Most sleep trackers look at heart rate and respiration rate, which are closely linked to sleep stages. Additionally, tracking respiration can help show potential breathing issues, like snoring and sleep apnea. Many trackers also use a small built-in movement-detecting device called an accelerometer to assess how much you move while sleeping, thereby analyzing sleep time and quality. Others contain a thermometer to provide data on how room temperature may affect your sleep.
Wearable and non-wearable sleep trackers are available. Since a wearable device touches the body, it can monitor heart rate, respiration, and movement more directly. Many non-wearable devices rest on or under the mattress and monitor vibrations to gather data.
Some apps may also provide suggestions on how to improve sleep quality based on their findings. Each sleep tracker has different features and potential benefits, so which option is right for you will depend on your personal needs, preferences, and intended uses. Focusing on specific criteria may make it easier to weigh your options. While all of these factors matter to a certain extent, some may not be high priorities for you. Assessing what you want in a tracker can help you hone in on the most important aspects.
Sleep Tracking: Sleep trackers capture an array of data that may include heart rate, heart rate variability, respiration, snoring, time awake, time sleeping, sleep interruptions, and body temperature. Some may also monitor room temperature, humidity, noise level, and light.
Since trackers vary in what sleep-related factors they detect, shoppers should pay attention to the specific product details to find an option that collects the information that interests them most. Sleep Analytics: Sleep analytics use the data from sleep tracking to delve more deeply into sleep quality and patterns.
They may provide detailed charts to show you how your sleep has changed over time, overlay multiple sets of data to show you how different factors are linked, and provide you with a daily sleep score.
Wearable trackers can also link your daily activity levels to the quality and duration of your sleep. Value: The overall value of a sleep tracker takes into account more than the price-point. It also depends on its usability, features, comfort, and how it affects your life. For instance, an expensive sleep tracker that provides useful insight to help you sleep better may be a better value than a more affordable option that gives limited, unactionable information.
Many trackers come with free apps, making them a one-time expense. Others require a monthly subscription, which could cost more if you plan to continue using a sleep tracker in the long run. Smart Alarm: Waking from deep sleep is typically more difficult than waking from light sleep. Smart alarms allow you to set a designated window during which you need to wake up. Wearable devices can also have a silent alarm that vibrates rather than making a loud noise, which may be ideal for partners who have to wake up at different times.
Comfort: For most sleepers, comfort is paramount. This is especially relevant with wearable devices since they generally make direct contact with the skin. Most wearable trackers come in different sizes, so paying attention to fit should help you ensure your wearable is neither too tight nor too loose. Battery Life: If you plan to use your sleep tracker only for sleep, battery life may not be an essential consideration since most are designed to last at least through the night.
However, if you plan to wear a device around-the-clock for activity monitoring, it may be important to assess how long it can go between charges. Most fitness trackers and watches need to be charged every few days. Shoppers should also be aware that bedside trackers and those that rest on or under the mattress typically operate through an external power source, meaning they may need to be plugged in during the night.
Before purchasing a tracker, shoppers should ensure that the app is compatible with their phone, tablet, or other device. Other Features: Sleep trackers often come with additional features, like fitness tracking, GPS, coaching, and integrations with other apps. These components may make your device more versatile, insightful, or convenient, but they can also increase the price-point. There are several factors to consider when choosing a sleep tracker, and each type has potential benefits and drawbacks.
The best type of sleep tracker for you will be whichever most closely meets your goals, needs, and preferences. Several styles are available:. Each sleep tracker is unique, and the accuracy varies based on the design and technology. For most consumers, sleep trackers can help promote general wellbeing and better sleep hygiene. How accurate they are is somewhat undecided within the scientific community, though more sophisticated hardware and software could provide reliable feedback.
It should also be noted that a sleep tracker is not a replacement for medical evaluation, especially for older patients and those with chronic medical conditions.
Technology has come a long way in the last few years. While there is a lack of supporting evidence for the widespread accuracy of trackers, research so far is promising. For instance, some data suggests that a multi-sensor tracker can provide insight that is fairly close to that of a polysomnography PSG test.
To find the most accurate sleep tracker, shoppers may want to look for manufacturer information on how the device was validated. Many trackers are compared directly against lab-based sleep tests, which are the gold standard in sleep monitoring.
These options may be more accurate than those that undergo less extensive testing. Smartwatches typically track sleep by collecting information from built-in sensors and interpreting the data through an algorithm.
They usually rely primarily on movement and heart rate for their assessments, so smartwatches are often more limited in their sleep tracking capabilities than devices engineered specifically for sleep. More advanced sleep trackers often collect other pertinent data, including respiration and snoring.
Some also detect room temperatures, noise levels , and additional factors that could impact sleep quality. That said, the truly motivated might notice progress, and SleepScore offers features that might help you along. As with SleepCycle, you can log in your moods and habits. But here, you can also do it after the fact and use those correlations to track trends. A Sleep Sanctuary feature assesses the light and noise level in your bedroom and suggests improvements if needed.
