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Hatch Restore Sunrise Alarm & Sound Machine Review: Is It Worth It?
A sunrise alarm, sound machine and reading light in one — wake up gently to light instead of a jarring buzzer.
Quick answer: Mornings are a lot kinder when you wake to light instead of a buzzer. The Restore bundles a sunrise alarm, sound machine and reading light into one calming nightstand device — a genuine upgrade to how you start and end the day.
Product image from the Amazon listing.
Our verdict
Mornings are a lot kinder when you wake to light instead of a buzzer. The Restore bundles a sunrise alarm, sound machine and reading light into one calming nightstand device — a genuine upgrade to how you start and end the day.
The short version
The Restore replaces the phone on your nightstand with a calmer routine: a gradual sunrise light that wakes you gently, a sound machine to fall asleep to, and a soft reading light for winding down. Set a bedtime and wake routine once, and your evenings and mornings get noticeably less jarring.
Pros & cons
Pros
- Gentle sunrise wake instead of a buzzer
- Built-in sound machine for falling asleep
- Soft, dimmable reading and night light
- Customizable wind-down and wake routines
- Gets the phone off your nightstand
- Calming, screen-free bedtime
Cons
- Premium price for an alarm clock
- Some content/features sit behind an app subscription
- Takes a little setup in the app
Why people love it
Wake to light, not a buzzer
A gradual sunrise glow eases you awake before a gentle sound finishes the job — far kinder than a blaring alarm.
Sound machine + night light
Fall asleep to soothing sounds and a soft, dimmable light instead of scrolling your phone.
A phone-free nightstand
Routines for bedtime and morning mean you can finally charge your phone in another room.
Who it's for
- Anyone who hates jarring alarms
- Light or anxious sleepers
- Building a screen-free bedtime
- Kids' rooms and gentle wake-ups
Is the Hatch Restore worth it, or is it just an expensive alarm clock?
On a spec sheet, paying premium money for an alarm clock looks hard to justify when your phone already does the job for free. But that framing misses the point of the Restore: its real value is getting the phone off your nightstand entirely. A sunrise that brightens gradually before your set time wakes you out of lighter sleep, so you feel less jolted than a buzzer yanking you out of a deep stage, and the built-in sound machine and dimmable reading light replace the late-night scroll that wrecks your wind-down in the first place.
Whether that's worth the price depends on how much your sleep matters to you. If you already sleep well and never touch your phone in bed, it's a luxury. But for light sleepers, anxious sleepers, or anyone whose bedtime has quietly become a doomscrolling session, the Restore tends to pay for itself in better mornings and a calmer routine. Just go in knowing some of the extra sounds and guided content sit behind an optional app subscription — the core sunrise, sounds and light work without paying anything more.
Hatch Restore vs. a cheap sunrise alarm clock: what's the difference?
Budget sunrise alarms on Amazon will brighten before your wake time and play a few nature sounds, and for some people that's genuinely enough. Where the Restore separates itself is the full routine it builds around sleep. Beyond the wake-up light, it's a proper sound machine for falling asleep, a soft reading light for winding down, and a programmable bedtime routine — all controlled from an app so you set it once and forget it, rather than fiddling with tiny buttons in the dark.
The trade-off is honest: the Restore costs several times what a basic sunrise lamp does, and part of its richer content library is tied to a subscription. If you only care about waking to light, a cheap model does that one job. But if you want a single device that handles both ends of the day and genuinely replaces your phone on the nightstand, the Restore's polish, app control and routine-building are what you're paying the premium for.
How to set up your Hatch Restore wind-down and wake routines
Setup happens in the Hatch app, and the key is to build two routines rather than just an alarm. For the morning, set your wake time and choose a sunrise that starts brightening 20 to 30 minutes before, paired with a gentle sound that fades in to finish the job — the light does most of the waking, so you don't need a loud tone. For the evening, create a wind-down that dims to a warm reading light, then transitions into a sound you'll sleep to, like rain or white noise.
A few habits make it work better. Place the Restore at eye level or close to it so the sunrise actually reaches your face, keep the wake sound soft since the light is doing the heavy lifting, and use the bedtime routine as your cue to charge your phone in another room. If a racing mind is what keeps you awake even with the sound machine going, layer in something like the Dodow guided-breathing light — its slow blue pulse slows your breathing until sleep takes over, and the two devices complement rather than compete. Give it a week — gentle waking is a habit your body adjusts to, and the benefit grows once your routine becomes automatic rather than something you have to think about each night.
See Hatch Restore on Amazon
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Check Price on Amazon →Sold and shipped by AmazonFrequently asked questions
How does the sunrise alarm work?
The light gradually brightens before your set time to wake you more naturally, with a gentle sound to finish.
Is there a subscription?
The device works on its own, but some extra sounds and content are part of an optional app subscription — check current details on the listing.
Can it help me fall asleep?
Yes — the built-in sound machine and dimmable light are designed for a calmer wind-down.
Does it replace my phone alarm?
That's the idea — many people use it specifically to get their phone off the nightstand.
Does the Hatch Restore need Wi-Fi or a phone to work?
You set up and customize the device through the Hatch app over Wi-Fi, but once your routines are saved, the sunrise, sounds and light run on the device itself. You don't need your phone in the room for it to wake you, which is the whole point of getting the phone off your nightstand.
Can I use the Hatch Restore for a child's room?
Many parents do, using the dimmable night light and soothing sounds to help kids settle and the gentle sunrise as a wake cue. It's not jarring like a traditional alarm, which suits younger children well, though Hatch also makes a separate kids-focused model with more child-oriented content if that's your main use.
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