After being presented last month the new model of the alarm clock Philips Wake Up Light We have been testing it to see first-hand the benefits it promises, among which is waking up every morning with more energy and vitality. For those of you who don’t know him, the Wake Up Light It is an alarm clock that, through a progressive increase in light during the half hour prior to the alarm time, wakes you up in a much more natural way than the typical audible alarm, including those hateful tones that come on mobile phones.
The first thing you can see when you take it out of the box is its design, no one would say at first glance that it is an alarm clock, rather it looks like a light for the nightstand, which is a great advantage to integrate it into our room. On the other hand, the design also makes it quite large, compared to other alarm clocks. Regarding its use, it has been very successful to simplify the controls with respect to the previous version, leaving them in only three wheels, which are in turn buttons, and a lever to activate and deactivate the alarm.
Let’s dissect the Wake Up Light of Philips among its different functionalities:
Alarm
As in almost all alarm clocks Activating the alarm is a very simple process: you just have to lower the lever, which will start flashing on the screen the current time at which the alarm is set and with the wheel SET we can indicate the exact time and set it by pressing the wheel. In this way it is already activated, but if we want to customize it a little more we have to choose the sound that will accompany the light, for this we must enter the configuration mode, pressing the wheel SET and choose the sound that we like the most from among those available.
Light
The bulb included in this alarm clock is quite powerful (300 lux) and very close, especially in the morning, can dazzle us a little, so it is advisable not to set it to its maximum power and not to leave the alarm clock very close to us when we go to sleep (Philips recommends between forty and fifty centimeters). The power can be regulated, and even turned off, through the first of the wheels that control the operation of the alarm clock. The problem we find in this section is that if we regulate the light level to use it as a lamp we have to remember to adjust it back to the level we want to wake up since we can’t keep the two levels separate. To turn on the light and use the alarm clock as a lamp, we just have to press the wheel that we have mentioned before.
Sound
After the thirty minutes in which the light level of the Philips Wake Up Light it begins to play the sound that we have selected when activating the alarm, gradually increasing the volume in the same way as with the light until we stop the alarm. We can select between several preloaded sounds in the Wake Up Light, from sounds of birds or the sound of the jungle, but we can also select our favorite radio station to wake up with it. In this case, we really miss the ability to use our own music in MP3, a feature that Philips should include in a possible next version.
Screen
The screen is one of the elements that, from a design point of view, stands out the most for its integration with the alarm clock and achieves a finish in keeping with the rest, without ever sacrificing visibility or simplicity for the user. In terms of functionality it is very useful to be able to adjust the brightness of the LEDs but we miss being able to completely turn off the screen and activate it only when we are interested.
Ultimately the Philips Wake Up Light It fulfills what it promises: a more natural awakening through light. The truth is that after trying it we can say that waking up is much better than the typical and hateful mobile alarm, but you have to remember one detail, if you are one of those who needs several alarm clocks ringing at full volume to get up, this may not be your alarm clock. ideal, but for the rest it is a very good option to have a more relaxed morning. The only impediment in this case is the price, 150 euros a bit high for an alarm clock.
More information | Philips.
