Smart home technology has taken over every room in the house, but it’s been slowest to infiltrate the bedroom. One way it’s started to ‘smarten’ up the bedroom is with wake up lights and smart alarm clocks, which are an easy, natural and customisable way to wake up in the morning and wind down in the evening.
A great example of this is the Dreamie Sleep Assistant and Smart Alarm Clock which was announced late last year. This new sleep gadget comes with sleep content, alarms and immersive lighting to help you sleep and wake better, all without a subscription or need for your phone or an app.
I spent the last few weeks using the Dreamie, and it’s quickly become my favourite thing in my bedroom – here’s why.
Dreamie review: price and availability
The Dreamie Sleep Assistant and Smart Alarm Clock is available to buy for $249.99 at Dreamie. It originally started as a Kickstarter campaign, and is currently not available in the UK at the time of writing. It has a 30-night free trial and shipping is free in the US.
(Image credit: Future)
Dreamie review: set-up
The Dreamie arrived with the sleep companion, a fabric pouch, a 4.9ft USB-C cable and a 20W US USB-C plug. I’m based in the UK so I had to use a travel adaptor to set up the Dreamie.
I plugged the Dreamie into the outlet by my bed and it turned on almost immediately. As the Dreamie is app and phone free, all the instructions came up on the touchscreen. First, I connected the Dreamie to my WiFi and left it to update before organising my settings.
As a smart alarm clock, and sunrise and sunset device, the Dreamie asked me to set a wind down schedule, bedtime cues and morning alarm. This included an alarm time, duration of the wake up and what sounds and lighting I wanted for each routine – more on this below.
Image 1 of 2
Dreamie review: design and features
The Dreamie is described as “an advanced bedside sleep companion” which acts as an alarm clock, wake up light and sleep content device which plays sounds and podcasts to help you relax at night without using your phone. Not only does it not need your phone to work, but it’s also app and subscription free with all its content built into the device – the Dreamie will update with more features over time.
Measuring 5.5in length, 3.8in width and 4.5in height, the Dreamie takes up minimal space on your bedside table. It has an oblong shape with a rounded touchscreen at the front for all your controls and schedules. The light ring wraps around the screen and can be turned each way to adjust the volume. There’s also a slider at the back of the Dreamie which adjusts the brightness.
(Image credit: Future)
For sounds, the Dreamie has a 50mm speaker with 360-degree diffused sound. It has a full sound library of science-backed audio to use for bedtime cues, wind down music and noise masking, including ocean, weather and nature sounds. A podcast update is expected later.
As a wake up light, the Dreamie can be used to simulate sunrise and gradually wake you via the circular light ring around the main touchscreen. It has both white and coloured lights, including dimmable 2700K and RGB lighting that can be used as a night light or lamp. The lighting can also change colours, flicker and pulse with the audio.
For software and content updates, the Dreamie has 2.4 GHz WiFi connectivity, and has Bluetooth headphone support for compatibility with in-ear sleep headphones. Both WiFi and Bluetooth can be turned on and off on the Dreamie, too.
Image 1 of 2
Dreamie review: performance
I’ve tried plenty of wake up lights for T3, and I was extremely excited to try the Dreamie, as it’s one of the more advanced models I’ve got my hands on. Setting it up was extremely easy and I was impressed by how many options and customisations there were available.
My first main settings on the Dreamie was for my sleep routine. After telling the Dreamie what time I usually went to bed, it recommended winding down at 11, going to sleep at 11:30, and waking up at 7:30. For my bedtime cue, I selected the Aurora Borealis sound to come on for an indefinite time, before the wind down came on 30 minutes before bed as the Fireplace sound.
For my wake up routine, I selected my alarm time for 7:30 and the sunrise cycle to start at 7:20 which included brightening the light and playing bird sounds. All of this was easy to customise, and I found the timings to be extremely accurate, and easy to adjust, in terms of colour, brightness and volume.
(Image credit: Future)
What I liked the most about the Dreamie was how easy it was to switch up alarms and schedules. On the weekend when I didn’t want to wake up at 7:30, I could skip the alarm for the next morning or adjust its time without having to completely reschedule my normal routine.
The design of the Dreamie was hard to fault. It took up the same amount of room you’d expect from a standard alarm clock, and its responsive circular touchscreen was easy to scroll and tap through. I also liked the graphics on the screen, and that it had a nighttime mode – as soon as I turned off my main light, the Dreamie’s screen would go black.
The lighting was another favourite. For my bedtime and wind down cues, the light ring would light up in different colours and brightness, and flicker for certain sounds. My husband absolutely loved using the Dreamie – as soon as our wind down music started, he was out like a light!
The wake up light feature was reliable and great to use, and I found it to be one of the gentler models I’ve tried. It woke me up nicely and naturally without being insanely bright or too loud.
(Image credit: Future)
Dreamie review: verdict
I loved using the Dreamie and it’s quickly become my favourite thing in my bedroom. It’s a whole sleep package – wind down and wake up sounds, an alarm clock, and lighting. It’s got a great design and has so many customisable options that I guarantee almost everyone will enjoy it.
The only negatives I could find for the Dreamie is it’s only available in the US at this time. If you’re in the UK, you’ll likely have to pay for shipping and you’ll need an adaptor. The initial price is quite high compared to other wake up lights and alarm clocks, but in my opinion, the Dreamie offers much more than that, and you don’t have to worry about any ongoing subscription or app fees.
Dreamie review: alternatives to consider
The Dreamie is quite a unique device, but a good alternative to it which also offers similar features is the Lumie Bodyclock Shine 300. This model has a wide array of light and sound effects, and it comes with FM radio. The circular design is a bit bigger than the Dreamie and it’s around £100 / $100 cheaper.
