bother you while you sleep (a feature of most digital clocks that I hate!) and another dial on the other side to quickly brighten or dim the light itself. It's really easy to control, and the small but powerful light really has helped me wake up in the mornings.

I prefer it without sounds, though, similar to how I use the Loftie Lamp, but especially since snoozing the Dreamegg will turn both sound and light off. Most others only turn the sound off and leave the light on so you can keep rousing. I also found the sounds a little too relaxing, so just having the light blast my face until I got out of bed was the best method with this sunrise alarm.

Casper

Amazon (Pack of 2)

Amazon

Casper

The Casper Glow Light is one of the smallest lights I've tested, but it managed to be plenty bright to wake me up in the morning. Not only is this little light incredibly bright, it's also super simple to use with both physical controls and app setup. Within the Casper Glow app—which is unfortunately iOS only—you set up your wake-up time, and the Glow Light will start to brighten 30 minutes before that set time. You can also set how long you want your Glow Light to dim for, which it will use both in the evenings and after it finishes waking you up.

But the real fun comes from the physical controls and flexibility. The Glow Light is a battery-operated stand-alone lamp that you can pick up and move around to use, and you turn it on and off by flipping it upside down onto the other side. When you turn it on, it will immediately activate its highest brightness and will dim for the amount of time set in the app (default is 45 minutes). You can also press the button on top of the Glow Light to pause the dimming, and twist the light to either the left or right to make it brighter or dimmer. It's so easy that my two-year-old thought this thing was a light toy rather than my personal alarm clock. The immediate wind-down light is plenty of time for me to lay in bed and read, but I love rotating the light to get my perfect level of brightness as I relax in bed.

It has a little charging base it can sit on and is supposed to last around seven hours of brightness on a charge. That should be about three days of use if you have it bright for about an hour before bed and in the morning. Some nights I keep it on the charging pad, while others I just leave it on my bedside table. It's a really handy little light, and one I plan to travel with since it's so compact. The only downside of this adorable lamp is that there's no sound options.

Hatch

Amazon

Hatch

The Hatch Restore 3 (8/10, WIRED Recommends) arrived at the start of 2025, replacing the popular Hatch Restore 2. The Restore 3 has everything the previous model had, but with much better physical controls. Instead of just two buttons like the 2, the Restore 3 has four buttons (one of which doubles as a dial to adjust volume) and an alarm toggle, allowing you to better interact with the routines you create in the Hatch app without needing to touch your phone.

I really love this device, especially since you can create bedtime routines with multiple layers—mine starts with a moody red light and some folky music for 10 minutes before switching the light off and switching to ocean sounds. The new buttons are also a game changer, making it easy to adjust the volume, switch between steps in your routine, turn on the Hatch's bedside light mode, and even switch off your alarm for the next morning without needing to change your alarm settings in the app. It makes the app less necessary once you've set up your routines, which is a huge relief.

The only bummer is that this light doesn't get as bright as others. The bedside lamp mode is more of a reading lamp, and I find it too easy to go back to sleep; the Philips and Lumie are more effective at actually getting me up. Make sure you choose good sounds to force you to wake up if you're the type to roll back over and try to sleep a little longer. You'll also need a Hatch+ membership ($3 a month) to get access to all of the sound content Hatch has to offer and more routine options.

Loftie

Loftie

The Loftie Lamp is a beautiful lamp. The entire body of the lamp is the light itself, and there's a mesh metal lampshade that's mostly there for decoration while the rest of the lamp does the real work. Using the Loftie app, you can set an alarm that will signal the lamp to light up, and what the app calls a “wind-down” to signal the lamp to dim.

Both of these work well enough, but if you want an actual alarm tone to go off, you need to pair the lamp with the Loftie Clock (7/10, WIRED Recommends). The time for both the sunrise and sunset is only about nine minutes, and you can't customize it to take longer like you can with our other picks. Having the clock and lamp go off at the same time didn't make me feel as gently roused as other sunrise lamps, but I found that I had a similar experience if I set the Loftie to light up 15 minutes before my alarm went off. It's a good option if you don't want an alarm but just want your room to brighten, and it does make for a fantastic bedside lamp. It tends to always stay on my bedside, even if I'm testing another sunrise alarm.

The price on this lamp has gone up significantly due to tariffs, raising from $275 to $450 as its new base price (though it's currently on sale in the $300 range on both Amazon and Loftie's own site). It was already a splurge, and is even more of one now.

WiiM

Amazon

The WiiM Wake-Up Light is a small device, but it turns out to be surprisingly powerful. It has a companion app where you set up the sunrise alarm and bedtime routines and can access a huge range of sounds—from the classics like white noise, thunderstorms, or a forest stream to more specific options like Healing Music for Insomnia (a gentle piano piece) or Santa Giulia Beach, which I can only assume was recorded on the French shore it's named after. There's also a big range of colors the WiiM can show, and it reminds me of a smart light bulb since it has color combinations and light shows to choose from. Even with the clock's small size, I found the reading light mode is a nice brightness to read a book by, though it didn't fill the room like the Lumie above. It also has one of the bigger sound libraries, with just over 100 sound and radio station options you can choose in the app to wake up or fall asleep to.

