Philips - SmartSleep Connected Sleep and Wake-Up Light Therapy Lamp - White

I always thought things like this were over glorified "smart" alarm clocks. Then I started having sleep problems and found out how long the waiting lists were to see a sleep specialist and decided to try to find a solution that would at least help in the meantime. I have to say that I think I have found it. I've been using this for about a week now, and have made use of both the RelaxBreath and Sunset features. The Sunset is what has worked best for me. It took a bit to get the settings just right, but the app does help with that (I do believe it would be nearly impossible though without the use of the app). And, I have to say, the gentle increase of light and sound in the morning is a much more pleasant way to wake up in the morning than my phone yelling "It's 5:15am" at me. Speaking of the app, as someone who does data analysis for a living, I absolutely love all the tracking that this app does. It is nice to see trends on things like room conditions that impact sleep and what trends there are on how long I've slept. I've learned from looking through the data that my bedroom is too loud... I know that the cause is the baby monitor that I keep next to the bed that is sitting right next to a white noise machine in the nursery... haven't figured out the fix to that one yet, but at least now I know some of what is contributing to my sleep problems. I could probably go on for pages about how much I like the data tracking in the app, but I know that isn't going to be useful for most people reading this review. Now, onto the cons, and there are a few. Remember I mentioned a baby monitor... yup, very active 18 month old in the house... and this doesn't have any type of control lock on it. Make something shiny with touch controls that light up and it attracts the paws of a toddler like a lit up Christmas tree attracts a cat. It is always a fun game at night to figure out what settings my son changed. Also, I think that a combination of the Relaxbreath and Sunset would work really well, unfortunately you can only choose one or the other. If they fixed those problems, this would easily be a 5 star product. I still definitely recommend it, it definitely a worthwhile product, it just barely falls short of being amazing though.

The Philips SmartSleep Connected Sleep and Wake-Up light therapy lamp is a very interesting device and the concept is a good one in my opinion. Normally I wake up naturally to the sun shining in my room, but that changes when we must turn our clocks back and I still have to wake up at the same time to get to work on time. This light can simulate the morning light that I am used to, and I find that I am having an easier time (especially this time of the year with turning the clocks back) waking up and feeling refreshed. There are many settings to play with when you connect the Philips SleepMapper app. For example, you can choose from different sunrises such as, Sunny day (bright white), Nordic white (less bright white), Island Red (mixture of white and red), and Caribbean red (bright red). You can adjust the light intensity as well as the duration of the sunrise. You can set multiple alarms as well as different sounds and if you are a heavy sleeper and need more to wake you up, there is a PowerWake feature which is an extra alarm (in case you sleep thru your others) that will activate with a loud sound and bright flashing lights, this is something my wife needs, but I don’t. The sleeping features are pretty good as well. I set mine to start about 45 minutes before I need to be sleeping and I find the sunset lights a nice touch and the soothing sounds of waves help me to fall asleep faster. The app also has a bedtime tracking feature, but I haven’t investigated that much in the short time that I have had it. Over time that might provide some insight into better sleeping habits though and I look forward to checking that out more.

