A Wake-Up Shake-Up: Staffer reviews different alarm clock sounds

As if someone just defibrillated me, I frantically and blindly search for my phone to press snooze on my alarm. Waking up to “Radar” blaring from my phone’s speaker is easily the most dreaded part of my day.

There has to be a more peaceful way to wake up than the default beeping alarm clock that causes my heart rate to skyrocket at 6 a.m, so I tested out a few different alarm sounds that would wake me up less obnoxiously.

The first sound that I tried was called “Apex,” which just so happened to be the first tone on the sound options list when I set my alarm on Sunday night. This sound passed my test, as I liked the calming effect that it had. It wasn’t too abrupt or choppy, but just startling enough so I would quickly wake up to catch my ride to school.

“Apex” is good for people who are light sleepers, but if you tend to sleep through your alarm and have to set five alarms in the morning, I’d stick to a different sound that’s more disrupting.

The next alarm I woke up to was “Circuit,” which was by far my least favorite. It was one of those sounds that was too closely tied with that morning wake-up call, leaving me disgruntled for the rest of my day.

But for the deep sleepers who require a screeching morning radar holler to get out of bed, this will definitely suffice.

I also tried out “Crystals”, which I expected to be a nice wind-chime vibration, but this one is also on the blacklist. The chimes-in-a-subtle-breeze sound was more like a tornado, and the quick and sudden pings gave me an anxious feeling that isn’t welcome an hour before my history test.

The final sound was my favorite and definitely the one I’ll be using from now on — the “Waves” sound. When setting this as my alarm, I was afraid it would be that it would be too peaceful to wake me up. However, not only did it wake me up, it woke me up peacefully — unlike the blaring alarm clock that I’ve grown too accustomed to since middle school.

I understand that different people will have different preferences when it comes to alarm sounds. Some people need a loud, beeping alarm to get them out of bed, while others can roll out of bed five minutes before online classes to a soft and quiet alarm. But personally I’m a fan of the subtle waves sound waking me up — and I’m glad I discovered that now.

Although it all depends on how easily you can wake up in the morning, the Clock App has dozens of options for if you’re an “Apex,” “Circuit” or anywhere in between.