Because lack of sleep has become a rather serious problem affecting millions of people, some companies have reacted and developed sleep monitors. These are devices that can monitor the quality and quantity of sleep a person is having each night. What people fail to understand is that a sleep monitor, like any other health monitoring device, is not going to solve any issues. When dealing with sleep related affections one should always consult a doctor. And after reading the data provided by a sleep monitoring device, you can take the right approach towards fixing the issue.
Most sleep trackers collect data regarding breathing, heartbeat, motion during sleep, brain waves, and more. Some monitors offer an online account that holds this data and presents it in charts that, over time, reflect habits and patterns that the user must take into account. Seeing these patterns the user has a chance of changing or modifying them to suit his purpose.
The best way to go about using a sleep monitor is to also daily log in information about your sleep. How well did you sleep last night? Are you feeling rested? Did something happen during the night? These are just some of the questions you should answer daily. Trackers that have online account will already have these questions waiting for you and many more. Take some time each day and answer them and log in anything else that seems useful. This will ensure that you get the best sleep you can in no time at all. Once you realize the correlations between your lifestyle and your sleep, you should start making changes. Maybe you drink too much coffee or alcohol. Maybe the room temperature is too high or your sleep is affected by the bright lights of some nearby non-stop store. Everything should be taken into account and improved upon.
Below, you will get to know a couple of the sleep monitors that are used by people. Whether or not they are good for you is not up to us. You are the ultimate deciding factor in using a sleep tracker or not and the model you use. We are just here to bring you the best sleep monitors out there. It’s your pick!
1. Lark Pro Sleep Monitor Silent Alarm Clock and Personal Sleep Coach
Price: $159
Features: LarkPro sleep monitor is addressing people with insomnia and other sleep disorders or people who want to improve sleep quality. You get coached into improving your sleep and they say over 70% of people who use LarkPro sleep better within a month of usage.
You set sleep goals, track improvements and limiting factors and even get data to share with your doctor. The system is made so that people who sleep besides you are not affected when Lark wakes you up. It gently vibrates at the best time relative to your personal sleep cycle.
2. LarkLife
Price: $149
Features: LarkLife was developed to improved all aspects of life from eating better to exercising smarter. It also addresses sleep issues, helping improve it. This option is best for people that want to track all aspects of life and set goals in these areas. While sleep is addressed, it feels like Lark Pro is better for tracking sleep and improving its quality.
Price: between $65.00-$129.99
Features: Important! This only applies to iOS and Iphone 4 users because it uses iphone docks which aren’t used on Iphone 5 or Android. For those that can use this, they should know that it can track your breathing and movements while you sleep. It stays near the bedside and doesn’t pick up noises from pets or your sleep partner. Renew SleepClock doesn’t have an online dashboard so you can’t view the data on a computer. No headbands or wristbands are needed which is a plus for people that hate that kind of thing. Also a free App measures and records your sleep efficiency.
4. BodyMedia
Price: $119
Features: BodyMedia offers activity monitors which monitor your sleep quality. Unfortunately, they have a monthly subscription fee of about $6.95 which allows you to see the data you’ve gathered over time. You do get 3 months free but then you have to pay a subscription. The service is good, but if you only want to improve your sleep there are probably cheaper ways to do it.
5. Omron
Price: $50 or $300
Features: Omron has created 2 sleep tracking gadgets, the HSL-001 which costs $50 and HSL-101 priced at $300. The HSL-101 uses a radio frequency sensor which can send out waves out to a 5 foot range. It has to sit on the bedside and immediately begins scanning when you push it’s “good night” button. The sensor works by detecting any movement in bed.
The HSL-001 is much smaller and has to sit near your pillow. It measures the movement of bedclothes to see if you are asleep.
6. WakeMate
Price: $59.99
Features: Among the cheapest sleep monitors out there, WakeMate uses actigraphy to track motion in the middle of your sleep and wakes you up at the best time according to your sleep cycle. It promises to help people sleep better by sleeping less.
7. Zeo
Price: $99 or $149
Features: Zeo offers two sleep monitors: the Bedside Sleep Manager priced at $149 and the Sleep Manager Pro which costs $99. Zeo is based on headbands that track brain waves. The bedside Sleep Manager will display real-time statistics which has to be manually uploaded to the internet using an SD card. This is a setback as most people won’t want to do this day after day.
The Sleep Manager Pro is probably the better of the two, yet there are many steps to set it up each night. It pairs the sleep tracker to your own phone and tracks your sleep with the help of a headband. Once you’ve learned the steps it takes to set it up each night you might want to run for the hills, but don’t. Give it a chance and you can throw it out afterwards if it’s not what you need. If they make it easier to set up, this could become the best sleep monitor.
The Zeo company also offers a free Iphone app called Sleep 101. Search for it on the App Store and try it out!
8. SleepTracker
Price: $149
Features: SleepTracker looks like an ordinary watch yet it can analyze your sleep and wake you up when it’s best for you. For example, if you tell it to wake you up at 06.00AM it will ask for a window. Let’s say you select a window of 30 minutes. That means that it will wake you up between 05.30AM and 06.00AM whenever you are in a period of light sleep. Thus you will wake up feeling more energetic and not groggy. You can upload data from the watch to your analytics account and see the progress you are making.
9. Fitbit
Price: $99.95 or $59.95
Features: Fitbit One which is $99.95 and Fitbit Zip ($59.95) are two models which track your sleep and wake you up in the morning. FitBit isn’t really focused on sleep, but it does the job, although not as good as other sleep trackers.
10. Jawbone UP
Price: $129.99
Features: Jawbone UP had some problems when it first launched and had to offer refunds to customers. They seem to have learned a lot from this and the new Jawbone is much better than before. Up is a pedometer through the day (tracks how many steps you take) and a sleep tracker during the night. You do need to hold a button when you go to sleep and it will record how much it takes you to fall asleep, how much light sleep and deep sleep you have.
UP by Jawbone — Wake UP
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j35uruiWsi0&feature=player_embedded
11. Sleep Rate
Price: $99.99 or $149.99
Features: Sleep Rate tracks the heartbeat while you are asleep. It will track your sleep for at least 5 nights over a 14 day period to see how you are sleeping. You will receive personalized recommendations and you might even learn that you have a sleep disorder like sleep apnea. You pay $99.99 and have a 1 year subscription and then need to pay $149.99 yearly if you want to keep it going.