Windows Help & Advice – May 2019

3 Philips Somneo

£149, philips.co.uk

This feature-packed light has a light that starts off red and then

turns to orange and then ends with bright yellow light, which is a

gentler waking experience than a light that just goes through

levels of white/yellow. It also has a night-time mode, where it dims

over time and plays noises. You can play nature sounds or FM

radio alongside the light to wake up. The touch display makes it

easy to set up and adjust, the display brightness adjusts

automatically to your room’s light (though you can adjust it

manually) and a nice touch is that if you get up in the middle of

the night you can tap the top of the lamp and it emits a very

gentle red glow. The design might split opinion: Philips describes

it as “sleek and stylish”; you may disagree.

4 Beurer WL 90

£130, beurer.com/web/gb

Though the WL 90 is perfectly functional,it justannoyedusin too

many ways. You can set three alarmtimesonit, buttheonlyway

to turn off the alarm is to reach aroundthebacktothetiny

buttons. To snooze it, you have to basicallyslapitssidetovibrate

it. This is also how you turn the lamponandoff.It’snotdignified.

The wake-up light’s brightness is middling,andit dimsshortly

after the alarm, so if you snooze youendupbackin thedark.The

mood lighting brightness is too dimtobeuseful.Thesound

quality is fine, and Bluetooth playbackis nicetohave.Theappis

fiddly, though works fine, but whenyouopenit andconnectto

the lamp, the lamp beeps – not greatif you’remakinga tweak

while someone else is sleeping.

n a darkroom,wakingup

toa buzzingalarmisn’t

thesmoothestwayto

starttheday.Wake-up

lightshelpyouslowlycomeoutof

sleepmuchmoregently,soyou’re

readytogorightaway.

I

These lamps all have wake-up lights,

but many also pack in speakers and

some other tech to make them

handy as bedside helpers.

However, before we start, if it’s

just a light you want, that you might

pair with your phone alarm, we

recommendtheLIFXMiniDay&

Night (£27,uk.lifx.com), whichyou

can put inanylampdesignyoulike

(it has screworbayonetoptions).It

talks directlytoyourphone(nohub

required) andhassettingsfor

bedtime aswellasmorning.

Winner!

May 2019 | |^87

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Wake-up lights

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