The 4 best silent alarm clocks we tested for a reliable wakeup

The Philips SmartSleep Connected Sleep and Wake-Up Light gently awakens you with an increasingly bright light that mimics the sunrise, with or without sound.

Pros: Very customizable, has options for helping you fall asleep, gentle wake-up, optional sound, many alarms

Cons: Light alone may not work for everyone, on-device controls aren't intuitive, may disturb your partner  

If your goal is a completely silent wake-up, the Philips SmartSleep Connected light might work for you. Before your alarm is scheduled to go off, it dimly lights up then gradually brightens as your wake-up time approaches. There are sound options, too, if you need them, including FM radio. 

 You can increase the brightness level (or fully go without the light if you prefer). It gets pretty intense, which you might need if you're a deep sleeper. I found that I wasn't disturbed by the light when it was on my partner's nightstand if I was facing the other direction. But if your partner is a light sleeper, they may wake up from the brightness. 

Almost everything about the SmartSleep Connected is customizable. You can set over a dozen alarms with different light hues; several sound options, from waves to birds to Nepal bowls; and varying snooze lengths. You can choose how long before your alarm goes off you want the wake-up cycle to begin, between 5 and 40 minutes. 

You'll need the accompanying SleepMapper app (iOS and Android) for most of this functionality. The app is easier than the on-device controls, which could be a bit clunky. 

 Wake-up lights don't work for everyone. I found it pretty ineffective when I used a sleep mask, for example. 

A wearable is one of the best ways to wake up without disturbing your partner, and the Fitbit Charge 5 offers great battery life and other useful features. 

Pros: Won't disturb your partner, logs sleep, good battery life 

Cons: Requires regular charging, not a gentle wake up, lacks some customization

For a reliable, difficult-to-ignore, and nearly silent alarm, a wearable is the way to go. Usually, I wear an Apple Watch and am consistently awoken when it vibrates on my wrist when the alarm goes off. 

But my Apple Watch battery only lasts around 18 hours, and not everyone remembers to charge their watch every night before bed. The Fitbit Charge 5 can go about a week before you need to plug it in. Plus, many Fitbit models are at least $100 less than an Apple Watch.

You can set up to eight alarms right on the device and choose each day you want it to go off. The buzzing is very insistent and can be pretty jarring. It only vibrates for about 15 seconds before automatically snoozing for 9 minutes, and there isn't a way to change either duration. It would be nice if there was a bit more personalization. 

Because the Charge 5 is also a sleep tracker, it monitors when you go to bed and get up. I didn't find this perfectly accurate (it said I was awake for much longer than I was one night), but it still offered some useful insights. 

There's an optional "smart wake" feature on the alarm that will detect when you're in a lighter stage of your sleep cycle and will wake you up then, up to 30 minutes before your alarm is scheduled to go off. This is supposed to make you feel less groggy than if you woke from a deeper sleep. 

The Charge 5 is one of Insider Reviews' favorite Fitbits. It's especially good for fitness and sleep tracking. If you don't need as many bells and whistles (just the vibrating alarm), the Fitbit Inspire 2 is a great budget option. 

Thanks to its powerful vibration, the Sonic Alert Sonic Bomb Dual Extra-Loud Alarm Clock with Bed Shaker is a reliable wake-up device for those who can't hear alarms. 

Pros: Reliable, strong vibration, optional sound 

Cons: May disturb your partner, not a gentle wake-up, not intuitive

Despite the name, the Sonic Bomb Extra-Loud Alarm Clock doesn't solely rely on sound to wake you up. Put the puck-like shaker under your mattress, and the vibration will almost certainly jolt you awake. 

It's not exactly a pleasant way to wake up, and the vibration isn't silent either. But for people who are deaf or hard of hearing, a physical alarm that isn't sound-based could be useful if a light-based alarm isn't reliable enough. 

If you sleep with a partner in your bed, there's a good chance this alarm will wake them up too. Even with a very thick mattress, I could feel the alarm buzzing from the other side of the bed. The resulting sound wasn't very muffled, either. 

I liked that this alarm was pretty customizable for the price. You can wake up with just the vibration or a buzzing sound or combine them. The tone of the buzzer can be changed, and you can opt to turn the flashing lights on or off. 

I was also impressed by the customizable snooze functionality. The ability to change the duration isn't something you always find on budget-friendly alarm clocks. 

While there are two alarms, you have to remember to toggle between them if you don't want your weekday alarm going off on Saturdays, though you can choose to have both go off every day. 

The AcousticSheep SleepPhones Wireless Headphones are a comfortable way to fall asleep and wake up without disturbing your partner. 

