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

I use the Wake Up light for two reasons: waking up in the morning and winding down at night. It’s really helpful during gray months and the winter time when the sun isn’t shining bright in the morning. I also use it at night when I’m getting ready for bed. It has different light settings that I can control the brightness in the room. I usually put a low glow on in the room to help my brain wind down rather than have the overhead light on. I really like the ocean noise for my alarm sound!

If you just want to know if this lamp is effective and whether I recommend it, the answer is YES!!! If you want to know why I say so, read on: For the first time in years I am able to get up on time and have energy in the mornings! My ability to sleep through alarms is legendary among my family, friends, and roommates. I generally set 8 or more alarms and manage to sleep through all of them, often for over an hour without ever waking up. I have tried music alarms, annoying buzzer alarms, phone alarms, even "never late" alarms that are supposed to be impossible to sleep through. When I did wake up I was always groggy often for over an hour and had a very hard time getting moving. I finally set my bed facing east under my big bedroom window and made myself sleep with the blinds open so the sun would help me wake up, but the city lights coming through the window at night made it difficult to fall asleep and even when I did sleep, I did not wake feeling rested. Also, if it was overcast outside I would not wake up to my alarms. I recently moved to a new city (where I do not get sun streaming through my windows in the morning) and started graduate school, and I could not afford to continue this pattern of sleeping through alarms. Since I got the Wake-up Light I have yet to sleep through my alarm. It is truly a miracle! Where before I had a hard time getting out of bed by 8 and remained groggy until I'd been at work for over an hour, I now wake up between 5am and 6am (usually waking just before the alarm goes off) and I practically bounce out of bed, even if I only got 3 or 4 hours of sleep (I have chronic insomnia, so this happens more often than not). The sunset function has also helped me with my insomnia, allowing me to make my room a calm and peaceful place as I wind down for bed. I used to use the sunrise simulator on the sunlamp that I used for seasonal depression, but the light was too intense, and I often woke with a headache. And if the head of the lamp wasn't turned just right or if I turned away from it, I did not get sufficient light to wake me up. The full-face light on Phillips lamp is gentle (no headaches), but very effective. It lights the whole room, so even if I turn away from it in the night, I still get at least some of the effect. I still set a second alarm, just in case I don't wake up to the "nature sounds" on the lamp, but I've yet to sleep past my back-up, which is still a vast improvement. Overall, if you have problems getting to sleep or problems waking p, GET THIS LAMP!

purchased this unit online just to see if it would help getting up in the dark. After about a months use, can say it seems to help a little, but sleep habits are just as important if not more. Having some knowledge of sleep, I know the most important part of waking up refreshed is getting enough sleep, but the portion of the sleep cycle is important too, (at least the first 15 minutes or so). We sleep in cycles about 90 minutes in length, reaching the deep levels of sleep at various times during this cycle. If one were to be awakened during one of these deep phases, it would take longer to feel fully awake as you are coming out of a deeper level than if just naturally waking on your own, (without an alarm). So our sleep habit is the most important part of waking refreshed and alert. (i.e.: I need ~9 hours of sleep to feel refreshed. If I go to sleep at 10PM, and wake at 0700AM; I will have my 9 hours sleep and completed 6 cycles of sleep. If I stay up til 11PM, then wake at 0700AM, I will have had 8 hours sleep, but more importantly only 30 mins of the 6th cycle, and awaken during a deep phase of that cycle). So going to sleep and waking at the same times every day is the most important part of waking refreshed and ready to go. This device wakes one gently, and can be effective with the gradual increase of light as well as the audible effects. The interesting point is that the subtle stimuli of light will wake you if you are in light sleep, (also known as theta wave sleep). If you are in deep sleep, (also known as delta wave sleep), you probably won't wake until the light and audio alarms pull you out. This is an excellent way of determining your natural cycle end point given a fixed onset of sleep time. If you require the light and audio, adjust your onset of sleep time forward or back so that you are waking with just the light. When you awaken with the light alone, you know you have awakened near the end of your sleep cycle, as you naturally would on a day you do not use the alarm to wake up, (such as a day off). Of course, many people having difficulty getting to sleep to start. But with persistence, one can 'learn' to get to sleep easier by maintaining the same sleep wake cycle…everyday. (Not easily done in todays world though). Anyway… this device is effective, but only if you get the sleep you need. If I would only get 4 hours of sleep, I would still wake up tired. The gradual increase in light takes a while to adjust to your level of sensitivity, and the audible program can be set to be stimulating enough to arouse one from deep, delta wave sleep. The buttons around the edges require a bit of getting use to, but once you learn the relative positions, they are fairly easy to operate. The gradual decreasing light function when going to sleep is beneficial to me as I enjoy reading before going to sleep, and it helps remind me when I should put the book down, (as opposed to getting just another chapter in…). Long term effects and reliability yet to be determined, but I will try to report them after 6 months to a year.

