PHILIPS SmartSleep Wake-Up Light Review

Written by Amelia Jerden, Senior Staff Writer

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In This Review

I’ll cover my experience testing out the PHILIPS SmartSleep Wake-Up Light. I’ll go over my pros and cons, as well as how to use this alarm clock and what features it has.

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Sunrise alarm clocks are a popular way to introduce a little light therapy into your day. If you’re looking for the right sunrise alarm clock for you, consider the PHILIPS SmartSleep Wake-Up Light. This alarm clock uses sunrise and sunset simulations to help you wake up and wind down, as well as offering a few other features.

I personally tested this alarm clock and in this review, I’ll go over how to use it, its main features, and some of my pros and cons to help you decide if it is the right choice for you. Short on time? Skip ahead for my review summary.

PHILIPS SmartSleep Wake-Up Light

This offering from PHILIPS features twenty different brightness settings that imitate a sunrise, as well as a dimming light for nighttime.

Sleepopolis Score

4.40 / 5

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Is the PHILIPS SmartSleep Wake-Up Light Right For You?

Before we fully dive in, I want to offer a quick overview of who I think would and would not like the PHILIPS SmartSleep Wake-Up Light.

Who Should Try PHILIPS SmartSleep Wake-Up Light

• If you want a relatively basic sunrise alarm clock, the PHILIPS SmartSleep Wake-Up Light is a great choice. It doesn’t require an app, WiFi connection, or anything other than plugging the clock in to make it work.
• If you want a sunrise and sunset effect, this clock will work well for you, as it is designed to do both.
• If you enjoy breathing exercises, you might find some value in the RelaxBreathe breathing exercises included in the unwind programs.

Who Should Not Try PHILIPS SmartSleep Wake-Up Light

• If you have limited space, this alarm clock may not be ideal for you, as it is fairly large — I’d say it’s about the size of a tea kettle.
• If you prefer to use an app to control gadgets like this, the on-screen controls may not appeal to you.
• If you are shopping with a tight budget, the PHILIPS SmartSleep Wake-Up Light may be a bit too expensive, at over $100 at full retail. 

How To Use the PHILIPS SmartSleep Wake-Up Light

Let’s go over how to use this alarm clock. This clock is pretty easy to set up, as all you have to do is plug it in and navigate with the controls on the clock face. (If you are having trouble with set-up, PHILIPS provides PDFs of the manual for this product on their website — super handy if you misplace your manual.)

Once your clock is plugged in and turned on, you should see a start icon appear. Press this icon to start setting up your SmartSleep Wake-Up Light. You’ll then be prompted to set your language and set the clock to the current time.

From there, you can start to explore the different settings and functions of the PHILIPS SmartSleep Wake-Up Light. As I mentioned before, all the controls are found on the clock face itself, so you’ll have to click through the menus to change the settings the way you want. On the main menu, you should see five icons (from left to right): Wake-Up Profile/Alarm, Light Intensity and Light On/Off, Settings, Sounds, and Wind-down Program. 

You can tap any of these icons to enter that section of the menu. For example, if you want to set up your alarm, you’ll tap the Wake-Up Profile/Alarm icon on the far left. From there, you’ll be able to further navigate on the screen through the settings to achieve your desired alarm settings.

PHILIPS SmartSleep Wake-Up Light

This offering from PHILIPS features twenty different brightness settings that imitate a sunrise, as well as a dimming light for nighttime.

Sleepopolis Score

4.40 / 5

Read Full Review

Check Price

PHILIPS SmartSleep Wake-Up Light Features

Now that we’ve touched on how to use the PHILIPS SmartSleep Wake-Up Light, let’s go over some of the features.

Wake-Up Profile

The Wake-Up Profile is the series of settings used to create your morning alarm and sunrise simulation. This allows you to set the time of your alarm, the maximum brightness of the light, and type of wake-up sound.

Once in the Wake-Up Profile/Alarm menu, you’ll tap the icon that looks like a clock with an alarm bell to choose your alarm time. When that is set, you can tap the icon that looks like the sun to choose your light level — this is how bright the sunrise light will be at the time your alarm goes off — by pressing the plus and minus arrows. 

The sunrise effect works by gradually increasing the brightness, reaching its maximum point at your set alarm time. By default, the sunrise will last 30 minutes, so if you set your alarm for 8:00 a.m., the sunrise simulation will start at 7:30 a.m. and reach the maximum light level you selected at 8:00 a.m. If you want to change the sunset duration from the default 30 minutes, press the icon that looks like a sunrise with an up arrow. 

Finally, to choose the wake-up sound, you’ll tap the icon resembling a music note. You have three sound options: radio, natural, or no sound. To choose which sound option you want, toggle between them with the icon that looks like three dots with an arrow. Then you can choose which natural sound you want or which radio station you want.

