Philips HF3463 Wake-Up Light With Radio Alarm
Posted by Admin on June 22nd, 2010Philips HF3463 Wake-Up Light With Radio Alarm
- Philips wake-up light HF3475 wakes you up in a natural way, by light that increases gradually that positively affects energy hormones
- The lamp has an expected life of more than 6,000 hours (7 years of normal use) with the light intensity up to 400 Lux for natural awakening
- With a build in sleep timer the light and radio turn off at set time after you fall asleep, this wake-up light makes use of an incandescent lamp
- Compact design – doubles as a reading light, saving space and large simple-to-read LCD show
- 2-years manufacturer’s guarantee – Philips will replace the whole Wakeup light even if only the bulb is faulty or you can use a Philips ECO Classic 30 Dimmable 70W bulb (must be Dimmable) A60 240V ES E27 to replace the bulb yourself
Philips HF3463 Wake-Up Light With Radio Alarm
Review by Perry Duke for Philips HF3463 Wake-Up Light With Radio Alarm
Rating:
If you’re thinking about buying one this may help.
First:
If you haven’t already tried wake-up lights, and find getting up to normal alarms is jarring, then I recommend these. They really do seem to help, in winter at least (though bear in mind winter doesn’t last forever). This one does that job easily as well as the Lumis I’ve used, and is in some ways better, though worse in others.
This review compares the Philips to other light alarms, not to other alarm clocks.
Here is the review:
The terrible
– It’s quite huge, and frankly a bit hideous.
– User interface not the best – e.g. too many turns needed to adjust light & volume
– No radio presets, so if you want to change, you use the search function
– Radio OK for talk stations, but not audiophile quality.
– My radio makes a nasty squelch noise when switching on (as it searches for the station?)
. (n.b. not as terrible as I’d feared if using to wake up, as it fades in,
. so squelch not too intrusive on waking up)
– Both the light and sound come on at the volume you left them at.
. (so if you need 100w of light to read, but 60w to wake up, you’ll need to adjust. Every night.)
The excellent
– It works. Wake up light fades up perfectly. It wakes me up gently.
– Mine seems to be absolutely silent when radio etc not on
– 100w light means it works as a bedside light, which others (e.g. Lumi) don’t, really
– It uses a (honestly) standard bulb
– I found radio reception OK to excellent (compared to last alarm clock)
– Less space than light + alarm clock (tall = small “footprint”)
– I found the digital read out and “alarm on” lights not a problem when dimmed
(caveat emptor – if you’ve very sensitive, might be problem, but I found the dimmed settings much less bright than I feared – noticeably less the than my wife’s lumi’s green LED show, for example. The designer has at least clearly thought about it – they’re not “full strength” LEDs)
Observations
– The design follows function, so is probably excusable:
. It looks like this so that you can have a relatively small unit with a 100w bulb – which is really quite clever
– The shade has vents to let air through, well designed to hide the bulb, and handle the heat
– Albeit made of plastic, it’s more robust than I’d feared from other reviews. It’s functional – not a style statement. Not Sony quality.
– I found ‘birdsong’ sounds OK/excellent, and the beep is much better than most – quite gentle
– The frog pool and ocean sounds are a bit weird, I can’t imagine using them
– No “fade down” to sleep function, no “white noise function”
– Fade-up times are not adjustable
– You have to cycle through alarm modes to switch off the alarm for weekends
. (as opposed to “shut up, I’m awake now”)
– It’s tall, and snooze buttons are on top – can be hard to get at.
Overall:
If you want functionality, at £60 (current offer) it’s not at all terrible. It does exactly what it says on the tin – 100w fade-up light and workable radio – and does that well.
I agree with other reviews, but. It’s an OK to excellent product, particularly in the design of the key function (which excuses a lot – this is what you’re buying it for), but it doesn’t have the attention to detail that would mark it out as something exciting. It doesn’t do anything it doesn’t say it does, and has no “gosh, that’s clean” features. But, no-one has a product that does have that out there at the moment – which means this one may be the best on the market for now.
