The Ultimate Sleep Tech To Wind You Down

There are many great types of sleep tech around, which means you can achieve that all-important good night’s sleep. Sleeping well means more energy for the coming day, and you’re more likely to make smarter decisions. 

Our favorite way of snoozing more easily is using the Philips Sleep Headphones, which are easy to use, provide restful sounds, and can track your sleeping patterns.

Best Overall: Philips Sleep Headphones

The Philips Sleep Headphones are earphones designed to be worn while you sleep. Touting themselves as the world's thinnest earbuds, you slip the control unit behind your head and place them in your ears. One instant benefit to this method is that it stays snug and comfortable even if you're a side sleeper. You'll notice it initially, but it soon becomes as comfortable as anything else you might be wearing. 

You can listen to the Philips Sleep Headphones' audio library from there. The content is a mixture of calming music, relaxing sounds, and other forms of relaxation. It eases you into a calmer state, making you more likely to fall asleep. The Philips Sleep Headphones are intelligent, so when they detect you've fallen asleep, they gently fade the audio before switching to monitoring your sleep. 

Such monitoring is pretty smart. It uses a sensor to measure your heart rate and its variability before using the information to figure out how well you're sleeping and for how long. By doing so, you can assess what tactics are working well for you and learn from your previous nights of sleep.

Budget Buy: Musicozy Sleep Headphones

For a very inexpensive solution to your sleeping woes, the Musicozy Sleep Headphones are worth trying. They’re a headband that goes over your eyes while you’re sleeping but can also be worn on your forehead when working out or doing anything else where you want to listen to music or a podcast. 

Notably, you’ll need to provide calming music or meditative sounds, but there are many options online and in app form, so that isn’t hard to find. Audio sounds pretty straightforward thanks to 40mm composite drivers powering things, although you’ll need to remember to set timers on the apps you’re using as there’s no auto-off function. Still, battery life is pretty good at up to 14 hours, so it’ll easily last throughout the night. 

Issues arise with some side sleepers finding it less comfortable than back or stomach sleepers, but at such a low price, it’s worth experimenting with and being able to easily use it when at the gym or on a walk is a bonus.

Best Headband: Sleepphones Effortless

Effectively headphones placed inside a soft headband, the Sleepphones Effortless is a very comfy device. It’s a snug fit that works whether you’re sleeping on your back or side. It’s delightfully warm in the winter, but that’s less comforting during the summer. Similarly, the Sleepphones Effortless will suit your flying needs if you want to lose yourself to an audiobook on a long flight, as it won’t feel intrusive or awkward to wear for long periods.

Charging takes four hours, but you get back 24 hours of battery life, so there is no need to recharge every night. Granted, sound quality leaves a little bit to be desired, but it’s perfectly functional for getting to sleep. Just remember to find a good white noise app or meditation podcast for yourself, as the Sleepphones Effortless is solely the conduit. 

Thanks to basically being a fabric headband, the Sleepphones Effortless are also simple to store, so you can easily toss them in your bag between journeys. At the same time, an induction charging base is simple to use and pack away, too. The Sleepphones Effortless never quite feels as high-end as you might expect for the price, but it’s reliable. 

Best Sleep Analyzer: Withings Sleep Analyzer

If you hate the sensation of wearing something overnight, the Withings Sleep Analyzer is a good way to track your sleep without even noticing. Simply place it under your mattress, and the pad will track how you sleep, allowing you to check in whenever it is convenient.

While it doesn’t offer soothing sounds or proactive ways of helping you sleep, its sleep analysis lets you see what’s working for you. Open the app to see how your sleep cycle progresses, track your heart rate and how much you snore, and potentially spot sleep apnea issues. The pad provides a sleep score each morning to see what you need to improve and how different habits have affected things.

Tied into the Withings ecosystem, you can mix the Withings Sleep Analyzer data with how active you are throughout the day and your weight to get a full picture of your health. There’s an interesting amount of insight here, although you’ll need to remember to check the app daily to get the most benefit from it. 

Best Sleep Wearable: Oura

Many wearables are watch-based, but the Oura is a simple ring that you’ll soon hardly notice. It tracks over 20 biometric signals from your finger, with a focus on sleep being the foundation of how the rest of your day will play out. Each morning, it provides you with a sleep score based on how well you slept. It can determine if you drank too much coffee or had too much activity the night before your snooze.

Like other sleep trackers, it can spot the differences between deep sleep and REM sleep, but where it differs is how it tells you to improve it. It learns about your sleep patterns before suggesting an optimal bedtime and some tips on how to get the best night’s sleep for your situation. Like the latest Apple Watches, it also monitors your SpO2 to detect any breathing disturbances that could bother you.

