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Amazon’s Halo Rise is an alarm clock, sleep tracker, and wake-up light in one

Poor sleep is a problem plaguing a lot of people. Little interruptions, whether it’s your partner turning over, a cat jumping onto the bed, or any one of a dozen other things can impact how refreshed you feel when you wake up. The new Amazon Halo Rise will help you get a better night’s sleep by breaking down information about everything from your sleep itself to the environment around you.

Announced as part of Amazon’s fall device event, the Halo Rise looks a bit like a ring light, but combines the functionality of a sleep tracker, smart alarm, and wake-up light in one. Onboard AI learns the users’ sleep stages and details information about temperature and humidity in the room, as well as light levels. One key thing to note is that there’s no microphone or camera on the Halo Rise; while it can be paired with Alexa, it’s built with privacy in mind.

The Amazon Halo Rise displaying a wake-up light.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

There are five major features to the Halo Rise that make it effective.

  • Presence detection: The sensors only activate when someone is in range.
  • Primary-user tracking: To accommodate for two people sharing a bed (or two people and a pet), the Halo Rise focuses on the user closest to it.
  • Sleep intent detection: The Halo Rise can determine when you’re getting ready to go to sleep, rather than just sitting in bed reading a book or watching some late-night TV.
  • Sleep stage classification: By tracking small micro-movements throughout the night, the Halo Rise can determine which stage of sleep you’re in.
  • Smart-alarm integration: Rather than a set a specific wake-up time, users provide a window. The Halo Rise will wake them at the lightest moment of sleep to minimizes grogginess.

The smart alarm integration can be combined with the wake-up light to simulate a sunrise, resulting in a much more natural wake-up experience and not the jarring tones of an alarm.

The light can also be used as a reading light, too. The small clock at the bottom of the display makes it easy to see the time with just a glance.

The Halo Rise looks to be an ideal solution for anyone who wants to track their sleep, but doesn’t want to wear a sleep tracker to bed every night.

The Halo Rise retails for $140 and comes with six months of Halo membership (which renews at $4 per month after that). It will be available later this year, and anyone interested in picking up one of these devices can sign up at www.amazon.com/halorise.

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Patrick Hearn
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