Quick Version: If you’re a light to moderate sleeper and you can’t seem to wake up on the right side of the bed, the $179 (MSRP) Sleeptracker Pro might be just what you need.
Overview and Features:
- Digital watch monitors your sleep patterns to help you wake up feeling refreshed
- Monitors physical data and wakes you at an optimal almost-awake moment
- Offers vibrating alarm, ringing alarm, or both
- Back-lit, digital display includes day and date
- Includes software to help you track your sleep patterns
- MSRP of $179
How It Works:
You wear the Sleeptracker Pro before going to sleep, setting an alarm time and a window of time before the actual alarm time that’d you’d be okay with getting woken up. The company recommends a 20-minute window.
During the night, the watch monitors your sleep patterns using a built-in accelerometer to tell when you’re tossing and turning, which it characterizes as lighter sleep. If it catches you in a light sleep state within your wake-up window, the alarm will go off. The idea is that if you’re woken up when you’re already in a light sleep state, you’ll wake up more refreshed than if you were in a deep sleep and got woken up by a blaring alarm clock. If you don’t happen to experience a light sleep state during your wake-up window, the watch’s alarm will go off at the regular alarm time.
Pros and Cons:
If you, like me, get about eight hours of sleep every night but still wake up groggy, this thing will work well for you. I wouldn’t say I have any glaring sleep issues – I’m a moderate sleeper, not too light, not too heavy – and the Sleeptracker’s been great.
I don’t necessarily spring out of bed, but I’m definitely not grumpy or groggy in the morning any more. It’s more of an “Okay, it’s morning time. I guess I’ll get up now” disposition versus a “What the hell is that noise?! Oh, it’s my alarm clock. I hate morning and I’d very much like to punch morning time in the Adam’s apple if it were physically possible to do so.” The alarm can be set to chime, vibrate, or both. I have it set on vibrate and it’s easily enough to wake me up. Deep sleepers, however, would likely sleep right on through it. It’s not a jarring vibration and/or noise by any means.
The watch comes with software that allows you to upload your sleep data and enter factors like whether or not you drank or ate too much before you went to bed, how you felt when you woke up, and stuff like that. It’s pretty cool but the watch only saves one night’s worth of data, so you’ll have to be diligent about connecting the watch to your computer every morning.
The price is a tad on the high side at $179. It’ll absolutely come down to whether or not you think waking up feeling refreshed every morning is worth that kind of money to you. Keep in mind that the Sleeptracker isn’t a replacement for sleep – you still have to get a full night’s rest or you’ll risk sleeping right up to the actual alarm time.
It happened to me once on a Sunday morning after I’d gone to a holiday party where I drank too much, stayed up too late, and tried to wake up too early. I was not refreshed at all but, again, the watch isn’t a replacement for sleep (and it doesn’t cure hangovers, either). Every other “regular” night, though, it’s worked well.
Recommendation:
If you’re not a heavy sleeper but you still wake up groggy and/or agitated after a full night’s sleep, you might find the Sleeptracker Pro to be a good investment for $179.
Product Page [Sleeptracker.com]
