Can This Sleek-Looking Smart Alarm Clock Really Help You Wake Up Easier?

I’m not a morning person. Never was. In high school, I was awarded most likely to roll into class 10 minutes late with a Starbucks coffee in hand by my classmates. Because if there are two things I prioritize most in life, they’re sleep and my morning coffee.

I wouldn’t, however, consider myself a night owl, either. I’m not up late working, or even tossing and turning. I’m typically asleep by midnight, getting around 7-9 hours of sleep, which I think should be sufficient enough for my body to feel well-rested and ready to take on a new day. But alas, it never is. Every morning when my phone alarm rings I find myself hitting snooze until it becomes a fireable offense. 

This year, like millions of delusional others, I attempted a few habit changes. I envy those morning people who start their days at 6 AM, hit the gym and get to leisurely make breakfast before settling into the workday. 

The WFH era ushered in a few unhealthy habits for me. While the lack of commute and ease at which I could log onto work meant more room to relax and catch a few extra Zs in the morning, lines began to blur. Waking up, turning over and immediately opening up my laptop for work began to feel like I was missing an integral part of my mornings: a moment to myself. So in an effort to get my day started before 9 AM, I tried kicking myself out of bed by 7. 

A non-morning person does not become a morning person overnight. I knew I’d have to make a few lifestyle changes — no late-night drinking (on weeknights, anyway), no endless scrolling in bed and no more using my phone as an alarm clock. 

Keeping your phone out of your bedroom can have many positive effects, like improving energy levels, intimacy and productivity. You’ve probably heard blue light suppresses the body’s release of melatonin, a hormone that makes us drowsy and helps us get to sleep. While I’m not locking my phone away in the bathroom before bed, I no longer want to be beholden to it day and night. So I went old school and got myself an alarm clock.

But not just any alarm clock. 

Like most buzzy new products, I first discovered the Loftie Clock through my Instagram ads. Loftie is a wellness company hoping to help you achieve a better tech-life balance — with the use of their design-forward, smart home products, of course. The company’s catalog consists of two sleep tech aids: the Loftie Clock and Loftie Lamp. Both of which are loaded with a bevy of features to help you wind down and wake up more naturally.

The key feature of the Loftie Clock is its two-phase alarm that’s designed to wake you up in a “gentler” fashion. Unlike my phone alarm, which wakes me quite jarringly, the Loftie Clock first lulls you out of sleep with soft sounds for just thirty seconds. Then, 9 minutes later, a  melodic, invigorating sound of your choosing will chime and wake you from your slumber. According to Loftie, this is all about The Science. Turns out our bodies shouldn’t be jolted awake, and Loftie’s 2-alarm design supposedly imitates the body’s natural waking process, lulling you awake. 

I spent about a month sleeping with the brand’s low-profile alarm clock. Here’s what I found:

Specs:

• 2.75” L x 6.5” W x 2.75” H
• 1.8 lbs
• Polycarbonate shell
• Lithium-ion battery
• USB-C cable and power adapter
• 2.4 GHz WiFi connection required

What works: 

• You ever hear your phone alarm go off out in the wild and experience a full-body cringe? I foresee the Loftie Clock finally freeing me from that paralyzing sensation. The ingenious two-alarm design has convinced me I’m waking up on my own accord, leaving me feeling less groggy and irritated. And while I’m not ripping off the covers and leaping out of bed like a cartoon character, the soft lull of Loftie is a more encouraging signal that it’s time to get up and start my day than my phone alarm ever was.
• I was genuinely shocked (and maybe slightly overwhelmed) by the number of features packed into this tiny alarm clock. Not only are there about a dozen alarm chimes to choose from, but Loftie also doubles as a white noise machine. Doze off to the sounds of fire crackling, light rain, brown noise or something else from the ever-growing catalog of (free) audio content Loftie has to offer.
• Obviously, design is a big selling point of Loftie. It’s sleek, low-profile and looks pretty damn sexy on my nightstand. 

What kind of works (or needs work)

• Setting up my alarm clock wasn’t the most seamless process. Your phone is required for the initial setup of the clock, and you have to download the Loftie app (available for both iPhone and Android users). This is also where you can set up your alarms. It took a few tries before my clock would sync with the app, and once it did, I had a chance to check out the rest of the app … only to discover that it was pretty useless. 
• Beyond setting an A.M. and P.M. alarm and adjusting the volume there’s not much you can control via the app. Browsing Loftie’s seemingly endless catalog of audio content has to be done manually on the clock. And, hey, I get it! This is their whole schtick: Get your phone out of the bedroom! But it seems slightly inconvenient, at least during the initial setup period. Why can I set my wake-up time (which you can also do manually on the clock) on my phone, but not browse and select my alarm sound? 

Final thoughts

Before I started sleeping with Loftie, I was skeptical of its ability to lull me out of heavy slumber. But I’ll be damned, they did it Joe. Maybe it’s partly a placebo effect. I want to believe this beautiful-looking $150 alarm clock could turn me into a morning person, so I leaned into it harder, but I know, deep down, that I genuinely feel a difference waking up. It’s gentler, it’s smoother and it feels more natural. And while I’m definitely still hitting that snooze button, it’s become less frequent and with much less resentment.