I also have an older model of that. What I found however is that if my back is turned to it when it starts brightening up its effect is greatly diminished. It simply doesn't have enough power to brighten the whole room.
The lux level on this is 315 which I believe is the highest. For me, this hasn't been an issue as it is right beside my bed. At this point, I believe the ocean waves have become a signal to my brain that I need to start getting up. I did have to experiment with how many minutes before the alarm goes off to turn on the ocean waves sound.
Does the newer model mitigate this issue?