I’ve Tested Over a Dozen Alarm Clocks, and the Hatch Is My Favorite
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Welcome to Sleep Better Week on the Strategist, where we’re helping you find everything you need to get your best rest — from testing the most comfortable mattresses to asking nosy questions about other people’s sleep routines. For more, head to ourSleep Better Week hub.
Last year, I managed to whittle my screen time down to just a few hours. Then, during a case of extended bronchitis, I fell right back into old habits and doomscrolled my days and nights away. I couldn’t let that continue, so I did an audit of my screen time to figure out the best way to kick my habit again. As it turns out, I mostly used my phone in the morning before getting out of bed. After turning off my alarm, I’d usually open TikTok, my email app, or Slack and spend too much time catching up before giving my mind a chance to wake up.
The fix was easy enough: Charge my phone in another room overnight and use something else to wake me up. I’ve tested countlessalarm clocksfor the Strategist, andsunrise alarm clockshave been my favorite of the bunch. In addition to reliably waking me up every morning, they can serve as a reading light before bed and make the sunless mornings of winter as pleasant as waking up in the summer. Hatch’s alarm clocks have long been some of my favorites thanks to their unique designs, bright lights, and robust library of sleep-focused content. The company’s latest model, the Restore 3, is the best so far.
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Its wake-up routines are highly customizable so you can wake the way you want to
Instead of going for the look of a classic alarm clock, the Restore 3, when illuminated, looks like the sun peeking over the horizon. The front is covered in a textured fabric that diffuses its light, making it more of a glow than a shine. It’s meant to — and does — mimic natural light to support your circadian rhythms and make it easier to wake up in the morning.
To make sure you get the ideal morning experience, Hatch gives you plenty of customization options. You designate a color of your choice — I chose a vibrant orange — and it’ll slowly brighten as your wake-up time approaches. You can even customize when the “sunrise” begins, depending on how sensitive you are to light. Without the premium plan, you have a few options for alarm sounds, but many of the best ones are locked behind a subscription (more on that below). Even without it, though, waking up has never felt better.
Bedtime routines also give you plenty of options for unwinding
During Hatch’s “Unwind” routine — the first part of bedtime — it can play mini-podcasts or guided meditations as well as other narrated content, all of which have a soothing tone far more relaxing than typical podcast chatter. Of all the options, I enjoy Hatch’s readings of classic stories such asThe Great Gatsbyand unique deep dives likeThe History of Salt— surprisingly interesting, for what it’s worth. Once I found some shows I enjoyed listening to, I found myself looking forward to hopping in bed and listening to the host of Hatch’sI’ll Scroll 4 Ushow read through juicy Reddit posts. After it’s finished, the Restore moves into my sleep routine.
This portion is even more relaxing. Instead of voice-driven content, you can select from more natural sounds, like pouring rain, a stormy sea, or waves gently hitting the shore. You can set those sounds to play for either a specific amount of time (until you typically fall asleep) or throughout the night if you want to use it like a white-noise machine. Along with that are a variety of lighting options, ranging from solid colors, to gradients that mimic stages of sunset and sunrise, to shades that try to match certain vibes, like “Nature Walk” or “Marine Moonlight.” For particular sounds, Hatch will even suggest the best lighting option to pair it with.
The new buttons make a big difference
Although you have to set all of this up with Hatch’s app, you can trigger these routines on the clock itself. Atop the Restore are three buttons: One for pausing routines, another for swapping between two routines (three with a Hatch+ subscription), and one called the Big Button, which is new to the Restore 3.
The first two are pretty straightforward, while the Big Button serves a few functions. First, pressing it starts your bedtime routine, and pressing it again switches from the “Unwind” to “Sleep” portions. When an alarm is playing, pressing it will act as a snooze button. It’s also a dial, so you can quickly toggle the volume of your alarm.
Also new to the Restore 3 is a button on the right side of the clock that automatically turns on the light. Previous models required you to turn the light on inside Hatch’s app, which is far less convenient and makes it less usable as a reading light. With the Restore 3, I can tap the button, grab a book off my nightstand, and read a few pages as my clock plays the sound of a campfire crackling.
Finally, the left side of the clock has a switch that lets you turn off your alarms. Between all those on-device controls, I’m able to leave my phone in another room overnight and still have a fair amount of control over my routines.
Some things require a subscription
As noted above, some features require Hatch+ to access. You pay either $50 per year or $5 per month. With it, you get over 100 sounds, sleep stories, mini-podcasts, and meditations plus the ability to create up to ten steps in your routines. I’ve listened to a fair amount of Hatch’s content, and if you want to listen to something calming before bed, much of it feels like a warm voice note from a friend (or a good Headspace session). It’s far more effective than watching TV before falling asleep.
That doesn’t mean, however, that the Restore 3 isn’t worthwhile without Hatch+. You still get access to over 30 sound options, and you can devise smaller routines that are useful for building better sleep habits than our phones typically permit.
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