Ask HN: Best sleep trackers? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: Best sleep trackers?

#71

Post by pergadad » Wed, Mar 25, 2020, 7:31 PM UTC

mft_ wrote: post #54

Can anyone recommend a good sleep tracker with a smart alarm ? I had one of the original Jawbone Ups, and it was great for this. Sadly, it didn't last forever and now they're discontinued. I did a solid search about a year ago and couldn't find anything that suited - essentially a sleep tracker with a smart alarm that's not tied to a mobile phone, and ideally with the ability to wake via light as well as noise. (I ge…

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.lslk.sleep...

This one works great for me & is free.

Re: Ask HN: Best sleep trackers?

#72

Post by pergadad » Wed, Mar 25, 2020, 7:33 PM UTC

I'm a big fan of this free android app: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.lslk.sleep...

Among other features it records noises, cuts out all the no-noise moments and you have a 3-5 minute record of all nightly noises in the morning. As others have said here all the expensive gadgets are mostly random number generators so I don't see the point in wearing one - this app had told me a lot about how I sleep, what disturbs me, etc.

Re: Ask HN: Best sleep trackers?

#73

Post by cassianoleal » Wed, Mar 25, 2020, 7:35 PM UTC

jonteru wrote: post #44

cassianoleal wrote: post #13

Dreem 2* is probably the best tracker you can get to use at home. The band is not uncomfortable (after a couple of nights, it's very strange at first) and it will give you lots of insights other solutions can't. You do have to put it on before bed and take it off and charge in the morning though. And it's expensive. * https://dreem.com/en

+1 for this one, I am also a happy user. I needed to send it back after a week of use which was annoying, but after they fixed it it's pretty much perfect. I did significant research into the sleep trackers before deciding and the bottom line I found out is that anything on your wrist/fingers etc. Just can't accurately tell which sleep phases you're actually in and the offsets are huge, check the user reviews and res…

Ah yes, the stims are pretty great! I don't know if whether it's just placebo or not but it definitely works for me!

Re: Ask HN: Best sleep trackers?

#74

Post by balfirevic » Wed, Mar 25, 2020, 8:21 PM UTC

hoopism wrote: post #32

I recall reading a paper that found that compared to clinical sleep study equipment (you know, electrodes all over your head) that most devices were random at best in terms of measuring REM sleep. I did a lot of research when a friend went all in on sleep monitoring and wound up worse than when he started (worrying over data). I didn't exhaustively research but based on un-biased available science I found at the time…

Unfortunately, it does seem true that most of sleep monitoring devices are not very good (I'm hopeful for the head-mounted ones, but I don't have any data).

But the advice at the end of your post... I'm trying to put it politely - it's insulting rubbish for anyone with moderate to severe sleep issues.

Correct advice, in the absence of actual REM tracking devices, is to go to the doctor - sleep specialist and possibly also a psychiatrist.

Re: Ask HN: Best sleep trackers?

#75

Post by russellkt-al » Wed, Mar 25, 2020, 8:25 PM UTC

I use Withings Steel HR and Sleep Cycle on an iPhone. Both provide useful information but neither is perfect and often conflict. I think a lot of this is due to a 4 year old that my wife and I have been unable to get to sleep in his own bed. https://www.marksdailyapple.com/should-you-track-sleep/ is a good article with recent data on accuracy of a variety of devices.

Re: Ask HN: Best sleep trackers?

#76

Post by russellkt-al » Wed, Mar 25, 2020, 8:47 PM UTC

russellkt-al wrote: post #75

I use Withings Steel HR and Sleep Cycle on an iPhone. Both provide useful information but neither is perfect and often conflict. I think a lot of this is due to a 4 year old that my wife and I have been unable to get to sleep in his own bed. https://www.marksdailyapple.com/should-you-track-sleep/ is a good article with recent data on accuracy of a variety of devices.

Realized I did not answer all of your points but neither tracks leg movements that I'm aware of but like another post mentions sleep cycle might monitor through sound. Biggest reasons I've chosen these are I have my iphone on charge and airplane mode and the Withings battery life is between 2-4 weeks.

Re: Ask HN: Best sleep trackers?

#77

Post by reravel2 » Wed, Mar 25, 2020, 9:09 PM UTC

I had both generations of Oura. It was good for duration and temp, very bad for stages or if I was awake I middle of night. I have had much better results w Dreem headband. It uses eeg and some other sensors. It’s more expensive though. (25 off YBVYPYSYY). It also has a sound it plays during deep sleep to help extend it. I haven’t experimented with it yet to verify that it makes a difference.

Re: Ask HN: Best sleep trackers?

#78

Post by vzaliva » Wed, Mar 25, 2020, 9:55 PM UTC

gtbcb wrote: post #19

https://ouraring.com/ is pretty awesome. I've started sleeping more, at more consistent times, and consuming less caffeine and alcohol. $75 off - http://ouraring.com/partners/rohannatraj - doesn't benefit me, just a coupon I received myself.

Read this and decide for yourself if it is accurate enough for you:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6095823/

Study conclusions: "Multi-sensor sleep trackers, such as the ŌURA ringhave the potential for detecting outcomes beyond binary sleep/wake using sources of informationin additionto motion. While these first results could be viewed as promising, future development and validation is needed."

Re: Ask HN: Best sleep trackers?

#79

Post by eindiran » Wed, Mar 25, 2020, 10:01 PM UTC

If you want to get into the habit of sleep tracking before you buy something expensive and you have an Android phone, this is worth checking out:

https://sleep.urbandroid.org/

Sleep for Android has some problems, but it has a free-tier and is easy to start using.

For better sleep tracking, there are some mattress cover devices, which will help with the leg movement problem a bit better than SoA can. The most common one afaik is Eight:

https://www.eightsleep.com/

Re: Ask HN: Best sleep trackers?

#80

Post by dbcurtis » Wed, Mar 25, 2020, 10:06 PM UTC

Not a user myself. My wife loves her Oura ring. Super comfortable, with the caveat that it doesn't come in ring half-sizes. My college-age kid uses an older FitBit for sleep tracking and is happy with that.

I have no insight as to whether the Oura ring is going to give you restless-leg data directly or indirectly, but it is extremely reliable for recording other sleep disturbances in my wife's experience.