Philips SmartSleep Wake-up Light, Colored Sunrise and Sunset Simulation, 5 Natural Sounds, FM Radio & Reading Lamp, Tap Snooze, HF3520/60

Read this if you are NOT a morning person. Disclaimer: ahead is an unnecessarily lengthy and entirely over exaggerated description of a mediocre moment in my life. Enjoy!This week I decided I needed a change. I began my search for something refreshing to kick start my mornings. So, I bought a new alarm clock called the Wake Up Light. If you don't know what I'm talking about, prepare to be amazed, dear friend. It's an orb shaped apparatus that you set to the desired wake up time just like a regular alarm clock. However, unlike the traditional concept of inducing a mild heart attack with harsh blaring or ringing, this one will gently wake you by emitting light. This starts 30 minutes before you need to get out of bed and take charge of your life. At the beginning, it starts out as a soft red glow, and gradually increases over those 30 minutes into a bright white light. The idea is for this to simulate a sunrise. Pretty fancy, right? In the words of the great Billy Mays (may he Rest In Peace) "BUT WAIT THERE'S MORE!"This fantastically designed sphere of happiness gives you 5 peaceful alarm options to choose from as well. I chose the birds chirping, because who doesn't want to wake up feeling like Snow White surrounded by her fuzzy critter friends? I am 100% serious when I say that I felt just like that this morning. I wanted to go outside and dance in the puddles while wearing a dress made of rose petals hand stitched by fairies, meanwhile spinning around in circles and singing to all of the cute little forest dwellers. Side note: I don't actually live anywhere near the forest, but you get the point.Before this wonderful ball of light entered my life in an Amazon Prime box by the front door, I was absolutely appalled by my iPhone alarm sounding off every morning. Why? Well, I'm so glad you asked! Simply because every evening, I would beg my iPhone to wake me at 6:30 the following morning. I would open my clock app and politely slide the small grey buttons, revealing a green bubble that indicated my request had been processed and approved. However, despite my nightly requests, the iPhone failed me time after time. (I hate to break it to you Apple, but your alarms are ineffective and no match for a heavy sleeper like me.) Eventually, the amount of green lights illuminating from my cellular device became excessive and quite frankly, annoying. In order for me to wake up at 6:30, my alarms began going off at 5:00 and continued in 5-10 minute increments. I know what you're thinking, and yes, it was absolutely necessary to set that many alarms.Even so, my mornings usually began with my barely open eyes searching for the small rectangle of malevolence called "Audrey's iPhone". My sleepy eyes along with my sheet creased arms would move in unison on the bedside table to try and locate the device. My finger eagerly detected and pressed the side button demanding it cease production of the vile screeches overflowing into my bedroom and filling my ears. Once I had triumphantly silenced the alarms, I would squint at the clock with my tangled hair obstructing my already blurred vision. With hopes of seeing the screen display 6:30, I would be crushed by the reality that I had once again overslept. 7:00 would begin mocking me on the screen, as I fumbled through the dark reciting my traditional panicked morning chant, "Oh, no I'm going to be so late!"This every morning routine was beginning to have a negative impact on my poor husband as well. I am sure he was losing sleep because of this, even though he would never admit it. Not to mention, the funky intro to Brass Monkey on repeat can bring even the biggest Beastie Boys fan to the point of nearing a psychotic break, but I digress.Today was different. Even though I went to sleep at the ungodly hour of 2:00, this morning was an awakening accompanied by true peace and serenity. The light began its ascent to full illumination at 6:00. Although I did not stir at this point, I sat up fully awake at exactly 6:16. This glorious clock had not even fully completed the process of gently pulling me away from my dream, yet there I was, awake, baffled, and overwhelmed with joy. I attempted to fall back asleep and indulge in the remaining 14 minutes of sleep, but, alas, I could not. This clock had defeated me. Without a single shred of resentment toward my new favorite device, I left the comfort of my bed, and let the dogs outside with a smile on my face. I was ready to conquer this Friday, and I had my new alarm to thank for it.No longer are my days of sleeping past the time I should have already been on my way to work. No longer are my days of distaste for the iPhone. No longer are the days I wake up startled and confused. Thank you, Philips for your wonderful, life changing creation.If you are anything like me, please do yourself a favor and purchase one of these immediately. Seriously, you will (obviously) not regret it.

