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The Top 6 Alarm Clocks of 2025

Many people need to set an alarm to wake up on time in the morning. But using your phone for this purpose can lead to late nights and early mornings doomscrolling, which can disrupt your sleep. An easy way to change your sleeping habits is to keep your phone plugged in away from your bed at night and use a traditional alarm clock instead.

Alarm clocks have evolved far beyond just waking you up. Now, they come packed with features like voice assistants, interactive displays, sunrise simulation and even customizable wallpapers. Plus, they make great budget-friendly gifts — because who wouldn’t appreciate a little extra help sticking to a better sleep schedule?

With so many options out there, choosing an everyday alarm clock can be a hassle. We’ve done the work for you — here are our top picks for the best alarm clocks available.

Tyler Lizenby/CNET

If you’re looking for a simple, straightforward alarm clock, you’ll like the Travelwey Home LED alarm clock. You’ll like its reasonable price tag even more. There are only a few easy-to-use buttons and a prominent classic red time display. It doesn’t have all the bells and whistles that some of the other best alarm clocks on the list have, but if you’re looking for a simple alarm clock to get the job done, Travelwey Home LED is a solid pick.

You can adjust the Travelwey alarm clock’s brightness, but during testing, we found that it doesn’t cast a glow that would disrupt your sleep at the highest setting. It also has a night-light feature if you’re into that. It has a standard 9-minute snooze time, and you can switch between a soft or loud sound setting. 

Pros: 

  • Travelwey is the best overall alarm clock because it’s basic but dependable. All the classic features are well implemented. 
  • Travelwey Home’s alarm clock also features a backup battery if you lose power at night. 

Cons:

  • You can’t change the tone or sound of this alarm clock. It only features two volume options. 

Additional details: 

  • Display color: Red
  • Battery backup: 2x AAA
  • Snooze length: 9 minutes
  • Wake-up options: Two volume choices 
  • Price: $

Tyler Lizenby/CNET

The digital alarm clock industry has changed a lot. No longer is your alarm clock just something that wakes you up. Many smart alarm clock options function as an interactive hub where you can access your alarms, weather and music. The Amazon Echo Show 5 is one of the best smart alarm clocks, thanks to its varied features and voice assistant connectivity. 

This smart alarm clock has unique alarm settings that allow you to use your music or a customizable tone as your alarm as well as a choice of a digital or analog clock. If that’s not enough, it also has a sound ramp-up feature designed to gracefully bring you out of sleep instead of scaring you awake. The screen also gradually gets brighter like a sunrise alarm clock, starting fifteen minutes before your alarm sounds.  

You can use voice commands to access the Alexa voice assistant. This smart alarm clock’s touchscreen allows you to check the weather, make video calls or control your smart home. It’s more than an alarm clock and can set multiple alarms throughout the day. If you want to use your alarm clock for everything, consider the Amazon Echo Show 5. 

Pros: 

  • Amazon Echo Show 5 is a highly customizable smart alarm clock that allows you to use your music or sound. The ramp-up screen and sound feature are less jarring than traditional alarms. 

Cons:

  • The screen does cast a glow at night, even with the adaptive brightness feature. 
  • You can’t adjust the snooze time.

Additional details: 

  • Display color: Customizable 
  • Battery backup: None
  • Snooze length: 9 minutes
  • Wake-up options: Sunrise light, a variety of tones, streaming music
  • Price: $$

Tyler Lizenby/CNET

A sunrise alarm clock is designed to gradually wake sleepers up with light rather than a blaring alarm. We found that the Philips HF3500 is one of the best sunrise alarm clocks you can get thanks to its orange display, light function and price tag. 

Visually, it’s unique — it looks like a UFO with a kickstand. There are simple buttons at the center, under the time display. But the majority of the surface area of this alarm clock is devoted to the light feature. Thirty minutes before your alarm time, this Philips sunrise alarm clock will gradually increase its brightness level until it reaches the maximum you set. To ensure you wake up, it also starts beeping with increasing intensity. 

