I’ve tested and used all 4 of the Lumie Bodyclocks currently available in the US!
In this article, we’ll compare these 4 models so you’ll know exactly which one fits your requirements!
The Overview
The Shine 300 is the brightest but suffers from flicker and a poor user interface. If those aren’t dealbreakers, it’s a good choice.
The Rise 100 and Glow 150 are simple to use but lack brightness flexibility and the need to manually re-enable the alarm daily is annoying. The Glow 150 offers more sunrise customization (20-45 minutes) compared to the Rise 100’s fixed 30 minutes. Additionally, the Rise 100 only has a beeping alarm, unlike the others, which include nature sounds.
The Luxe 700FM offers better performance than the Rise and Glow models, with customizability similar to the Shine 300 but is much easier to use. It also has Bluetooth streaming.
Lastly, all these clocks display 24-hour time only, which may be a drawback for some. If you’re not a fan of that, consider checking out our review of the Philips Smartsleep lamps as an alternative!
Rise 100
Glow 150
Shine 300
Luxe 700FM
Comparing Features
Before we proceed with the science and testing, let’s review what features set these models apart from each other.
Ease of Use
The Rise and Glow buttons and navigation are identical and I found both equally easy to use, no complaints here.
The Shine and Luxe are both very different from the others, though I found the Luxe much easier to use than the Shine.
The Shine has 11 buttons total for navigation and while they technically make sense once you get used to them, I sometimes found it overwhelming and forget which ones did what.
The Luxe on the other hand has 4 main buttons just like the Shine, but features two knobs for navigation instead of all the extra buttons which is just a lot more intuitive.
In either case, I found both easier to use than the Philips SmartSleep HF3650 since they use words in their menu systems rather than icons.
Sunrise & Alarm Settings
Here are the sunrise durations for each model:
Rise 100: 30 mins
Glow 150: 20-45 mins
Shine 300: 15-90 mins
Luxe 700FM: 15-90 mins
If you’re trying to stay cheap, 30 minutes on the Rise is fine, but you’ll have to upgrade for more customizability.
It’s worth noting that the Shine and Luxe offer up to 90 minutes which is longer than any other sunrise alarm clocks that I know of, most only go up to 60 minutes.
One thing I found annoying is both the Rise and Glow require you to manually enable the alarm each day after it goes off… why? I have no idea.
The Shine and Luxe models have weekly alarm setting that solves this issue. So I’d make the upgrade if you don’t want to worry about forgetting to enable your daily alarm…
One more thing worth noting is that the Rise and Glow only have 5 brightness settings and don’t allow for much “dialing in” which will be obvious in the testing section later in this article.
General System Settings
The Rise, Glow, and Shine each have a switch on the bottom that allows you to change the menu-dimming behavior.
Off will set the menu to turn off completely after a short time. Tapping the clock will temporarily re-illuminate the time.
Low will just dim the clock but not completely turn it off.
The Luxe has the same options but must be done inside the menu system:
None of these alarms have battery backups that handle alarms or last beyond 30 minutes in the event of a power outage.
Unwinding & Sunsets
The Luxe 700FM and Shine 300 both allow for anywhere between 15 and 90 minutes, however, the Luxe has quite a few more nature and noise options to choose from and you can use audio through Bluetooth as well.
The Glow 150 does have a sunset feature but contains even fewer sounds and is limited to 20, 30, and 45-minute durations.
The Rise 100 has a sunset feature as well but does not include the option of using any nature sounds.
Alarm Audio Samples
If you’re curious, we’ve recorded audio samples for each clock!
Rise 100
Glow 150
Shine 300
Luxe 700FM
Testing and Comparing the Sunrises
Now let’s see how these lamps compare spectrally.
Total Light Output
To test the total light output and sunrise graphs, we put each one in our integration sphere.
Here’s a graph showing the max lumen output for each of the lamps:
Oddly the Shine 300 just blows all the rest out of the water! While every other lamp is just about even in comparison.
How about the sunrise ramp-up?
They all look pretty good! A nice gradual ramp-up, nothing super sudden.
Lux Output
While total output is nice to know, we need to measure lux to determine how effective a lamp will be.
For this, we measured each lamp every 6 inches on various settings.
Here’s a graph showing the lux output at 1 foot for each lamp:
As you can see, the Shine is still much brighter than the rest, interestingly though, the Glow 150 beats all the rest even though its total lumen output is lower.
The best bang for your buck might be the Glow 150! But if you’re looking for the brightest lamp, the Shine 300 is the one to get.
Optimal Lux and Ranges
So at what ranges and settings might you want to use these lamps? Well, we like to recommend starting at around 250 lux.
Because there aren’t a lot of brightness settings on the Rise and Glow, these are much harder to dial in than the Shine and Luxe models.
Setting 5 is too bright at 1 foot, but lowering it to level 4 drops it too low.
Now the Shine 300 is bright. There’s quite a bit more wiggle room with this one!
And while the Luxe is just as bright as the Rise and Glow, its brightness settings allow you to dial it in better depending on your preferences.
Sunrise Effect Videos
We’ve recorded and compressed each lamp’s sunrise effect into a 10-second clip so you can see what they look like here:
Testing Flicker
If you’re concerned about Flicker, we test this with our LabFlicker meter.
Rise 100 & Glow 150
The Rise 100 and Glow 150 perform almost perfectly with a pretty flat waveform, nothing to worry about with either of these.
Shine 300 & Luxe 700FM
Now the Shine 300 begins flickering once it’s dimmed, as you can see.
Since this is at around 200 Hz and 100% depth this reaches high risk on the IEEE 1789 flicker risk plot.
The 700FM fares worse I’m afraid being risky at both 100% and 50%…
If flicker is a concern, you’ll want to stick with the 100 and 150 models here.
Overall Thoughts + Which One?
Each Bodyclock from Lumie has its quirks. The Shine 300 is by far the brightest but flickers and doesn’t have the greatest user interface. If you don’t mind the flicker and think you can handle the buttons, get that one.
I liked how simple the Rise 100 and Glow 150 are to use and while they’re technically effective, the limited brightness options for each make dialing them in difficult. You also have to reenable the alarm manually each day, which I found needlessly annoying. If you’re torn between the two, however, the Glow 150 does allow you to customize the sunrise duration from between 20 and 45 minutes while the Rise 100 is stuck at 30 minutes. The Rise 100 also only has a beeping alarm, no nature sounds like the others have.
The Luxe 700FM is slightly more effective than both the Rise and Glow models and features similar customizability to the Shine 300 but is much easier to use. It also has a Bluetooth streaming option if you’re into that.
I’m also not personally invested in 24-hour time and these clocks only display 24-hour time, so you may find that a turn-off as well. If you’re looking for an alternative, the Philips Smartsleep lamps are worth a look!
Lumie Bodyclock Rise 100
Pros
Cons
Lumie Bodyclock Glow 150
Pros
Cons
Lumie Bodyclock Shine 300
Pros
Cons
Lumie Bodyclock Luxe 700FM
Hello Derek,
Thank you so much for all your information, greatly appreciated!
Anyway I am planning to use the Verilux floor lamp that you recommended for SAD. Given how strong that is, is there any need to even use a wake-up light?
Hi Tim, you’re welcome! 🙂
They have some overlapping benefits. I think the Duo Floor lamp is certainly capable of alleviating seasonal affective disorder symptoms as well as aligning your circadian rhythm. A wake up light can do this too, although not quite as well, what it does to well is make waking up far more pleasant!
You can get by without one, but it all depends on what you’re looking for.