I purchased this sunrise simulator alarm clock almost 5 and a half years ago (September 2016). I am happy to see it is still available on Amazon. The price doesn't appear to have changed much, but perhaps that's just because this thing is so great!!I use this every day. This gives you the option for two alarm settings, so I have one set for weekdays and another set for weekends. My wake-up sound of choice? Birds chirping. There are a few other serene sounds you can choose as well.About a half hour before your alarm is set to go off, the sunrise simulator starts up. It starts with a dull, deep red and gradually gets brighter, then goes orange and gradually gets brighter and more golden, then it starts going white the brighter it gets until your alarm goes off. When the alarm goes off, it starts off quiet and gradually gets louder. You can choose how loud you want the alarm to get.You have three options at this point. You can either press the alarm button to reset it for the next day, press the alarm button twice to shut off the alarm completely until you press it again to turn it back on, or you can tap the clock (or the table it's sitting on, which is what I do) for it to snooze for 9 minutes. It will snooze for up to an hour before resetting itself for the next day. You will have to turn the light off yourself regardless of which option you choose. I do wish the alarm didn't auto shut off after an hour though, but I think the reason behind it is in case you forget to hit the alarm button to reset it or shut it off. I've done this on occasion and came back into my room after a shower with the alarm going off, but it will shut itself off eventually.This is not a smart device, in that it doesn't connect to wifi or bluetooth. You will have to change the clock twice a year for daylight saving time.I don't usually use the radio, but I have bumped the button a few times to know it works. It does come with an attached antenna as well, which is just a thin rubber coated wire.I don't typically use the sunset/sleep setting to really have anything to say about it other than it works.One thing I like about the clock display is it auto brightens and auto dims according to the room's light setting. The clock is dull enough when the lights are out that it won't bother you if you're trying to sleep and the clock will brighten in sunlight or when the lights are on so you can see it better. Also, you're able to choose the clock to display a 24 hour clock or 12 hour clock (00:01 to 23:59 or 12:00-11:59am to 12:00-11:59pm).I also use this as a bedside lamp as well, if I've got the TV on or if I'm reading a book. I like that there are 20 brightness settings. It can also be used as a night light.One con is trying to navigate the buttons. It's tougher when the light is at full brightness because you can't see the buttons very well. There are three buttons together at the top left for brightness down, light on/off, and brightness up. There is a small brail-type dot on the on/off button but it's not noticeable enough not to accidently change the brightness when you're trying to turn it off. You more or less need to close your eyes and let your sense of touch figure it out for you. It's really not that big of a deal though, just a little annoying.The only time I've bumped the radio button or the sunset button is because I don't always use the second alarm and I'm trying to figure out which button is which.Overall, I love this thing! It really works, though nothing will ever be as good as actually waking up to the sun coming in. This is a particularly important tool to have if you suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) or have blackout curtains because you work midnight shifts, or maybe you're just not a morning person. Waking up to a nature sound is a nice touch too.I want to make note that some reviews have mentioned not being able to replace the light bulb or the light stops working in 2-3 years... again, I have had this for 5 years and 4 months now and I have never had the light stop working. It's still going strong. And I use this 5-7 days per week and have since I purchased it.The only things about it I wish were different are making the buttons easier to navigate when the light is bright (best way I can do this now is turning the brightness down before trying to discover the on/off button) and I wish the clock changed automatically in accordance to Daylight Saving Time. If anything does happen to this one, though, I will most definitely be purchasing another.Update January 2026: 7 months shy of 10 years... it died. I got up in the middle of the night to use the toilet, turned on the light on the sunrise simulator which I keep set low like a nightlight, took a few steps towards my bedroom door, and it turned off. No clock either. I had been noticing the past maybe 2 weeks that it had been making the clicking sound it makes when you press the menu buttons. I heard it maybe twice when I was in bed and they were lit up like they'd been touched. Perhaps that was my warning that it was about to go. I've come back here to purchase another - either an upgraded one or the same one. I don't really see any upgraded ones... and this one has increased in price by 50%!! Although I don't want anything but another of these, I will be looking at other brands and weigh my options. Breaks my heart to say that, actually.... but a replacement is a MUST.

