The wake-up light is displayed prominently on the top half of the device and gets gradually brighter over 15-90 mins, after which time a sound of your choice will play to help wake you up. The brightness settings of the light can be easily adjusted, as can the duration. When the alarm goes off, you can snooze it by lightly touching the top of the speaker. After eight minutes, the alarm will sound again (note: there’s no way to vary this duration). To switch off the alarm altogether, you just need to press down on the speaker for three seconds. You can preset two different alarms/sunrises in advance, if that’s helpful to you. Whether you choose to use it in the morning or at night to get to sleep, the way the Beurer Wake Up Light WL50 slowly activates is a very gradual process. There's nothing bright or disconcerting about the way it glows; it seems to be cleverly designed to support the sleep rhythm as best as possible. Another feature to look for when buying a sunrise alarm is nature sounds. Nature sounds are typically things like forest sounds, rainfall, birds chirping etc. Waking up to sounds like this is better than a piercing alarm tone. A sunrise alarm can be an excellent way to make sure you start the day off in the right way. A good sunrise alarm will have both sunrise and sunset modes, so you can get to sleep easier as well as waking up more gently in the mornings. With many models, you also benefit from being able to wake up to nature sounds or your favourite radio station.

It has a sunrise and sunset simulator, with adjustable settings from 10-60 minutes. The light gradually changes over your preferred timescale, from a dull red into a bright yellow light to help wake you up in the best way possible.

Join the conversation about this product

The Beurer Wake Up Light WL50 is compact, and looks smart on your nightstand (Image credit: Suzanne Baum) Pop the light on your desk if you're experiencing an afternoon slump, take it with you into the kitchen if you're in need of some energy while cooking dinner, or switch it on if you're feeling lethargic while doing chores such as sorting through life admin or reorganising a wardrobe – a SAD light could be the best investment you make this winter. Known as a ‘smart sound machine’, the Hatch Rest is an all-in-one powerhouse that looks after your child’s restful hours – be they sleeping, waking, or a mix of the two. And yet it’s still simple enough to set up and use, mainly thanks to the companion app that allows you to control everything remotely using your smartphone. There, you can switch between eleven soothing sounds including rain, birds and lullabies, create dream schedules, and use the Time-to-Rise program that helps children associate different colours with whether they can get out of bed or not. The lamp itself has hidden controls so curious fingers can’t prod too much, and even the brightest setting is low enough to not be too distracting. The slimline WL50 light from Beurer is a solid mid-range option, particularly if you’re keen on waking to the sounds of your favourite radio station. Equipped with FM auto-tuning, thirty radio memories and a built-in Bluetooth speaker, you can also use the aux input to play your own music if you fancy it. The smart touch display makes it very easy to use this alarm and the aux connection means you can easily connect your phone or tablet so you can use it as a speaker. The light from the alarm means you can also use it as a table lamp and reading light, with fully adjustable light settings.

A SAD lamp, light or light box uses light therapy to help improve your mood. They produce very bright lights to recreate the morning sunlight that you miss during the winter months. My biggest issue with this wake-up light are the alarm sounds. Alarm sound 1, the melody with bird calls, is pleasant enough while it's playing. But there’s an annoying gap when the loop repeats. The effect is jarring, and wrenched me from my good mood on waking... undoing the good work performed by the wakeup light. The feature that immediately jumps out at you with this alarm is the light. It’s designed to imitate a sunrise and will, therefore, increase very gradually over 30 mins before reaching maximum brightness. This helps you to wake up naturally and helps you to feel restored when you do. You can adjust the brightness level to your preference and once the 30 mins are up, a song or radio station of your choosing will play. The Philips Somneo Sleep and Wake up Light with Relax Breath Alarm has some unique features that help to wake up more comfortably in the morning and get to sleep easier at night.

What is a SAD lamp?

It has both sunrise and sunset modes, each of which lasts for 30 minutes. In addition to these two settings to help you get to sleep/wake up, the light also functions as a bedside lamp with the display beneath it being dimmable to your preference. Firstly, it has dual alarms, meaning you can set different times for different days of the week. This is incredibly handy, especially if like many people, you tend to wake up later at weekends than during the week. A feature that sets this alarm apart from a lot of others is RelaxBreath. RelaxBreath gives you a way to control your breathing by using varying rhythms or sound, so you’re able to get to sleep that much easier. It has both sunrise and sunset simulation, so it’s equally effective at getting you to sleep as well as waking you up. For the sunrise setting, the light will gradually get stronger over 10-60 minutes depending on your preference. When the alarm goes off, you can choose from one of 7 natural sounds or an FM radio station. The sunset mode decreases the light gradually from 10-120 minutes and you can also choose to have natural sounds or a radio station play.

SAD lamps are bright lights which you sit in front of. Designed to mimic sunlight, they can help trigger the brain to release serotonin (the feel-good hormone) when it's dark and gloomy outside. Some can be placed on your desk during the day, while others are used as an alarm to naturally wake you up in the morning. The device also functions as an FM radio, and allows you to store up to 30 different channels. Alternatively, you can use the speaker it houses to play your own music via Bluetooth, or via any USB connected device. There’s a cable included for this, which also doubles as an aerial for the FM radio. Beurer WL50 Wake Up Light review: daily use One part of this alarm that is a little disappointing is the sound options. There is no FM/DAB radio and the only sound option is an alarm beep. This isn’t too much of an issue if you care most about the light functions, however. Our body’s circadian rhythm is a repeating 24 hour cycle that helps us to carry out essential daily functions, including the regulation of when we sleep and wake. As it’s influenced by environmental cues, our ‘normal’ wake up time naturally occurs in tandem with the rising sun – and the same thing can also be achieved with artificially brightening light. Although the light has a radio function, that is just an added bonus and not something to shout about as there's no DAB, and the FM reception was sometimes fuzzy. With that in mind, we'd opt for the other sound settings instead. Overall though, when it worked, it was just an extra function on an otherwise extremely brilliantly designed wake up light.Whether a lamp can have a medical effect depends essentially on two factors: The light intensity and the colour temperature. For there to be a therapeutic effect, a light intensity of 10,000 lux is recommended. verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ Light range – how long the light takes to brighten or dim. Most lamps have a standard range of 30 mins but some allow for longer/shorter settings. For comparison: In a well-lit office, the light intensity is just 500 lux. At the same time, electric light has an increased proportion of red light compared to daylight. Due to the low lux value and the increased red content, conventional electric lamps are therefore not sufficient to have a medical effect.