Nena Farrell GearFeb 4, 2025 6:35 AM
Review: Hatch Restore 3
Hatch’s latest sunrise alarm clock and sound machine is bigger and brighter and has more physical controls, making it easier to use without grabbing your phone.Photograph: Hatch; Getty ImagesSave this storySaveSave this storySave$170 at Hatch
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Rating:
8/10
Open rating explainerInformationWIREDEasy to use, with the app suggesting both a nighttime and morning routine for you during setup. Tons of sound options, and new dynamic light settings. Bright enough to wake you up in the morning. Can be used as a bedside light with new button.TIREDStill need a phone. Hatch+ membership needed to access all audio content. Has a sunset mode, but it’s not as gradual as other sunrise alarms.
The popular Hatch Restore alarm clock has a new generation on the block: the Hatch Restore 3. Hatch calls it a smart sleep clock, and its combination of light and sound machine features are designed to activate your circadian rhythm to help you fall asleep faster and wake up easier. The Hatch Restore originally arrived back in 2020, and this third-generation model has a larger design and new buttons on the exterior.
It’s got most of the features we look for in a sunrise alarm clock, but the Hatch Restore has always shone as a sound machine over all else. That’s still true with this new generation, but while the Hatch Restore 2 was a little too dim to wake me, the Hatch Restore 3 has been plenty bright to help me wake up in the morning. The new physical controls make it easier to turn on and switch through steps and variations of your nighttime routine—because you can add a few different ones in the Hatch Sleep app—and even use the Hatch as a bedside lamp.
Is it worth buying? The Restore 3’s physical upgrades put it in the running for my favorite sunrise alarm clock. It’s finally bright enough to actually wake me up, and the bedside light button is one I always look for in sunrise alarms. But most of all, if you want interesting, varied soundscapes and audio content to fall asleep to, there’s no better option than Hatch.
Buttoned Up
Photograph: Nena Farrell
The biggest change with the Hatch Restore 3 is the physical design, since it still uses the same Hatch app that the Restore 2 (and other Hatch products, like the Hatch Rest) used. While the Restore 2 had two just two buttons on top—one to start your bedtime routine, one to end it—the Restore 3 has three buttons on top: a pause button, an Unwind Swap button, and what Hatch calls the Big Button. There are also two buttons on either side, near the bottom of the device: a Bedside Light button and an Alarm Toggle.
For the top buttons, the pause button is the most obvious: It will pause any bedtime routine (e.g., a soundscape or meditation you chose previously in the app) and resume once you hit it again. The depressed three-dot button is the Unwind Swap button, letting you save two different Unwind routines—or three if you’re a Hatch+ subscriber—that range from nightly meditations and various podcast episodes from Hatch’s Pillow Talk podcast to soothing music and soundscapes. Hitting this button will swap between what you’ve saved. Then there’s the Big Button, the most noticeable design change on the device. You’ll press this button to start your bedtime routine, switch to the next step (so going from Unwind to Sleep), and snooze your alarm. You can also spin this button to lower the volume on any music playing.
Photograph: Nena Farrell
Hatch Restore 3
Rating: 8/10
$170 at Hatch
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While I love the additional top controls, my favorite new button is on the side: the light button. With the Restore 2, I didn’t like that I had to open my phone to use it as a reading light. But now not only can I easily turn it on or off, but I can click that button during my bedtime routine to turn on light mode while keeping my sounds of choice still playing. While the bedside light isn’t as bright as I’d like it to be—I’d say it’s more of a personal reading light than a full-on bedside lamp—it’s a must for a good bedside companion. On the opposite side from the light button, you’ll find the Alarm Toggle that lets you easily disable or reenable any alarms you set up in the app without grabbing your phone. All in all, it’s really nice physical controls that the Restore 2 sorely lacked and needed.
Speaking of the physical design, you can also choose from three different neutral shades: Putty, Greige, and Cocoa. These three colors are pretty similar shades of grayish beige but are a fine neutral for any bedroom. I tested the Greige color, which was only a few shades darker than the Putty color my Restore 2 is in.
Content Crazy
Photograph: Nena Farrell
The best part about the Restore 3—or any Hatch device—is the massive library of audio content and a fun range of dynamic and solid light colors to choose from. While part of what makes this possible is the Hatch+ subscription model ($5 a month or $50 for the year), which hides some of that audio content behind the paywall, non-subscribers still get access to a ton of content. According to Hatch, you’ll still get access to more than 20 alarm sounds, 12 color noise (white noise, pink noise, etc.) sleep sounds, 11 home sounds (like a bedside fan or laundry machine), 10 water-inspired sleep sounds, five ambient nature sounds, and four Unwind options (of which you can choose two).
Hatch Restore 3
Rating: 8/10
$170 at Hatch
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There are three steps you choose in the app, and you can choose from Hatch’s variety of sounds and lights for each one: Unwind, to help you prepare for bed; Sleep, which can either run for a set amount of time or all night long if you like sleeping to a sound machine; and the Sunrise Alarm, which wakes you up. You can choose sounds and lights for each of these steps, ranging from basic colors to dynamic lightscapes and white noise to Malibu Ocean wave sounds. Unwind has the most range in its content, since you’ll get things like podcast episodes and guided meditations, while the sleep and alarm steps have more classic sound machine audio offerings.
Screenshots courtesy of Nena Farrell
By default, the Restore 3 won’t go to full brightness with the sunrise alarm, but I found 75 percent brightness to be plenty to wake me. There are dynamic light options, which is a nice upgrade from just choosing between shades of white and yellow; I love waking up to the Portland Lighthouse light and the sound of a passing train. My only complaint is that some of the soundscapes are like mini playlists, and you can’t choose which one of the songs will play. Instead, you’ll get a different one each night. I’m a little bummed since I prefer the Nature Walk variation of the Cozy Ambient sounds, but the rest are nice too while I wait for Nature Walk to be back in the rotation.
I’m impressed to say that unlike the Restore 2, the Restore 3 feels like a fully formed sunrise alarm and gives you plenty of control and variance to keep you reaching for it, whether you’re using the new physical buttons or pulling up the app. You certainly don’t need the Hatch+ membership to get the most out of it, which is great, though it’s worth exploring the free trial to see if there’s any audio content that makes you want to invest. If it had a better sunset mode or was a little brighter to be a bedside lamp, it would be my favorite sunrise alarm.
Hatch Restore 3
Rating: 8/10
$170 at Hatch
If you buy something using links in our stories, we may earn a commission. This helps support our journalism. Learn more. Please also consider subscribing to WIRED
$170 at Hatch