I do like the light. It does do what it says, but the one problem I have with it is that it is VERY directional. Sleeping on one side and its like headlights in your face. On the other side its pleasant (back facing the light) and wakes me up nicely. I would lower the brightness, but I dont think a low brightness would wake me if I werent facing it (and I roll around all during the night, I wake up on either side). Looking toward the clock made it tough for me to turn off because it was so bright. I was still only using brightness 14 of 20 and its plenty bright. So if you are worried about brightness, I would say, dont be.I got the product because of my extreme sensitivity to light. Turning on a light in the morning takes me a little while to adjust to (complete dark to bright light). I like this idea of this clock as it did help with my adjusting to light phase. It gave my eyes time to "wake up" even if me eyes were closed, its not pitch black and they are slowly adjusting.Im returning my order because my clock would not snooze the audio when I touched it. As I was going to replace the product, I came across the Hue lights also by Philips. They also have an alarm feature (9 minute fade in) and Im sure the light doesnt adjust as awesomely as this one does, but I am going to try those with a light on each side of the bed and see if that helps.Also, these are not really to be used as a light for a room, its very directional. If you dont have vision problems with sensitivity to light like me, this will probably be awesome. Ill update with how I like the philips hue as an alarm.Update:After a day of playing with the Hue, I really like it. There is a reason that the same company sells both items. The Hue cannot come close to the brightness levels of this alarm clock. The clock can get significantly brighter (but its more like a spotlight, the Hue lights up the room/scattered light) and the major thing is that the alarm can get extremely dim. The Hue lights will probably wake light sleepers up when they come on due to not being able to get as dim as the alarm clock. They do get pretty dim, but they come on all of a sudden. They just cannot match the great progression of dark to light of the alarm clock.Im personally going to try to put a dark shade on the hue light to dim it down some and have another light across the room come on a few minutes after the one by my bed. For now, Im keeping the Hue lights, and going to try to adjust them to wake me up...If I cannot I will rebuy one of these alarm clocks and have it come on like 10 minutes before the hue lights start lighting up the whole room.