Although SleepScore does not refer new users to the privacy policy upon sign-in, you can easily navigate to the policy within the app and on its website.
SleepScore also stores information in controlled facilities, as opposed to third-party servers or databases. We also like how open SleepScore is about its science. The app launched in June , and its technology developed by academic researchers before it was licensed to SleepScore is the result of more than 12 years of scientific research.
Per the recommendations of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine , SleepScore is one of the few companies that validate their methods in scientific articles that are readily available on their website. These are not independent studies, so take them with a grain of salt, but we appreciated the transparency. SleepScore was the only app we tested that provides bios of four doctors and scientists on its science team and advisory board, and Mehmet Oz yes, that Dr.
Oz , who is also an equity investor. The smart alarm wakes you up with gentle sounds like chirping birds that gradually increase in volume, as opposed to a jolting buzz. You can snooze and quiet the smart alarm by just moving the phone, too, which was a lot easier than in the case of our also-great pick, Sleep Cycle consciously picking it up or tapping your nightstand. But be warned, we found that we snoozed more often when using the app.
As of February , SleepScore works only on specific phones. We also wonder whether this failure to update may open up any security issues on non-compatible phones. We also wished that the app could track snoring by itself, like Sleep Cycle, Pillow, and Sleep as Android can.
SleepScore does, on occasion, make product recommendations such as blue-light glasses, if you consistently have a hard time falling asleep , which the company claims it independently tests.
Overall, we found this feature fairly subtle Justin got only one product recommendation , though some may find it intrusive. In our tests, it offered less data than any of the other apps we tried, at least in terms of the specific stages of sleep.
Sleep Cycle relies on a sound-sensing technology to assess your sleep, using the microphone to detect the sounds you make when you move. As long as the phone is reasonably close to you say, on a nightstand , the app should be able to track your sleep accurately. When Justin tested the feature in , the app recorded his wake ups accurately though as a very deep sleeper, it was a small sample size. Note, though, that Sleep Cycle has made the Sleep Aid feature available to all, until further notice, in light of the coronavirus pandemic.
For this app—and all of the apps, for that matter—you really need to go all in to get any meaningful benefit. When Justin a moderately loud snorer who wears nasal strips most nights compared a dedicated snoring-detection app called Do I Snore or Grind? However, the company says that the app records movement and snoring, not voices, and that the sounds are collected, processed, and analyzed locally and then discarded after a user-specified time one night, 20 nights, nights, or never.
Sleep Cycle recently released a version of its app for the Apple Watch. The interface is very simple: All you have to do is set your wake-up time on the main screen, and your watch begins to monitor your sleep. When you wake up, your sleep data will appear on the smartphone app. If you already use a wearable with sleep-tracking capabilities, you may be perfectly happy sticking with what you have rather than buying a separate app to use on your phone.
Wearables track your sleep automatically—no setup before bed. In , we tested the sleep-tracking features on a Fitbit tracker, a Garmin tracker, and an Apple Watch all of which use optical heart-rate monitoring technology and an accelerometer against four apps.
At the time, the wearables were frequently off compared with the apps, usually over-reporting sleep, though they did give an accurate picture of sleep trends over time. The biggest advantage of sleep-tracking phone apps over wearables lies in the extra features, such as smart alarms and sounds that help you fall asleep. Wearables can buzz you awake, which is a plus if you sleep with a partner who has a different schedule, and they can nudge you to get ready for bed just as they nudge you to get up and move during the day.
Since our test, fitness trackers have significantly enhanced their sleep features. You can read about the details in our guide to the best fitness trackers.
The new OS available for Apple Watch Series 3 or later offers sleep tracking using the built in accelerometer. We found the sleep-tracking feature on the Apple Watch SE to be limited. You can manage or cancel your auto-renewable subscription by entering the user settings in iTunes after the purchase.
It's not possible to abort the subscription during the time it's active. Any unused portion of a free trial period, if offered, will be forfeited when you purchase the premium subscription. When your alarm goes off in the morning, is your first reaction to throw it against the wall? Thankfully, Sleep Cycle offers a clever solution for improving your rest.
I always had at least 2 or 3 different alarms that all failed to wake me up until I bought Sleep Cycle. I absolutely love that I have access through the app to different sleep sounds, like ASMR or story telling, because when I listen to things through my laptop instead, it reads me as being awake and talking.
Most of all, though, I appreciate that the company has included me, as an initial investor, in the updates throughout time. Having had the opportunity to realize what the app does for me makes me think that the least I could do is write them a good review! You made our day, thanks so much for taking the time to write us this review. It's great to hear from our early adopters who still enjoy using and exploring the app.
Have a great day and thanks for making ours I like the program, wish it were more accurate. The market for these apps is about as big as they come. It is estimated that the global number of smartphone users will rise to 3. If we looked at it in terms of devices, there are more connected mobile devices in the world 7. Emerging economies are catching up.
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