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

I bought this happy light because it turns on a half an hour before he gets up. He doesn’t have to sit with it really close for a half an hour. It has made a remarkable difference in his mood and his sleep cycle.

This is the best light-up alarm clock that I've used.PROS1. 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).CONS1. 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.

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!

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!