Originally purchased my Philips SmartSleep, years ago, in order to awaken with light and it does a great job of this. However, the true bonus turned out to be the pleasant efficacy of its sunset simulator go-to-sleep feature. Imagine a light that not only dims over time but also reddens as it dims, and goes through the sort of pinkish-orangish red reminiscent of beautiful sunsets, providing a pre-sleep ambience whose gradually diminishing intensity and simultaneously increasingly red hue does indeed physiologically prepare you to go to sleep.Another Philips SmartSleep plus is that it has intuitive integral controls, ideal for simply winding down without needing to use a screen and/or app in order to set it. While app-based products may offer more proverbial bells and whistles, they also inevitably lengthen the time required to get to sleep... sometimes even defeating the purpose via temptation for just one more text/email message, just one more social.media refresh, just one more news scroll-through, and so on, for however many minutes or hours.The only thing that could be better about the Philips SmartSleep would be if it had a touch-to-activitate nightlight mode, whereby touching anywhere (or, at least, a very large and centrally located button) would either provide a dim reddish light or turn it off.Although easy enough to turn on and off using small buttons while one is awake, this isn't necessarily ideal human factors engineering for the semi-awake, semi-coordinated.Finally, other than this potential improvement, the Philips SmartSleep is well-designed, effective, well-made, and well worth the nightstand real estate it elegantly occupies. While initially shopping, opted for this based on its features, design, and manufacturer -- a decision that has thus far resulted in several years of reliable usage. And, as mentioned, purchased to enable waking-to-light, and soon found that its *sunset* simulation sleep feature was just as pleasant, if not perhaps more so, than the sunrise simulation wake-up. Dividing its cost by the number of days in use, and considering the value of waking up to light, plus being able to add sunset simulation as a pre-sleep cue, Originally purchased my Philips SmartSleep, years ago, in order to awaken with light and it does a great job of this. However, the true bonus turned out to be the pleasant efficacy of its sunset simulator go-to-sleep feature. Imagine a light that not only dims over time but also reddens as it dims, and goes through the sort of pinkish-orangish red reminiscent of beautiful sunsets, providing perfect ambiance for one's journey into restful sleep.Another Philips SmartSleep plus is that it has integral controls, ideal for just winding down without having to use a screen and/or app in order to set it.The only thing that could be better about the Philips SmartSleep would be if it had a touch-to-activitate nightlight mode, whereby touching anywhere (or, at least, a very large and centrally located button) would either provide a dim reddish light or turn it off.Although easy enough to turn on and off using small buttons while one is awake, this isn't ideal human factors engineering for the semi-awake.Other than this potential improvement, the Philips SmartSleep is well-designed, effective, well-made, and well worth the nightstand real estate it elegantly occupies. Since it's used daily, this product's cost became rather negligible over time (price divided by number of days over however many years), and its reliability has proved positively priceless.

After reading all the reviews about poor design and an extremely complicated set-up, I was a little worried about getting this (because it's so much money to just throw away on something). Now that I've gotten mine, it seems that either Phillips has completely redesigned the directions or everyone was being extremely sarcastic and I didn't realize it. They honestly couldn't make it any easier. It comes with a instruction manual and every page is a different component (i.e how to set an alarm, how to use the light, how to change the brightness) all with written step-by-step instructions as well as pictures. All you have to do is follow along. The only (and I mean ONLY) thing that could slightly screw someone up is that instructions on changing from a 24-hour clock to a 12-hour clock comes after "how to set an alarm" in the manual and should come before, that way you don't have to go back and re-set your alarm. In total, set-up probably took me about 10 minutes tops.The argument about design is also extremely over exaggerated. Yes, the buttons are around the outside of the "circle". None are below the lower half, so the comment on having to pick it up to reach a button doesn't make sense, they are all easily accessible. They are also in my opinion extremely intuitive as to what they do. The alarm button has a picture of an alarm clock. The light button has a picture of a sun with +/- buttons next to it to change brightness. The sound button is a music note with +/- buttons next to it to change volume. And the sunset timer has a little sleeping person on it. Those are the only buttons, so I'm not sure why there is so much confusion. To turn it on, click the alarm button. It will ask you to either confirm or change the time it has in the system and then it's set. To turn it off, click the alarm button. The light will stay on until you hit the light button. Why? Because this is a "sunlight simulator". To all of the people complaining that they can't snooze the light, that would kind of defeat the entire purpose of this product, wouldn't it? You can't snooze the sun in the morning.I bought this product because regular alarm clocks just were not working for me. My old pattern of trying to wake up was setting 3 randomly timed alarms over the course of an hour. When the first one would go off, I would naturally turn it off without even waking up (I wouldn't remember it going off later). When the second one would go off, I would be in that completely disoriented stage of sleep and turn off and go right back to sleep. When the third one would go off, I'm be slightly more awake and would turn it off. Then tell myself "I'll just close my eyes for a couple more minutes" and end up sleeping for another half hour before jolting awake because my body goes "wait, weren't we supposed to go to work today?" This was not a flawless plan. Then I tried setting an alarm across the room. I would wake up, get up and turn the alarm off and turn my lights on at the same time. With my eyes burning, I'd return to bed to "close my eyes while they adjust" only to fall back asleep for another half or whole hour.I've had the Phillips Wake-up light HF3520 for about a month now. My wake-up plan has definitely changed. I can now set the alarm for when I actually need to get up (not 1 hour before for cushion time) meaning that I get more sleep. The light itself wakes me up not fully, but to the point where I'm in that drowsy-half asleep state and fully aware that the day is about to start. I do still need sound to get me fully awake, so I use the radio function. When I open my eyes, they are already adjusted so I don't have that painful piercing burn that I used to get when I'd turn the lights on (and honestly it was worth the $115 just for that function). I turn off the alarm and keep the light on. If I went to bed really late the night before, I sometimes get the urge to lay there for a couple minutes. Unlike when I used to do this, this time I'm fully awake so I can't fall back asleep and just get to chill for a couple minutes. Most days I don't even need to do this, I'm ready to go as soon as I turn the alarm off.We'll see how long it lasts, it has a pretty good warranty so I'm not that worried. Honestly, after 5 years if it breaks I would 100% pay another $115 to replace it. Being able to wake up and not immediately fall back asleep is wonderful.

