The relentless demands of the fast-paced modern world mean a good night’s sleep has become a luxury rather than a necessity for many of us. Despite its integral role in preserving good health, the United States faces a serious sleep deprivation problem.
In fact, 70 million Americans suffer from chronic sleep issues. As a result, over 35% of adults sleep less than the recommended seven hours a day, and almost half the population reports feeling sleepy three to seven days per week [1].
With such staggering statistics, countless sleep gadgets have emerged on the market to help combat the sleep crisis. But with the overwhelming amount of sleep devices claiming to transform your sleep routine, how do you know which ones work? And how do you choose the right one to address your specific sleep ailment?
No matter what your sleep woe is, this list is sure to have a device that can likely put it to bed. From noise-blocking earbuds and smart mattresses to anti-snoring tools and sleep devices for insomnia, keep reading for a round-up of the best sleep gadgets you can get your hands on.
When it comes to sleep apps, it’s hard to find one that is more advanced than Pzizz. The app is developed from the notion that many people struggle with insomnia and poor sleep due to excessive thinking, which prevents them from switching off their brains. Pzizz uses clinically-validated techniques and patented technology proven to quieten the mind, help you fall asleep fast, and stay asleep throughout the night.
Think of this app as a smart, non-pharmacological way to help combat insomnia and fatigue without having to deal with the adverse side effects that often accompany conventional sleep medications.
Pzizz features an extensive library of over 100 billion binaural beats, original narrations, and psycho-acoustic music. Its sophisticated algorithm allows for an unlimited amount of personalized soundscapes, offering you a different experience each night to promote relaxation and soothe you to sleep.
‘Sleep at the push of a button’ is what the app attempts to do, but don’t just take our word for it. Over a million people globally have attested to this statement by downloading it and finally getting the sleep they desperately need.
A free trial version of Pzizz is available to download on the App Store and Google Play so you can get acquainted with its extensive features before investing in the full version.
Whether it’s a snoring bed partner, outdoor traffic noise, or the neighbor’s barking dog stopping you from getting your beauty sleep, the QuietOn Sleep 3.1 earbuds offer the ultimate noise-canceling experience for a quality night’s sleep.
Unlike many of its competitors’ products that are only designed to block high-frequency noise, QuietOn earbuds are also designed to cancel out sounds below 500Hz. The compact and lightweight devices are intended to slip easily and unobtrusively into the ear to avoid discomfort throughout the night.
The portable carry case doubles up as a charger, offering a battery life of up to 20 hours. It also has a handy deactivation feature that temporarily disables the noise-canceling function by simply tapping the earbud.
QuietOn Sleep earbuds are available to purchase for around $239.
There’s plenty of research to confirm the benefits of breathing exercises in reducing stress and helping induce sleep. The Dodow sleep machine takes advantage of these virtues to get your sleep back on track.
This sleep technology is placed on your nightstand, and with the touch of a button, it projects a dim beam of blue light onto your ceiling. There is an eight-minute and twenty-minute mode to choose from, along with three brightness levels, all of which are soft enough not to interfere with melatonin production.
The sleep device encourages deep synchronistic breathing by inhaling and exhaling as the light contracts and expands. This guided breathing technique reduces your breathing pace to six breaths per minute to help you transition from an alert, wakeful state to a resting, drowsy state. Much like a metronome, Dodow creates a hypnotic effect to help quieten a racing mind and induce a relaxed state.
The Dodow sleep machine is available from Amazon for around $59.
Mattresses are nothing new, with their origin dating back to the Stone Ages. However, the 21st century has seen a plethora of cutting-edge technology being incorporated into this bedding staple to bring us the smart mattress-one of the most recent being manufactured by Eight.
There are several reasons why the Eight Smart Mattress made it on this list of the best tools for better sleep:
So what happens with all this gathered data? Well, there’s a Hub attached to the mattress cover that stores and processes the information and uploads it to the Cloud for a detailed analysis. You can then access a full report of your nightly sleep experience by downloading the Eight app to identify patterns and gain some meaningful insight.
Anyone who lives with or, worse still, shares a bed with a snorer knows how frustrating and disruptive those incessantly loud grunts are to getting a good night’s sleep. If you can’t relate to this predicament, we regret to inform you that you may be a snorer or just very lucky.
Enter Smart Nora. This hi-tech sleep gadget gently readjusts your pillow upon detecting signs of snoring to open up your breathing passages and allow restricted air to flow freely. You simply slip the inflatable device under your pillow and tap to switch it on before going to sleep while the gadget used to detect snoring is placed on your bedside table.
