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Philips has always been known for creating products that are considered either innovative or just down-right wacky. So we weren’t surprised when we received the oddly shaped Philips Wake-Up Light for review. Marketed as an iPod dock that doubles as an alarm clock, the Philips Wake-Up Light’s claim to fame is the attached lamp, which brightens when the alarm goes off so you can gradually wake up to soothing sounds and a nice calm light, rather than the abrupt interruption of a repeating buzzer. Priced at $199, this is one alarm clock that stands out from the rest. If you do not need the dock, you can buy the Philips Wake-Up Light as a standalone unit for $30 less.
The design of the Philips Wake-Up Light is hit or miss. People we interviewed either really liked it, or instantly wanted to throw it away. Some people thought it was too large, or looked like it belonged in a hospital due to the sterile white color. Build quality is OK, consisting of thick plastic on the base and thinner plastic around the globe. The clock display shows up on the globe, projecting through the plastic, giving the unit a very modern look.
Setting up the Philips Wake-Up Light is pretty straight forward, plug it in, turn it on and configure the settings to your liking. All of the controls are located on the right hand side of the light, and are easy to use. Push in the dial to switch between settings, then turn it to make your selection. The Light can play one of four natural sounds to stir you awake, including morning birds in the forest, a relaxing beep, the sounds of an African jungle, or soft wind chimes. You can also configure the alarm to use your iPod or an FM radio preset.
Using the sleep timer, you can have the light gradually dim over a set period of time to simulate a sunset, while the opposite occurs in the morning as the light gradually brightens, thus simulating dawn. Philips uses a 300-Lux lamp with 20 brightness settings, which is rated to last 6,000 hours. We found the Philips Wake-Up Light worked as designed, and woke us up in the morning without a hitch. At times it was almost too soothing, coaxing us back to sleep to the relaxing sounds of playful birds or wind chimes.
As an iPod dock, the Wake-Up Light works as designed. Simply plug in your iPhone or iPod using one of the adapters, and you are good to go. The Philips Wake-Up Light does not come with a remote control, so you will need to manually change the songs, and other settings using your iPod, and the volume using the Philips Wake-Up Light. The internal speaker sounds good, and only distorts at high volumes. Bass is adequate for an alarm clock but as always, could be better.
Overall, the Philips Wake-Up Light is a nice addition to any bedroom as long as it fits in with the décor. The alarm presets use high-quality recordings and sound great, while the dimming light works as designed. A remote control for your iPod or iPhone would make a nice addition.
The OnePlus Buds Clip are a new pair of open-ear earbuds built around a simple convenience. They join Sony’s LinkBuds Clip in the growing ear-cuff category, but either OnePlus bud can go on either ear.
Sensors recognize how the earbuds are being worn and route the audio channels accordingly. There’s no label to check before putting them on, and the feature also works when only one bud is used.
We buy fitness bands and activity trackers to keep tabs on our exercise, but it is easy to forget to start tracking or switch modes when moving between different activities. For Fitbit and Pixel Watch users, that could soon become a lot less annoying, as Google is rolling out a major upgrade to automatic activity tracking that can recognize more than 100 types of exercise, up from just 10 before.
Google first showed off the improved tracking earlier this month alongside the Fitbit Edge. It is now coming to Fitbit Air and the Pixel Watch 3, 4, and 5, and Google claims the added context behind the system makes workout detection nearly twice as accurate while cutting missed activities by more than half. Fitbit Edge will support it too.