Vibrating Alarms for Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing People

If you're deaf or hard of hearing, or you take your hearing aids or cochlear implant processor out at night, a standard alarm clock doesn't do much for you. Alarms that wake you by vibration or light are the usual answer. This guide covers the main types, what each is good at, and where a wristband like ours fits and where it doesn't.

Please note: a vibrating alarm clock is not a smoke alarm alert. Alarm clocks, including the Sovune Nudge, don't respond to smoke alarms, doorbells or phones. For fire safety, use a dedicated smoke alarm system designed for deaf and hard-of-hearing people. Your state fire service can advise.

The main types of alarm

Type	How it wakes you	Good for	Watch out for
Vibrating wristband	Vibration on your wrist or ankle	Waking you personally; travel; not disturbing a partner	Only works while you're wearing it
Bed shaker (pad under the pillow or mattress)	Vibrates the pillow or bed	People who don't want to wear anything to bed	Can disturb a partner sharing the bed; needs to stay under the pillow
Flashing-light alarm	A strobe or bright light	People who wake to light; works across the room	Less effective if you sleep face-down or sleep deeply
Combined alarm clock	Sound, light and a plug-in bed shaker	A single bedside unit with several ways to wake you	Bulkier; usually needs power at the bedside

Where the Sovune Nudge fits

The Sovune Nudge is a vibrating wristband alarm. It doesn't rely on hearing at all:

• It wakes you with vibration against your skin. It starts gently, then steps up through three intensity levels over a full minute. You can switch it off sooner.
• It's set on the band. No app or phone needed.
• You can check the time in the dark. A small display lights up when you press the button.
• It's fine for the shower, but not for swimming.
• It lasts up to 14 days per charge with nightly use.

It's a good fit if you share a bed and don't want to disturb the other person, if you travel, or if you just prefer something on your wrist to a pad under your pillow.

What it doesn't do

We'd rather you know this up front:

• It is not a smoke alarm alert. It won't respond to smoke alarms, doorbells, phones or baby monitors. It's an alarm clock only. For fire safety, you need a proper alert system. Talk to your local fire service or a hearing organisation about smoke alarms made for deaf and hard-of-hearing people.
• It has no flashing light. If light is how you wake best, a flashing-light alarm may suit you better, or you could use one alongside the Nudge.
• It only works while you're wearing it. If you take it off in your sleep, it can't wake you. A bed shaker doesn't have that problem.

It holds up to three alarms, so you can set different wake-up times for different days without touching your phone.

Tips for choosing

• If you share a bed, a wristband wakes you without shaking the whole mattress.
• If you don't like wearing things to bed, start with a bed shaker.
• For a heavy sleeper, stronger is better. Look for vibration that escalates rather than a single buzz.
• Ask your audiologist or a hearing organisation what they recommend. They see what works for people every day.

Where to get advice in Australia

• Your audiologist can suggest wake-up and alerting options that suit your hearing and how you sleep.
• Hearing and Deaf community organisations such as Deaf Australia and Expression Australia share information on alerting devices.
• Your state fire service can advise on smoke alarms for deaf and hard-of-hearing people. Some run programs to help with these.
• Hearing and disability retailers stock bed shakers, flashing-light alarms and combined alerting systems, and can often demonstrate them.

Try it with no risk

Every Nudge comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee and a 12-month warranty, and ships free from Melbourne. If it doesn't wake you, send it back.

See the Sovune Nudge →

For a comparison of every alarm type, see our vibrating alarm guide, or read wristband and bed shaker compared.