The unobtrusive technology means you don’t have to wear an uncomfortable face mask, nose strip, or chin strap on your face to prevent snoring. Smart Nora has already helped over 140,000 people achieve a sound(less) night’s sleep and is priced at $359 or $33 per month on a payment plan.
Until a few years ago, the only way to measure sleep quality was by admitting yourself to a sleep clinic and being hooked up to a computer. But thanks to devices like Oura, it is now possible to track variables such as sleep and wake times, sleep duration, latency and disturbances, and sleep cycles in the comfort and familiarity of your bed.
This discreet gadget is worn on the finger and uses cutting-edge technology to track sleeping patterns. By collecting biometric data, including heart rate, body temperature, and respiration rate, the device accurately establishes how much deep, restorative sleep you get each night while providing useful advice on optimizing sleep quality.
The Oura ring will constantly be recording data as long as it is worn and will store up to 6 weeks of information, all of which can be displayed on a synced smartphone device. Moreover, data collection appears to be much more accurate than alternative wrist wearables.
The price of the Oura ring starts from around $299 on the official website.
Let’s face it, there’s nothing worse than tossing and turning in bed, trying to find the perfect position to drift into dreamland. A flat pillow is probably your worst nightmare if you’re prone to neck pain or stiffness. Add a flushed face into the mix, and you’ve got a hot mess on your hands.
That’s where the Tempur-Pedic cooling neck pillow comes in. With its cooling foam technology, you’ll never have to flip to the cold side of the pillow again to help draw heat away from the head and effectively combat night sweats. The ergonomic design also provides the necessary support to your neck to relieve pain and pressure.
You can purchase a Tempur-Pedic pillow for around $89.
When your bedroom’s too bright for sleep and conventional sleep masks feel too uncomfortable to keep on throughout the night, it can often feel like you’re stuck between a rock and a hard place.
The Blinks sleep mask offers the perfect solution to your problem. The manufacturers have thoughtfully designed this mask to take care of your most common pain points. It is soft and light to not create pressure around your skull, yet thick enough to fulfill its intended light-blocking purpose. Unlike many conventional sleep masks, the molded eyecups make for a comfortable fit by ensuring they don’t press hard on your eyelids. In contrast, the Velcro strap will ensure the mask stays put throughout the night, even for the most relentless tossers and turners.
The Blinks sleep mask can be yours for as little as $15.99.
Technically, this isn’t a gadget to help you sleep but rather one to help you wake up. Conventional alarm clocks have no regard for our natural biological rhythms. They exist to do one job: wake you up at whatever time you tell them to, regardless of your sleep stage. What often results from this rude awakening is the dreaded groggy, heavy-headed feeling you can’t seem to shake off.
The Philips HF3520 Wake-Up Light is a sunrise simulation alarm clock designed to wake you up with consideration for your natural sleep-wake cycle. The device mimics natural dawn sunlight and gradually increases its brightness to wake you up naturally and healthily.
There are 20 brightness levels to choose from, depending on how sensitive you are to light. You can also set the length of the sunrise simulation between 20 and 40 minutes. During this time, colors naturally blend from a deep red to a yellow-orange hue and finally a white tone.
The Philips HF3520 Wake-Up Light costs around $170, available from the official website and other online retailers.
If you struggle to drift off to sleep or stay asleep throughout the night, the devices featured in this article may help you spend more time in the land of nod.
If racing thoughts are something you routinely struggle with and you’re searching for an effective tool that takes the stress out of falling asleep, then Pzizz is the answer. This useful app can have you fast asleep at the touch of a button using clinically-validated techniques and patented technology developed with decades of research. Download Pzizz on the App Store and Google Play to get a good night’s sleep and wake up feeling refreshed.
Sleep aid devices help to optimize sleeping habits and the environment to promote a good night’s sleep. Many of these tools are developed using science-backed methods designed to help you fall asleep fast, experience fewer disturbances throughout the night, and function better during the day. With that said, you shouldn’t solely rely on such devices to improve your sleep in the long term; instead, focus on creating better health and lifestyle habits to improve sleep naturally.
It isn’t always necessary to take prescription medication to aid sleep, especially in the first instance. Incorporating healthy lifestyle habits into your daily routine can help induce sleep naturally and improve your overall quality of life. Useful tips include limiting alcohol and caffeine consumption, exercising regularly, getting plenty of sunshine during the day, and observing good sleep hygiene.
If you’re prone to stressful, anxious, or worrying thoughts, it can be difficult to switch off your brain at night and fall asleep. Excessive and intrusive thinking is the most common cause of insomnia, but there are tips to help quieten a racing mind. Such methods include creating a stress and clutter-free sleep environment, meditating, practicing gratitude, journaling, and following a consistent and relaxing bedtime routine.