Philips SmartSleep Wake-up Light HF3520/60

I purchased this because I'm not a morning person, and I live in a northern state where it's still pitch dark outside when I'm supposed to get up for work. So far, this alarm clock has been a godsend! I'll be honest, I was skeptical at first. Plus, let's face facts... this is a lot of money to spend on an "alarm clock." But I had such a hard time waking up in the morning in the winter, that I decided to take a chance and figured I'd send it back if I didn't like it. I'm throwing away the packaging this weekend. :) Here's some random thoughts and observations about the unit: * I love how the dimmest light settings are reddish. This more closely mimics real sunrise/sunset and helps promote proper circadian cycles. * I use the Dusk Simulation feature every night now. As I said, I'm not a morning person. Instead, I'm a night person and often get a "second wind" when I should be winding down for the night. Whenever I can climb into bed for the night, I put the dusk simulation feature on the lowest light setting (1) with a 30 minute countdown. It slowly fades to darkness over the 30 minutes, and it honestly does seem to help me fall asleep better. * In the middle of the night, if I need to wake up and do something, I turn on the light at the lowest setting (1) which doesn't wake me up as much, but is still plenty of light for digging through the nightstand drawer, or whatever. * I have the alarm set to start turning on the light 30 minutes before the alarm time. So if I need to get up at 06:30, the light will come on at 06:00 and slowly brighten. I've found that I've been waking up around 06:10 or 06:15 because of the light, but not fully awake. Very similar to slowly waking up when the sun rises in the summer. It's much less jaring on me than pitch darkness broken by a piercing alarm, followed by the snooze button. It feels much more natural and I don't get jolted awake in complete darkness feeling crabby anymore. * Ever feel too tired and wish you could tell the sun to shove it and go back down for awhile? You can do that with this alarm clock. A couple mornings, I was just too darn tired to want to wake up naturally, so you can turn off the light but not turn off the alarm. So let's say the light wakes me up around 06:10 and I don't feel hippy enough to wake up naturally, I want to tell the light to shove off, I just turn off the light and go back to sleep. The alarm sound still goes off at 06:30 as scheduled. * I like the "nature" alarm sounds and how they gradually increase in volume over the first 5-10 seconds. My wife was convinced those sounds would be too "pleasant" to actually wake us up, but they do. If you're the type that absolutely would sleep through loud birds chirping and flutes playing, you can choose to wake up to the radio instead. * I wish it had an AM radio. I live in the boondocks and only get 10 FM stations. Oh well, not a huge issue, just something I wish was different. * I love how the time display automatically brightens or dims with the room's ambient light. So you can actually set the clock display to the lowest brightness setting and it will be nice and dim while sleeping, yet you can still read the time during the middle of the day. * When we first unboxed the unit, my wife and I thought it looked like some kind of crazy Apple product. All weird and high-tech looking. I was worried it wouldn't fit in on our night stand. No worries though, once I got it in place, all we really see is the front of the unit, and it blends into our decor just fine. * It's not a substitute lamp. I mean, yes, you can use it as a lamp. But it's not really a lamp replacement. It doesn't brighten the whole room or area like a true lamp with shade will. If you have a lamp on your nightstand already, don't expect this to replace it. * Sometimes I put the Dusk Simulator on for 45 minutes, and I'll lay in bed and read a book on my Kindle Paperwhite, 6" High Resolution Display with Built-in Light, Wi-Fi . I'll have the Paperwhite's light set to 5 and the alarm clock's light set to either 2 or 1 on the 45 minute countdown, and read for 20-30 minutes to help unwind and get sleepy. It's awesome! * When you turn off the alarm in the morning, the light stays on. You have to push a second button to turn off the light. I actually like this feature a lot. Like I said, where I live, it's pitch dark outside when I wake up. Having the light on helps me not to just fall back asleep by accident, and it also helps for actually getting out of the bed and seeing where I'm going. :)

This is the second Philips SmartSleep Light i've owned. My first lasted me a LONG time; and waking up to light is a game changer in regard to overall sleep quality. No loud noises; you can choose a birdsong or your favorite radio station to ease you awake; and this is an option under the Menu; in case the emerging 'Dawn' doesn't do the trick. I've never had to use anything more than the light source. Many of my friends don't believe that a light can wake you! But I say they don't know what they are missing. Once you understand the science behind Dawn Simulation you will understand why this is best for your sleep - wake cycles. Especially in the dark winter months; you can train your body to still believe it's spring! Magically. I like all the Menu options available; you choose when and how you want to wake but one of the really amazing features of using a Dawn Simulator is that you are also able to use it as a Sunset at night when you may want to read in bed to relax you into sleep. This is a unique and amazing feature; you set the timer for Sunset; and tuck yourself into bed - the light is brighter and very very gradually begins to fade into 'sunset' and dark. Your brain is easily and happily relaxing into sleep! I love this feature. The clock comes with a very easy to understand User Manual - and there are several Timers options you can use as well. The color quality of the Philips is excellent; soothing and bright IF you want it to be - you make the choices as to the amount of brightness you need or want. I'd HIGHLY recommend this product.

