SmartSleep Wake-up Light, Colored Sunrise and Sunset Simulation, 5 Natural Sounds, FM Radio & Reading Lamp, Tap Snooze, HF3520/60

I use the Wake Up light for two reasons: waking up in the morning and winding down at night. It’s really helpful during gray months and the winter time when the sun isn’t shining bright in the morning. I also use it at night when I’m getting ready for bed. It has different light settings that I can control the brightness in the room. I usually put a low glow on in the room to help my brain wind down rather than have the overhead light on. I really like the ocean noise for my alarm sound!

Love waking up to some light and music in the morning.

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.

I purchased this sunrise simulator alarm clock almost 5 and a half years ago (September 2016). I am happy to see it is still available on Amazon. The price doesn't appear to have changed much, but perhaps that's just because this thing is so great!! I use this every day. This gives you the option for two alarm settings, so I have one set for weekdays and another set for weekends. My wake-up sound of choice? Birds chirping. There are a few other serene sounds you can choose as well. About a half hour before your alarm is set to go off, the sunrise simulator starts up. It starts with a dull, deep red and gradually gets brighter, then goes orange and gradually gets brighter and more golden, then it starts going white the brighter it gets until your alarm goes off. When the alarm goes off, it starts off quiet and gradually gets louder. You can choose how loud you want the alarm to get. You have three options at this point. You can either press the alarm button to reset it for the next day, press the alarm button twice to shut off the alarm completely until you press it again to turn it back on, or you can tap the clock (or the table it's sitting on, which is what I do) for it to snooze for 9 minutes. It will snooze for up to an hour before resetting itself for the next day. You will have to turn the light off yourself regardless of which option you choose. I do wish the alarm didn't auto shut off after an hour though, but I think the reason behind it is in case you forget to hit the alarm button to reset it or shut it off. I've done this on occasion and came back into my room after a shower with the alarm going off, but it will shut itself off eventually. This is not a smart device, in that it doesn't connect to wifi or bluetooth. You will have to change the clock twice a year for daylight saving time. I don't usually use the radio, but I have bumped the button a few times to know it works. It does come with an attached antenna as well, which is just a thin rubber coated wire. I don't typically use the sunset/sleep setting to really have anything to say about it other than it works. One thing I like about the clock display is it auto brightens and auto dims according to the room's light setting. The clock is dull enough when the lights are out that it won't bother you if you're trying to sleep and the clock will brighten in sunlight or when the lights are on so you can see it better. Also, you're able to choose the clock to display a 24 hour clock or 12 hour clock (00:01 to 23:59 or 12:00-11:59am to 12:00-11:59pm). I also use this as a bedside lamp as well, if I've got the TV on or if I'm reading a book. I like that there are 20 brightness settings. It can also be used as a night light. One con is trying to navigate the buttons. It's tougher when the light is at full brightness because you can't see the buttons very well. There are three buttons together at the top left for brightness down, light on/off, and brightness up. There is a small brail-type dot on the on/off button but it's not noticeable enough not to accidently change the brightness when you're trying to turn it off. You more or less need to close your eyes and let your sense of touch figure it out for you. It's really not that big of a deal though, just a little annoying. The only time I've bumped the radio button or the sunset button is because I don't always use the second alarm and I'm trying to figure out which button is which. Overall, I love this thing! It really works, though nothing will ever be as good as actually waking up to the sun coming in. This is a particularly important tool to have if you suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) or have blackout curtains because you work midnight shifts, or maybe you're just not a morning person. Waking up to a nature sound is a nice touch too. I want to make note that some reviews have mentioned not being able to replace the light bulb or the light stops working in 2-3 years... again, I have had this for 5 years and 4 months now and I have never had the light stop working. It's still going strong. And I use this 5-7 days per week and have since I purchased it. The only things about it I wish were different are making the buttons easier to navigate when the light is bright (best way I can do this now is turning the brightness down before trying to discover the on/off button) and I wish the clock changed automatically in accordance to Daylight Saving Time. If anything does happen to this one, though, I will most definitely be purchasing another. Update January 2026: 7 months shy of 10 years... it died. I got up in the middle of the night to use the toilet, turned on the light on the sunrise simulator which I keep set low like a nightlight, took a few steps towards my bedroom door, and it turned off. No clock either. I had been noticing the past maybe 2 weeks that it had been making the clicking sound it makes when you press the menu buttons. I heard it maybe twice when I was in bed and they were lit up like they'd been touched. Perhaps that was my warning that it was about to go. I've come back here to purchase another - either an upgraded one or the same one. I don't really see any upgraded ones... and this one has increased in price by 50%!! Although I don't want anything but another of these, I will be looking at other brands and weigh my options. Breaks my heart to say that, actually.... but a replacement is a MUST.

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.

