The rise in popularity of fitness tracking smartwatches and wearables means we now have the power to obtain a reliable, holistic picture of our overall well-being, fitness levels and, perhaps more importantly, just how stressed out we actually are.
Ensuring you hit the gym and close the laptop every once in a while is a surefire way of charting a healthier course, but making sure you get quality rest is arguably even more important. Dr Andrew Huberman, figurehead of the excellent Huberman Lab podcast, says that sleep is “the foundation of our mental and physical health and performance in all endeavours.” It doesn’t get much more serious than that.
Thankfully, modern technology can paint an accurate and reliable picture of the quality of our sleep through sleep tracking, so you can make informed decisions about exercise based on how rested you are. In this guide, we’ve collated the best sleep-tracking watches out there, so you can take a big technological step towards better rest.
The best sleep-tracking watches: Our top picks
Fitbit / Pocket-lint
Fitbit Sense 2
1. The best overall sleep-tracking watch
Great design, comprehensive sleep tracking
$229 $299 Save $70
Although not as comprehensive as some other rival fitness smartwatches, the sleep tracking on this model is excellent. The rounded bezel and soft design makes it extremely comfortable to sleep in, while is packs all of the built-in sensors required to get a great picture of overall health and freshness to take the day ahead.
- Vibrant display
- Easy to use
- Reliable sleep tracking
- Limited third-party app support
- Some features locked behind Fitbit Premium
- Heart rate sensor not the quickest
The Fitbit Sense 2 makes an excellent sleep tracker for a number of reasons: chiefly, we found it to be very light, comfortable and lacking the sharp edges of some rivals that can make dozing in one uncomfortable.
Secondly, it packs an SpO2 sensor, skin temperature sensor and an optical heart rate system, which all work in tandem (alongside gyroscopic sensors) to deliver accurate sleep data. This is all made simple via Fitbit’s Sleep Score, which is based on 10 key sleep metrics. The lower the score, the less likely you are to feel fresh to tackle that workout. Annoyingly, you have to pay for Fitbit Premium to access more granular data, such as time in light, deep and REM sleep, but the basic tracking is plenty good enough.
Withings / Pocket-lint
Withings ScanWatch Light
2. Best for discreet styling
A smartwatch without the bulk
This hybrid smartwatch can happily be worn everyday, without friends and colleagues even realising you are tracking a whole host of metrics. The subtle timepiece offers 30 days of battery life before needing a charge, as well as constantly monitoring things like sleep quality, heart rate and menstrual cycles.
- Discreet styling
- Great battery life
- Fantastic overall health tracking
- Lacks sports-specific profiles
- Not particularly waterproof
- Withings+ is a costly extra
If the idea of living with a hulking smartwatch turns you off, looking towards the Withings ScanWatch Light could be the solution. This hybrid smartwatch looks like a dress watch and comes in multiple subtle hues to match your style or your mood.
Withings is more of an overall health brand, rather than gunning directly for the fitness and sports market like Garmin, Suunto or Polar. With that in mind, its products keep an eye on several key health metrics, such as sleep quality, heart rate and steps, painting an overall picture of your energy reserves and suggesting ways to improve this.
As a sleep tracking device, it is excellent, but it is when you look at the macro picture that the sleep quality monitoring really comes in to play. Armed with this information, you can create a routine that aligns with your body’s needs.
It plays nicely with Apple Health and Google Fit, so should fit into your existing ecosystem nicely, while the Withings app is well-made and very easy to use.
Apple
Apple Watch Series 9
3. Best daily smartwatch
There’s not much it doesn’t do well
The latest Apple Watch, running the most up to date watchOS 10, is a formidable fitness and health tracker, with the ability to go into great depths in regards to sleep quality and how your daily routine may be affecting this.A dedicated Sleep app can create sleep schedules to help you meet your sleep goals, including the ability to set alarms at the perfect time for waking, while Apple Watch will also track your breathing rate as you sleep, which helps paint a reliable picture of your overall health.
- Packed with sensors
- Slim profile makes it easy to wear
- Numerous bands for increased comfort
- Battery life can be an issue
- Pricey compared to rivals
- Digital crown can get in the way
We have already waxed lyrical about the latest Apple Watch Series 9, which manages to cram in even more excellent features over its predecessors. As a pure sleep tracking device, Apple has long been on top form, offering a bespoke Sleep app that feeds into the bigger Apple Health picture and determines a good deal of sleep quality factors.
The Apple Watch can estimate the time you spent in each sleep stage – REM, Core, and Deep – as well as when you might have woken up or were disturbed during the night (although you probably already know that, especially if you have kids).
