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Fix Your Wake-Up Routine

Fix Your Wake-Up Routine

(Bloomberg Businessweek) -- Modern life’s ability to disrupt our circadian rhythms—whether with blue light from our devices or jet lag—has spurred a cottage industry of alarm clocks that aim to provide inconsistent sleepers with a measure of control. Philips’s touch-sensitive SmartSleep light ($200) mimics natural light patterns to ease you into and out of a restful state. To simulate dawn, LEDs glow from red to orange to yellow over the course of 30 minutes, culminating in your choice of FM radio, nature sounds, or ambient music that gradually increases in volume. At night, a sunset setting reverses the color range to prepare you for bed. A connected version works with the companion SleepMapper app with a built-in sensor to track humidity, temperature, and sound and light levels.

The Competition

Lumie’s Bodyclock Active 250 ($125) uses an incandescent bulb to mimic sunrise and sunset for 15 to 90 minutes. It has sound effects, a lamp that can be dimmed, power backup, and a display that shuts off completely.

• In January mattress industry disruptor Casper introduced the $129 Glow, which skips the display entirely. An internal gyroscope adjusts its brightness based on whether you twist, wiggle, or shake the device.

• The $99 Illumy is an app-controlled sleep mask with integrated lights that lets you create your own sunrise or sunset. It also has a feature using light pulses to help shift brain waves into a more relaxed—or alert—state.

The Case

Remarkably simple to use, SmartSleep light provides a wide range of options to customize your nightly routine. Touch the home button, and it opens up into five icons, which include ones for an alarm bell, brightness, and sound. Even better, you can set the strength of the wake-up light to your preferred intensity of dawn. And though most “smart” gizmos that come with a ton of settings are anything but, this one will actually get your devices out of the bedroom, making it easier to rest easy. If not, you can snooze for nine more minutes by tapping the top. From $200; usa.philips.com

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Chris Rovzar at crovzar@bloomberg.net, James Gaddy

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