Pros:

  • This sunrise alarm clock has 10 brightness levels that you can choose from. 
  • Philips HF3500 is a simple yet effective sunrise alarm clock worth the money. 

Cons:

  • Snoozing the Philips HF3500 sunrise alarm clock is a little weird initially. There’s no button. Instead, you press the top half of the light. 

Additional details: 

  • Display color: Orange 
  • Battery backup: None
  • Snooze length: 9 minutes
  • Wake-up options: Sunrise light and buzzing
  • Price: $

Tyler Lizenby/CNET

Heavy sleepers can be almost impossible to get up. If you’re someone who sleeps through their alarm and needs something more heavy-duty, we recommend the Sonic Alert Sonic Bomb alarm. It’s one of the best alarm clocks for heavy sleepers. 

The Sonic Alert Sonic Bomb alarm comes with two parts — the classic display and incredibly loud buzzer and the vibrating attachment that you can slip under your pillow. You can customize the alarm with controls our team thought were easy to figure out. 

Pros:

  • It’s the best alarm clock for heavy sleepers thanks to its loud buzzer and shaker attachment. 
  • The Sonic Alert alarm clock is customizable with easy controls. 

Cons:

  • It’s a great alarm clock for heavy sleepers, but if you’re not a heavy sleeper, it could be an unpleasant experience.

Additional details: 

  • Display color: Red 
  • Battery backup: 9 volt
  • Snooze length: Customizable between one and 30 minutes
  • Wake-up options: Loud buzzing and vibrating accessory
  • Price: $

Hatch

Finding a kids’ alarm clock that meets all your child’s needs can be hard. The Hatch Rest is a sound machine and smart light in one. This alarm clock for kids has many features that other options can’t compete with. Not only do you get white noise sounds, but there’s a digital alarm clock display and soft control buttons. I actually liked this sound machine so much I bought one for my niece, and she uses it every night.

The Hatch Rest Sound Machine and Smart Light can grow up with your child. It has an app you can access on your phone, which allows you to personalize the clock to suit your growing child. You can create sleep and wake routines with light dimming or brightening for your child like a sunrise alarm clock. 

Pros:

  • Packed with helpful features and allows for personalization.
  • There’s an easy-to-use app you can access from anywhere. 

Cons:

This isn’t the most budget-friendly option at $70.

Additional details: 

  • Display color: Customizable  
  • Battery backup: None
  • Wake-up options: Sunrise light or sound
  • Price: $$$

Tyler Lizenby/CNET

Not everyone wants to spend a lot of money on their alarm clock, especially if you don’t want all the added features. That’s where the RCA RCD30 alarm clock comes in. Similar to the Travelwey, the RCA RCD30 is our pick for the best budget alarm clock because of its simple design. 

It features the classic red number display that offers two brightness levels. During testing, we found that neither level glows to the point where it would interrupt your sleep. It has an easy-to-find snooze button. It doesn’t have any added features like a night light or lights. It is a straight-to-the-point classic alarm clock that will get the job done. 

Pros:

  • RCA RCD30 is one of the best budget alarm clocks you can get. It’s great for people who don’t want anything special. 
  • It’s cheap and small enough that most people would find this to be one of the best travel alarm clocks as well.

Cons:

  • Since it’s so basic, resetting or adjusting alarms will take longer.

Additional details: 

  • Display color: Red 
  • Battery backup: 9 volt
  • Snooze length: 9 minutes
  • Wake-up options: Simple buzzing
  • Price: $

What type of alarm clock is best for light sleepers?

Light sleepers have the flexibility to choose just about any alarm clock out there. The best alarm clock for light sleepers will come down to preference. If you want one that plays your music to wake you up, consider a smart alarm like the Amazon Echo Show 5. If you want a sunrise alarm that uses light to gently wake you up, try the Philips HF3500. 

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