Buying guide
The best sunrise alarm clocks in 2026
Updated Aug 17, 2026 ยท prices dated per offer
A sunrise alarm clock brightens gradually before your alarm time, so you wake to light instead of a blaring phone. The differences that matter are the quality of the light ramp, whether you can control it without an app, and whether the good features hide behind a subscription.
We compared four clocks from a $35 all-rounder to the app-connected Hatch Restore 3. Every price was checked on the date shown next to the offer.
Best overall
1. Hatch Restore 3
The Restore 3 combines sunrise light, a sound machine and a reading light in a device that looks like a lamp, and crucially it has real physical buttons, so running your wind-down routine does not require picking up your phone. 40 sounds and 20 lighting presets are included free.
The catch is the Hatch+ subscription at $4.99 a month for the full content library. You do not need it, the free library covers most people, but know going in that Hatch will keep offering it to you.
Best for light purists
2. Lumie Bodyclock Shine 300
Lumie has been making wake-up lights longer than almost anyone, and the Shine 300 shows it where it counts: sunrise and sunset run from 15 to 90 minutes in 5 minute steps, with warm white, orange and red LEDs blending smoothly instead of jumping between fixed colors. It carries a 3 year warranty and a 45 day trial.
There is no app and no Bluetooth, just FM radio and 15 built-in sounds, and setting alarms through the single-button menu is genuinely fiddly. Buy it for the light, not the interface.
Best budget
3. JALL Sunrise Alarm Clock White Noise Sound Machine
For under $35 the JALL packs a 10 to 60 minute adjustable sunrise ramp, 25 sounds, 17 light modes and a Bluetooth speaker. Feature for feature it embarrasses clocks at three times the price, which is why it tops the sales charts.
The build is plasticky and some users find the display too bright even dimmed. As a way to find out whether sunrise waking works for you before spending Hatch money, it is the obvious starting point.
Budget pick with better audio
4. iHome iBT32 Sunrise Alarm Clock
The iBT32 adds a proper Bluetooth speaker, FM radio, a USB charging port and battery backup to its sunrise lamp, making it the more versatile bedside unit of the two budget picks.
Independent testing has flagged durability concerns over time, so treat it as an entry point rather than a long-term investment.
Common questions
Do sunrise alarm clocks actually wake you more gently?
The gradual light ramp means you are often already surfacing when the sound alarm fires, which many people experience as gentler than waking from darkness to noise. How well it works for you depends on your sleep schedule and how dark your room is.
Do I need a subscription for any of these?
Only Hatch has one, and it is optional: the Restore 3 works fully with its 40 free sounds, while Hatch+ at $4.99 a month adds a larger content library. Lumie, JALL and iHome have no subscriptions at all.
How long should the sunrise simulation be?
Most people land between 20 and 30 minutes. The Lumie adjusts from 15 to 90 minutes in 5 minute steps, the JALL from 10 to 60 minutes.