Wonderful!
I have wanted a sunrise/sunset simulation alarm for years but could never justify it while I was a college student. Now that I have been out of school for a few years and settled into my career I finally took the plunge and I am so happy that I did. This is one of the most valuable purchases I have made in my adult life. Getting up in the morning has never really been difficult for me. I am an early bird for sure. I haven't slept in past 9 in probably 5 years. In the summer I usually bound out of bed as the sun rises. In the winter? Not so much. It is dark and cold and even the most gentle alarm from my phone would jarr me awake. I have had this alarm for about 2 weeks now and it is the dead of winter and I have woken up feeling refreshed every morning, which translates to more energy and focus throughout my day. I really like the design. It is simple and minimal - something I am slowly transitioning more of my life towards. It was also really easy to set up. Those reviews saying it was too hard and giving it a bad review obviously didn't read the instructions. I skimmed through the manual and had it figured out in about 10 minutes. The front display has adjustable brightness which is a huge plus. There are 3 settings: bright, middle, and off. I keep mine in the middle. I appreciate that the display is an orange color - not blue or white. Less pain to the eyes if you have to check it in the middle of the night. You can set 2 different sunrise alarms which is helpful since I wake up later 2 days off my week and like that I don't have to reprogram it for those mornings, I just hit the button for which alarm I need. The sunrise alarm can be adjusted in a variety of ways: - time (duh) - alarm sound (I like the bird song but there are a handful of other choices) - brightness level: it always starts from off then you can adjust how bright it gets by the time the alarm actually starts at you programmed time. - how far before your alarm it begins to brighten I have my "sunrise" programmed to start 15 minutes before my alarm is set to start. It goes from off to a deep red/orange to yellow and finally to white. The maximum brightness will absolutely light up a whole room. That is a bit much for me so I have it turned back just a little. I am typically awake sometime around yellow. This wakes me up so much more gently and I have a few minutes in bed before the "alarm" of birdsong actually gets me up. So I am awake before my alarm most days and getting out of bed right after my alarm goes off. No more poking at my phone for 10 minutes trying to get myself out of bed in the morning. The "sunset" can also be programmed, however there is only one setting, not 2 as with the morning alarms. It can be adjusted to your liking in the following ways: - how long the "sunset" lasts - starting brightness - sounds played (less options here than the sunrise but more relaxing, I like the rain the most) From the starting brightness that you program over the designated amount of time it slowly dims from white to yellow to orange to red and finally off. I have mine set for 20 minutes and I typically read a paper book as the blue light from screens is counter-productive. Once I stop being able to easily read that is usually about when my body is drifting towards sleep. It finished darkening while I snuggle fully into bed and off I go to dreamland. It does have the ability to change the color of the light but the default works just fine for me. I absolutely love this product. I do have 2 small qualms but nothing to take away from a 5 star review. I notice it more in during the "sunset" but the transition from light to dark is not very smooth, I definitely notice it click down with each level. It may be due to my settings and I will see if having a longer period of time to transition from light to dark with smooth that out. My other issue is in the mornings. Once my alarm goes off and it is at full brightness I wish there was a way to turn off the alarm sound but keep the light on. There is a "snooze" button but I haven't tried it yet so I may experiment with that. In the short time I have had this product I can honestly say it has changed my morning routine and also the effects on the rest of my day. My sleep is more restful and waking up is so easy. It has really helped my mental health and I literally cannot stop raving about it to friends and family. If you are considering purchasing a product like this I highly recommend starting here. There are more much more expensive models but this one is accessible and user friendly. Read more