This wakeup light had been on my wishlist for at least 13 years prior to purchase. I figured it would help me but was too expensive or felt too much of a risk. I tried more general purpose solutions like automated overhead lights and lamps, even bringing in happy lights by the bed to use upon waking. I’ve had the clock for two days now and I can tell a difference. Logically the most significant change in this vs some other light is how gradual the fade in is and perhaps the hue changes as it brightens. It goes from a reddish color to an orangy white and then to less orange. I think it lands somewhere in the 3500k color temp range at full brightness. The red hue is nearly imperceptible if you run the demo mode under regular lighting. I initially thought I had been sent the wrong product. If you run the demo in a dark room it should be visible. Even with the crazy bird noise as the default, I find myself actually feeling awake by the time I hear it. All my other alarms and light automation are still in play, but this little clock/wake up light seems to have filled a real gap. If this turns out to just be placebo or to wane, I will update this review, but I can tell you from years of experience not-having-this that generally I have some sleep paralysis or lethargy that makes it really hard to get moving first thing in the morning. I haven’t had that the past two days, even without sleeping my optimal number of hours. I’m still figuring out how to use it best. The controls seem pretty straightforward to me, except for turning the alarms on and off. To turn it “off” in the morning instead of snoozing, it seems you have to fully turn off a given alarm. Then if you want it on for tomorrow you have to turn it back on. I suppose you could just let it go off for an hour and time out? I wish it had an old school toggle switch for the alarm state, but that would change the all buttons design. Or heck, maybe just put a dismiss button in it to clear the current active alarm until its next trigger time. This can’t fully replace a lamp for most uses. It’s somewhat directional. That said the sunset type light fadeout is pretty neat. I think that could be a useful part of good sleep hygiene as it acts as a cue subconsciously of time passing and hinting that It’s time to sleep. I did try to buy an older model on eBay ~13 years ago and it was DOA. Some reviews here suggest these aren’t super reliable. Time will tell there. The build quality seems decent, the buttons both physical and capacitive work, and the light quality is decent. There’s no backup battery to remember the time or make the alarm go off during a power outage, but unplugging it and moving it to another room kept the time and settings. Perhaps a capacitor is on board. This model has 5 nature sounds and an FM tuner. I listened to the radio a bit and it was acceptable quality. For the alarm I just left it at the default birds chirping. It works well! This morning I set it later than my other alarms. I dismissed those because I have a day off and slept till this alarm alone woke me up. I was awake enough to not fall back asleep. It’s feels weird that this might have been an easy solution to a real problem that has plagued me for decades now. All my other practices and methods help too, but this was noticeable above and beyond those on the first use. I’m tempted to see if it can help me wake up much earlier, as I’ve never been a morning person. The first morning I used it, it was rainy outside and that’s how I realized /this/ must have made the difference. Rain at wakeup time is basically kryptonite. Even with overhead lights/lamps/etc having tons of clouds and rain is enough to make me sleep late before a painful last minute dose of adrenaline from panic gets me to jolt up in a bid to stay employed. No such problem… I got out of bed before 7 am! Update: 26-06-15, I've had this alarm about a month now and taken it on two trips with me. It appears it can keep the time at least for 3-4 hours in a suitcase. I had a slightly longer drive for the second trip and had to set the time on arrival, but honestly this is one of the easiest clocks to set the time on. It was worth it to take it on the trips. Some notes: To dismiss the alarm, I discovered what's likely the intended method by accident. If you press the sleep timer button twice (the same button for the sunset feature) it will dismiss the alarm and turn off the light without turning off the alarm completely so it's ready for the following day. I have slept through this light alarm a few times; in one case the elevation of the light relative to where my face was was insufficient, in the other my overall sleep routine had been off for other reasons. It's still a net win though for me. This alarm can "roll" if you have cats who like to jump up places. The light diffusion plate got scuffed up thanks to one of my cats knocking it off the nightstand. It still works fine though.

The sunrise light on the Philips HF3520 is genuinely good — smooth color transitions and a natural wake‑up effect. Unfortunately, everything surrounding that one feature feels cheap and poorly designed. The controls are confusing, the icons are tiny and unclear, and the interface feels outdated. If you stop the alarm early, it turns the alarm off for the next day, which makes no sense. Sunset mode doesn’t allow any sound at all, even though much cheaper clocks include that feature. For the price, the build quality is disappointing. The plastic feels hollow, the buttons are finicky, and nothing about the design feels “premium.” The light itself is excellent, but the user experience is frustrating. Philips clearly invested in the LEDs and ignored everything else.

