The Best Sunrise Alarm Clocks of 2023

The Philips SmartSleep Wake-up Light is one of the pricier sunrise alarm clocks we found. Most of the investment clearly goes into the light itself, which is what pushes this clock to the top of our list.

The frosted matte plastic produces one of the most realistic wake-up light sunrises (and sunsets), growing from a deep red into a bright, warm white over 30 minutes.

While you won’t get features like colorful lighting, breathing or meditation exercises, a plethora of soundscapes, or connection with other smart home gadgets from the SmartSleep, you will get basic necessities. The SmartSleep has five fairly-realistic nature sounds and a few small buttons around the top to set the alarm, get ready for bed, or listen to a built-in FM radio.

The features this device lacks aren’t necessarily helpful for sleep, nor even useful in general. The real focus here are the 20 gorgeous brightness settings to personalize the intensity of your sunrise. This alarm excels at what it’s designed to do: simulate sunrise with a high quality light.

As far as bedtime routines, it offers a realistic, soothing sunset function (basically, the sunrise in reverse) that can work as a reading light before your room fully darkens. You can control the settings with the simple, intuitive LED screen.

Overall, for those who want a realistic sunrise and sunset, the Philips SmartSleep is our top choice. The light engulfed my room in a saturated glow that felt extremely natural and woke us up feeling ready for the day.

Despite the Jall Wake Up Light feeling a bit cheap, the light works beautifully and has a range of intensity choices. The product description says it's designed "especially for heavy sleepers," so if you’re a snoozer, this could be the pick for you.

Besides the sun simulation, the light has seven colorful glows that make for a nice touch in creating ambiance. The directions aren’t straightforward so be sure to read them thoroughly to learn the controls.

The low price becomes more evident when the speakers are in use. All three alarm tones—forest insect, ocean waves, and creek sound—sound muffled and low quality.

For the price, we think this is a decent choice. Just know you get what you pay for in terms of quality. It may not last forever.

For a more deluxe bedside device, the Philips Connected Sleep and Wake-Up Light offers some cool “smart” features. You still get a great sunrise and sunset experience, but you also get an intuitive touchscreen interface and a light-guided breathing exercise for mindfully winding down or starting your day. A free, in-depth app, the Philips SleepMapper, offers real-time data about your sleeping environment.

One major drawback: The doughnut design doesn’t produce the same light intensity as dome shaped models. Still, the quality of the light is just as stunning. The simulated sunrise gradually shifts from a deep red into an orange, then a bright, warm white—just not as brightly.

SmartSleep Wake-Up Light only has one sunrise color scheme. The touchscreen controls are intuitive and the app is easy to navigate, and both give you access to all of the alarm’s features.

Another standout feature is that the device monitors the bedroom’s ambient environment. It records room temperature, humidity, light level, and decibels to provide analysis and advice on how to improve sleep quality.

One small downside is that the setup process is more involved than others. We paired the alarm to my home’s Wi-Fi and the SleepMapper iPhone app, and it took a moment for the alarm to reconnect with both every night. Despite this minor flaw, it’s a great tool for learning more about and potentially improving your sleep. As long as you’ll use the lofty features, they’re worth shelling out for.