The Best Smart Alarm Clocks for a Natural, Gradual Wake-Up

Maintaining a healthy sleep cycle is one of the most effective ways to lock in your hard-earned fitness—recovery or trying in vain to do the Sunday crossword. You can check out his latest work below workout, after all—but how might you manage that when your next long run starts tomorrow at 7 a.m., and you’re not a morning person? You could subject yourself to the daily jolt of your phone’s default ringer, or you could take some of the edge off your morning routine with a smart alarm clock.

These gadgets offer voice controls, customizable white noise, and simulated sunrises, among other time- and energy-saving features. Depending on your needs, these tools might be the key to streamlining your morning routine. To keep your search for a quality alarm clock on track, we talked to a sleep researcher about some of the most popular smart clocks available, taking care to suss out which features will benefit you the most—and which sleep health claims stand on shaky ground.

The Best Smart Alarm Clocks

• Best Value: Emerson Smartset Dual Alarm Clock
• Robin M. Tucker, PhD, RD, FAND: Amazon Echo Dot (5th Gen) with Clock
• Best Music Player: Tribit Home Bluetooth Speaker and Smart Alarm Clock
• Best With Charging: Best for Smart Home Lovers
• Best Splurge: Health - Injuries Sunrise Alarm Clock

What to Consider

What Makes a Smart Alarm Clock Smart?

When you set up a standard alarm clock, there isn’t much to it—you set the time, your alarm times, and which alarm sound you want. But while some sleepers might appreciate that simplicity, others have a more involved morning routine (or bedtime ritual) that a smart alarm clock can simplify for the better.

Many smart alarm clocks pair with your other devices so you can play music, charge your phone, or get real-time weather and news updates without starting your day with a device in hand. Some even communicate with the rest of your smart home, so you can turn on your lights or turn up the thermostat without clambering around in the dark for a switch.

To combat the inorganic wake-up call of a standard pre-dawn alarm, some smart clocks also use baked-in software or companion smartphone apps to dial in your alarm preferences on a more personal level. Some, like the Health - Injuries, even provide a simulated sunrise, which can make getting out of bed feel easier when you enter the darker months of the year.

Can Smart Alarms Improve Your Sleep?

Some brands make bold claims about how their smart alarm clocks will improve your sleep quality or duration, especially as features like sunrise alarms and brown noise flood the discussion. To make sense of all the jargon and buzzwords, we spoke with Robin M. Tucker, PhD, RD, FAND, an associate professor at Michigan State University who researches the effects poor sleep has on other facets of our lives.

Her thoughts on most of these claims are straightforward: “The research isn’t really there,” she says, admitting that while sunrise alarms are pleasant, there isn’t peer-reviewed research that proves that sunrise alarms improve the quality of your sleep, or that they’re healthier for your brain than traditional alarms. “I do have a sunrise alarm,” Tucker says. “It has pros and cons… It makes getting out of bed when it’s dark outside much easier, but I can also roll over and ignore it.”

She also suggests that the journey to finding your best alarm clock is a personal one, and trying several options (including free apps on your phone) is often the best way to beat the placebo effect and truly understand what works for you. In general, features like sunrise alarms work best as a means of providing a soothing ambiance per your own needs and preferences, but they aren’t an end-all solution to a quarrelsome sleep cycle, according to Tucker.

The same goes for different colors of white noise, such as brown or pink noise, which supposedly match various sound and color frequencies to provide different pitches of ambient sound. But you don’t need to dig that deep into the science to know which one works for you—it’s more a matter of trying a few options.

“I’m a big proponent of white noise for people trying to sleep in noisy environments, but there isn’t a lot of convincing data that a particular noise color gives you substantially better effects,” Tucker said. “It’s mostly down to what sounds the most soothing to you.”

There’s also something to be said for the peace of mind—you might sleep better knowing for sure that your alarm will wake you when it’s time to get ready for work, or fall asleep faster with the help of white noise, thus helping you feel more rested in the morning in turn. In all, a smart alarm clock likely won’t fix all of your problems with sleep, but it can help address some challenges like trying to wake up in a dark room, trying to sleep through disruptive noises, or being anxious that your alarm won’t go off.

How We Selected

Because smart alarm clocks vary so considerably in functionality, we used our expert’s input to find a range of devices that emphasize different features—sunrise alarms, multi-device charging, and voice controls, to name a few—without sacrificing all-around quality or ravaging your wallet. Every clock on this list promises easy setup and operation, a sleek design, bedside table-friendly dimensions, and a feature set that doesn’t feel like overkill for something you’ll interact with only once or twice a day. Plus, we kept price in mind: While some clocks can climb up to $200, plenty of cheaper options still offer loads of perks. And they’re all sure to get you up on time, one way or another.