5 Best Sunrise Alarm Clocks, Tested & Reviewed

Sometimes it can be difficult to get out of bed, but not with this sunrise alarm clock from Philips. Our tech pros love that the built-in wake-up light gradually increases in brightness and adjusts its shade from red to yellow before your alarm clock sounds to help naturally stimulate your body and ease you out of bed. In a similar fashion, you can use the sunset simulation that slowly dims the lighting to help you wind down and relax when it's time for bed. When testing the alarm clock at home, our tech experts were impressed by the clock's performance and easy-to-use interface.

Other features include a soft light you can use to navigate to the bathroom in the middle of the night, an intuitive touch interface, up to 25 brightness settings and access to local FM radio stations. Just keep in mind that this SmartSleep alarm clock cannot connect to your smartphone via Bluetooth so you aren’t able to customize the sounds you wake up to beyond the clock’s seven built-in wake-up sounds. That also means you won’t be able to use an app to adjust any settings; for smartphone compatibility, we recommend the slightly pricier SmartSleep Connected Sleep and Wake-Up Light.

Featuring more than 25,000 reviews and an average 4.3-star rating, you can’t go wrong with this super affordable sunrise alarm clock from Jall. It comes in three different configurations, including a wood grain shade our pros love, and is designed for both adults and kids. Like other sunrise alarm clocks, it’ll slowly wake you up by increasing its brightness over the span of 30 minutes (or 20 or 10 if you prefer) along with one of eight sounds. Brightness can be adjusted to 20 different levels, and you can also choose among several shades as you lounge in bed.

But what we love most is that it comes with some of the features you’ll find in more premium, and pricey, alarm clocks like FM radio and a night light. While it doesn’t feature a touch display, our tech experts found the buttons intuitive and straightforward to operate once you're familiar with where they are.

The product analysts at the GH Institute are already fans of Casper mattresses, but we also love the compact, sleek design of the brand’s Glow Light. The soft self-dimming light should help you drift off to sleep as well as slowly wake up in the morning. Brightness levels can be adjusted with a quick twist of the light and a shake enables an ambient light so you can make your way around the house without waking anyone up.

Our experts appreciate that the light can be further customized in the Glow app, where you can create bedtime and morning schedules or even sync multiple Glow lights together. Though not having a display or many physical buttons to operate the lamp might take a few nights to get used to, we found it super easy to use and responsive overall. Just keep in mind that this sunrise alarm clock doesn’t actually feature speakers so you’ll have to rely on waking up to light only.

Not only does this sunrise alarm clock come in the shape of a rising sun that’ll look beautiful on any nightstand, but it has everything you need to help you improve your sleep routine. It features soothing sounds like white noise or “forest birds” that you can listen to whether you’re trying to fall asleep or slowly wake up. Plus, you can set the mood with a bedside light that is adjustable to your liking straight from your smartphone.

Our pros love the Restore 2's minimalist design that’s available in three colors, as well as its intuitive interface that includes three buttons. Though a subscription isn’t required to use the Restore 2, for $4.99 per month you’ll have access to premium features such as customizable routines and an extensive audio library. "I used to need five to six alarms to wake up in the morning but now I wake up almost instantly," says Grace Wu, product analyst at the Good Housekeeping Institute. She does note, however, that if her eyes are under the covers from moving around at night, that defeats the purpose of the sunrise element.

READ MORE: My Honest Review of the Hatch Restore 2 Sunrise Alarm Clock

Similar to other SmartSleep alarm clocks, this one will help you wake up naturally with a combination of light and sound. Though we’ll admit that its design isn’t quite as sleek as pricier picks, you’ll get many of the same features but at a lower price. The Wake-Up Light has five sounds built-in as well as FM radio and 20 brightness settings. Colors used for the sunrise and sunset simulation include red, orange and yellow and there’s a midnight light so you can navigate the dark without lighting up your bedroom.

“It really helps me ease into my morning by gradually mimicking sunrise when it's pitch black outside,” said one tester. “It also has an option for bird calls as the alarm sound, which is so much more soothing than the usual beeping noises.” One con to note, according to our pros: The controls can feel a little hard to understand when you want to set up the functions.