Pros: Washable, comfortable, won't disturb your partner, good battery life 

Cons: Requires regular charging, can't adjust the size, many phones need a third-party app to not disturb your partner

For those who like to fall asleep to music or podcasts and wake up with sound cues, a comfortable pair of sleep headphones can be a great solution. AcousticSheep's SleepPhones are breathable and washable and can go days without you needing to charge them. 

I listen to audiobooks to fall asleep, and it was nice knowing that my alarm would play through the headphones in the morning. After the alarm went off, I would invariably leave the headphones on and paired to my phone by accident. Yet they lasted well over a week without me needing to charge them.

When I did need to charge the headphones, I pulled the module out of a pouch in the headband. You can wash the SleepPhones, but you need to remove all the components first. Unlike some sleep headphones I tried, the pouch concealed any blinking light you sometimes get with Bluetooth devices. 

However, I did need to download a third-party alarm app. This was true of every pair of headphones I tried. Even if they were connected to my iPhone, the native alarm app would play through the phone's speakers instead of to my headphones. That really defeats the purpose if you're trying not to wake anyone else up. 

The SleepPhones are available in either fleece or a more breathable fabric that reminded me of workout shorts. While the bands come in three sizes, the fact that I couldn't adjust the size was a problem. The medium sometimes felt too constricting when I was trying to sleep. 

What else we recommend and why

Mesqool Extra Loud Vibrating Alarm Clock with Bed Shaker: Similar to the Sonic Alert alarm, Mesqool's clock comes with a vibrating puck you place under your mattress. It worked as well as the Sonic Alert, and I could similarly feel it buzzing on the other side of the bed. It also has an easy-to-read display and night light that you can set to different hues. There are also two USB ports, a nice feature for small nightstands. However, its plastic construction feels flimsy, and the button to turn off the alarm is on the back of the clock, meaning I had to fumble for it every morning.  

Apple Watch: This is my go-to way to wake up without disturbing my partner. It vibrates gently but insistently to make sure I don't fall back asleep, and it doesn't make any noise through my phone's speakers. My main complaint is the battery life because I have to charge it daily before getting into bed. 

What we don't recommend and why

Moita Sleep Headphones Bluetooth Sleep Mask: I really wanted to find a cheaper alternative to the AcousticSheep SleepPhones, but this isn't it. It's not washable, other people can easily hear what you're listening to, and its bright blue Bluetooth light flashes all night if you fall asleep with it on. Also, it's comfortable but probably not a great pick for hot sleepers because of the thick foam. 

Philips SmartSleep Sleep and Wake-Up Light: This version of Philips' wake-up light is remarkably similar to our top pick, but it only lets you set two alarms. You can't designate days for the alarms, so you have to remember to toggle between them if you want to sleep in on the weekend. 

What is a silent alarm clock? 

There are two ways to look at it: It's either something like a wake-up light that makes no noise, or it's something like a vibrating alarm that, while not necessarily silent, can wake up someone who can't hear a sound-based alarm.

How do silent alarm clocks work? 

"Even in sleep, the brain is still processing your environment," Kelly Waters, MD, a sleep specialist at Spectrum Health, told Insider Reviews in an email. "Any abrupt change to that stasis will elicit a response, whether the abrupt noise of an alarm, vibration, movement, or light." However, she said not everyone responds to the same type of wake-up cue.

How do sunrise or wake-up light alarm clocks work? 

"These rely on the natural waking response to ambient light," said Waters. "The brain will be susceptible to waking when it is naturally in lighter sleep." She warns that these aren't precise and may not work for everyone, including heavy sleepers.

In addition to getting insight from Kelly Waters, MD, a sleep specialist at Spectrum Health, I tested seven different silent alarm clocks and evaluated them based on the following criteria: 

Setup: For each alarm, I tried to set it up without reading the instructions to see how intuitive they were. I then set them up again after reading the manual to make sure the directions were easy to follow.  

Performance: I used each alarm for at least three nights. I evaluated how easy it was to set alarms, whether the alarm consistently woke me up, and how difficult it was to shut off and snooze the alarms. For at least one night, I put the alarm on my partner's side of the bed or had him use it so I could see if I was disturbed when he woke up. 

Special features: I tested features such as Bluetooth or WiFi connectivity, accompanying mobile apps, wind-down programs, and night lights to see if they were helpful and simple to use. 

Durability: To test how breakable each alarm clock was, I pushed each off my nightstand. They all passed this test, though the Mesqool's battery cover did pop off. (I was able to put it back on.) 

Long-term use: After testing, I'm continuing to use our top picks to monitor for durability and usability.

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