I tried a $250 alarm clock for a week — and it’s not as ridiculous as it sounds

Follow ZDNET: Add us as a favorite source On Google.

Phones have spoiled our sleep in many ways. Not only do their addictive functions keep us scrolling past our bedtime, but they wake us up with screeching sounds and haptics, shocking our systems with loud sounds and frantic measures that, once the alarm is disabled, send us back to sleep overwhelmed.

Also: I Biohacked My Sleep With These 5 Gadgets (And It Worked)

Smart sunrise alarm clocks have grown in popularity as an alternative to our loud phone alarms. Using light and quiet sounds, alarm clocks wake the sleeping person by gradually increasing the light and volume. The most popular sunrise alarm clocks come from companies like Hatch and Philips – but these clocks aren’t perfect.

Many of Hatch’s features are hidden behind paywalls, and Philips’ bulbous alarm clock isn’t the first thing I’d want to put on my bedside table. There is still room for optimization and advancement in this product category.

That’s where the latest smart alarm clock comes in. Dreamy’s $250 alarm clock Step onto the scene with a touchscreen design, a unique look and – my favorite part! –No apps or subscriptions. I’ve been testing it for the past week, and I can say with confidence that it can blow away the competition – once it fixes some of the glitches.

My first impression upon installing the alarm clock was that it is a beautiful device. I enjoy seeing it near my bed. Its design pleases both ends of the spectrum – from tech enthusiasts to aesthetes.

Also: I’ve tested the Apple Watch, Ora Ring, and other sleep trackers — 5 tips to get the best results

A quick search of competing smart alarm clocks reveals that few clocks on the market have circular designs and fully interactive screens. It’s customizable with settings to change the screen display from analog to digital, show room temperature information, and any active alarms.

One thing I particularly like about the display of this watch compared to my hatch The point is that I can easily see the time of day at a glance. The time display on the hatch takes up one-fifth of the surface of the clock on my dresser.

interactive activities to remember

The device comes with a 50-millimetre speaker that offers 360-degree sound, an ambient light sensor that controls screen brightness and temperature and humidity sensors. It’s also Bluetooth-enabled, so you can listen to soundscapes with the sleep earbuds to help you sleep.

There are some interactive activities you have to remember to do when using the Dreamy, but I found them far more intuitive than my Hatch’s button settings.

Also: This sunrise alarm clock helped improve my sleep routine

To change the volume, you rotate the circular watch face, also known as the light lens. To adjust the brightness of the light, you slide your finger across the Dreamy’s touch strip.

To change the direction of the light, you take the circular light button displayed on the screen (once you touch the Dreamy’s touchstrip) and move it around with your finger. To access Settings, swipe up on the screen; Swipe down to start wind-down. Very simple.

The design mimics smartphone settings using swipe-up and swipe-down gestures, so most people are already familiar with this choreography.

It’s refreshing to use a device that doesn’t require any app setup. In fact, this is one of the major selling points of the Dreamy. Adrian Canoso, co-founder of Ambiente, wants to get people off their phones and into bed as soon as possible.

Developing an alarm clock that doesn’t require an app is one way to accomplish this goal. This makes the opportunity to put the phone in a different room – something that is routinely recommended to prevent phone addiction and get high-quality sleep – possible.

Also: Need a sleep study? It may soon be as easy as downloading an Apple Watch app

For now, there are four alarm sounds to choose from on the device. It includes a calming selection of bells, ascending note progressions, jingles played on a marimba-like sound, and the chirping of morning songbirds. Dreamy says it’s adding a podcasting feature to its devices in due course, so you’ll be able to connect with or stop by your favorite podcast host soon.

As far as the waking power of the light is concerned, I’m not sure we can call it a sunrise alarm. The light isn’t bright enough to wake you up on its own. You will need the corresponding alarm sounds to get you out of bed.

The light was weaker than my Hatch 3, which hits 600 lux at a foot. According to an Ambient spokesperson, the upcoming update will increase the brightness of the directed light by 25%.

On the subject of lighting, there’s no feature to disable the lighting when you’re going to bed, so you’ll be sleeping with the Dreamy’s light display on. This may provide relief to light sleepers and people who don’t wear a sleep mask, although Ambiente says it is working on changing this. According to an Ambient spokesperson, the light-disabling feature should be developed within the next month.

about that price

I think Dreamy’s high price of $250 compensates for its app-free business model. Companies like Hatch make an extra $50 per year on top of the $170 price of the hardware.

Software subscriptions to hardware boost company profits, power a steady stream of new features, and keep users within their ecosystem, but customers rarely enjoy paying the extra price to access features behind a paywall.

ZDNET’s shopping advice

I love dreamer As a smart alarm clock, though, if you’re in the market for a sturdy sunrise alarm clock that has enough light to wake you up — or you don’t want to spend $250 for something you’ll only use in the morning.

Still, it’s a gorgeous, smart alarm clock with a ton of intuitive features. I love walking into my room and seeing it on my desk. It’s tech-packed yet minimal, looking good without being too fussy.

Some of its weaknesses, such as light strength and light-disable feature, should be fixed dreamer Very soon. I would recommend buying it, but would advise holding off on your purchase until these features become available. I would especially recommend this if you use sound and light to wake up, but I would prefer hatch 3 If you only use light to wake up (as I do), because this is much brighter.