Beurer WL50 Wake Up Light | Daylight Table Lamp | Helps to Support The Sleep Rhythm | LED Technology | FM Radio with 10 Memory Spaces | Bluetooth & Aux Input | 3 Light Levels

Product Information

Our body’s circadian rhythm is a repeating 24 hour cycle that helps us to carry out essential daily functions, including the regulation of when we sleep and wake. As it’s influenced by environmental cues, our ‘normal’ wake up time naturally occurs in tandem with the rising sun – and the same thing can also be achieved with artificially brightening light. The Beurer WL50 Wake Up Light is a solid choice in a very crowded market. If you’re looking for a no-nonsense device that’s easy to set up and use, and doesn’t baffle you with too many options, you’ll struggle to find finer for this much money. Melatonin is known as the sleep hormone and significantly influences the quality of our sleep. The pineal gland releases the hormone, especially in the dark. The longer it is dark, the more melatonin is produced. Serotonin is considered a happiness hormone, wakes us up and has a positive effect on our mood. However, the two hormones are by no means just counterparts, as they are closely interdependent. Firstly, it has dual alarms, meaning you can set different times for different days of the week. This is incredibly handy, especially if like many people, you tend to wake up later at weekends than during the week.

One part of this alarm that is a little disappointing is the sound options. There is no FM/DAB radio and the only sound option is an alarm beep. This isn’t too much of an issue if you care most about the light functions, however. The light is completely dimmable and there is a low-blue white light that’s ideal for when you’re going to sleep. The display automatically adjusts to the light level of your room and will turn itself off when the room is completely dark. In addition to RelaxBreath, this alarm also features both sunrise and sunset simulation, as well as a variety of nature sounds and ambient music. There’s also an FM radio, so if you prefer you can set your favourite station to play when the alarm goes off. Whatever sound you choose to play, it will increase gradually over time as the light does. On the positive side, while the ‘Sounds of the Sea’ recording play during sunset mode also repeats, it does so in a much more unobtrusive manner, and so I enjoyed listening to that as I wound down at night. Beurer WL50 Wake Up Light review: should you buy one? SAD lamps are bright lights which you sit in front of. Designed to mimic sunlight, they can help trigger the brain to release serotonin (the feel-good hormone) when it's dark and gloomy outside. Some can be placed on your desk during the day, while others are used as an alarm to naturally wake you up in the morning.It has both sunrise and sunset simulation, so it’s equally effective at getting you to sleep as well as waking you up. For the sunrise setting, the light will gradually get stronger over 10-60 minutes depending on your preference. When the alarm goes off, you can choose from one of 7 natural sounds or an FM radio station. The sunset mode decreases the light gradually from 10-120 minutes and you can also choose to have natural sounds or a radio station play. The light produced is measured in lux and a good SAD lamp will offer a brightness of around 10,000 lux. It's believed that SAD lamps encourage your brain to produce less melatonin, which makes you sleepy, while increasing the production of serotonin, which affects your mood. So how does a SAD lamp work? When the alarm goes off, you can snooze it by lightly touching the top of the speaker. After eight minutes, the alarm will sound again (note: there’s no way to vary this duration). To switch off the alarm altogether, you just need to press down on the speaker for three seconds. You can preset two different alarms/sunrises in advance, if that’s helpful to you.

This alarm is suitable for adults but would also be great for kids. Not only is it an appealing design, but there’s also a colourful display and a customisable nightlight that lets you choose from a range of different colours. Whether a lamp can have a medical effect depends essentially on two factors: The light intensity and the colour temperature. For there to be a therapeutic effect, a light intensity of 10,000 lux is recommended. What is slightly grating though is the alarm sounds; birds, chimes and beeps are not something we would choose to wake up too. The same goes for the sleep melody setting, which is designed to help you fall asleep. It is a bit like a baby lullaby. Pretty much all good alarms will have a snooze timer. This is where you hit the snooze button and you’ll be given a certain amount of time before the alarm goes off again, usually around 9 minutes. Pop the light on your desk if you're experiencing an afternoon slump, take it with you into the kitchen if you're in need of some energy while cooking dinner, or switch it on if you're feeling lethargic while doing chores such as sorting through life admin or reorganising a wardrobe – a SAD light could be the best investment you make this winter.

Can a SAD lamp help plants?

The wake-up light is displayed prominently on the top half of the device and gets gradually brighter over 15-90 mins, after which time a sound of your choice will play to help wake you up. The brightness settings of the light can be easily adjusted, as can the duration. The Beurer Wake Up Light WL50 is compact, and looks smart on your nightstand (Image credit: Suzanne Baum) My biggest issue with this wake-up light are the alarm sounds. Alarm sound 1, the melody with bird calls, is pleasant enough while it's playing. But there’s an annoying gap when the loop repeats. The effect is jarring, and wrenched me from my good mood on waking... undoing the good work performed by the wakeup light. Want a ‘sunset’ experience when you go to bed? You can set the light to gradually dim from white to yellow, and then red, over either 15, 30 or 60 minutes. You can choose to accompany this with FM radio, a ‘Sounds of the Sea’ recording, or your own music played via Bluetooth or an auxiliary lead. Beurer WL50 Wake Up Light review: extra functions Although the light has a radio function, that is just an added bonus and not something to shout about as there's no DAB, and the FM reception was sometimes fuzzy. With that in mind, we'd opt for the other sound settings instead. Overall though, when it worked, it was just an extra function on an otherwise extremely brilliantly designed wake up light.

This alarm also features a built-in Bluetooth speaker, so if you can easily play something on Spotify from your phone or tablet without the need to worry about any additional cables. You can choose from 7 different colours for the bedside light as well as 20 brightness levels. There’s a built-in FM radio too, so you can set this to play when the alarm goes off, or choose from one of the 7 natural sounds if you prefer. Alarm function – Most lamps will have some kind of audible alarm, which is usually a choice of interesting sounds and/or radio. The smart touch display makes it very easy to use this alarm and the aux connection means you can easily connect your phone or tablet so you can use it as a speaker. The light from the alarm means you can also use it as a table lamp and reading light, with fully adjustable light settings.Another feature to look for when buying a sunrise alarm is nature sounds. Nature sounds are typically things like forest sounds, rainfall, birds chirping etc. Waking up to sounds like this is better than a piercing alarm tone. The light has sunlight and sunset settings, so you’re able to use it for getting to sleep and waking up in the morning. There are 3 light levels you can choose from that have varying intensity settings and the digital display also has adjustable brightness levels. You can choose from two wake up sounds, or you can set your favourite radio station to play instead if you prefer.