Soleil Sun Alarm Digital Sun Alarm Clock
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- Music playback: Radio Only
- Snooze Alarm: Yes
- Tuner Type: Analog Tuner
- Display: LED
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The best way to wake up--by far
Pros
Optional controller for other light sources Sunrise simulator=happiness
Cons
light is not as bright as some would like
Recommended it?
Yes
The Bottom Line:
Buy this alarm clock. It has all the features you want and can be extended using the controller. It makes waking up 100% easier and less painful.
My schedule is pretty random and doesn't correlate well with the real sunrise and sunset (especially since the real sunrise and sunset change with the year). I was always annoyed with the sun waking me up when I needed to sleep in and I was annoyed when I had to wake up and it was still dark, so that I didn't feel ready to get up. I am not a morning person and getting up is always a pain for me. Enter the sun alarm clock.
I blocked off my windows and put the alarm clock at the foot of my bed. I read somewhere that someone was complaining that it's not bright enough to wake you up, which is probably true. That is, it will probably wake you up, especially if you want to wake up, but you might sleep though it. I wouldn't trust the light alone. It also has a beeper, radio, or flashing light option. I chose the beeper because the radio just bugs and flashing light make me crazy. You can set the light to come on immediately or over the course of 15, 30, 45, 60, 90 minutes, etc. I use 30 minutes because I read some scientific study that said that shorter than this doesn't give your brain enough time to secrete the necessary serotonin and anything longer doesn't do any better than 30 minutes does.
So here's how it works: thirty minutes before alarm time, the light slowly begins to come on. At alarm time the light is at full intensity and the clock starts beeping. The first night I used it I woke up when the light was half on because I wasn't expecting it. Since then, I have slept all the way to the actual beep. Actually, I'm used to it enough now that I sometimes wake up a couple of minutes before the beep. It's all about conditioning yourself. If I do wake up before the beep, I just lie there with my eyes shut, waking up and waiting for the beep. I'm lazy like that.
Do I feel better than I did when using a normal alarm clock? Yes, much better. It hasn't magically transformed me into a morning person, but I don't feel as groggy or disoriented in the morning. My eyes don't burn so much when I wake up earlier. Nor do I have as much inclination to fall back asleep after getting to the office. I would never go back to using just sound to wake me up.
One thing I've noticed about this alarm clock is that it makes it difficult for me to sleep in. On a Saturday, for example, if I decide to go back to sleep for an hour or so after waking up to the alarm, I can set the alarm forward or use the nap function, but my brain chemicals don't want to let me sleep. If I do manage to go to sleep again, I wake up super groggy. It's probably a good idea to get used to waking up with the alarm the first time instead of sleeping in for another hour anyway.
At its brightest the lamp is mood light. This doesn't seem to affect the ability of the alarm to let my brain know it's almost time to wake up, but I decided to get the controller anyway. It's basically an extension cord that slowly increases the amount of electricity going into your electrical device as the alarm turns on. Together, the alarm and lamp go from indiscernible to bright as day. I like the controller, although it probably wasn't strictly necessary.
I kind of wish there was a separate button for the light and beep because I want to turn on the beep immediately whereas the light is useful while I get up and turn on my regular room lights. I can kind of do this by changing the setting from beep to silent, but it's too complicated for that time of day. What I really do is get up and turn on the regular light, then walk back and turn the alarm (and light) off. That's the only thing I can imagine being better about this handy little alarm.
The clock is pretty small too. It's like the size of a softball. I like that, but I can imagine people who would not.
The only competing product I have found is the bio-brite model, which is larger. I didn't get it because you can't hook it up to an external lamp because there is no controller. I'm happy with the decision I made.
The alarm clock has a sunset feature, a nap feature, a mood light feature, and some other stuff, but I don't use any of that.
Bottom line: This alarm clock is great. I recommend it to anyone who has a hard time waking up and is grumpy in the mornings--especially those who wake up when it's dark or need to sleep when it's light. I'm not sure if I am more sensitive to light or what, but this alarm is the only good way to wake up. Don't expect the light alone (without the beep) to wake you up, though.
I blocked off my windows and put the alarm clock at the foot of my bed. I read somewhere that someone was complaining that it's not bright enough to wake you up, which is probably true. That is, it will probably wake you up, especially if you want to wake up, but you might sleep though it. I wouldn't trust the light alone. It also has a beeper, radio, or flashing light option. I chose the beeper because the radio just bugs and flashing light make me crazy. You can set the light to come on immediately or over the course of 15, 30, 45, 60, 90 minutes, etc. I use 30 minutes because I read some scientific study that said that shorter than this doesn't give your brain enough time to secrete the necessary serotonin and anything longer doesn't do any better than 30 minutes does.
So here's how it works: thirty minutes before alarm time, the light slowly begins to come on. At alarm time the light is at full intensity and the clock starts beeping. The first night I used it I woke up when the light was half on because I wasn't expecting it. Since then, I have slept all the way to the actual beep. Actually, I'm used to it enough now that I sometimes wake up a couple of minutes before the beep. It's all about conditioning yourself. If I do wake up before the beep, I just lie there with my eyes shut, waking up and waiting for the beep. I'm lazy like that.
Do I feel better than I did when using a normal alarm clock? Yes, much better. It hasn't magically transformed me into a morning person, but I don't feel as groggy or disoriented in the morning. My eyes don't burn so much when I wake up earlier. Nor do I have as much inclination to fall back asleep after getting to the office. I would never go back to using just sound to wake me up.
One thing I've noticed about this alarm clock is that it makes it difficult for me to sleep in. On a Saturday, for example, if I decide to go back to sleep for an hour or so after waking up to the alarm, I can set the alarm forward or use the nap function, but my brain chemicals don't want to let me sleep. If I do manage to go to sleep again, I wake up super groggy. It's probably a good idea to get used to waking up with the alarm the first time instead of sleeping in for another hour anyway.
At its brightest the lamp is mood light. This doesn't seem to affect the ability of the alarm to let my brain know it's almost time to wake up, but I decided to get the controller anyway. It's basically an extension cord that slowly increases the amount of electricity going into your electrical device as the alarm turns on. Together, the alarm and lamp go from indiscernible to bright as day. I like the controller, although it probably wasn't strictly necessary.
I kind of wish there was a separate button for the light and beep because I want to turn on the beep immediately whereas the light is useful while I get up and turn on my regular room lights. I can kind of do this by changing the setting from beep to silent, but it's too complicated for that time of day. What I really do is get up and turn on the regular light, then walk back and turn the alarm (and light) off. That's the only thing I can imagine being better about this handy little alarm.
The clock is pretty small too. It's like the size of a softball. I like that, but I can imagine people who would not.
The only competing product I have found is the bio-brite model, which is larger. I didn't get it because you can't hook it up to an external lamp because there is no controller. I'm happy with the decision I made.
The alarm clock has a sunset feature, a nap feature, a mood light feature, and some other stuff, but I don't use any of that.
Bottom line: This alarm clock is great. I recommend it to anyone who has a hard time waking up and is grumpy in the mornings--especially those who wake up when it's dark or need to sleep when it's light. I'm not sure if I am more sensitive to light or what, but this alarm is the only good way to wake up. Don't expect the light alone (without the beep) to wake you up, though.