The Oura ring works throughout the day, so it uses your sleep history to determine what exercise is a smart move for the day so you know whether to take it easy or not. It also monitors your stress levels and suggests ways to improve. The Oura offers detailed feedback, so it’s not surprising that membership is required to reap the benefits, but it’s a wise investment.

Best Cooling Technology: Eight Sleep Pod 3

If the main reason you struggle to sleep is the temperature, you’ll love the Eight Sleep Pod 3. It’s a cover that fits around your mattress and can dynamically heat and cool your bed throughout the night. It’s capable of going as cold as 55F or as hot as 110F, so it’ll suit all needs. 

Adding to its smart functionality, it can gently wake you up with vibrations after you pick a wake-up time. It can also track how well you sleep, your heart rate variability, your respiratory rate, and your sleep stages. It’s a good judge of how well you’re sleeping while also assisting with one of the more significant issues -- temperature. 

However, if rushing thoughts, an inability to relax, or other mental factors are causing you an issue, the Eight Sleep Pod 3 won’t solve those. 

Best Wake-Up Light: WiiM Wake-Up Light

The WiiM Wake-Up Light is a companion for your bedside. At its simplest, it works as a wake-up light. Doing so replicates sunrise and sunset so your body can follow its natural circadian rhythm, even on dark days or days when you miss the sunrise. More than just a light, though, it’ll also wake you up with the sounds of chirping birds to make you feel like you’re up close to nature. 

On another level, it also has Alexa built-in and an internet radio and music service, so you can ask for the latest news or weather and choose to listen to Spotify or your other favorite music streaming service. When trying to sleep, the WiiM Wake-Up Light can also play soothing sounds to calm your mind and prepare you for a healthier night’s sleep. 

Much of this is akin to having an Amazon Echo or something similar, but the WiiM Wake-Up Light boasts the wake-up light side, which helps a lot in getting you ready for the day ahead. The light is easily customized, too, so you can use it as a regular smart light throughout the day.

Best Calming Device: Moonbird

The Moonbird takes a different approach to improving your sleep. It’s a breathing aid that promises to help you fall asleep within eight minutes. All you do is hold onto it and breathe in as the Moonbird expands. When you breathe out, it contracts and becomes smaller, all in a bid to train you to breathe more calmly. It’s possible to pick a specific exercise in the app, or you can use it without the phone. Of course, some apps do similar, but the Moonbird has the physical and tactile element, which helps you get things right.

This isn’t a dedicated sleep aid, so it won’t suit all needs, but it has the addition of improving more than just your ability to sleep. It promises to decrease stress in five minutes and will also provide real-time biofeedback on your heart rate and heart rate variability. 

As a method of soothing you before you sleep, the Moonbird works as something less intrusive than a wearable or wake-up light. 

What to Look For in Sleep-time Tech

A good night’s sleep is potentially one of the most essential things in your life. Having energy means the energy to get whatever you need to do done, whether that’s working more efficiently or simply enjoying your downtime. Your slumber can be made a little easier with the right sleep tech. There are plenty of different aids that are keen to help you sleep, but their success rate depends on why you’re struggling to sleep. Here’s a look at things we considered when picking out these sleep assistance devices.

Soothing your Mind

Sleep is often difficult because your brain isn’t in the mood for it. That’s where soothing techniques like breathing exercises, meditative sounds, or simply some white noise can significantly help. Dedicated sleep headphones are often more comfortable to wear than your daily headphones because they are designed to be a more subtle fit and offer a more reliable battery life throughout the night.

Getting the Right Ambience

The ambiance of your bedroom makes a crucial difference to your mind's readiness for sleep. A wake-up light can replicate sunrise or sunset, encouraging your body's circadian rhythm to react accordingly. Similarly, if you get too hot or cold in bed, there are devices for improving the temperature while you sleep without making any adjustments.

Monitoring your Sleep

A sleep analyzer or wearable that tracks your sleep won’t instantly improve your sleep quality, but it will educate you on what works well. A wearable can pinpoint your quality of sleep as well as monitor if your heart rate has played a role in your slumber. Doing so allows you to retrace your steps and figure out if something you did before bed affected things.

Developing Healthier Habits

Getting a good night’s sleep isn’t just about doing the right thing before bed but throughout the day. Wearables and other analysis tools can encourage you to develop healthier habits by being more active and avoiding staring at screens late at night. Even a healthy breathing exercise can help calm you just before bedtime. Related to that, a wake-up light can help your brain adjust to the night hour and soothe you into a more restful state than looking at regular lighting at night.