Are you a night owl or an early bird? Do you wake up when it’s dark out or whittle away your evenings long past sunset? Modern humans keep strange hours, and we no longer go to bed or rise with our natural sleep cycles. Almost all of us need more sleep. There’s a better way to fall asleep and wake up than by flicking out the lights at night or drawing open the curtains in the morning as if you’re opening the Ark of the Covenant right in your own face: Use a sunrise alarm to cope.
Sunrise alarms simulate gradual sunsets at night and gradual sunrises in the morning to help you fall asleep and wake up more naturally by tricking your biological hardware. I’ve tested the best sunrise alarm clocks—and a few of the worst. These are my favorites.
Check out our many other buying guides, such as the Best Mattresses, the Best Weighted Blankets, and the Best Sound Machines, all of which could help you get a better night’s sleep.
Updated March 2022: We’ve added the Hatch Restore and directions on how to set up a sunrise routine using Philips Hue smart light bulbs.
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