Lumie Bodyclock Active 250 Wake-Up Light, Alarm Clock with FM Radio and Extra Audio Options

I got this ONLY for the graduated morning light, not for any of the other features. It works great. It brightens the room--not like the diffused light of the morning sun, let's be honest here that no lamp can do that--and makes me less groggy in the morning when I get up. I was very skeptical that a sunrise clock would work, but it does! Now I'm thinking I need a second one to light up the other side of the room and really mimic the rising sun as closely as possible. The features are not easy to use--complicated to make changes--but since all I use it for is the sunrise lamp, it's easy to deal with. Haven't tried the alarm (I use a different alarm to wake up), the sounds, the sunset light, etc., and have no need for any of that. What stopped me from giving it 5 stars -- BE CAREFUL! It gets HOT. I mean burn your hand HOT. Be very careful with where you place this and I wouldn't use it around small children.

I decided to try one of these because getting up before dawn is really a drag. It definitely helps ease me into wakefulness. I use the radio alarm, but frequently wake up before it goes off.WARNING: As the product description mentions (but doesn't call enough attention to), this clock ONLY shows the time in 24-hour format, probably because it's a UK product. This wasn't a dealbreaker for me - hey, I always wanted an excuse to be able to read military time more easily - but it takes some getting used to.Good:I wake up more easily and feel less groggy during the morning.The clock in general is versatile, with lots of customizeable settings. Some people say it's ugly, but I really don't find it so.The clock definitely does what I need it to do.Bad:The controls aren't intuitive. I'm two months into using it, and still can't always remember where the snooze button is at 5am.The quality of the speakers is not great. They are fine for a radio alarm, but if you are a big radio listener throughout the day, the tinny quality of the speakers might not be appealing.The bulb blew out on me just this morning, after only about two months of use. It's $13 to replace, so I hope this doesn't happen regularly.This is the only Lumie model currently available in the US. There are some much nicer-looking ones available on the Lumie website and Amazon.co.uk. I wish we could get some more variety here in the colonies!Overall, I'm glad I made the purchase. It was a good balance between cost and trying something new out. But now that I know a sunrise alarm clock does me some good, I'll be looking for something a little nicer next time.Edit: The bulb is NOT $13 to replace. I thought I needed something fancy because of the dimmer, but it takes a garden-variety candelabra-type bulb. You just have to make sure that the base fits. Since I wrote this review, I've been using the replacement bulb and it's never burned out again. One more for the "good" list!

My psychiatrist suggested I get one of these as I live in the basement and in addition to it being very dark, I have hypersomnolence (related in a sense to narcolepsy but I sleep long hours (12–72+) without warning or stopping or ability to hear alarms largely, and when I do, I turn them all off in my sleep.Well I wasn’t expecting a cure from this ‘Lumie’ by any means. Honestly I didn’t know if it’d wake me up, particularly on it’s own/without human backup after it’s ‘sunrise’, was hoping for easier waking/alert/better moodBut my psych recommended the northern lights company, and I typically believe you pay for what you get...so here was the northern lights clock she meant.I read the reviews and many negative ones (very relevant) didn’t make sense quite yet. And good seemed to be outweighing or equivalent to the bad..Well holy crap! I’m not technologically inept, but this is THE WORST CONTROL PANEL EVER!!!! Setting it to begin with was a pain. But..Setting the alarm the second day (it DIDN’T GO OFF the first) which was now AFTER setting the clock and alarm time settings and rooster or bird or whatever- it took me 45 minutes to get the alarm set to a different time, another 15 to have the signal that it was ‘on’ which is a light gray sun image next to the clock (barely visible and almost impossible to arrive at) -- well even though it is military time, not thrilling, I GUESS they probably don’t want the blame for their alarm going off in evening at ‘20’ o’clock -WELL even with that, it failed to go off in the morning for me 3 times, and I kept messing with it trying to make it work..I’m done. I’ll try another brand if there is anything that isn’t so ridiculous control wise. I do NOT want to read a manual 20 mins every night to get it ‘set’ especially when it’s a crap shoot. (Seriously it it doesn’t work)Nice idea and model sun part - - However, it’s destroyed by everything else.Well...I had actually only seen it come on at night and was like wtf but was happy it seemed ‘Bright’I’d have better luck with a Christmas tree timer on a SAD lamp. So irritated!!!!!Lumie, I hope you do the right thing and send a truly legitimate SAD lamp for my bedroom and I will set it up with a timer.ESPECIALLY Considering my time and frustration..AND also 2 missed appointments due to this junk you sell for nearly $200 - i feel so cheated.

Beautiful sunrise effect, love the sounds that come with it and love the ability to turn the clock face light off for total darkness. However - really tricky to learn how to use and the buttons make loud clicking sound if you need to set the alarm next to a sleeping partner.Once you know how to use it, it's great, but I wouldn't gift it to someone easily frustrated by technology.

It's not easy to figure out and it is a 24 hour clock you don't have the option to change it.