ZDNET's recommendations are based on many hours of testing, research, and comparison shopping. We gather data from the best available sources, including vendor and retailer listings as well as other relevant and independent reviews sites. And we pore over customer reviews to find out what matters to real people who already own and use the products and services we’re assessing.
When you click through from our site to a retailer and buy a product or service, we may earn affiliate commissions. This helps support our work, but does not affect what we cover or how, and it does not affect the price you pay. Neither ZDNET nor the author are compensated for these independent reviews. Indeed, we follow strict guidelines that ensure our editorial content is never influenced by advertisers.
ZDNET's editorial team writes on behalf of you, our reader. Our goal is to deliver the most accurate information and the most knowledgeable advice possible in order to help you make smarter buying decisions on tech gear and a wide array of products and services. Our editors thoroughly review and fact-check every article to ensure that our content meets the highest standards. If we have made an error or published misleading information, we will correct or clarify the article. If you see inaccuracies in our content, please report the mistake via this form.
Follow ZDNET: Add us as a preferred source on Google.
Phones have messed up our sleep in more ways than one. Not only do their addictive functions keep us up scrolling well past our bedtimes, but they also wake us up with jarring 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 blaring phone alarms. Using light and calming sounds, the alarm clocks gently wake a sleeper up by gradually increasing 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 a paywall, and Philips's bulbous alarm clock isn't the first thing I'd choose to put on my bedside table. There's still room for customization and advancement in this product category.
The device offers both analog and digital time displays, and its lighting is gorgeous.
That's where the latest smart alarm clock comes in. Dreamie's $250 alarm clock steps onto the scene with a touchscreen design, a unique look, and -- my favorite part! -- no app or subscription. I've tested it over the past week, and I can confidently say it might shake up the competition -- once it fixes a few kinks.
My first impression of the alarm clock upon setting it up is that it is simply a beautiful device. I enjoy seeing it on my bedside. Its design pleases both ends of the spectrum -- from tech enthusiast to aesthete.
Also: I've tested the Apple Watch, Oura Ring, and other sleep trackers - 5 tips to get the best results
A quick search of competing smart alarm clocks shows that few on the market have a circular design and a fully interactive screen. This screen is customizable with settings to turn the display from analog to digital, show room temperature information, and any active alarms.
One thing I especially like about this clock's display compared to my Hatch is that I can easily see the time of day at a glance. The time display on the Hatch occupies one-fifth of the clock's surface on my dresser.
The device comes with a 50-millimeter speaker that delivers 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 sleep earbuds to help you fall asleep.
There are a few interactive movements you'll need to remember when using the Dreamie, 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 turn the circular clock face, also known as the light lens. To adjust the light brightness, you slide your finger along Dreamie's touch strip.
To change light direction, you take the circular light button displayed on the screen (once you've touched Dreamie's touchstrip) and swirl it around with your finger. To access settings, swipe up on the screen; to begin a wind-down, swipe down. Pretty simple.
You can adjust the brightness of the light by using the lightstrip on Dreamie's back.
The design mimics a smartphone's settings by using swipe-up and swipe-down gestures, so most people are already familiar with this choreography.
It's refreshing to use a device that requires no app setup. In fact, this is one of Dreamie's major selling points. Ambient co-founder Adrian Canoso wants to get people off their phones and into bed as quickly as possible.
Developing an alarm clock that doesn't require an app is one way to accomplish this goal. It makes the opportunity of keeping a phone in a different room -- something that's regularly recommended to curb phone addiction and to get higher quality sleep -- possible.
Also: Need a sleep study? It could be as easy as downloading an Apple Watch app soon
For now, there are four alarm sounds to choose from on the device. This includes a calm selection of bells, a rising chord progression, a jingle played on what sounds like a marimba, and the chirping of morning songbirds. Dreamie says it's adding a podcasting feature to its device in due time, so you can wake up or wind down to your favorite podcast host soon.
As for the light's wake-up strength, I'm not sure we could call this a sunrise alarm. The light isn't bright enough to wake you up on its own. You'll need those accompanying alarm sounds to get you out of bed.
The light was weaker than my Hatch 3, which clocks 600 lux at one foot. An upcoming update will increase the brightness of directed light by 25%, according to an Ambient spokesperson.
On the topic of light, there's no feature to disable the light as you're going to bed, so you'll be sleeping with Dreamie's light display on. This could keep light sleepers and people not wearing sleeping masks up, though Ambient says it's working on changing that. The light-disabling feature should be developed within the next month, according to an Ambient spokesperson.
I'd imagine that Dreamie's higher price tag 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 for hardware bolster company profits, power a steady stream of new features, and keep users within their ecosystem, but customers rarely enjoy paying an additional price to access features behind a paywall.
I like the Dreamie as a smart alarm clock, though I'd look elsewhere if you're in the market for a strong sunrise alarm clock with enough light emitted to wake you up -- or simply don't want to fork out $250 for something you'll only use in the morning.
Nevertheless, it's a gorgeous, smart alarm clock with intuitive features. I love walking into my room and seeing it on my desk. It's tech-y yet minimal, cool-looking without being too loud.
Some of its weaknesses, like the light strength and the light-disabling feature, should be fixed by Dreamie very soon. I'd recommend buying it, but advise holding off on your purchase until these features ship. I'd especially recommend it if you use sounds and light to wake up, but I'd prefer the Hatch 3 if you only use light to wake up (as I do), since it's far brighter.