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.

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.

My son (11-1/2) was nearly impossible to get out of bed on school days. It was a virtual fight each morning to get him up and ready to go. This alarm clock has made things so much better. Yes, he still drags a bit when it comes to brushing his teeth, but overall, he's far more alert, awake, and ready to go each morning vs when we didn't have this alarm for him. I don't have any complaints at all, other than the buttons on the rim can be hard to judge in the dark. That said, his not being able to hit "snooze" very easily on school days is actually a good thing. Very easy to program, very easy to use. You just can't go wrong.

The sunrise light on the Philips HF3520 is genuinely good — smooth color transitions and a natural wake‑up effect. Unfortunately, everything surrounding that one feature feels cheap and poorly designed. The controls are confusing, the icons are tiny and unclear, and the interface feels outdated. If you stop the alarm early, it turns the alarm off for the next day, which makes no sense. Sunset mode doesn’t allow any sound at all, even though much cheaper clocks include that feature. For the price, the build quality is disappointing. The plastic feels hollow, the buttons are finicky, and nothing about the design feels “premium.” The light itself is excellent, but the user experience is frustrating. Philips clearly invested in the LEDs and ignored everything else.

I bought this to counteract the winter morning darkness after moving to Seattle, and because I am terrible at waking up and wanted to try something new. There are a lot of variables — volume, brightness, wake-up tone, wake-up duration, placement. I think the key to happiness with this product is a lot of experimentation. It looks nice, and definitely has some heft to it. Not a flimsy product. For the first week or two, I had it on the nightstand pointed directly at my head — but the lamp really is quite bright, and it was unpleasant to wake up to it on full blast in my face. I experimented with tilting it away and adjusting the maximum brightness, but finally settled on placing it about 10 feet away on the dresser. The overall effect is more ambient, which I like. The light shifts from a deep red to pure white over 30 minutes (which is adjustable) — but sadly, I have never seen this lovely shift except in the demo mode. Why? Because I don't wake up until it's almost fully on and the sound starts playing. You can turn the light on as a reading lamp, but it just uses a dimmable white light in this mode, not the red or orange. So while the color LEDs are nice in theory, they don't serve much purpose, at least for me. I'm currently experimenting with lengthening the sunrise duration. There are five sound options, which I've recorded in a video: (1) simple bird chirping sounds, (2) vaguely Asian flute music with birds, (3) forest sounds, (4) relaxing piano music, and (5) ocean sounds with seagulls. Sadly, the speaker on the back is not the greatest, and there's some minor scratchy distortion from the high-pitched bird sounds at the very loudest setting. You may find, as I did, that the high pitch of the chirping sounds are what really wake you up. Tapping on the face of the clock snoozes the sound for 9 minutes, but does not turn off the light. I do have a problem with all of the buttons around the edge. One month into using it, I still haven't quite gotten the hang of them; they all feel the same, are spaced weirdly, and are marked by tiny gray icons. I keep accidentally turning the radio on. Definitely a learning curve here that is quite unnecessary. All things considered, I'm pretty happy with this purchase. Most of the problems I've mentioned are minor annoyances, and it works well — much better than the blaring iPhone alarm I was using in the past.