When I first got this lighted alarm clock I loved it. It makes waking up each morning much easier. By the time the radio comes on my room is well lit from the light making it less tempting to push snooze and fall back asleep. However, after two months it stopped working. The light has never been dropped, nothing has spilled on it, and the cord is still completely intact (it hasn't been bent but it still won't work). One day it just shut off. If I hold the appliance in my hand, and hold the connection point where the power adapter meets the appliance, sometimes I can get it to turn on for a minute or so before it shuts off again. I've thoroughly inspected the cord and it looks completely intact. I can only surmise that there is some issue with the connectivity to the power device. The amazon return window has expired but it is under warranty so I figured no problem. I have called them repeatedly but to no avail. The number listed in the manual is for a Phillips electric toothbrush and they told me they couldn't help me. They then gave me another number to try: this one was for a Phillips photoframe. They gave me another number. The last one was an automated system that would give me the option of speaking to a representative, but then it would never connect me to anything other than voicemail. I left a message, no call back. Extremely frustrating. Great product, I'm assuming the issue was a little glitch, possibly fixable with a new powercord, but since I cannot get ahold of them it is worthless. If they ever contact me and fulfill my warranty I will update this review and give it a rating based on it's performance but since it currently does not function and I cannot get ahold of anyone I cannot recommend it to anyone. *****Updated****** After struggling to get in touch with anyone on the customer service end through the numbers provided in the manual, I tried going directly through their website. It took some navigation but eventually I was able to do a direct chat with a customer service representative and after a little bit of purchase verification, (make sure you keep the serial number and everything so you can verify if you have problems!) they were able to help me. They told me that the warranty only covers the actual clock and not the power source, which looking online it is actually a fairly common problem with this product. That said, they did agree to replace the cord at no cost but did tell me it wasn't part of the warranty and that they wouldn't replace it again. So I guess in some sense I still have doubts about whether they have replaced other peoples' cords for free. I do love the clock though. I've had quite some time, I think about a year now, and I still love it. I do have doubts about the flimsy cord holding up, but I can't imagine not having a lighted alarm clock, especially during winter months.

Purchased: 2016 Age: 10 yrs going strong This has been the best addition to my lifestyle, completely changing how I wake up. Since changing to using a wake up light, I wake up more easily, and feeling more well rested (as you’re woken gradually not suddenly). It especially helps during the winter months. If you’re looking for a reliable, long-lasting alarm with a gradual wake-up and calm-down light, this is well worth the price. It’s very bright and has a simple selection of pleasant nature based alarm choices. The make and quality are exceptional, with a solid build that feels dependable. It carries strong brand recognition, which gave me confidence in my purchase, and it has certainly lived up to the reputation. Over ten years, the front buttons have only darkened slightly, and it still looks and feels almost new. In the last year, I’ve noticed the side buttons occasionally need an extra or firmer push, but everything else works perfectly without issue. If you are on the fence - just do it, you will not regret it!

Love it. Pricey, and I dont have any cheaper ones to compare it to, but I dont regret getting it. I feel like I wake up smoother.

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.

Loved, loved, loved this wake up light. Bought it in March of 2020. Unfortunately, the snooze function stopped working this month, October 2025. (And no I did not hit it too hard or drop it or something. It just stopped working) I was surprised that I actually fell in love with the sunset feature, even more so than the sunrise feature. It just helps me fall asleep like fading out with a natural sunset. The sunrise alarm was also great, as were the chirping birds. The speaker quality is not great, but it’s good enough. If the snooze function hadn’t quit on me it would get at least 4 stars. But for a product that is relatively expensive in its category, I expected it to last more than 5 years.

works well. fairly easy to program. light brightness good. sundown feature nice. sound for going to sleep good. ascending alarm sound with a few choices. easy snooze feature. Significant negative for me is they design with the buttons for the alarm, lights, sound...they are difficult to find when reaching over from bed and difficult to press without moving the whole lightweight device. Wish this was better from phillips-especially for price. Have to depress alarm button(s) to turn it off; so have to depress it again each day in order for it to alarm for the next morning/time. Does default to previous set time, so that's good. Have been using a much older phillips model...prob over 10 years. Continues to work well but was larger, less modern looking and had less features than current model so decided to replace it.