I really liked the app controls for the WiiM, which made it easy to set up my routines and even turn on relaxing sounds on a timer to enjoy before bed. The WiiM requires an active Wi-Fi connection to work, though, so if your Wi-Fi isn't stable, you could miss your alarm. It also offers Alexa integration and has a built-in microphone so that it can double as a smart home assistant (which, again, needs that stable Wi-Fi). I also don't love that when I go to quiet the alarm, both the sound and the light turn off. You can easily hit the light button to switch it back on, which I do to stay awake, but if you're a chronic snoozer you might want to set up backup alarms.

Philips Hue

Amazon (2 Bulbs, Hub)

If you don't want to get another device and wish your existing bedroom light would just gradually turn on (or suddenly blast you in the face with light, up to you), consider investing in a couple of smart bulbs. Smart bulbs can be controlled via apps to turn on and off on a schedule, and some brands like Philips Hue offer options at sunrise and sunset, too.

The downside is that these routines are very set at specific times. This is great for waking up in the morning but not as handy if your bedtime isn't at a specific time, so you can't just tap the button to start the nighttime routine. You also won't have a connected sound machine or alarm option, though you could set up a different device to sound off at the same time the lights go on. It's a better investment to use anywhere in your house, since smart lights are handy in any room, but doesn't have all the same capabilities and convenience of one device that a true sunrise alarm clock can offer.

Vivilumens Sunrise Alarm Clock for $36: This sunrise alarm works fine but seems better suited as a desk lamp than a true sunrise alarm. But it could be a fun pick if you live in a studio and need a device that can both work for your desk or your bedside alarm. It also has a USB-A charging port and can show time as 24 or 12 hour.

Philips SmartSleep Wake-Up Light (HF3520/60) for $109: This might sound similar to the lamp we recommend above, but it has a different shape and is missing the word “Sleep” from the name because it doesn't offer a nighttime routine like our top pick. But it still works great as a morning sunrise lamp, and similar to the other Philips model, it's easy to set up without any instructions on hand. It's a good affordable model, but not as cheap as other options with similar offerings.

Lumie BodyClock Glow 150 for $129: This cute little clock worked fine, but our other picks are bigger and brighter. You could get the WiiM for the same price, or the Philips HF3520 for even cheaper.

Lumie Shine 300 for $159: This sunrise alarm is pretty similar to the Luxe 700FM but doesn't have as many radio-forward features like the telescoping antenna and multiple channel-saving buttons, and the light controls aren't as easy as the dial. But if you don't mind those changes and want to spend less money, the Shine 300 is a great alternative choice. It's out of stock right now on Amazon and Lumie's site, but we expect it to return.

Hatch Restore 2 for $170: Hatch isn't selling this model any longer, but you can find it on some third-party retailers and sites like Amazon and eBay. It's a fine device that gives you the same app and sound offerings as the Hatch Restore 3, but the Restore 3 has much better controls. I recommend skipping this device for the newer model.

Philips SmartSleep Sleep and Wake-Up Light for $220: We previously recommended this sunrise alarm, formerly known as Somneo. Its name is nearly identical to our top pick, and it has the same shape. The Connected version had an app and extra capabilities similar to the WiiM, but it's no longer available.

Your body is built to wake naturally with the sunrise and feel sleepy as the sun sets. The light at both the beginning and end of the day is a warm, golden tone, unlike the midday bright, slightly blue sunlight that keeps you wide awake. A sunrise alarm clock mimics this transition from morning to bright daytime light, helping to signal your body to wake up (or fall asleep, if the clock also has a sunset option).

Each alarm below offers a sunrise routine, meaning you choose a time to wake up and then the alarm clock will start displaying a deep orange glow and transition to a bright light by the time your alarm is set for. Some offer customization, allowing you to choose how long you want that artificial sunrise to be, while others have set timers. Some also allow the reverse option with a sunset routine and can double as sound machines. Most of these plug into the wall like a classic alarm clock and stay put, though sometimes there's a companion app or recharging capabilities (if it's not mentioned, though, assume it doesn’t).

There's a lot of features to consider in a sunrise alarm, but which ones that you'll like best vary by person.

If you struggle to fall asleep: splurge on a lamp with a nighttime or wind-down routine. These help build a routine for you to fall asleep to.

If you need a bedside lamp and sunrise alarm: get a brighter sunrise alarm that has easy controls to switch it on as a bedside lamp. Not all sunrise alarm clocks have these, so check the details carefully (and reviews like ours)

If you want a specific bedside sound: check how many sounds are offered. Just about every sunrise alarm clock has some sound machine features and options, but cheaper ones tend to only have a couple of sounds.

If you want app control: some options in this guide don't have a partner app or Wi-Fi capabilities, especially some of my favorites. An app doesn't necessarily make it a better sunrise alarm, but it can be convenient to use. If you prefer an app to set up your sunrise alarm, shop the Casper, Hatch, WiiM, and Loftie.

I tested each recommended sunrise alarm clock on my bedside in a room with blackout curtains to see how much it could really brighten a room over the course of its sunrise routine. I slept with each sunrise alarm for anywhere between one and seven nights, depending on its performance. I also tried out the various sound options each machine had to offer to both test the speakers and see how pleasant the sounds were to wake up or fall asleep to. If there was a nighttime routine option, I tested that too.

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