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。

WHY BUY? It Works – After a weeks or so use you will certainly feel the benefit and notice a difference in how you wake up. FM Radio – Wake up to your favourite radio station or 1 of 5 alarm and nature sounds Looks Great – If aesthetics are important then this will look great on any bedside table. Easy to use – Simple and easy to use as well as set up. Sunset – Helps you get to sleep with the sunset feature. PHILIPS HF3520/01 REVIEW The Philips Wake-Up Light Alarm Clock HF3520 is the top spec model in the Philips range of wake up light simulation clocks. In total they have 4 model and this comes top with everything you need and more. FEATURES Being the top model in the Philips range it has everything you need and little more, it comes with 20 adjustable brightness settings, a 300 lux LED light, a choice of 5 wake-up sounds, or the use of the FM radio that is built in, and the ability to have 2 alarms set, unlike all the others where you can only set one. The clock screen on the front of the light automatically dims and adjusts to the brightness on the room, so if it is dark it will dim down, although you cannot turn this off completely. 81R7nt95fzL._SL1500_ As well as these features it also includes the standard snooze function which will give you an extra 9 minutes in bed by tapping anywhere on the device. You can set the sunrise simulation duration to be between 20 and 40 minutes, and it can also be used as a reading lamp where you can also adjust the brightness up and down to what you require and feels comfortable. While it is designed to wake you up it also has a sunset feature helping you dose off in the evening too. It will slower dim down and go into darkness over a set duration that you can adjust, if you have the radio on using the light it will also slower get quieter as the light dims before it all goes off. This is great for relaxin in bed and helps you to fall asleep. DESIGN Like the model below this is follows the same design, a beautifully designed sleek looking device, it reminds me of a light bulb on its side, or a speaker cone. It is a stylish looking light and doesn’t take up to much space on your bedside table. Philips Wake-Up Light Alarm Clock It has all the buttons around the edge of the light going across the top, some of the buttons are grouped together for the radio and adjusting the brightness, while the rest are spread out around the side. To the back is the speaker for the radio and alarm sounds, and a socket for the power lead. Depending what time you set the sunrise to start the light will start to glow dimly in a very deep reddy orange colour, simulating the sunrise, it will then slowly go orange, before slowly turning to daylight and its brightest white colour, and if you set one of the sounds then the birds will start to sing too. The nature sounds are very relaxing and a nice way to wake up. You can set this to happen over a 20 minute up to a 40 minute period, if you set the alarm to go off at 6.30am, and set if to light up over 30 minutes, then the light shall start working at 6am starting with the reddy orange colour. EASE OF USE The Philips Wake-Up Light Alarm Clock HF3520 comes with lots of great features and is still easy and simple to use. The instructions that come with this are clear and easy to follow. The buttons on the unit itself are a little small and can be fiddly to press, but once you have got the hang of what you need to be pressing and know which is which button it is straight forward. Below is a video showing how easy it is the use and a round up of all the features: INCLUDED IN THE BOX 1 x Philips Wake-Up Light Alarm Clock HF3520/01 2 x AC/DC adaptors Instruction manual 2 year guarantee BENEFITS It Works – After a weeks or so use you will certainly feel the benefit and notice a difference in how you wake up. FM Radio – Wake up to your favourite radio station or some relaxing nature sounds. Looks Great – If aesthetics are important then this will look great on any bedside table. Easy to use – Simple and easy to use as well as set up. Sunset – Helps you get to sleep with the sunset feature. REVIEWS At the time of writing this there have been over 170 reviews on Amazon UK and a overall star rating of 4.5. A common mention is the time display, when it is complete dark the time can still be seen and although it is dimmed then orange time display is still quite bright in the dark room. If you want the time to e displayed then this shouldn’t be an issue, however if you want it to go off completely then you would need to stick something over it. BOTTOM LINE Being the top model it has everything you need, just love the style and design of it and it has some one great features, the built in radio is useful, the brightness it goes to is great for deep sleepers who require that extra brightness to help wake us up. At the time of writing the Philips Wake-Up Light Alarm Clock HF3520 has over 160 reviews on Amazon UK and a 4.5 star rating, so it is certainly a very well recommended wake up light. The FM radio allows you to wake up to your favourite station, or you can select a relaxing nature sound and wake up to the sounds of birds, bliss. Priced at £130 it isn’t cheap, but then you do get a very well built and very stylish bedside light and alarm clock. A product that could have ben designed by Apple it does look and works great. I certainly recommend this and give it top marks for function and design!