Snagging the right amount of sleep is a huge part of being our best selves. If you often wake up tired or are curious about what happens when you’re sleeping, a wearable sleep tracker might be for you.
The most accurate one can monitor your sleeping trends, track your night activity and heart rate, and give recommendations about improving your rest and fitness.
For that reason, I tested dozens of wearable sleep trackers, paying attention to how well they can measure different sleep metrics. Then I scored the best five. I found Oura Ring and Whoop 4 offer the best combination of accuracy, great user experience, and comfort.
At a Glance
- Oura Ring Gen 3: The most accurate sleep tracker
- Whoop 4.0: Best for tracking sleep and activity
- Ultrahuman Ring Air: Best non-subscription based sleep tracking ring
- Garmin Epix Pro (Gen 2): The best smartwatch for sleep-tracking
- Apple Watch Series 9: Best for Apple users
The Most Accurate Sleep Tracker
1. Oura Ring Gen 3: The Most Accurate Sleep Tracker
Check Price on Amazon
Who it’s for: Oura Ring is ideal for sleep tracking if you’re after a discreet but intuitive monitor with lots of personalized advice.
How it works: The Oura Ring shines infrared light through your skin and uses sensors to monitor heart rate, heart rate variability, respiration, body temperature, and blood oxygen levels. With these metrics, it tracks your sleep with an accelerometer and logs your activity and movement. The ring then processes these data to get you scores about your sleep, activity, and readiness.
From my test, the third-generation Oura Ring offers the most comprehensive data and daily recommendations.
Besides, it’s the most accurate at measuring heart rate and heart rate variability when compared to a heart rate sensor. According to a recent validation study, the ring is 98.4% accurate when compared against an electrocardiogram.
Besides accuracy, the Oura Ring has an intuitive interface that offers easy-to-navigate-and-understand reports.
The only downside — which isn’t a deal breaker — is that the ring won’t be ideal if you’re looking to track your workout or movement.
Pros
- High accuracy level
- Easy to read and digest data
- Stylish, lightweight, and comfortable
- Stylish, lightweight, and comfortable
- Personalized and easy-to-implement recommendations
Cons
- Expensive and requires a subscription
2. Whoop 4.0: Best For Tracking Sleep and Workouts
Check Price on Amazon
Who it’s for: Whoop 4.0 is an excellent choice if you want a sleep and workout monitor combined.
How it works: The device is a screenless, woven wristband tracker. It utilizes PPG (photoplethysmography) — a technology used to detect blood volume levels, and LEDs pass lights through the skin. The tracker then translates the difference in light reflection and absorption into changes in blood flow, allowing it to calculate heart rate and heart rate variability. Whoop 4.0 also uses an accelerometer to track motion. The combination of PPG, accelerometer, and the manufacturer’s algorithm allows the tracker to monitor your sleep stages.
The Whoop device’s heart rate tracking during sleep is accurate in comparison to a heart sensor, and it correctly logs the intensity of activities such as high-intensity exercise and long walks.
Starting with a membership of $30 per month ($239 annually), you get access to some of the most comprehensive biometrics available, which includes sleep tracking.
The standout sleep-tracking feature is the comprehensive sleep coach. This feature allows you to check the number of hours you’ve slept and see how much of that was restorative. It also monitors your daily activities to recommend how much sleep you should ideally be getting.
However, the interface can be intimidating, and it prompts a lot more interaction and input than Oura Ring.
Pros
- Comfortable and versatile to wear
- Offers accurate sleep and heart rate data
- Delivers in-depth activity and recovery tracking
Cons
- Sends you popups to fill out a daily journal before accessing your scores
3. Ultrahuman Ring Air: Best Non-Subscription-Based Sleep Tracking Ring
Check Price on Amazon
Who it’s for: The Ultrahuman Ring Air is ideal if you’re looking for a comprehensive sleep tracker that doesn’t require a subscription.
How is works: This ring has three sensors that collect your sleep data — PPG, a medical-grade temperature sensor, and a motion sensor. The PPG measures blood flow by analyzing light absorption to capture heart rate, heart rate variability, and blood oxygen saturation. The skin sensor continuously monitors your skin temperature to reveal insight into your circadian rhythm and sleep quality. The motion sensor detects movements in all directions, body positions, and even your sleep movement. These sensors combine with the tracker algorithm to present your sleep data in a user-friendly format.
After testing several sleep trackers simultaneously, the Ultrahuman Ring Air impressed us with its accuracy and the valuable advice in the accompanying app. It’s among the most accurate sleep tracker I’ve tested.
You can review your sleep stages in a chart broken into awake, REM, light, and deep sleep. You also have the charts for heart rate, heart rate variability, and temperature.
The sleep index is scored out of 100 based on factors such as sleep efficiency, heart rate drop, total sleep, temperature, restfulness, and consistency.
