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Thursday 25 February 2016

6 SMART GADGETS TO HELP YOU SLEEP BETTER


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6 Smart Gadgets to Help You Sleep Better
By Bryan Wolfe,
Make Use Of, 24 February 2016.

Not getting a good night’s sleep is never a good way to begin a day. Luckily, there are plenty of home gadgets that can help you get a great night sleep. Better still, not all of these gadgets will cost you a lot of money.

Here’s our list of tips and recommendations:

1. Withings Aura Smart Sleep System


Tired of waking up to the sound of a loud buzzing alarm clock? The Withings Aura may be exactly what you need. The bedside device offers optimized LED lighting that promotes the secretion of sleep hormones. When it’s time to wake, the Withings Aura gets ready for its grand finale by providing a simulated sunrise, which promises to leave you feeling energized and refreshed.

The Withings Aura also features a speaker, allowing you to listen to specially-engineered wake-up sound programs. With a Spotify Premium subscription, you’re able to access 20,000 Web radio stations.

Do you want to learn more about how you sleep? The Sleep Sensor Accessory works with your Withings Aura to measure:
  • Sleep duration
  • Sleep cycle variation: Deep, Light, and REM
  • Time awake
  • Wakes you at the best time of your sleep cycle

The Sleep Sensor tucks discreetly under your mattress and works with the free Withings app.

The Withings Aura is the most feature-rich device on our list. It’s also the most expensive. (Price: US$289.98 at Amazon.com)

2. Misfit Beddit Sleep Tracker and Wellness Coach


Misfit also offers a tool which helps you sleep better. The Beddit Sleep Monitor provides insights into your nightly sleep habits. The band, which is placed directly on your mattress under the sheets, measures sleep cycles and quality by tracking respiration, heart rate, movement, snoring, and ambient sound.

The information the Beddit Sleep Monitor gathers transmits to your smartphone, where you can view vital statistics and sleep graphs on the free Misfit app.

The app features:
  • Goals and insights
  • Listen to a variety of custom, gentle sleep sounds
  • A smart alarm that wakes you during a light sleep cycle

The Beddit Sleep Monitor offers most of the tracking provided by the Withings Aura without a light component. (Price: US$49.99 at Amazon.com)

3. The Sense


Few sleep trackers look as beautiful as the Sense. The circular object interacts with the included Pill unit that attaches to your pillow. This combination works together to measure temperature, ambient lights, and noise to give you a complete sleep profile. The Sense features a smart alarm and 15 wake tones. It will begin waking you up gradually 30 minutes before your set time.

Like other solutions on our list, the Sense works with a free smartphone app, which it uses to track your sleeping habits. Each morning, the app provides you with a sleep score, which is calculated based on all the sensor data from your bedroom, as well as how you slept.

Over the long-term, you can use these daily sleep scores to make changes to your routine, thereby making your sleep time more valuable. (Price: US$123.99 at Amazon.com)

4. Philips HF3520 Wake-Up Light With Coloured Sunrise Simulation


When it comes to lighting, Philips is mostly known recently for its Hue system. The Wake-Up Light is also worth considering, especially if you have problems with sleep. The stationary light, like other solutions on our list, gradually wakes you up beginning at 30 minutes before your set wake up time.

The Philips Wake-Up Light also includes:
  • Natural sounds to wake you up
  • A radio
  • Can serve as a reading light
  • Replaceable halogen lamp

Though it’s not nearly as feature-rich as other solutions on our list, the Philips Wake-Up Light should be considered nonetheless. The main reason: It doesn’t make your smartphone a part of your sleep routine. (Price: US$118.41 at Amazon.com)

5. The Drift-Light


Another non-smartphone solution is the Drift-Light. However, unlike the Philips Wake-Up Light, the Drift Light focuses on making the start of your sleep better. During a 37-minute period, the Drift Light slowly dims to help promote relaxation and an increase in melatonin. This combination makes you more relaxed before sleep.

Why does it take 37 minutes? This is the average duration of a sunset.

The Drift Light features:
  • An average lifespan of 30,000 hours, which is over 30 times longer than incandescent bulbs.
  • Replaces 40 Watt incandescent bulbs, using only 7 Watts.
(Price: US$24.95 at Amazon.com)

6. Sleep Cycle Alarm Clock

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Do you want to get a better night’s sleep, but don’t have extra money to spend? The free Sleep Cycle alarm clock app turns your smartphone into a sleep tracker, by using the device’s accelerometer to measure night-time activity.

The key is to place your phone next to your bed, preferably on a night stand. After getting a proper reading, Sleep Cycle wakes you each morning during your lightest sleep phase. Set your alarm time within a 30-minute window and you’re ready to go.

Plenty of choices

Restless nights lead to unproductive days. Whether through lights or sound, or a combination of the two, better nights are in your future thanks to the products mentioned here.

Are you looking for a more mobile solution? There are a lot of wearable devices that should do the trick. We also suggest apps that either change the colors of your lights or can play calming music before you fall asleep.

Top image: Insomnia. Credit: Faisal Akram/Wikimedia Commons.

[Source: Make Use Of. Edited. Top image added.]

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