Sunrise Alarm Clock, Wake Up Light with 6 Nature Sounds, FM Radio, Color Light, Bedside Sunrise Simulator (White)

First off, I'm returning it, but if you are looking for a wake up light alarm clock on a budget, this is the alarm for you.It works; the alarm will go off, there is a sunrise alarm for wake up, and a sunset function for when you are going to bed, etc. I was able to spend 20 minutes with this on the couch watching TV and figure out how to set it (although the controls are a little irritating), so it isn't overly complicated to set.However, there were a couple of things I don't like, and this is why I'm returning it. These things may not be a huge deal to everyone, but for me it was enough to return it and spend up on a more expensive model. With that said, if I find the more expensive ones aren't all that much of an improvement, I'll either re-purchase this one or just wait for a better model to come out in a couple years.Brightness (3/5): Maybe my expectations were too high, maybe my room is too big (it's fairly large with high ceilings), etc. Whatever the reason, I was disappointed by the brightness level when I woke up. It was bright on my side of the bed, but didn't light up the room like I was hoping for, and really didn't even light up my wife's side of the bed that much. It just looked like I had a light on my bed stand, so didn't do too much in the way of helping me wake up refreshed. I'm going to buy the 300 lumen model next to see if it improves, and I'll update the review when I do.Controls / Functionality (1/5): I mentioned earlier I was able to figure out how to set it in about 20 minutes, and that is true. However, anything else you are trying to do with it, especially in the dark, is a pain in the a$$. You can't turn down the volume, you have to keep going up until it maxes out and starts over. I, for the life of me, could not get it to snooze or turn it off when the alarm went off in the morning. It was blaring music and I couldn't get it to stop. The buttons aren't illuminated so you can't see them in the dark. They are hard to press with one hand (the clock slides back under pressure), so you need to fully sit up to do anything (and need a light). All in all, the functionality sucked.This was by no means the worst thing I've ever bought, but it came across like what it was: a less expensive, lower quality version of an item that I was looking for. I will update after I get the more expensive Phillips version to see if it makes a difference.

The other reviews about the lack of directions and complicated set-up were accurate. To actually set the time was fairly simple, however anything more than that was out of the question - or a got a faulty one? BUT, I live in an interior apt with only a skylight, so there is NO light coming into my bedroom. A couple months of waking up in pitch black was taking its toll on my health - so I opted for a cheap sunlight alarm until I closed on my house - with windows! :) For around $25, it does the job of providing a pretend-sunrise by starting out dim and get brighter over a period of time - 20 mins, I think. I have it set with a time, and whatever default settings come after that, because I still use the alarm on my phone - I just have it set for 5 mins earlier than this one. I noticed a major difference in just a couple of days of waking up with this! The light gets pretty bright, so it did take a couple of days getting used to it. I was only planning to use this for a couple of months, but I think I might need to keep this and use it during those long winter nights, too! Overall it does start dim and get brighter - and that's all I needed it to do, so I'm content. But it would be cool to use all the other light options and choose a different wake-up sound. That was also why I chose this one - I read the reviews that said the options would be a pain, so $25 for fake sunrise for a couple months was not really a loss in my book. If you WANT to benefit from the fancy lights and sounds, maybe try the ones that cost more money.

My partner and I decided to use this clock as part of our wellness plan. This plan includes the now "famous" waking up at 5:30 every morning. We struggled some before we received this clock. However now that we have it the "sunrise" has been very helpful. I am not sure though that it shouldn't be a bit brighter when it maxes out near the 30 minute point. But it has worked. I find myself "noticing" the light at around 5:15 and then I'll float back to sleep until the music starts.The music. Yeah, seven tracks of goodness - right? No. The music quality is terrible. There has to be a way that they could have at very little extra cost included higher quality tracks. It sounds like I am playing with a child's wind up toy that talks when you wind it up - or at least the toys that were around when I was a kid (they're probably in HD sound now)All that said, I did give this four stars because it is doing what we bought it to do - helping us wake up and STAY up more easily in the morning. The next challenge is 4:30 a.m.Let's do it!

I really love the light wakeup feature and the sunset feature. Absolutely brilliant.I really dislike the speaker in this alarm. It feels like it fell out of a cell phone from the 90s. I found myself getting mad being woken up listening to the alarm. There is so much tin and I'm one of those people that normally doesn't care about the quality of speakers (I own Polk speakers and love them but also really like a whole bunch of budget speakers from Altec Lansing and Pansonic, any audiophile would hate me for saying this). I find I dislike the speaker quality so much I can't use the alarm. I'm gonna see if I can find a better speaker with the same power needs to replace because otherwise this is a good machine.Other things to note are due to the limited button set but high flexibility of the clock it can be a little difficult to setup. I found the directions useful after I tried to figure it out on my own. The color lighting is nice but is also static. If you don't like the particular shade of light for whatever color there is not much you can do about it.Overall impression is the light features are great (5 stars easily) but this needs a higher quality speaker and maybe that means a higher price.