Philips HF3470 Wake Up Light White Review: Can You Find This Hidden Gem?

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In Short


Product Name: Philips HF3470 Wake Up Light White
Latest Review Date: 11 August 2019
Price Guideline: $$$

Now out of production the Philips HF3470 Wake Up Light might be quite expensive if you find one, but it certainly does its job well.

MY RATING: 85%

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Features


  • Simulated sunrise wake-up light
  • Light gradually increases over a period of 30 minutes prior to alarm
  • FM Radio
  • Two wake up sounds
  • 20 adjustable brightness settings

  • Snooze function
  • Adjust the brightness of the time display – four brightness settings
  • 100% UV free
  • Can be used as a reading or night lamp

Product Information


  • Plain yellow sunrise simulation
  • Brightness settings: 20
  • Light intensity: 250 Lux
  • Number of alarms: 1
  • Snooze button for sound: 9 minutes
  • Product dimensions: 10 (height) x 6.7 (diameter) inches
  • Product weight: 3.2lbs
  • Shipping weight: 3.75lbs
  • Power: 85W
  • Voltage: 120V
  • Frequency: 50Hz
  • Lifetime of lamps: expected >4.000 hours
  • Type of lamps: Philips Halogen Lamp 100W, 12V, GY6.35
  • Cord length: 200cm

In The Box


  • Philips HF3470 Wake Up Light
  • User Manual
  • 45 day money back guarantee
  • Two year warranty

So How Does the Philips HF3470 Work?


Place the Philips HF3470 on your bedside table and set the time you’d like to wake up at. Thirty minutes before that time the lamp turns on at the lowest brightness and slowly increases.

At your preset alarm time the clock starts to make some noise – starting quietly and reaching full volume within a minute and a half.

There are three aspects to the alarm you need to set up – the light intensity you want the light to reach when it comes on, the volume and the alarm sound.

Obviously if the brightness is too high it will wake you up before your alarm, if it is too low you might not wake up. Philips suggest that the first time you use it you set it to the highest brightness setting, which is level 20.

You will most likely be woken up early but you can then see what the brightness level the light was at when you were awoken and use that as your wake-up setting.

So if you were woken when the light was at level 15, set it to that and next time you use it it will gradually go from level 1 to level 15.

For the volume just adjust it as necessary and then that is the level the sound will reach.

There are three sounds you can wake up to. The first is birds chirping, the second is a set of wind chimes and the third is the FM Radio. You can wake up without the sounds by turning the volume off.

To the side of the light is the on/off switch and the controls for the FM radio and the plus and minus buttons to control the light brightness.

On the front is the digital time display in a warm red colour, the time display has four brightness settings so it can be dimmed right down if you are very sensitive to light when trying to sleep.

Below this are the controls for the menu where you can set the time, etc. To the side is the snooze button that sticks out. Pushing the lever up turns the alarm off – ie the sounds will stop but the light will stay on, pushing the lever down will snooze the sound for ten minutes and the light will stay on. There is a separate button to turn the light off


The Good


First off the design on the Philips HF3470 is quite different from the later Wake Up Lights they have produced. Whilst it is quite large (6.5 inches in circumference at the bottom, 5 inches at the top and 10 inches high) it does look good.

The design is modern and clean, and from looking at it you may not necessarily know what it is, it looks a little like a frosted vase or a stylish speaker – rather than a wake up light. It will fit with most décor and light is emitted from its entire surface.

The quality of the light is nice. It has a warm, buttery glow and is very soothing. It uses halogen bulbs rather than LED bulbs as the more modern lights do, but it is still a pleasant light.

The customisable nature of the light is good. The number of brightness settings and choice of wake up alarms and volume mean you can really set a bespoke alarm to leave you feeling refreshed and ready to go when you wake up.

The increase of the volume when the sound comes up is very gradual and gentle. It is slower than many alarms, but hits the target in around a minute to a minute and a half – this is really how it should be done.

The wake up sounds themselves are very good – the bird song sounds natural and rouses you gently from your sleep if the light hasn’t already done so.

This sunrise alarm clock is easy to use and very intuitive to set up. The controls can be mastered pretty quickly and adjusted as necessary in no time.

It also doubles up quite nicely as a bedside light – with 20 different brightness settings it can easily be used as a reading lamp, etc, before you go to bed.

