This goes up when you have a high-strain day, such as when you’ve done a hard workout. You can reduce your baseline sleep need if you’re in a time of life when getting enough sleep is hard — e.g. you’ve just had a baby. Whoop and RISE both track your sleep, so it can be tricky to know which one to choose. They also focus on very different metrics, making the decision even trickier. Leverage the Ring AIR’s advanced, discreet, and preventive health monitoring to guide your path toward vitality and a longer, healthier life. Unfortunately, in the modern era, many individuals struggle with sleep-related challenges, such as insomnia, disrupted sleep cycles, and poor sleep hygiene.

App & Data Visualization Quality (9 out of

What really sets the WHOOP sleep tracker apart is its focus on recovery. Each morning, it provides a recovery score based on your sleep, strain, and HRV, which helps you know whether you’re ready to push yourself or take it easy. I’ve tested and reviewed a wide range of sleep trackers for years, from wristbands and smart rings to under-mattress pads and everything in between.

The best bedside sleep tracker

Whether it’s the gentle pitter-patter of rain, the low hum of a fan, or the crackle of a campfire, these apps specialize in creating the perfect auditory environment to drown out distractions and lull you into a state of peace. Built for the skeptics and the fidgety, Ten Percent Happier cuts through the fluff with practical, no-nonsense meditation guidance. The app features world-renowned teachers who offer straightforward advice on handling stress and anxiety, which are often the culprits behind a bad night’s sleep. While it focuses more on core mindfulness skills than ambient soundscapes, its sleep-specific content is relatable and highly effective. For those who value variety and community without a hefty price tag, Insight Timer is a gem. It boasts a mind-bogglingly vast library of over 100,000 free guided meditations, talks, and music tracks from thousands of teachers around the globe.

Best fitness app for busy people

I’ve learned how to look at these metrics and gauge my state of recovery or lack thereof. My sense of the sleep accuracy is that it’s on a par with other devices, which is to say it’s susceptible to miscategorizing sleep stages. I don’t pay much attention to the sleep stats, because if my readiness stats are looking good then I figure I’m also reasonably well-rested. If you’re in the market for some sort of tracking device, I recommend giving the Oura ring a try.

The 8 Best Sleep Trackers of 2026, According to Our Sleep Experts’ Testing

At $149.99/year, it’s easily the most expensive app I tested—twice the price of Strava. I can totally see the price being worth it, though, especially if you have a home gym or a cheap gym membership. Gymverse basically takes the place of a personal trainer—so if you need a lot of guidance, it could be well worth the price. My husband, who’s an avid cyclist, mentioned that Strava also connects directly with bike computers and indoor road bike trainers like Zwift. Because I don’t bike enough to have that fancy schmancy equipment, I didn’t test either of these features—though I can see why they would be a huge plus for cyclists.

Non-REM Sleep Stages

• Then, I evaluate how well companion apps present data and support behavior change.
• An accessible option for beginners who want to start tracking sleep without a large investment.
• Some users even wear the device on their thumb or pinkie because that size provides the best fit.
• Wearables typically analyze sleep quality, duration, and stages, as well as heart rate and blood oxygen levels.
• Additionally, three devices (Fitbit Alta HR, ResMed S+, SleepScore Max) differed on REM sleep, all with underestimations.
• However, we occasionally get outlier scores – really high like 98 or really low like 12 – which are less reflective of how we feel.

If you opt for a wearable or mat, choose one that won’t leave you annoyed and fidgeting all night. An uncomfortable sleep tracker will have the opposite effect on restful sleep; it might interfere with how much sleep you get. Some third-party apps, such as those listed in this article, use the data collected by the Apple Watch to provide digestible information based on your exertion, sleep, and HRV. When it comes to apple watch apps for recovery, and providing us with tangible information we can utilise to assess recovery levels and help determine how we optimize our body, there aren’t too many to choose from. WHOOP tracks all four stages of sleep — slow wave sleep (SWS), REM, light, and awake — with near-perfect accuracy.

A sleep apnea app cannot replace a diagnostic test

The WHOOP sleep tracker is designed with durability and wearability in mind, using lightweight and breathable materials that are ideal for both day and night wear. Its fabric band is adjustable and comfortable, but more importantly, it’s built to withstand the rigors of daily use, including workouts and water exposure. WHOOP is waterproof, making it suitable for swimming and intense activities, which adds to its overall durability. While it lacks the premium metal or glass materials seen in more lifestyle-focused wearables like the Apple Watch or Oura Ring, its focus on practicality and functionality makes it a strong choice for long-term use.

If you want real-time fitness tracking, the Apple Watch is for you.

You can simply purchase the headband itself and use the device sans the app. But with the app, you’ll have access to all your sleep-tracking metrics including brain-wave data. If you have a sleep tracker or other device that you love and think is as good or better, than any of these three, keep using it! We’d also love to expand our knowledge and experience – so please email us at with your insights. Another feature of the Oura, which is reported in the readiness tab, is reporting of RHR and HRV for the whole night. It helps to see how quickly your HRH and HRV change overnight and we find this is useful for relating how our evening routines and behaviours affect our whole night of sleep and recovery.

Sleep Duration

This is why our priority in using sleep trackers is to gain deeper insights into our sleep quality and recovery so that we can start making the right adjustments to encourage optimal sleep. Sleep stage EBE agreement versus PSG are shown for light, deep, and REM sleep stages in Tables 9, 10, and 11, respectively. Sleep/wake summary measures versus PSG for all combined nights are shown in Tables 1–4 and Supplemental Tables S4 and S5, and corresponding Bland–Altman plots in Figures 1–4 and Supplemental Figures S1 and S2. Several consumer devices (Garmin Fenix 5S, Garmin Vivosmart 3, and EarlySense Live) also significantly overestimated TST (Table 1) compared with PSG. The SE results (Table 2) were very similar to the TST results (largely because TIB was fixed at 8 h) and thus all the devices that significantly overestimated TST also did so for SE.

Finding the Best Sleep Tracker

While I didn’t trigger any alerts during my review, I appreciate having a passive monitor watching for potential red flags. The band also delivers multi-day battery life, offering a much more convenient charging schedule than most smartwatches or trackers. You can even charge it while is madmuscles legit it’s on your wrist, so you never need to interrupt your routine. The Whoop 4.0 hardware is “free,” but only with a $30/month membership, and you’re locked into a 12-month minimum to get started. It’s not my favorite payment structure, and it won’t be right for everyone. But if you’re serious about improving your sleep, performance, and overall wellness, the WHOOP 4.0 is a very solid distraction-free device.