Reviewed by
Jarrett Dottin
Licensed Occupational Therapist dedicated to helping others live their best lives. Certified lymphedema therapist and amazon affiliate who has tested over 1,000 different products. About JD →
The Sunrise Alarm Clock w Sleep Sound Machine is worth buying if you want your phone off the nightstand. You get a 0 to 100% sunrise, 10 continuous sleep sounds with no timed shut-off, and box breathing, all run by one knob and two buttons. Skip it if you want app control.
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How this review was made: written from my own video review of this product. Every opinion here is my own, from using it myself.
| Sleep sounds | 10, continuous, no timed shut-off |
|---|---|
| Light modes | 8 ambient + 3 sleep modes, 0, 100% brightness |
| Breathing | 4-7-8, Box, custom 1, 12 BPM |
| Controls | One knob, two buttons, no app |
| Power | USB-C on the back, USB-C to USB-A cable included |
I Set It to Tweet Like a Bird Every Hour
The first thing I did with this clock was set it to a bird noise, a little tweet, on the hour. That’s the kind of thing i wasn’t expecting from a sunrise alarm clock you can see on Amazon. Brightness, theme, light patterns, sounds, breathing rhythm, and yes, the flower pattern on the display face is swappable too. I didn’t expect that level of control from something with one knob.
With the lights off, it gets really bright and you can watch it gradually come up like a sunrise. It gets really bright, and you can watch it gradually come up like a sunrise. Or run it backwards at night and it goes down like a sunset.
People Think It’s Just a Light. It’s Four Things.
This isn’t a wake-up light with a buzzer bolted on. It’s a sunrise alarm, a sleep sound machine, a night light, and a breathing guide in one small body. The alarm clock sleep sounds list runs 10 deep: Fan, Fireplace, Ocean, Rain, White Noise, Piano, Calm Mind, StarGlow, Shh, and Twinkle.
And they don’t shut off on a timer. Most alarm clocks for bedrooms kill the rain sound after 60 minutes, which is exactly when you don’t want silence. A lot of alarm clocks for bedrooms kill the rain sound after 60 minutes, which is exactly when you don’t want silence. This one just keeps going.
The breathing light is the piece i’d have skipped over on a spec sheet. You get 4-7-8 breathing, box breathing, or you set your own rhythm anywhere from 1 to 12 breaths per minute. As an OT i’ve walked plenty of people through box breathing for pain and anxiety, and having a light pacing it for you in a dark room works better than counting in your head.
Versus the Phone on Your Nightstand
Your alarm clock app is free and this isn’t, so the comparison is really about what the phone costs you in other ways. You pick it up to set the alarm and you’re in notifications, then you’re scrolling, then it’s 40 minutes later.
The practical difference: I set the alarm in about four seconds by turning the dial, and I never touched my phone. The other sunrise clocks I’ve tried all wanted a Bluetooth handshake first, which means the phone is already in your hand, already lit up.
It’s Not Going to Break If It Drops
It’s a sturdy sleep wake alarm clock. Picking it up, there’s no flex, no creak, nothing rattling inside. It’s a really small device and it has non-slip feet on the bottom, so it won’t go sliding around your nightstand when you’re reaching for the dial half asleep.
Power is USB-C on the back, and the USB-C to USB-A cable comes with everything you need. That also means it needs to stay plugged in, so it’s not something you’re carrying room to room.
Ownership Costs After the Purchase: Basically Zero
Nothing to replace, nothing to refill, no subscription. No app, no account, no cloud. Wipe the housing, keep the non-slip feet clean so they grip, and that’s the whole maintenance picture. The one ongoing cost is an outlet it has to stay tied to.
Three Buttons and a Dial, Explained
Setup is the dial on top and three buttons, no menus to dig through. The turn dial controls your settings and that’s how you turn the brightness down. The button on the left changes the different modes. The one on the right is a go-back button.
From there you set the day, the time, the date of the week, and you work through the light patterns. Super easy to manage and control. This one’s really simple and easy to use.
Here’s the catch, though. With that many options living under two buttons and a dial, the first run-through takes a minute. There’s no screen walking you step by step, so you’re pressing and turning to find where things are. Once you’ve been through it once it’s nothing. The first time, it’s not obvious.
What to Know Before You Order
Check the alarm volume claim against yourself if you’re a hard sleeper. The 4-stage alarm grows from soft to loud, which is built for people who hate jolting awake, and it’s billed as having enough volume for heavy sleepers. If you’re the person who sleeps through a loud alarm clock across the room, that’s the one spec worth reading the listing on.
One more thing on timing. It’s sitting around the same price it’s held for the last three months and close to the lowest it’s been tracked at, and it’s selling noticeably better lately, ranked #170,710 in Health & Household against a 90 day average of #330,322. More than 50 bought in the past month. Current pricing is on the product page on Amazon. 🛍️
Pros
- Huge amount of customization: brightness, theme, light patterns, colors, sounds
- Sounds run continuously instead of cutting off mid-night
- Gradual sunrise that gets really bright, and a sunset going the other way
- Sturdy small body with non-slip feet, not going to break if it drops
- Box breathing and meditation pacing built right in
- Keeps your phone out of the bedtime routine
Cons
- First pass through the settings isn’t obvious with only two buttons and a dial
- Has to stay plugged into USB-C, so it lives in one spot
- No app or phone control at all, which is the point but still a limit for some
Frequently Asked Questions
Does it need an app or an account to work fully?
No. Every function runs from the knob and the two buttons, no smartphone required. There’s no account to create and nothing to subscribe to.
Can it double as a reading lamp or a kid’s night light?
Yes. There’s a Reading mode plus Candlelight, Solid Color, Rainbow, Spectrum, Fireworks and Aurora, with brightness from 0 to 100%. Dial it low and it’s a night light; turn it up and it’s bright enough to read by.
What happens if the power goes out overnight?
It runs on USB-C power, so it needs the cable connected to work. If you’re in an area with frequent outages, plug it into a small battery bank so your alarm isn’t tied to the wall.
Will the sounds and light bother a partner sharing the bed?
Both the light and the alarm start low and build, so it’s gentler than a standard buzzer going off at full volume. Brightness goes all the way down to 0%, so you can run sounds overnight with no light at all.
Get it now
Sunrise Alarm Clock w Sleep Sound Machine
🛒 Get the best price on Amazon →Affiliate link. See the disclosure at the top of this post.
If getting your phone off the nightstand is the goal, this is the cleanest way I’ve found to do it, no app to pair, no account to create, no reason to pick the phone up at all.
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🛍️ Soma Ritual BioClock: check price on Amazon →
About the reviewer
Jarrett Dottin
Licensed Occupational Therapist dedicated to helping others live their best lives. Certified lymphedema therapist and amazon affiliate who has tested over 1,000 different products.