purchased this unit online just to see if it would help getting up in the dark. After about a months use, can say it seems to help a little, but sleep habits are just as important if not more. Having some knowledge of sleep, I know the most important part of waking up refreshed is getting enough sleep, but the portion of the sleep cycle is important too, (at least the first 15 minutes or so). We sleep in cycles about 90 minutes in length, reaching the deep levels of sleep at various times during this cycle. If one were to be awakened during one of these deep phases, it would take longer to feel fully awake as you are coming out of a deeper level than if just naturally waking on your own, (without an alarm). So our sleep habit is the most important part of waking refreshed and alert. (i.e.: I need ~9 hours of sleep to feel refreshed. If I go to sleep at 10PM, and wake at 0700AM; I will have my 9 hours sleep and completed 6 cycles of sleep. If I stay up til 11PM, then wake at 0700AM, I will have had 8 hours sleep, but more importantly only 30 mins of the 6th cycle, and awaken during a deep phase of that cycle). So going to sleep and waking at the same times every day is the most important part of waking refreshed and ready to go. This device wakes one gently, and can be effective with the gradual increase of light as well as the audible effects. The interesting point is that the subtle stimuli of light will wake you if you are in light sleep, (also known as theta wave sleep). If you are in deep sleep, (also known as delta wave sleep), you probably won't wake until the light and audio alarms pull you out. This is an excellent way of determining your natural cycle end point given a fixed onset of sleep time. If you require the light and audio, adjust your onset of sleep time forward or back so that you are waking with just the light. When you awaken with the light alone, you know you have awakened near the end of your sleep cycle, as you naturally would on a day you do not use the alarm to wake up, (such as a day off). Of course, many people having difficulty getting to sleep to start. But with persistence, one can 'learn' to get to sleep easier by maintaining the same sleep wake cycle…everyday. (Not easily done in todays world though). Anyway… this device is effective, but only if you get the sleep you need. If I would only get 4 hours of sleep, I would still wake up tired. The gradual increase in light takes a while to adjust to your level of sensitivity, and the audible program can be set to be stimulating enough to arouse one from deep, delta wave sleep. The buttons around the edges require a bit of getting use to, but once you learn the relative positions, they are fairly easy to operate. The gradual decreasing light function when going to sleep is beneficial to me as I enjoy reading before going to sleep, and it helps remind me when I should put the book down, (as opposed to getting just another chapter in…). Long term effects and reliability yet to be determined, but I will try to report them after 6 months to a year.

I had sleeping problems and this was a recommendation of a friend that this product can help! It will rise like a sun in the morning and makes you ready to wake up minutes before you actually wake up, a lot better than all those disturbing alarms! It also has soothing sounds to set as an alarm that goes great with the rising light which makes it easier for you to start your day. you can also benefit from the sunset if you have difficulty going to sleep. Plus radio stations for those who like to listen to radio in bed. I didn't think this product is this much effective but it is!!! I LOVE THIS LIGHT! Highly recommend... It is worth the price although I bought it on a black Friday sales (EVEN BETTER :) )

Muy buen producto, si ayuda a despertar, pero es necesario tenerlo cerca de la cama. Buenos sonidos, buen nivel de luminosidad, y buena calidad. Tiene dos alarmas, yo una la uso para días laborales y la segunda para fines de semana. Las rayas en el video no se ven en persona.

Horribly expensive here in India. But cheaper than an air fare. I bought my original, glass, model (this one is plastic) in UK, but, after some years its buttons are failing. It is part of my wake-up life. Don't know how I could live without it. And, as I said, cheaper than an air fare. Is it worth it to YOU? At this price, probably not.

普段は朝日で目覚めるので、除雪や早朝出勤のために、冬の日の出前に起きるのが大変でした。 使った初日から、朝日で起きるのと同じ感覚で目覚めることができました。 大変いい商品です。

I purchased this product on 29 October 2017. It died on my yesterday, on 5 September 2025. I used it daily and it lasted 7 years and 10 months. In that period, this product NEVER malfunctioned or glitched. The sunrise light and the time-display light worked consistently without fail. This product is QUALITY. I never used the radio or auditory alarm. I also never used this product as a lamp. I strictly used the sunrise feature daily at my preset alarm times to help me wake-up time. The sunrise brightness transitions gradually, a mark of quality over lower-cost options which jog up from one brightness setting to another. The time-display light automatically adjusts its brightness according to the brightness in your room, another mark of quality over lower-cost options which require you to manually adjust the time-display brightness. When I purchased this product on 29 October 2017, the product costed $126. Lasting 7 years and 10 months (i.e., 94 months), that means this product costed me $126/94 = $1.34/month. Today, on 6 September 2025, it costs $175. While I could purchase lower-cost options on Amazon, each of them has reviews of the products malfunctioning after a period of time much shorter than 7 years and 10 months. Without hesitation I am re-purchasing this item. Though the price tag initially looks high (and of course more painfully so with inflation from its price tag in 2017), I am confident this product will last me again another 94 months, resulting in a monthly cost of $175/94 = $1.86/month. This is still a steal-of-a-deal. QUALITY products are always lower-cost in the long run!