“The Hatch Restore 2 makes it easy to unwind at night and start each day fully rested.”
- Eye-catching design
- Highly customizable
- Functions as alarm clock and sleep light
- Easy to use
- Hatch Sleep membership is pricey
The Hatch Restore 2 is a smart alarm clock, night light, and sound machine all wrapped into a single product. Whether you have trouble falling asleep at night or rising in the morning, the Restore 2 is designed to aid your sleep routine and help you wake up feeling fully rested. And, for the most part, it’s a resounding success. There are a few quirks with the sleep aid and it’s a bit expensive, but there’s no doubt it deserves a place of honor on your nightstand.
A multitalented sleep aid
In case the name didn’t give it away, the Restore 2 is the second iteration of the original Hatch Restore. It builds on the foundation of its predecessor, giving you access to tons of great features to help you fall asleep faster and wake up feeling more rested. All of its content essentially boils down to one of two groups — your Rest Routine or your Rise Routine.
Before going to bed, you can activate a Rest Routine to help you drift off to sleep. This is highly customizable, allowing you to turn on lights of different colors, change their brightness, or play gentle sleep sounds (such as rainfall, passing trains, or even a campfire guitar soundtrack) to block out other noise in your environment. This ended up being more useful than expected, as the variety of sounds and colors available make it easy to find something relaxing.
The number of guided meditation options is truly staggering, and new content is added regularly.
Your mileage may vary, but I found it much easier to unwind and fall asleep at night with the Hatch Restore 2 than without it. The same goes for waking up, as the Rise Routine offers many of the same customization options — such as soothing sounds that gently increase in volume to introduce you to the day ahead.
You can also enable a light that mimics sunrise, although I found this to be a bit underwhelming, as the sun naturally filters into my bedroom through my window. But if you’re using blackout curtains to enhance your sleep or you’re waking up before the sun, it’s a nice feature.
A series of guided meditations and relaxation exercises can be found on your Hatch app, which provide you with a bit of structure if you’re having trouble navigating all the customizable options. The number of meditations/exercises here is truly staggering, and new content seems to be added regularly.
Streamlined design
The original Restore was a good-looking device — but the Restore 2 is even more striking. Its half-dome shape is wrapped almost entirely in natural linen (which is available in multiple colors), and the lack of buttons on its face makes for a clean aesthetic. Tapping on its sides will adjust brightness and volume, while a toggle for your alarm is located on the side.
The Hatch Sleep app is intuitive and easy to use.
The only physical buttons are located on the back of the Restore 2 near the top of the device. One of them controls your Rest Routine, while the other controls your Rise Routine. Pressing the Rest button once will activate your Rest Routine, while tapping the Rise button will snooze the alarm and holding it for a few seconds will turn it off. I was a bit worried that two buttons wouldn’t be enough to control the action, but they work surprisingly well.
Of course, customizing your settings needs to be done with the companion app, but thankfully the software is intuitive and easy to use (despite all the ways you can modify your Restore 2).
Hatch Sleep is (practically) required
While the Restore 2 itself is a remarkable product, the same can’t be said for its price tag. You’ll drop $150 on the Restore 2, and if you want to get the most out of your purchase, you’ll need to sign up for a Hatch Sleep membership. This costs $5 per month, which can slowly add up to a tidy sum if you stay subscribed over the years.
Hatch Sleep membership is definitely worth the price of admission.
However, you do get a lot for your money. Without a subscription, you’ll be able to use just a handful of the sounds and features available on the Restore 2. But with a subscription, you’ll gain access to an ever-growing library of sleep and rise sounds, along with Wind Down Channels that help you relax before going to bed.
Hatch Sleep membership is definitely worth the price of admission, although it positions the Restore 2 as a luxury sleep item that’s a bit more expensive than the competition.
Summary
The Hatch Restore 2 is an impressive smart alarm clock and sleep aid that has few rivals. Its minimal design is both easy on the eyes and easy to operate, and a robust smartphone app gives you nearly unlimited access to its performance. It’s definitely one of the pricier options on the market, but if you need a bit of help falling asleep at night and rising each morning, this is about as good as it gets.
