Lumie Sunrise Alarm review: a simple yet effective way to wake up in the morning

Waking up in the morning is always a bit difficult, especially if you haven’t had a good night’s sleep. Couple that with a loud grating beeping noise, and you’re off to a bad start to your day. But the best wake up lights are designed to simulate sunrise to naturally and gently wake you up in the morning. Many people swear by wake up lights, often using them as a wake up light, sunset light and the best bedside lamp.

So, when I came across the Lumie Sunrise Alarm, I knew I had to give it a try. Lumie has over 30 years of experience, designing and manufacturing wake up lights, alarm clocks and the best SAD lamps. T3 has tried its fair share of Lumie lamps, ranging from the super advanced Lumie Bodyclock Luxe 750DAB to the more simple and affordable, like the Lumie Sunrise Alarm.

I tried out the Lumie Sunrise Alarm for a month to see if it improved my mornings and how it compared to other Lumie options, and here’s what I found…

• Buy the Lumie Sunrise Alarm at Lumie
• Buy the Lumie Sunrise Alarm at Amazon

Lumie Sunrise Alarm review: Unboxing & set-up

The Lumie Sunrise Alarm came in a petite cardboard box which came with the lamp, cord and plug and instructions. The instruction manual takes you through how to set the time, alarm and sounds, and how to adjust the brightness and volume.

The touchscreen buttons on the front turn the lamp on and off, organise the sunrise alarm, sunset function, and adjust the brightness and volume. On the back of the Lumie Sunrise Alarm, these buttons help you choose the colour of light and the sound of the alarm.

With a few simple taps of the buttons, the Lumie Sunrise Alarm was ready to go in a matter of minutes. Even for the more technically challenged, it’s very easy to put together.

Lumie Sunrise Alarm review: Design & features

The Lumie Sunrise Alarm is mains powered, made of plastic and has an integrated LED bulb. The entire device is 18 x 17 cm and weighs just 0.505kg, so it’s incredibly light, easy to move around and can fit on pretty much any bedside table.

It doesn’t look like your average alarm clock, and it has more of a lightbulb shape. It’s likely designed with this shape to ensure the light and sound comes through properly and the buttons are all accessible, but it is an odd shape compared to other wake up lights. Both sets of buttons on the front and back are clear and easy to use, and the time is shown in red at the centre of the clock.

Compared to other Lumie lights, the Lumie Sunrise Alarm isn’t the most advanced but it still has a broad range of features. The most important features are the 30 minute sunrise and sunset modes, which brighten gradually over half an hour to wake you up or dim over half an hour to wind you down.

The light can be used as a lamp, and the brightness is customisable with the plus and minus buttons, with 10 levels of white light. Other colours are available, including pink, green, blue, orange, red and teal. To ensure you definitely wake up in the morning, the Lumie Sunrise Alarm also has 6 wake up sounds that go off once the sunrise cycle is at its brightest. You can choose from kittens, birds, frogs and other nature sounds.

Lumie Sunrise Alarm review: Performance

Like I said previously, the Lumie Sunrise Alarm is very easy to set up and get started. The buttons are incredibly responsive and all you have to do is tap the front or press the back to customise it. As it’s a manual display, I did have to change the time when the clocks went forward but this took a matter of seconds.

I set my sunrise alarm for 7am, so the cycle started at 6:30, gradually brightening its light until it reached full brightness. This brightening woke me up gradually and naturally, which felt a lot nicer and calmer than the beeping you get from your phone’s alarm or the best alarm clocks. The light is incredibly bright but it’s not painful or uncomfortable to the eyes, and it turns off immediately when you press it. To make sure I definitely got up in the morning, I used the wake up sounds with the light. The natural sounds were great to wake up to, and the blackbirds and treefrogs were my personal favourites.

As well as being a wake up light, the Lumie Sunrise Alarm has a sunset feature. You don’t need to schedule it like you do the sunrise setting, but you simply tap the sunset button to start the sunset sequence. The light starts off at its most powerful and gradually dims overtime before turning itself off and signalling that it’s time to go to sleep. I really enjoyed this and found that I dropped off before the light turned off, so it really works to help you relax and wind down after a long day.

The Lumie Sunrise Alarm can also be used as a bedside lamp which I loved. While it’s not designed to be used as a SAD lamp, getting that brightness into my morning and winding down with it in the evening was definitely very relaxing, so it could help some people. However, if you experience SAD symptoms, a specially designed SAD lamp is the best option.

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Lumie Sunrise Alarm review: Price

The Lumie Sunrise Alarm is £49.98 and available to buy at Lumie or select retailers like Amazon and John Lewis. For this price, the Lumie Sunrise Alarm is great value and you get a lot from your money. This is the cheapest wake up light you can get from Lumie, and it comes with a 45-day trial and 3 year warranty.

Lumie Sunrise Alarm review: Verdict

Overall, I loved using the Lumie Sunrise Alarm and don’t have many complaints about it. The brightness and wake up sounds helped me wake up more gently in the mornings, and it was relaxing to use in the evening with the sunset feature or the dimmable light from the lamp. It has a range of colours and noises to choose and it’s incredibly affordable.

So, why the four stars, I hear you ask? Firstly, the Lumie Sunrise Alarm is a bit of an odd shape which definitely isn’t a deal breaker, but I did find it took up a weird amount of room on my small bedside table. Looking at the other wake up lights that Lumie offer, the Lumie Sunrise Alarm doesn't really compete with its manual display and it's missing fun features that the others provide. BUT it’s a simple yet effective wake up light which does exactly what it says on the tin, and is a strong contender if you’re on a budget.

Lumie Sunrise Alarm review: Alternatives to consider

If you love Lumie, the best Lumie wake up light you can find is the Lumie Bodyclock Shine 300. It has an auto-dimming display, FM radio, natural light effects and is jam packed with innovative features. The Lumie Bodyclock Shine 300 is more expensive than the Lumie Sunrise Alarm but it does a lot more.

For a more affordable option, the Beurer WL50 Sunrise Lamp is a good choice. It has wake and sleep modes, can play music and FM radio, and it’s reasonably priced. The Beurer WL50 Sunrise Lamp also has a more conventional shape, similar to a smart speaker.