Take A Closer Look Button

The Bad


A small number of users of this Philips Wake Up Light have complained of the bulb burning out within a few weeks. The unit uses a halogen bulb rather than an LED system, so if the bulb does burn out you can replace them quite easily.

As a result of it using a halogen bulb it is worth noting it does also kick out a fair bit of heat as well.

A common complaint with Philips Wake Up Lights is the lack of a battery back up and this one is no different. So if the power goes out it will erase all your settings and you risk not being awoken by the light. It will withstand very brief outages of around 20 seconds.

There are a couple of issues with the user interface and controls. For instance if you listen to the radio before you go to bed you have to remember to set the volume to how loud you want your alarm to sounds in the morning otherwise it will come on at the sound you were listening to it at before you went to bed.

The same goes for the lamp brightness – if you use it to read before going to bed, you must remember to reset it to the brightness you want it to reach in the morning.

The four buttons across the front sit flush with the unit and there is no tactile indication of which button you are pressing.

They are also quite stiff to press so you have to hold the unit with one hand and press them with the other otherwise you end up pushing the unit away.

There is no dawn simulator which a lot of modern wake up lights have and there is only one alarm you can set – there is no dual/multiple alarm for those who have varying schedules.

The unit is large so please check the dimensions before you purchase to make sure it will fit your intended space. Due to its size it is also quite cumbersome to move about.

Finally the light is now quite costly as Philips have stopped producing it. Unless you can find one for sale somewhere at its original retail price you will get a better deal with the HF3510 Wake Up Light or the HF3520 Wake Up Light.

Read the reviews of the newer models


The Beautiful


As already mentioned this wake up light looks really good. With its’ curved lantern shape and contemporary frosted glass finish it is very aesthetically pleasing and a great alternative to a standard bedside light.

The only thing that isn’t great is the snooze switch which does feel a bit loose and light. But aside from that this device looks very stylish indeed.


How Does It Compare To Other Philips Models?


NameHF3470HF3500HF3505HF3510 HF3520SmartSleep HF3650/60SmartSleep HF3670/60
Sunrise simulation duration30 min30 min30 minAdjustable (20-40min)Adjustable (20-40min)Adjustable (5-40min)Adjustable (5-40min)
Colors in sunrise simulationYellowYellowYellowOrange, YellowRed, Orange, YellowWhite, Orange, Yellow, AmberWhite, Orange, Yellow, Amber
Sunset simulation
Reading lamp
Adjustable display
Maximum light intensity200 lux200 lux200 lux300 lux300 lux310 lux315 lux
FM radio
Number of wake-up sounds2123378
Number of alarms1111234

And Does It Work?


The HF3470 has got plenty of positive feedback. Many users comment on how it makes waking up so much easier, leaving them feeling much more alert in the mornings.

There are also many accounts of how users will actually get out of bed within a couple of minutes of being woken up by the alarm rather than lying in bed for 15 to 20 minutes before summoning up the energy to get up.

Research has proved that wake up lights have a beneficial effect on sleep, waking, mood and energy. There are numerous studies proving this but here are just a few:


Pros

Cons


  • Looks great – modern and clean design
  • Lovely warm, soothing light
  • Nice wake up sounds
  • Ability to create a bespoke alarm
  • Easy to use
  • Good bedside light
  • Kicks out a fair bit of heat
  • No battery back up
  • Minor issues with user interface
  • No dawn simulator
  • Only one programmable alarm
  • Large device
  • Expensive now as it is no longer produced

Conclusion


My Verdict

My Rating - 85%

85%

Great wake up light, just hard to find

This is an earlier iteration of the Philips Wake Up Light and as such is now hard to find and when you do find one, it is now invariably quite expensive owing to the fact they are no longer produced.

It is a real shame as it has quite a unique look and lovely feel to it. The wake up options aren’t as wide ranging as the newer models but it does a really good job despite some limitations.

Philips after this decided to take their wake up lights in a different direction, but this has a lot going for it and if you can find one at a reasonable price is worth considering.

User Rating: 4.35 ( 1 votes)

Other Options


As this is now hard to find you will probably be better off getting one of the newer models:

Or for something that offers a great wake-up light and more go for the Philips Smart Sleep or Philips Smart Sleep Connected.

If you would like to leave your personal review or experience of this product, or if you have any questions, please do leave them below. I would love to hear your feedback!

Don’t forget you can also check out our SAD Light Reviews Index for all of my SAD Light Reviews on one page or read my SAD Light Buyers’ Guide to pick the best SAD Light for you.

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