Some of these are annoying at full volume, but as they gradually fade in do a good job of waking you up. But I did enjoy choosing from the 15 different sounds including birds, waves, rain, frogs, crickets, purring kittens and, more surprisingly, goats, steam train, café and ping pong.

Glow-in-the-Dark Alarm Easylife Set of 2 Easy-to-Read Silent Glow-in-the-Dark Alarm

To avoid triggering this response, many wake-up light alarms use gently increasing nature sounds, like birdsong, rain or waves. At it’s brightest, it’s slightly less convincing as ‘daylight’ than the Lumie, but it did wake me up in a good mood. Please view Trustpilot’s terms and conditions and privacy policy for information on how they handle your personal data. length) so there’s no need for batteries (*excludes adaptor plug but compatible with most USB plugs used as phone chargers).It also has a ‘lullaby’ setting to go along with the gradually dimming sunset feature, which is a nice extra. A white noise setting is useful, since it masks outside noise as well as relaxing you (or so many find). Your brain begins to get ready for waking before it hears the alarm and, when it goes off, you are much less likely to go straight back to sleep. For a budget option, it does everything you need it to and has certainly made my mornings a little less groggy.

Clock - Etsy UK Led Wall Clock - Etsy UK

On the negative side, the sound quality when you choose FM radio is good but not amazing, and compared to other sunrise alarms it’s quite big, so won’t fit on everybody’s bedside table. The only drawback is that it’s surprisingly fiddly to set, using small rubbery buttons and very small icons in the corners of the clock display. With 256 different lighting options, including shades of red, blue and green, you can fine-tune it to your taste.The light closely simulates sunrise in both strength and hue and has been registered with the MHRA as a way to combat SAD. As your child gets older, you can choose to set the audible alarm – perfect for routine wake-up times.

Glow Clock - Etsy UK

As such it works well as a reading light, as daylight therapy or even as a main bedroom light source (it reaches 580 lumens). I found the Groov-e alarm clock fiddly to set up, it’s not particularly intuitive and it’s difficult to figure out which button controls what, but you do get the hang of it. Like other budget alarms, it brightens in ten gradual stages over half an hour, but the Lumie Sunrise also offers coloured mood lighting, which I tend to put on as soon as I get home to make the bedroom feel cosier. There are 33 wake up sounds including two specific types of lark, various nature scenes, city hubbub and my new personal favourite, military drill.It’s a relatively simple concept: the clock’s light gradually brightens over a set period of time (usually around 30 minutes) to simulate a natural sunrise and wake you up gently. The face is luminescent and features extra large numbers, so no matter what the light level is in the room, you’ll have no doubt about what the time is. The same principle is used in light therapy to treat SAD , from which around six per cent of us suffer. The nature sounds, such as birds and ocean waves, are on 10-second loops, which become annoying very quickly.