How this page is funded: we earn a commission if you buy through the links below, at no extra cost to you. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. It does not change which products we pick or the order they appear in. Full disclosure.
How these picks were made: by comparing published specifications and clearly-credited public reporting. We do not run a laboratory, we have not measured these products, and we do not claim to have slept with them. Here is exactly how we choose.
What it is: an entry-priced sunrise alarm with a full-screen display, a configurable colored ramp, nature sounds, FM radio, dual alarms and a USB charging port. Who it is for: anyone who wants to test whether light waking suits them without committing premium money.
What you actually get for the money
More features than the premium units, which is the standard shape of a budget product in any category. Dual alarms and a USB port are genuinely useful and the Philips has neither. Multiple selectable light colors, a configurable ramp, built-in nature sounds and a radio all work.
The mechanism is the same mechanism. If your question is “does waking to rising light suit me?”, this answers it for a fraction of the price of answering it with a Hatch, and that is a genuinely good reason to buy one.
Where it falls short
One thing, and it is the thing that matters most.
- Peak brightness is well below the premium units. This is the spec that decides whether a sunrise alarm wakes you at all, and it is the spec the budget tier compromises on - Optimize Your Biology’s light-meter testing puts quality units at roughly 275 to 395 lux at 18 inches (their measurement, not ours), and budget units fall short of that band. If you wake easily, that will not matter. If you are a heavy sleeper, it is the whole ballgame.
- Display dimming is coarser. Fewer steps than the Philips’s twenty, and a floor that may still be brighter than you want in a genuinely dark room. Against the roughly 1 melanopic lux that the 2022 PLOS Biology recommendations suggest during sleep, that is a real consideration.
- Build quality tracks the price. Plastics, buttons and finish are what you would expect. It is not going to be the same device in ten years the way a Philips arguably is.
- The sound library is basic. Fine, since you are buying it for the light.
Who should buy it
- You wake easily and want a nicer way to do it
- You are not sure light waking works on you and want to find out cheaply
- You need dual alarms or a USB port and the premium units do not offer them
- It is for a guest room, or a second bedroom you use occasionally
Who should not
- Heavy sleepers. Buy brightness. This is the one compromise that turns the whole purchase into a lamp that fails and a backup beep that wakes you - which is the outcome you were trying to escape. The heavy-sleeper page explains why.
- Anyone who needs a very dark room. If display brightness at night is a concern, spend up for finer dimming.
- Anyone who wants one device for everything. That is a Hatch, and this is not a cheaper Hatch.
Alternatives
- Philips SmartSleep - the obvious step up. Brighter, twenty dimming levels, no account, and likely to outlive several budget units.
- Hatch Restore 3 - if you want the sound machine and the wind-down routine too.
- A smart bulb you already own - free, and it answers the same question this unit answers cheaply.
Verdict
A reasonable purchase for exactly one reason: finding out whether this category suits you without spending premium money. If it works, upgrade and move this one to a guest room. If it does not work and you are a heavy sleeper, do not conclude sunrise alarms do not work on you - you tested the dimmest version of the idea, and a brighter unit is a different experiment.
The budget unit and the two to upgrade to
Tap any row to jump to the full write-up. The photographs are licensed stock images chosen to illustrate the category - they are not photographs of these specific products, and each one’s alt text describes what is actually shown.
| # | Product | Best for | The spec that decides it | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  JALL Wake Up LightThe cheap way to test the idea. The light is dimmer than the premium units, but the mechanism is the same. | Finding out whether sunrise waking works for you | Full-screen display with colored sunrise, at entry-level pricing | |
| 2 |  Philips SmartSleep Wake-Up Light HF3520The reference sunrise. No account, no app, no monthly fee - a dial, twenty brightness steps, and a light that ramps properly. | Sunrise quality with no app and no subscription | 20 light-intensity settings, no app or subscription | |
| 3 |  Hatch Restore 3The most complete bedside device of the group - sunrise, wind-down, sound library and alarms in one - and the only one with a subscription attached. | One device for the whole bedtime routine | Roughly 30-minute sunrise, deep orange through to bright white |
We have no live price feed for this site yet, so every button reads “Check price on Amazon” rather than showing a number that could be out of date. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.