A unique feature I love about the Ultrahuman app is that it will notify you when to drink stimulants like coffee (and when to stop), when is the good time to get daylight, and what’s a good bedtime window for your circadian rhythm.
While it can track your workout, it won’t offer comprehensive data as the Whoop 4.0.
Pros
- Minimalist design
- Requires no subscription fee
- Comprehensive sleep metrics
- Tracks even circadian rhythm tracking
Cons
- Lacks screen — you’ll need your phone
4. Garmin Epix Pro (Gen 2): Best Smart Watch for Sleep-Tracking
Check Price on Amazon
Who it’s for: Garmin Epix Pro is a great choice when you’re looking for a smartwatch with impressive sleep-tracking capabilities.
How it works: Like the first three trackers, Garmin Epix Pro works by using a combination of motion sensors, heart rate monitoring, and algorithms to monitor sleep patterns. While all of Garmin’s fitness trackers can monitor sleep to some extent, the Epix Pro has a Pulse Ox sensor that gives it advanced sleep-tracking capabilities. You can track your sleep stages, respiration, blood oxygen saturation, and restlessness.
The Connect app lets you set your Sleep and Wakeness windows for more accurate results. Then, it’ll calculate your sleep score depending on your active duration, the amount of sleep you get, and stress.
However, when I compared Oura Ring and Whoop 4, Epix Pro seemed to add an extra 30 minutes – 1 hour of sleep than I accurately got. More importantly, it didn’t account for naps in the sleep score.
Nevertheless, its biometrics offer better statistics. I found it much better than the Oura at detecting caffeine or alcohol, which makes the heart rate variability more irregular. That way, it’s superior at detecting when your sleep is less restful.
Pros
- Strong battery life
- Comes with a sleep coach
- Great for athletes and fitness enthusiasts
- Ideal for tracking both workouts and sleep
Cons
- Sleep tracker significantly drains the battery
5. Apple Watch Series 9: Best Sleep Tracker for Apple Users
Check Price on Amazon
Who it’s for: Apple Watch users who don’t want to spend on a separate sleep tracker.
How it works: The Apple Watch Series 9 has an inbuilt accelerometer that detects your movements during sleep. It also has a heart rate monitor that tracks your heart rate and estimates your transition between different sleep stages. You also get the sleep app that lets you create a sleep schedule, set sleep goals, and track your sleeping trends.
If you already have an Apple Watch Series 4 or later, it can work as a sleep tracker by breaking down your sleep into four stages: Awake, REM, Light, and Deep sleep. It’s ideal if you have an iPhone as you can access the Health App and see the time you spend in bed, your sleep time, respiratory rate, heart rate, and average temperature.
The Series 9 can also measure blood oxygen and temperature.
You can review your daily, weekly, and monthly sleep data to identify trends. You’ll also appreciate Apple’s Wind Down feature that will help you get into a bedtime routine, set subtle reminders on the watch, and wake you in the morning.
The only problem is that Apple’s charts are hard to read, and you can’t dig further into stats. It feels like a general overview compared to the top sleep trackers we’ve reviewed. You’ll also not get sleep scores or advice to improve your sleep quality.
If you own an Apple Watch Series 4 and above, try its sleep tracking before considering a dedicated sleep tracker. However, if you’re shopping for something specifically for sleep tracking, the Apple Watch can’t be the best pick.
Pros
- Long battery life
- An intuitive interface
- No subscription to track sleep
- All sleep-tracking features in a smartwatch
Cons
How We Picked The Most Accurate Sleep Tracker
To be featured on our most accurate sleep tracker list, a device had to meet the needs of health-tracking enthusiasts and curious novices. It had to be:
- Accurate
- Easy to use
- Comfortable to wear
- Easy-to-comprehend sleep data
Throughout my test, I assessed:
How Well The Sleep Tracker Log Health and Sleep Data
While commercial sleep trackers aren’t medical devices, the best sleep trackers should accurately capture and examine how your energy output, heart rate, body temperature, blood-oxygen levels, and other metrics dictate your sleep quality.
How Easy It Is to Interpret Data?
I prioritized sleep trackers with useful and easy-to-digest data on our list. We also considered trackers that provided a comprehensive summary of the complex data they offer.
Sleep Coaching Advice The Device Offers
I favored trackers that could use data from the previous day or night to make sleep recommendations. If you hit the road hard, for example, you’d appreciate a rest recommendation. I also favored devices that customized guidance to the wearer’s actual habits.
The Most Accurate Sleep Tracker Will Give You The Data You Need to Change Your Sleep Habit for Better
If you have problems getting enough sleep, a good tracker could help you understand your sleeping trends and work to improve your quality of sleep.
While sleep trackers come in all shapes and sizes, the most accurate ones are Oura Ring and Whoop 4.0. The two will get you in-depth sleep information and customized recommendations.
If you’re looking for a non-subscription-based model, the Ultrahuman Ring Air or Garmin Epix Pro would be the ideal choice.