If you’re looking for a functional light alarm with a radio (and particularly that works OK as a bedside light) then at £60 I’d recommend it. As long as you can live with the limitations. I might even pay the full £100 if I had to, just for the functionality. Until Sony come out with a better one, that is …
Review by C. Armstrong for Philips HF3463 Wake-Up Light With Radio Alarm
Rating:
I bought this yesterday so have only woken up to it once. I did wake up very well though and wasn’t drowsy at all.
The dawn effect is very excellent and I wasnt aware of any sudden noises or lights when I woke up. Even the radio fades in so as not to jolt you awake.
It is quite a plasticy product and doesnt feel very sturdy when you press the buttons. The radio sounds quite hollow but the beeping is very nice and gentle.
It is set to take 30 mins to light up and you cant change it but thats the time I’d choose anyway. I like how the light fades out when you turn it on or off so theres no sudden changes. If you’re using it to read at night you have to remember to turn the brightness back up for the morning.
My main complaint is the price. For £100 I want something really well made, all singing, all dancing. This is basically a lamp with a dimmer switch and a timer and that really is what you get. They are cashing in on the fact that it’s a ‘medical device’ (proclaimed at every opportunity)but not invested in the small things that make you feel like you’ve got a quality product. It feels a small flimsy and there arent many options to personalise. The snooze, lamp and radio buttons are on the top and it’s quite tall so its a stretch to reach from lying down.
Having said all that I like it. It wakes you gently and the highest setting is really very bright. The brightness is on a dial so you can get exactly the brightness you want. Its a really nice way to wake up and I expect it to be invaluable through the winter.
Review by Ms. Elizabeth Dawber for Philips HF3463 Wake-Up Light With Radio Alarm
Rating:
I really can’t fault this Phillips wake up light because it is just wonderful. Originally i bought the lumie elite 300 light costing £139.99. It was rubbish and so not worth the money so i sent it back. Then i really did my research to make sure i wouldn’t be dissapointed again and found this light. I’m so glad i did. I have had it for only one day but i am alraedy raving about it to everyone i know.
The light does get very very bright at its highest setting so there is no chance of sleeping in. But there are five sound setting as a back up just in case. The radio, beeping, birdsong, ocean and frogs.
This product is not cheap and plastic as others have suggested and i really reckon i got value for money here. The light can be used as a bedside light at low or high level and also as a dawn simulator that starts of low and gets brighter. You can also dim the clock show so it doesn’t disturb you at night, which is brilliant.
The sounds are all fantastic and most of the radio stations i listen to, pick up perfectly. Only a bit of interference on some, but i’m not buying tis for the radio quality so it doesn’t really matter.
If you are considering buying a dawn simulator/wake up light, then this is definately the one to buy. Don’t be fooled into thinking you have to pay a fortune. Because honestly, the lumie lamp i first bought which was nearly £140, was really not worth it at all. It shows that you don’t always get what you pay for.
Review by Mr. C. Chan for Philips HF3463 Wake-Up Light With Radio Alarm
Rating:
1.I feel like the sun is next to me at the morning. It really works.
2.One thing I don’t like is the bird sound, it keeps repeating itself and it is very annoning.
3.The wave sound is very excellent.
4.The Radio works prefect, speaker is reasonable.
5.Others are saying that the 3 buttons are hard to press, but I found it isn’t a problem on mine.
Overall: The product is nicely built and it does the job perfectly! I would say 9.5/10.
Review by MSmith for Philips HF3463 Wake-Up Light With Radio Alarm
Rating:
I was really keen excited to receive lamp but after one week, returned it. The light is not bright enough to wake you up. So whilst you wake up with a light-on, I slept through it everymorning and still needed a second alarm clock. If you can sleep with a light on, they don’t buy this. The bulb is just a regular bulb, the radio does make a weird crackling sound at first (as reported in other reviews), and the dials are quite flimsy.
I really don’t recommend this product.