The Sunrise Smart Pillow does everything but make you coffee in the morning [Sticky or Not]

Smart home devices are invading every part of our homes, from coffee machines to living room lamps, but there’s yet to be much innovation in the bedroom since the revolving tie rack. 

That’s where Mode M, a L.A.-based design studio, comes in. The team at Mode M has created a ‘smart pillow’ that recently closed a massively successful Kickstarter campaign. The memory foam cushion features a row of LED lights on either side that helps users wake up in a more natural manner akin to the morning light by building up from a low red light to a bright yellow-white.

To “complete the wake up experience,” nature sounds (or whatever other audio you might prefer) pipe through the pillow’s speakers at a gradually increasing rate. Moreover, the pillow starts this wake up process based on your sleep cycle, which the pillow itself detects. Waking up at a light sleep point in your cycle reduces grogginess, a feature touted in many apps but better suited — at least in theory — in a comfortable device that is closer to the sleeper.

Each night the accompanying app also delivers a sleep score out of 100 in which users can account for things like exercise, bed times and alcohol consumption to see how those external factors effect their sleep.

The pillow also aims to help with falling asleep. It offers six sound options for getting to sleep that include fan sounds, nature sounds and the option to listen to an audiobook.

While all this sounds great, for most people the purchase will come down to the pillow’s price, and it’s a bit steep. A single pillow comes in at $199 USD (about $270 CAD), quite a bit more than the average pillow. For reference, a memory foam Ikea pillow can reach $40 CAD.

Verdict: Not sticky.

The Sunrise Smart Pillow is a pillow made for a king. It has lights and a speaker, connects to your phone to provide sleep insights. It could quite possibly deliver your best sleep ever. But over $200 for a pillow?

This is a classic case of wealthy Californians developing products for other wealthy Californians. I understand that the pillow contains a lot of tech and can’t exactly cost the same as a ‘dumb pillow’ — but unless the price drops, I’ll be content with just leaving my blinds open and stuffing my phone under my pillow.

Note: This post is part of an ongoing series titled Sticky or Not. Sticky or Not began as a series on MobileSyrup’s Snapchat account in which Rose Behar analyzes new and often bizarre gadgets, rating them sticky (good) or not (bad). Now the series is expanding to include articles, because who doesn’t love a quirky new gadget?