Snooze Better and Longer With Our Favorite Sleep Trackers

Not ready to drop major dollars on a sleep tracker? You can still get a lot of data from this budget-friendly Fitbit. It may be tiny, but it’s pretty high-tech: “The sleep tracking is super accurate, down to the minute,” our tester says.

The band connects to the Fitbit app, which you can download on your smartphone to check the info it gathers. “In the app, I can see details about how long I’ve slept and how long I’ve spent in each stage of sleep,” our tester adds. Those details get summarized into a daily score that our tester says helps her see whether she’s on track with her sleep goals, like sticking with a consistent bedtime.

It also shows her trends, including whether she slept more this week than the week before, so she can compare her results over time. She can even see how long she’s spent in each sleep stage (and how those numbers compare to other Fitbit users’).

Original image by SELF senior commerce editor Sarah Felbin

Original image by SELF senior commerce editor Sarah Felbin

The app contains enough information that you’ll feel empowered, not overwhelmed: “I think the Fitbit hits the sweet spot of collecting just enough metrics that you feel like you’re learning something about your body, but not so many numbers that they start to swim onscreen,” our tester says. “It helps me make informed decisions about my health (even if that’s just setting my alarm back 30 minutes the next morning).”

The Inspire 3 is also really slim, so it won’t take you long to get used to wearing it. “It’s very lightweight and comfortable—the silicone band doesn’t get in the way of my sleep or feel too tight on my wrist,” our tester says. “I wear my Inspire 3 every single night, even when I travel—I can’t be without it!”

Original image by SELF senior commerce editor Sarah Felbin

Original image by SELF senior commerce editor Sarah Felbin

Another pro? “My favorite feature is the vibrating alarm (I don’t know how I’d actually get up in the morning otherwise),” she says. Heavy sleepers (or people who share the bed with a partner) rejoice.

Best Sleep and Fitness Tracker: Garmin Forerunner 265

Pros

• Includes a ton of helpful features, like meditations and breathwork exercises
• Helps you make the most of workouts and recovery time
• Stretchy band fits our tester’s wrist well
• You don’t need a subscription to use it
• Long battery life

Cons

The Forerunner 265 is the Rolls-Royce of trackers, with its lengthy list of health and wellness features (relaxation reminders, anyone?), accurate sensors (think: respiration rate and GPS), and smart tool integrations (like Find My iPhone).

And, of course, it’s equipped with everything you need to accurately track your sleep habits. Just take it from SELF’s fitness director, Christa Sgobba, who’s been wearing it nonstop for six months: “Garmin is the whole package for me—it does workouts, sleep, AND recovery so great that you don’t really need anything else to complement it,” she says.

As Christa puts it, “Garmin’s Forerunner 265 is primarily a runner’s watch, but the thing is, your training isn’t only about running—rest and recovery are just as, if not more, important, so solid sleep is important.” Just like the Oura and Fitbit Inspire 3, this Garmin watch delivers a daily sleep score and a breakdown of the data it collects, like sleep duration, stress levels, restfulness (based on any movement it detects during the night), and how long you’ve spent in each sleep stage (light, REM, and deep).

Original image by SELF fitness and food director Christa Sgobba

Original image by SELF fitness and food director Christa Sgobba

One of Christa’s favorite features is the sleep coach, which predicts how tired she’ll be based on how much rest and activity she’s gotten lately: “So, for instance, because I’ve been gradually increasing my running recently, my Garmin suggested to me this morning that I should get an extra 20 minutes of sleep tonight to account for ‘heavy training the last few weeks.’”

Original image by SELF fitness and food director Christa Sgobba

Original image by SELF fitness and food director Christa Sgobba

Checking out her daily sleep score and listening (as much as possible) to the sleep coach has now become a regular part of Christa’s training and recovery routine. If you’re training for a marathon or getting into weightlifting, Garmin can help you see how your activity level and sleep affect each other, so you can adjust your sweat sessions accordingly.

More great options

While we haven’t tested these trackers yet, they’re well-loved by reviewers and they have some of the same features we loved about our top picks. If you’re still searching for your new bedtime buddy, one of these gadgets could fit the bill.

Whoop 4

Pros

• Automatically detects workouts
• Available in a bunch of wrist band designs, including customizable options

Cons

• Expensive
• Requires a paid subscription