About Philips SmartSleep The Philips SmartSleep could be simplified as a combination of an alarm clock and sleeping aid. It uses both light and sounds to wake up or soothe to sleep. The SmartSleep has way more features than I had realized, or in all honesty, need. What I Expected The reason that I was interested in the SmartSleep is that I have a hard time getting up in the mornings. I have no trouble falling asleep, but when it comes to getting up, I am constantly hitting the snooze button and staying in bed longer than I need to. My hope was that the added light feature would make a difference in the waking up process. I expected a slow dim to bright light feature that would gently wake me up. I also anticipated that it would have sound (radio and nature sounds) as an option. There was an app that I expected to control the time for the alarm. What I Got / Features of the SmartSleep What I received was far beyond my expectations. There were features that I did not know about, and several that I have no intent to use. As I said, I am only interested in the wake up portion of the alarm, not the sleep aid portion. The app worked well, and you could set multiple alarms with various adjusted controls. Below are some of the features. General Controls / Features • Connects to WiFi • Can control the brightness of the display (clock numbers) • Has radio and nature sounds • Can set multiple alarms • Phone app for iPhone and Android called Sleep Mapper (you’ll want to use this to access several of the features) • Charging port at rear of light for your cell phone • Has a thermometer and decibel meter to monitor room conditions Wake Up Features • Can Control the Brightness of the Wake up Light • There are 4 color settings for the wake up light (colors range in the white, yellow, orange, red hues) • Powerwake - feature that uses a loud sound and a bright light to wake up Sleep Features • Sunset - Relaxing light that dims to make you sleepy • RelaxBreathe – breathing exercise to calm you to sleep • Calming sounds What It Does Not Do While it does have the Philips brand name, it is not part of the Hue family. It does not require a Hue bridge. It is not intended to be a standalone light fixture. It does not change to a full range of colors like many of the Philips Hue products. This is a separate product from that family. Appearance I do not find the SmartSleep to be very attractive looking. It kind of looks like an asymmetrical donut, and has a bit of a yellowish color to the casing. It’s not the cool, pristine Apple product kind of white. It’s somewhat large – wider than most nightstand lamps, so it sticks out. The display that shows the touch screen buttons and clock numbers have an orange glow. The orange numbers on yellowish plastic isn’t all that appealing to me. Also, the numbers are a little smaller than I’d like to see. There are no real buttons. The snooze button is on the touch screen. I have a hard time finding it when I am half asleep or do not want to look directly at the bright light. Here is a quick list of Pros and Cons for the Philips SmartSleep. Pros *Very featured filled product *App works well *Audio features as well as the light *Works for falling asleep as well as waking up *Cell phone charge port at back of product Cons *Appearance could be much better (in my opinion) *Clock numbers are small *Snooze button is hard to get to – no real buttons *Instructions on using these features were lacking *Would be nice to have a standalone light option *Could be interesting for the light to be a full range of colors or tie-in with the Philips Hue app I’m giving the Philips SmartSleep 3 stars. It has a lot more features than I expected, and many of those features make the product more versatile. I think the appearance and the interaction directly with the product (not through the app) could be much better. The idea behind the product is intriguing and could very well be worth the cost to get better sleep and wake up in a more natural way.

I hate waking up to my alarm on my iPhone. I have to use the loud, angry ones to get me up and moving, which I attribute to having 2 kids and suffering from a lack of proper sleep over the past decade. I've used the Philips band to help try and reduce my snoring, so when I saw they created a light that would simulate waking up to a natural sunrise, I was all over it. Let me just say - I love the light. It's got everything you need. My main gripe is with the app that you have to download to configure it. I hate installing one-off apps on my phone that don't serve more than a single device. The app first off requested a whole host of permissions around personal data and while I appreciate it being upfront, some of it seemed a little creepy. When I declined some of the permissions, I noticed that many of the connected features on the light wouldn't work. You need to use the app to create an alarm scheme, which thankfully you can do without signing over access to all of your data. I used the natural sunrise setting and made sure it would wake me up at 5 am. The light starts warming up around 4:30 - 4:45 am and I love that I wake up right around 5 am not feeling bleary-eyed. You can also use the touch screen controls on the light to control it and use it like a regular light. I also experienced issues with the app even connecting to the light, even though they were both on the same WiFi network. The lamp said it was connected and so did my phone, but it would regularly say it couldn't find my lamp. Once the app manages to connect, you can also control the FM radio option and also listen to live broadcast radio if you want. The app can also track your sleeping pattern if you open up the option and let the device track your data. If you're concered about privacy, you can still use the base functionality of alarm, lighting control and radio with the app. If you need a light to help wake yourself up, then this might be what you're looking for.

Such a unique device that has made a positive impact in my well being and sleep. Using this in conjunction with the app and your home WiFi allows the device to assist you in getting to sleep and waking up gently. I love that I can use the gentle sounds of ambient noise and a fading light to doze off to sleep, much like the sound machine I used in my young child’s room. This helps to relax and ease me to sleep. The unit measures noise level, light level, and temperature in the room and informs you in the app about the things you should adjust to get a better sleep per evening. Waking up with this machine is a multi purpose tool. I love that it’s a clock and gentle waking light to give me the nudge I need to wake up without a loud beeping alarm on pitch black mornings. Makes me feel more rested and less stressed when I use the light therapy to wake in the mornings. I like that I can wake to the radio and also light if I want to. Overall, it’s been helpful for me to track my sleep with my iPhone and this wake up light. I have only a few hours a night to recover for a new day so I want to ensure I’m making the most of my sleep time to rest and be prepared for a new challenging day. PRO: Unique contemporary look Helpful sleep aid

For some time now I have had difficulty sleeping so decided to try this SmartSleep Therapy Lamp by Philips. I honestly feel it is overpriced for the features it has and the application is pretty basic. The sound is average along with the clock and alarm features. However I was impressed by the light and method it wakes you up. I recommend trying the "RelaxBrethe" function on the application. Overall it is a nice aid when trying to sleep however no way justifies the price.

