Philips HF3461 Wake-Up Light Alarm Clock - Health and Beauty (Philips)

The Philips Wake-Up Light Alarm Clock is fantastic. I have been using it everyday for the last two weeks. Although the function is fairly simple it works well. I hate mornings and I don't particularly like winter so I was keen to give this a try. It basically slowly wakes you up by increasing the light intensity over a 30 minute period, this works really well. The light itself is very powerful, you can alter the settings to any intensity you want. I picked the highest so that at the end of the 30 minutes it is like having sunlight streaming through the window.

I used to wake up with a jolt to my mobile phone alarm but the Philips Wake-Up Light Alarm Clock really allows you to wake up naturally and slowly. I've been using the alarm beep setting during the week just to make absolutely sure I catch my train; I have tried all the alarms, beeping, radio, running water and dawn chorus (which is my favourite). The birds start of imperceptibly and increase in sound so you wake to sunshine and birds - very nice. The biggest thing for me is that by the time you wake up and are conscious you don't feel like rolling over and going straight back to sleep again you are awake enough to get straight out of bed.

You can use the light on its own as a bed side light. You can select both light intensity easily and also loudness of sound. Setting the alarm is also very easy, in fact the whole operation is very simple, you could easily dispense with the instruction manual and just use the quick start guide that comes separately. And should you still need to you can snooze the Philips Wake-Up Light Alarm Clock too (although I haven't needed this option). --Jeremy Paterson, Amazon.co.uk

Customer Reviews of Philips HF3461 Wake-Up Light Alarm Clock

Dawn
England
8th January 2009

100watt bulbs are being phased out in September 2009!
I don't believe it! I have just purchased the Phillips Wake-up alarm clock and now find out that 100 watt bulbs are being phased out in September of this year! Surely, Phillips should not be selling this product as other than stock-piling 100 watt bulbs for future use, the product is a waste of money if I cannot use it once I run out of bulbs. I will be sending the product back as I also managed to oversleep this morning for the first time in a long time. I don't think the birds are working for me!

J. Connelly
London
7th January 2009

Good idea but no replacement bulbs!
I recently purchased this item and unfortunately the bulb was faulty on delivery. I was advised that I would be delivered a new unit as Philips have not yet released bulbs/replacement parts and were unlikely to until Jan 2010! This would have been a nice item but the lack of replacement bulbs/parts makes this a very expensive throw away lamp - look elsewhere.

kevin

6th January 2009

Faulty
I must admit i was looking forward to using this wake up alarm clock when i got it but unfortunately i had to send it back because:

1) the bulb was faulty when i got it (didn't work at all)
2) when i did try it out the clock regardless of the bulb not working, the clock made a slight but constant humming/buzzing noise which is no good when your trying to sleep.

Other than that this clock seemed ok. Easy to use, nice orange lcd display which has 4 brightness settings, big buttons. Its just a shame it wasn't silent like all other digital clocks i've had.

S. Moseley
Warrington,, Cheshire, United Kingdom
3rd January 2009

I've been using it for a year
I've been using this product for a year now (still with the same bulb it came with) and I like it. I only gave it 4 rather than 5 stars because I think the button design could be better - in order to prevent the alarm from coming on you have to cycle through the different sound effects - a straight forward alarm on/off button would have been better. As for function though; it does exactly what I hoped for - a gentle wake up that isn't jarring to mind and body. It's much easier to get up in the morning and waking up to birdsong (my favourite of the noises it comes with), which starts off quiet and gradually gets louder is far nicer than a loud beeping (my old alarm).

C. A. R. Croft
Bournemouth
29th December 2008

Disappointing but also good
Against: it's plasticky and ugly, the buttons on the top are hard to reach, the sounds (birds and waves) only have a 3 second loop to they aren't very realistic, it makes a slight hum which I can hear as I go to sleep, and it's not a SAD lamp, just an ordinary bulb (though maybe you could fit a daylight full spectrum bulb?). And of course the time you get woken up is quite imprecise since it takes 30 mins to light up, so if you need to get up at 7.20, not earlier or later, this is not for you. Also, I can sleep through it when when it's on max!

For: it is nice to be woken up slowly, and the fading up of the light and then of the sound is a great idea. Even the radio fades in. So in a way, it's brilliant. Good to read to in the evening too.