Unwind Programs

The PHILIPS SmartSleep Wake-Up Light also features Unwind Programs to help you get ready for bed in the evening. These two programs are the sunset simulation and RelaxBreathe. The sunset simulation is essentially the reverse of the simulated sunrise — the light starts out relatively bright and fades to darkness as you get closer to bedtime. Like with the sunrise, you can set the initial brightness level and the duration of the sunset. For the sunset, you have the option to include sound, either natural sounds, radio, no sound, or music via the aux cord.

RelaxBreathe is a breathing program that guides you through breathing exercises. There are seven programs you can follow along with. You can choose the duration of the breathing exercise, as well as whether you want it accompanied by light or sound.

Music

The PHILIPS SmartSleep Wake-Up Light can play music via radio or aux. You can tune into FM radio with this alarm clock and even set five preset stations. It also comes with an aux cord, which you can use to plug in a phone or music player to utilize the clock as a speaker.

There is also a USB port that allows you to use the clock as a charger for your phone or other devices.

Bedside Lamp and Nightlight

In addition to the sunrise and sunset simulations, you can use the light features of this wake-up light alarm clock as a bedside lamp or as a nightlight. 

If you want to use the clock as a lamp, to illuminate your bedroom or for use as a reading light, simply tap the Light Intensity and Light On/Off icon, which resembles the sun. You can then adjust the brightness settings to make the light brighter or dimmer. Long press the same icon to turn it off.

If you wake up in the middle of the night and need a low light to help you get out of bed to the bathroom or to fetch a glass of water, you can tap the top of the clock to activate the Midnight Light, which is a low intensity orange light.

Snooze

You can snooze the alarm by simply tapping the top of the alarm clock. After nine minutes, the alarm sound will go off again.

Price

Wondering how much this sunrise alarm clock costs? Currently, the PHILIPS SmartSleep Wake-Up Light is priced at $139.90 on Amazon, at full retail.

PHILIPS SmartSleep Wake-Up Light

This offering from PHILIPS features twenty different brightness settings that imitate a sunrise, as well as a dimming light for nighttime.

Sleepopolis Score

4.40 / 5

Read Full Review

Check Price

My Experience Using the PHILIPS SmartSleep Wake-Up Light

Overall, I thought the PHILIPS SmartSleep Wake-Up Light was easy to use and should be a good option for anyone looking for a basic sunrise alarm clock. Many of the other best sunrise alarm clocks I’ve tried require an app to control, so I think the PHILIPS SmartSleep Wake-Up Light is especially worth it for those without smartphones or who don’t want to deal with an app.

When I first plugged in the alarm clock, I played around with it and clicked through the various menus and settings and was easily able to figure out how to set a wake-up time, choose alarm sounds, and change up the light settings. While there are a lot of different controls and menus, I think PHILIPS did a nice job of making it fairly intuitive — and their manual is very informative if you don’t find it so simple to navigate.

I also really liked the design of this clock and the light itself. One cool thing about this alarm clock is the light doesn’t just go from low to high intensity (or vice versa) for the sunrise/sunset simulations — it actually phases through red, orange, yellow, and into a fairly bright almost white. I think this works really well to simulate a natural sunrise or sunset. Plus, the light is fairly large, so when you turn up the brightness, it can be quite bright.

I like that the clock has the option to play your own music, but I do wish it used Bluetooth connectivity instead of an aux cord. My iPhone doesn’t have an aux port, so this function wasn’t super useful to me. However, I do appreciate that this alarm clock has the option for alarm sounds — I’m a pretty heavy sleeper and not much of a morning person, so I know personally the light alone isn’t enough to wake me up. I think this also makes the clock more versatile so you can try just the light or light and sound to wake you.

Policies and FAQs

PHILIPS SmartSleep Wake-Up Light

This offering from PHILIPS features twenty different brightness settings that imitate a sunrise, as well as a dimming light for nighttime.

Sleepopolis Score

4.40 / 5

Read Full Review

Check Price

Other Products To Try

• Sonic Bomb Alarm Clock
• Loftie Smart Alarm Clock
• Hatch Restore
• Casper Glow Light
• Oura Ring
• Apollo Wearable
• Withings ScanWatch

Amelia Jerden

Senior Staff Writer

About Author

Amelia is a Senior Staff Writer for Sleepopolis. She primarily covers bedding and sleep accessory products in reviews, how-to guides, and more. You can also find her over on the Sleepopolis YouTube channel. Amelia is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, with double majors in media and journalism and in dramatic art. Outside of work, Amelia can usually be found on a hike, traveling to a new city, or at her local thrift store.

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