I will say first of all, this product may not be for everyone. It works well, but if you and your significant other are on different sleep schedules, this is probably not a good purchase as it will pretty much wake up everybody in the room at the same time. That being said, it does work well and as intended. The light itself is a good design and looks nice on a night stand. It does take up a bit of space due to the shape, but all-in-all is not an eye-sore. The light itself is bright and I like that you can chose what kind of light you with to wake up to. I am not completely sold on the Falling Asleep (Relax Breathe) function. I don’t like the light turning on and dimming to help sync your breathing to relax. I found the light annoying and I can deep breathe on my own. Fortunately, you can chose to not use this function if you don’t like it. The screen on the light is easy to read and you can adjust eh brightness to your desired setting. The touch function on the clock screen is responsive and easily laid out and I had no issues with it. The app is fairly intuitive and easy to learn. It is very easy to set up and sync the app to the light. All options are laid out and easy to find. The analytics are nice to monitor your sleep conditions. I like that you can add alarms and adjust the days they run. The sounds in the light is a little bit tinny and could be improved in my opinion. All-in-all, I think this is a nice light with nice functionality. For me, it isn’t quite worth the price point and for my personal sleep situation, isn’t a very practical device (my wife was getting frustrated waking up due to the light when she usually wakes up at least an hour after I do). If you are the only one in the room and waking another person up isn’t an issue, then this is a nice wake up/sleep tracking light. I received this product for free in exchange for an honest review.

I’m totally “in-love” with this sleep therapy lamp! It ... is ... awesome! And, it’s super cool looking! Yet the Philips SmartSleep and Wake-Up Light Therapy Lamp is so much more, with many fun (yes, fun) and healthful features, that have honestly helped me with my sleep issues. Thank you, Philips! Included with the lamp, is a detailed (printed) User’s Manual. That is always a ‘Pro’ in my book, especially with a device such as this, where you really need to fully understand the device’s features, so as to get the most out of your experience using it. Yes, there is an app - the Philips SleepMapper app - but even the app itself is easy to figure out and its features simple to navigate. This sleep therapy lamp simulates the natural light of a beautiful sunrise to gently prepare you for waking up and beginning your day. I found that I woke up more easily, more refreshed, and in a better mood. The lamp also simulates the warm glow of a beautiful sunset, lulling you into a relaxed feeling before falling asleep. Being able to relax my body and mind to allow myself to fall asleep, is one of my most difficult sleep challenges. I definitely believe the sunset simulation is helping me work towards overcoming that. (Customize the settings for these features, in the SleepMapper app, to suit your own personal preferences, and needs.) One of the more amazing aspects of this SmartSleep Therapy Lamp is that the device has a built-in AmbiTrack sensor which monitors the ambient conditions within the room. In the SleepMapper app under ‘Data,’ it will tell you the temperature / humidity / luminance / noise levels of your bedroom, and whether those levels are optimal or not, with suggestions on how to improve those conditions. I routinely sleep with a fan on, so unfortunately, the noise level in my room is more than likely never going to be shown as “optimal.” But that’s okay; I’m used to it. And by setting my choice of ‘relaxing sound’ both to fall asleep by and wake-up to, at a certain volume, I’m still well able to hear them without any problem. Other useful, and healthful, features: - Wind-down program, using light and sound guided relaxation - ‘RelaxBreathe’ which teaches you to use the belly breathing technique. This may take some getting used to, especially if you’re unfamiliar with relaxation exercises. Give yourself time to ease into it, and adjust the techniques accordingly, so that you are comfortable doing them. - FM Radio - preset 5 stations (with the option to wake-up or fall asleep to music). - Aux Music - connect your mobile phone or MP3 device via the included auxiliary cable and listen to your own music (however, you cannot wake-up or fall asleep to music via this auxiliary option). - Midnight light - a nightlight feature for when you get up up in the middle of the night and need to find your way in the dark. - You can also use the lamp as a reading light. - Charge your mobile phone via the USB port found on the back side of the device. - Set wake-up alarms - need a little extra time to convince yourself to get up? You can activate ‘snooze’ by tapping the top of the lighted disk. The PowerWake alarm, while not something I’ve any use for, is a feature I’m certain will prove useful for those who find it particularly difficult to get themselves up in the morning by using a standard alarm with snooze feature. Mornings still “come too early” if you know what I mean, but I no longer ‘dread’ waking up. I actually look forward to that calm, soothing light and pleasant sound, which welcomes me to the start of a brand new day. *two enthusiastic thumbs up*