Our top pick · Finding out whether sunrise waking works for you
1. JALL Wake Up Light
The cheap way to test the idea. The light is dimmer than the premium units, but the mechanism is the same.
- Sunrise:
- Configurable ramp before the alarm
- Colors:
- Multiple selectable light colors
- Sound:
- Built-in nature sounds plus FM radio
- Extras:
- Dual alarms, snooze, USB charging port
What it gets right
- A fraction of the price of the Philips or the Hatch
- Includes dual alarms and a USB port the premium units often omit
- Low risk if you are not sure the approach suits you
Where it falls short
- Peak brightness is well below the premium units, and that is the spec that matters most
- Build quality is what the price suggests
- Display dimming is coarser than the Philips
Skip it if: You are a genuinely heavy sleeper. Buy brightness - it is the one spec you cannot compromise on.
Pick 2 · Sunrise quality with no app and no subscription
2. Philips SmartSleep Wake-Up Light HF3520
The reference sunrise. No account, no app, no monthly fee - a dial, twenty brightness steps, and a light that ramps properly.
- Light settings:
- 20 intensity levels
- Sunrise:
- Colored sunrise simulation before the alarm
- Sound:
- Natural wake-up sounds plus FM radio
- Account:
- None required
What it gets right
- Nothing to sign up for and nothing to update - it is an appliance
- Twenty brightness steps means you can actually find a comfortable display level
- Long-standing design with a well-understood service life
Where it falls short
- No app, so scheduling is manual
- The sound library is small and dated
- Larger footprint than the smart units
Skip it if: You want a sound machine and a sunrise in one device. This is a light first and foremost.
Pick 3 · One device for the whole bedtime routine
3. Hatch Restore 3
The most complete bedside device of the group - sunrise, wind-down, sound library and alarms in one - and the only one with a subscription attached.
- Sunrise:
- Gradual ramp beginning around 30 minutes before the alarm
- Color path:
- Deep orange warming to bright white
- Sound:
- Built-in sound library plus alarm tones
- App:
- Required for setup; premium library is subscription-gated
What it gets right
- Sunrise, wind-down and sound machine in a single footprint
- The app makes complex schedules genuinely easy to set
- The display dims properly, unlike most clock radios
Where it falls short
- The best sound content sits behind a subscription
- App dependency: no phone, no changes
- Most expensive way to buy a sunrise
Skip it if: You resent subscriptions. The Philips does the light half with no account at all.
Questions people actually ask
Is the JALL wake up light bright enough?
For someone who wakes easily, yes. For a heavy sleeper, no - peak brightness is where budget units compromise, and independent light-meter testing puts quality units at roughly 275 to 395 lux at 18 inches, a band budget models fall short of.
Is a cheap sunrise alarm clock worth buying?
As a test of whether light waking suits you, yes - it uses the same mechanism for a fraction of the price. As a permanent solution for a heavy sleeper, no, because the one thing it economizes on is the one thing that decides whether it works.
What is the difference between the JALL and the Philips wake-up light?
Brightness, dimming granularity and build. The JALL has more features on paper - dual alarms, a USB port - and the Philips has twenty brightness levels, more light output and a design that will still be doing the same job in a decade.
Does the JALL wake up light have a snooze?
Yes, along with dual alarms, built-in nature sounds and FM radio. Feature count is where budget units compete, and it is not the thing that decides whether the product works.
I bought a cheap sunrise alarm and it did not wake me. Do they not work on me?
Not necessarily - you tested the dimmest version of the idea. Brightness is the deciding spec, so a quality unit is a genuinely different experiment rather than the same one with better styling.
Sources
- Optimize Your Biology - Best Sunrise Alarm Clocks 2026 (independent light-meter measurements, theirs not ours).
- Brown TM et al. Recommendations for daytime, evening and nighttime indoor light exposure to best support physiology, sleep and wakefulness in healthy adults. PLOS Biology, 2022.
- Sleep Foundation - Best Sunrise Alarm Clocks.
Back to the best sunrise alarm clocks.
Read next
- Sunrise alarm clocks for heavy sleepersWhy budget units fail this group specifically.Read it
- Are sunrise alarm clocks worth it?And the free tests to run before buying anything.Read it
- Philips SmartSleep reviewThe obvious step up from here.Read it
- Best sunrise alarm clocksAll four picks in context.Read it