I always have problems waking up in the morning and had been looking for alternatives to my horrible mobile phone alarm that I used to use to wake me up. I read about wake-up lights that simulate sun-rise, thus creating a more natural environment to wake up in. I had a look online for a few and decided to buy the Philips HF3475. It cost around £60, which is quite a lot for an alarm clock, but I felt that if it helped me to feel more awake in the morning, it would be worth it.

The product look quite nice, it looks like a stylish modern style lamp. You won't be ashamed to have this by the side of your bed. The light itself is exceptionally bright and can be used to read by, or even to light up the whole room. And when you're finished with your reading, you can set the lamp to sunset mode which will send you off to sleep gently and naturally.

As for waking up, the alarm is great. The light gets gradually brighter, simulating sunrise. You can choose to wake up to a number of different sounds or the radio. You can also install your own sounds/ music via the USB connection. The alarm gets louder and louder as the light gets brighter and brighter. I often find that I am awake well before the radio starts up.

I have genuinely found that this does help me to wake up. The shock of my phone alarm is now a distant memory and I am now woken up gently and feel ready to face the day (although I find that a nice cup of tea doesn't do any harm either).

One thing I might say is that this lamp is great for when you're sleeping solo, or when your partner gets up at the same time as you anyway, but I imagine it would get on someone's nerves if they were woken up before they needed to be. This lamp is VERY good at waking me up on time, and then keeping me awake. At least with an alarm, while it might wake both of you up, the other one can just drop straight off back to sleep again. With this alarm, everyone in the room will be wide awake. I can't really call this a disadvantage though. The point of an alarm clock is that it wakes people up!