I’m the type to look at many different products before buying and selected this one for the trustworthy brand name. It was definitely on the pricier side but hoped it would last a long time and be worth the price. Was hoping this clock would be a nice wake up for my child and gave it a try for about a week. However 2 main reasons are giving us cause to return.1st and main reason is that the sunrise light is so bright that it is hard to see/find the right button to turn it off in the dark morning. Perhaps if the design was different so the off button is much bigger or placed somewhere else, it would be better. Child said it hurt their eyes to turn it off. Im sure after a while we would know exactly where the button is but kid said it hurt to even look towards the clock to walk to it to turn it off (clock placement was on a bookshelf across from their bed).2nd, and this may just be us, but the sunrise simulation will start at least 20 min prior and my child must be light sensitive because they would wake up before the set time. We tried to adjust to this by setting the actual alarm time much later so they wake up when the light starts getting brighter but then realized the alarm sounds become useless since they are already awake. Love the idea but would like other options for it like a more immediate light wake up option (maybe a faster dim to bright option like the demo) for the price point.I feel it could really be helpful for some people however for the 2 reasons stated above, it didnt work for us. If those 2 points were changed (off button placed elsewhere or much larger, shorter wake up light time), we may have considered keeping it. For the price, it just isnt worth it for us.

I’ve been using this for a week. It is definitely worth the cost for me. Waking up to light is much more peaceful than a blaring alarm. I have one alarm for my early days and one for later days. I have maximum light intensity (there are 20 options and no sound. The light alone usually wakes me up. I may use my phone as a source backup if needed but the clock does have various alarm sounds available.

