Apple Watch Series 11 for $399: If you already have an Apple Watch Series 4 or later, you can use it to track your sleep. Between the heart rate sensor and the accelerometer, your Apple Watch can break your slumber down into four stages. Newer models can also measure blood oxygen and temperature. It feels like a general overview compared to some of the other sleep trackers I tried, and there’s no sleep score, though this is obviously by design (it’s debatable whether you need more data).
Garmin Epix Pro (Gen 2) for $1,000: All of Garmin’s fitness trackers track sleep to some extent, but the Epix Pro has what Garmin calls advanced sleep monitoring, or the ability to track sleep stages, your blood oxygen saturation, your respiratory rate, and restlessness. Contributor Adrienne So found that the Epix Pro regularly accounted for her getting a half-hour to an hour more sleep than she actually got most nights, as double-checked by a Whoop and Oura. It also doesn’t add naps to your sleep score.
Google Nest Hub (2nd Gen) for $100: The Nest Hub uses radar to track your sleep, which means you don’t need to wear a tracker; it also has a microphone to track snoring, sleep talking, and other nocturnal sounds. I love the Nest Hub on my nightstand for smart home controls, family photos, and listening to sleep sounds or podcasts in bed, but the sleep tracking consistently overestimated my REM phases and missed periods of wakefulness that other trackers recorded. When I used multiple trackers simultaneously, the Nest Hub was the outlier. —Simon Hill
Muse S Athena Headband for $475: This headband has sensors capable of tracking your brain activity, similar to an electroencephalogram (EEG), alongside an accelerometer and gyroscope, and a PPG sensor to measure heart rate and blood circulation. It’s chiefly a meditation aid designed to help you relax, but it can also track your sleep by recording your heart rate, respiration, time to fall asleep, and how much you moved around for an overall sleep score. Sadly, I found it uncomfortable to wear and often woke to discover the sleep tracking had failed, usually because I’d removed it during the night. —Simon Hill
Photograph: Simon Hill
Withings Sleep Tracking Mat for $200: Another alternative to wearables, this sensor-packed mat from Withings slips underneath your mattress where your chest rests. You need to calibrate it during the initial setup, but it’s quick and easy. It tracks your movements, breathing, and heart rate throughout the night, detects snoring or other sounds, and alerts you about potential breathing problems that might indicate sleep apnea. I have doubts about the accuracy as it assumes you are trying to sleep if you are lying still in bed watching TV or reading, and that can skew your score (though it’s best to only use your bed for sleep if you suffer from insomnia). I found it often marked periods of wakefulness as light sleep. It requires a power outlet, but that does mean you never need to worry about charging). —Simon Hill
Withings ScanWatch 2 for $370: Wear the Withings ScanWatch 2 to bed and you will get a sleep score out of 100 in the morning. It covers the same four stages as other trackers (awake, REM, light, and deep) but boasts a PPG sensor for measuring your respiratory rate. It can also track your heart rate, temperature, and blood oxygen levels. The ScanWatch 2 provides a wealth of data and advice in the Withings app. Some folks may find it bulky and uncomfortable for sleep, though, and it had problems distinguishing between light sleep and when I was lying awake in bed. —Simon Hill