What’s more, the device looks at sleep trends over a 14-day period, so you can get a better look at just how exhausted you may or may not be. Setting sleep goals can help generally create better habits around sleep, while a Sleep Focus mode silences other Apple devices and limits distractions before you go to bed and protects your sleep after you’re in bed. Apple’s huge arena of accessories helps round out options for the best bands or straps for your wearable – choose the one that will meet your comfort levels for sleep or even from a huge selection of eco-friendly bands.
Google / Pocket-lint
Google Pixel Watch (Wi-Fi)
4. Best for Android users
Google integration is seamless
$309 $350 Save $41
Android users rejoiced when the Google Pixel Watch was released last year, as Google’s first proper smartwatch finally brought some Apple-esque features to Android users. The Pixel Watch benefits from its collaboration with Fitbit, meaning users get comprehensive health tracking, including some serious sleep insights.
- Fitbit integration
- Quick charging
- Slick Google experience
- Poor battery life
- Due an upgrade imminently
- Android only
Although the Google Pixel Watch is due an upgrade imminently, it is still worth a recommendation, purely because of its integration with the Google ecosystem and the built-in health facets. Perhaps one of the coolest is the ECG app, which assesses irregularities in heart beats and shares any worrying information with your doctor.
But hey, we’re here for sleep, and the Google Pixel Watch does that too. In essence, you get all of Fitbit’s expertise in this area, harnessing gyroscopic and heart rate sensors to determine the quality of your sleep.
Like most devices we’ve mentioned here, the Fitbit integration means you can set goals, get bedtime reminders and many more sleep-aiding insights to help you get better rest.
Garmin / Pocket-lint
Garmin Epix Pro (2nd Gen)
5. Best for fitness fans
A formidable fitness ecosystem
$835 $900 Save $65
Garmin’s overall fitness ecosystem is arguably the best there is, offering detailed insights that only professional athletes would have once had access to. For anyone leading an active lifestyle, the detailed sleep tracking (and the way it plays a vital role in your Body Battery score) is vital to creating and sticking to a detailed fitness programme.Of course, you don’t have to be about to run a marathon to make the most of this, as Garmin also ensures its Connect app paints a clear overall picture of general health and wellness.
- Great battery life
- Crisp display
- Detailed sports science insights
- It is a chunky unit
- Expensive
- Perhaps overkill for some
A little caveat before we begin: the Garmin Epix Pro 2nd Gen is likely too much watch for anyone keen on casual sleep insights, as it can pretty much navigate users to the top of a mountain and back again without breaking a sweat – all the while tracking every vital stat known to man and telling you how to conquer Everest faster next time.
But what the Epix Pro lacks in simplicity, it more than makes up for with genuinely insightful sleep metrics, such as the way jet lag is killing your sleep habits, how stress is impacting your REM and how your insane workout regimen is impacting recovery times.
As a pure sleep-tracking device, it is a tad overkill, but if you are serious about your sports and fitness, this is a formidable watch that provides unrivalled insights and analysis.
What is the best sleep tracker? The bottom line
Fitbit / Pocket-lint
Fitbit Sense 2
Editor’s Choice
The best overall sleep-tracking watch
That’s a tricky one to choose the best of the best, as many of the watches we have featured here offer so much more than sleep tracking functionality. But purely as something to wear to bed, you can’t fault the Fitbit Sense 2, as its compact design is comfortable and discreet between the sheets, while the sleep insights are easy to decipher and suggestions easy to act upon.
The Withings ScanWatch Light is a great option for users looking for a discreet and stylish option, and for cross performance with fitness and sleep, you can’t do much better than the Garmin Epix Pro 2nd Gen. The Google Pixel Watch is due for an update this upcoming month which may lead to users wanted to wait for the next release before making a large investment. The updates to the Apple Watch Series 9 were effective but minimal this year, so there very well could be much more impactful updates next year.
Why buy a sleep tracker?
Wearing one of the watches listed above for long periods of time will build a solid picture of your overall health and fitness, as well as how your habits are potentially impacting your daily life. A sleep tracker delves into the various cycles of sleep, portioning out how long you enter light, deep and REM stages – all of which have different functions for rest, recovery and memory forming. Many also offer smart alarms, which are especially helpful for those of us who have a hard time getting moving in the morning.
Above all else, wearing sleep tracker will help you to form better habits, even if that’s simply going to bed a bit earlier or limiting distractions before you hit the hay.
How did you choose the best sleep trackers?
As a team, we have been extensively testing health and wellness smartwatches since the day they were first conceived. Plus, as a fitness technology writer of many years, I have personally worn most of these devices for months at a time, so understand first hand what they are like to sleep with and how helpful the sleep insights are.
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