Tired of waking up tired? Wish you could sunset your loud, rude alarm clock right into the trash can? You should give serious thought to picking up a sunrise alarm.
A sunrise alarm mimics a natural sunrise in order to play a trick on your body. We feel our best when we wake up to the gradually brightening, intensifying sunlight as it rises and shifts from a mellow orange to an intense blue-white. We’ve evolved that way because we’re animals. Just look at the news if you’ve forgotten that.
Most sunrise alarms have a sunset function that works in the reverse, lulling you to sleep before bedtime by taking advantage of our biological tendency to feel sleepy as the sun slowly fades.
The Casper Glow Light was a winner in my guide to the best sunrise alarms. I gave it the award for having the slickest design of all those I tested. And right now, it’s on sale. It isn’t a huge sale, but these rarely go on any kind of sale.
intuitive and sleek
Out of all the sunrise alarms I’ve tested, this is the only one I’ve called “just plain fun to use.” And it’s exceptionally easy, too, as long as you don’t mind having most of the settings and functions tied to using the Casper app.
To set the wake-up time, you have to do it through the app. You can lengthen the sunrise and sunset countdowns in 15-minute increments, up to 90 minutes. You can’t change the color of the light (how blue or yellow it appears), though, and there are no built-in sleep sounds, as many sunrise alarms do when they have aspirations of being white noise machines.
Once it’s set up, though, using it is easy. Just flip it over to start the sunset program, and when it’s on its charging pad, spin it to adjust the brightness. You can pause and restart the sunset countdown by pushing the big, wide button that functions as the Casper’s top.
Also distinct from many other sunrise alarms is that it’s portable. Just lift it off the charging pad, which stays plugged into a wall outlet.
As I wrote in my review, “Because it casts light in 360 degrees, it was the best sunrise alarm at lighting up a dark room evenly, rather than in the more directional pattern of most sunrise alarms. And because it’s wireless, I’d often begin a sunset routine in my office while I read, and then carry it into my bedroom as I started getting ready for bed.”
Casper sells a two-pack for $224, which is $25 off, if you want to place one on each side of the bed. How romantic of you, sharing your sunsets with your special somebody.
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