The 5 Best Sunrise Alarm Clocks of 2026
🌅 Top Wake-Up Lights for Gentle Mornings — Realistic Sunrise, Sunset & Audio Quality Compared
📊 At-a-Glance Comparison
All 5 picks side by side — find your match in seconds
| Product | Price | Sunrise / Sunset | Brightness Settings | Colors | Radio | Alarm Sounds |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Philips SmartSleep | $$$ | Sunrise 20-40 min Sunset 5-60 min |
20 | Orange → White | ✔ | 5 or radio |
| Lumie Bodyclock Shine 300 | $$$ | Sunrise 15-90 min Sunset 15-90 min |
20 | Red → White | ✔ | 15 or radio |
| Lumie Sunrise Alarm | $$ | Sunrise 30 min Sunset 30 min |
10 | White + 6 colors | ✗ | 6 |
| Dreamegg Sunrise 1 | $$$ | Sunrise 5-60 min Auto-off 5-180 min |
Slider | 9 dimmable | ✗ | 6 alarm + 29 sounds |
| Reacher Sunrise Alarm | $$ | Sunrise 5-60 min Auto-off 5-180 min |
Slider | 8 dimmable | ✗ | 3 alarm + 26 sounds |
* $ = Budget (<$50) $$ = Mid-range ($50–99) $$$ = Premium ($100+)
#1
Philips SmartSleep
Currently the top pick — the most beautiful and realistic sunrise/sunset effect with noticeably better audio quality than the rest.
Price: $$$ (~$110 / £99)
Sunrise: 20–40 min
Sunset: 5–60 min
Brightness: 20 settings
- Beautiful, realistic sunrise from deep orange-red to bright white — feels much more natural than basic one-color dimming
- 20 brightness settings, very bright maximum — effectively wakes you up gently
- Dimmest settings are warm deep oranges — lovely to fall asleep to
- FM radio or 5 alarm tones — birds + music is the personal favorite
- Two programmable alarm times with different schedules
- Fading sunset helps you fall asleep
- Works great as a reading light
- Largest of the five — may not fit tiny bedside tables
#2
Lumie Bodyclock Shine 300
A superb wake-up light with the most realistic fade from deep red to white — used by the author for over two years.
Price: $$$ (~$150 / £150)
Sunrise: 15–90 min
Sunset: 15–90 min
Brightness: 20 settings
- Gorgeous spectrum from very deep red to bright warm white — deepest reds of all five
- Brightest of all five wake-up lights — excellent for reading
- Customizable sunrise/sunset length from 15 to 90 minutes
- Can program a separate alarm for each day of the week — no need to remember to turn it on
- FM radio or 15 alarm tones — birds and waves are particularly good
- Slightly smaller than the Philips — better for tight spaces
- Can fade sunset to a nightlight rather than off
- Digital display has a slightly dated look
- High price
#3
Lumie Sunrise Alarm
The better lower-cost wake-up light — often available at a third of the price of the Bodyclock Shine 300.
Price: $$ (~$50 / £50)
Sunrise: 30 min
Sunset: 30 min
Brightness: 10 settings
- Much more affordable — often one-third the price of the Bodyclock
- 6 LED colors to choose from — green, red, blue, pink, orange, light blue
- Circular light effect with buttons in the middle — compact design
- 6 alarm tones — birds are pleasant
- Does the basics of fading in before your alarm time
- Fixed 30-minute sunrise/sunset — much less flexible
- Too dim as a reading light for adult eyes
#4
Dreamegg Sunrise 1
A cute little wake-up light that doubles as a white noise machine — 29 sounds ranging from brown noise to birds and lullabies.
Price: $$$ (~$100 / £100)
Sunrise: 5–60 min
Auto-off: 5–180 min
Colors: 9 dimmable
- Doubles as a white noise machine — 29 sounds including brown noise, birds, and lullabies
- 9 dimmable colors — any color can be used for the sunrise
- Very easy to operate — sliders make brightness adjustment intuitive
- Compact and doesn't take up much space
- Surprisingly decent speaker quality
- Works well as a nightlight
- No sunset feature — only a basic auto-off timer
- Too dim to use as a reading light for adult eyes
- Only one daily alarm — must activate each night/li>
#5
Reacher Sunrise Alarm Clock
A budget-friendly wake-up light — similar to the Dreamegg but with poorer speaker quality and limited alarm tones.[reference:50]
Price: $$ (~$50 / £50)
Sunrise: 5–60 min
Auto-off: 5–180 min
Colors: 8 dimmable
- Very compact — fits on a small nightstand[reference:51]
- 8 dimmable colors — red, blue, purple, amber, etc.[reference:52]
- 26 "any time" sounds available[reference:53]
- Budget-friendly — under $50[reference:54]
- Buttons are fairly easy to work out[reference:55]
- Poor speaker quality — sounds very basic[reference:56]
- Too dim as a reading light — yellow light makes pages look jaundiced[reference:59]
- Wood effect is just plastic — looks basic in daylight[reference:60]