Since this product has already been reviewed over sixteen hundred times and some quite thoroughly (thank you!), I'll keep this review short (for me). This has been one of our favorite purchases we own here from Amazon!I'll mention a few things that I think vary from what I remember reading (and I read a TON or reviews, lol) and am uploading some photos so you can get a closer look and see what I mean...First, I read some frustrations about not being able to set the time or alarms without accessing the buttons from above. I'm able to set the time and alarm times via the touch buttons on the front, below the time (see photo where buttons are lit). You can also use the upper buttons but don't have to for everything. The only thing you have to use the upper buttons for (in relation to setting alarms) is to turn an alarm off or on. For us, this isn't a daily event since we usually get up at the same times so no big deal.Second, I was under the impression from the reviews that this thing would be kind of huge but I guess that depends on what you consider large, lol. I posted a photo with it next to some small alarm clocks and a bill to give you an idea of it's size. For us, it replaces both an alarm clock and a lamp on a nightstand so it's not too large.Other than that, my wishes are few. I wish it included AM radio and didn't remember reading that it didn't (but I wasn't likely thinking I'd miss it). Sometimes I miss a little talk radio but other technology obviously suffices.Like others mention, the buttons above are out of sight from the front. Call me crazy, lol, I used a Sharpie to mark lines where the buttons are. (There's no reason for my using different colors except that I added the red lines later and that's what I had handy.) Feeling around for the buttons when you want to turn the light or radio on, off, up or down, is just annoying. When I finally buy a yellow or orange Sharpie it'll look more like sun rays, haha... And rubbing alcohol rubs it right off anyway. The last two photos show all of the upper buttons, all the way around.Lastly, the snooze sensitivity is too high for my preference. If I set down a cup of coffee near it, during the alarm time, it snoozes the radio off. I could change the settings for no snooze but I like waking up to radio and having the option of touching it for more quiet time. If I softly close a drawer below it, same thing, it snoozes.I'm generally not this generous with 5 star ratings but overall I think the good heavily outweighs the bad and I definitely love this product. We've had ours for 5 months without problems but I'll update this review if anything changes. We live in the grey Seattle area and the sunshine this thing brings us makes it the best alarm we've owned. Smile. Buy with confidence. Hope this is helpful!

I had sleeping problems and this was a recommendation of a friend that this product can help!It will rise like a sun in the morning and makes you ready to wake up minutes before you actually wake up, a lot better than all those disturbing alarms!It also has soothing sounds to set as an alarm that goes great with the rising light which makes it easier for you to start your day. you can also benefit from the sunset if you have difficulty going to sleep.Plus radio stations for those who like to listen to radio in bed.I didn't think this product is this much effective but it is!!! I LOVE THIS LIGHT! Highly recommend... It is worth the price although I bought it on a black Friday sales (EVEN BETTER :) )

Muy buen producto, si ayuda a despertar, pero es necesario tenerlo cerca de la cama. Buenos sonidos, buen nivel de luminosidad, y buena calidad.Tiene dos alarmas, yo una la uso para días laborales y la segunda para fines de semana.Las rayas en el video no se ven en persona.

Horribly expensive here in India.But cheaper than an air fare. I bought my original, glass, model (this one is plastic) in UK, but, after some years its buttons are failing.It is part of my wake-up life. Don't know how I could live without it. And, as I said, cheaper than an air fare.Is it worth it to YOU? At this price, probably not.

普段は朝日で目覚めるので、除雪や早朝出勤のために、冬の日の出前に起きるのが大変でした。使った初日から、朝日で起きるのと同じ感覚で目覚めることができました。大変いい商品です。

I purchased this product on 29 October 2017. It died on my yesterday, on 5 September 2025. I used it daily and it lasted 7 years and 10 months. In that period, this product NEVER malfunctioned or glitched. The sunrise light and the time-display light worked consistently without fail. This product is QUALITY.I never used the radio or auditory alarm. I also never used this product as a lamp. I strictly used the sunrise feature daily at my preset alarm times to help me wake-up time.The sunrise brightness transitions gradually, a mark of quality over lower-cost options which jog up from one brightness setting to another.The time-display light automatically adjusts its brightness according to the brightness in your room, another mark of quality over lower-cost options which require you to manually adjust the time-display brightness.When I purchased this product on 29 October 2017, the product costed $126. Lasting 7 years and 10 months (i.e., 94 months), that means this product costed me $126/94 = $1.34/month.Today, on 6 September 2025, it costs $175. While I could purchase lower-cost options on Amazon, each of them has reviews of the products malfunctioning after a period of time much shorter than 7 years and 10 months. Without hesitation I am re-purchasing this item. Though the price tag initially looks high (and of course more painfully so with inflation from its price tag in 2017), I am confident this product will last me again another 94 months, resulting in a monthly cost of $175/94 = $1.86/month. This is still a steal-of-a-deal.QUALITY products are always lower-cost in the long run!