Hatch Restore 2 review | Digital Trends

The Hatch Restore 2 is a smart alarm clock, night light and sound machine all rolled into one product. Whether you struggle to fall asleep at night or wake up in the morning, Restore 2 is designed to help with 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 pricey, but there’s no doubt it deserves a place of honor on your bedside table.

A multi-talented sleep aid

In case the name didn’t give it away, Restore 2 is the second iteration of the original Hatch Restore. It builds on the foundation of its predecessor, giving you access to many 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 — the rest routine or the rise routine.

Before you go to bed, you can activate a relaxation routine to help you sleep. This is highly customizable, allowing you to turn on different colored lights, change their brightness, or play soft sleep sounds (like rain, passing trains, or even a fire guitar soundtrack) to block out other noises in your environment. This turned out to be more useful than expected, as the variety of sounds and colors available make it easy to find something relaxing.

Your mileage may vary, but I found it much easier to relax 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 — like relaxing sounds that gently increase the volume to get you started on the day ahead.

You can also turn on a light that mimics the sunrise, although I found this a bit unpleasant as the sun naturally streams into my bedroom through my window. But if you use blackout curtains to improve your sleep or wake up before the sun, it’s a nice feature.

In the Hatch app you can find a number of guided meditations and relaxation exercises, which give you a bit of structure if you’re having trouble navigating through all the customizable options. The number of meditations/exercises here is truly staggering and new content seems to be added regularly.

Improved design

The original Restore was a beautiful device — but the Restore 2 is even more impressive. The half-dome shape is wrapped almost entirely in natural linen (which comes in several colors), and the lack of buttons on its face creates a clean aesthetic. Tapping on its sides will adjust the brightness and volume, while a toggle for your alarm is on the side.

The only physical buttons are on the back of the Restore 2 near the top of the device. One of them controls the Rest Routine, while the other controls the Rise Routine. Pressing the snooze button once will activate the snooze routine, pressing the “Increase” button will snooze the alarm, and holding it for a few seconds will turn it off. I was a little worried that two buttons wouldn’t be enough to control the action, but they work surprisingly well.

Of course, tweaking your settings has to be done with the companion app, but luckily the software is intuitive and easy to use (despite all the ways you can tweak Restore 2).

Hatch sleep is (practically) required

While the Restore 2 itself is a worthy product, the same cannot be said for its price. 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 subscription. This costs $5 per month, which can slowly add up to a tidy sum if you stay subscribed over the years.

However, you get a lot for your money. Without a subscription, you’ll only be able to use a handful of the sounds and features available in Restore 2. But with a subscription, you’ll get access to an ever-growing library of sleep and upbeat sounds, along with Wind Down channels that they help you relax before going to bed.

The Hatch Sleep membership is definitely worth the price of admission, though it positions the Restore 2 as a luxury sleeper 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 as easy on the eyes as it is easy to use, while a powerful smartphone app gives you almost unlimited access to its performance. It’s definitely one of the more expensive options on the market, but if you need a little help falling asleep at night and getting up every morning, this is about as good as it gets.

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