Wearable sleep tracker that isn't FitBit

July 10, 2015 1:45 PM

I'm attempting to start an early-morning exercise routine 3 days a week. I need to make mornings as painless as possible. Inspired by this post, I'm looking for an Android-compatible (or standalone) device I can wear on my wrist that will wake me up at the optimal time (i.e. not during a REM sleep cycle).

I'm not interested in devices which are general fitness trackers (Fitbit, Vivofit, etc.) as they are out of my desired price range and have features that I wouldn't really use. All I want is an alarm to wear at night that will wake me up within a 10-30 minute window of the REM cycle. I don't care if it tracks data over time. Does this device exist? (There's this post from 2012, but I don't want a device to wear on my head. Too silly, even for me : )

posted by onecircleaday to Health & Fitness (11 answers total)

Does it have to be wearable? I use the Sleep Cycle app for my phone (I have an iPhone, but it's available for Android as well.) You tell it what time you need to be up by, give it a window to work with (10-90 minutes), and it will wake you at the lightest point in your sleep cycle during that window. You stick the phone under your sheets at the head of your bed. I was super-skeptical, but it seems to work nicely after the first few days of calibration - and you can't beat the price.
posted by okayokayigive at 1:55 PM on July 10, 2015

Response by poster: OP here - chiming in to reply to okayokaygive.

I'd really like it to be wearable for two reasons: 1.) My spouse is a verrrrry light sleeper, and wakes up at the sound of the slightest vibration on a table or on the bed. I've tried SleepCycle (or something like that) before, and believe it or not , the vibration woke him up. 2.) I'm a morning person, he's not. 'Nuff said ; )

Thanks though! I'll stop thread-sitting now : D
posted by onecircleaday at 2:01 PM on July 10, 2015

I haven't tried it, but it sounds like this Lark alarm will do what you're looking for, and from the comments, perhaps Jawbone also has a product for this?
posted by the agents of KAOS at 2:36 PM on July 10, 2015

a year or two back, at least, this didn't exist (at a low price), because i looked for it. we ended up using an android tablet (for my partner the REM bit was important).

i didn't look for wearable "dumb" alarms at the time, though (ie something that simply vibrates at a given time). and that might be good enough - in my experience as a fellow morning person, if you got to bed early enough so that you still sleep the amount you are used to, and set an alarm, then after a few days, you wake up / are ready to wake up at the expected time anyway.
posted by andrewcooke at 2:38 PM on July 10, 2015

Best answer: My Jawbone Up24 does this, and appears to have an Android app. They...appear to be discontinued now, looking at Amazon, I guess in favor of the next model, but I like the 24 just fine.
posted by Lyn Never at 3:05 PM on July 10, 2015

The miband is ~$15. My partner loves the one i got her. I got it from the place mentioned here, and it looks like it's still $16 or so.

It's a fitness tracker thingy, but it does the sleep tracking and works perfectly fine. The iphone app is a little bit clunky, but works. The android app is apparently excellent, but i haven't tried it.(xiaomi is an android phone/tablet manufacturer, so that makes sense. but hey at least they tried)
posted by emptythought at 3:37 PM on July 10, 2015

Response by poster: OP here, thanks everyone for the insights! It seems that what I'm looking for is discontinued, for the most part. The Lark is discontinued (and works exclusively on iOS). For others who might be interested in the near future, I researched the following:

* The Wakemate wristband (Discontinued)

* The Xiaomi Mi band, $23. Rated 4.5 stars on Amazon, has smart alarm and other fitness tracking features, seems comparable to Misfit Shine. iOS and Android compatible. CNET has a couple of good reviews.

* The Lark silent alarm, $50. Rated 3.5 stars on Amazon. Not sure if it has a "smart" alarm. Abandoned by company, iOS only. Also available on eBay.

* Misfit Shine, $65. Rated 3.5 stars on Amazon. Has smart alarm and other fitness tracking features. -- $65

* Pebble smartwatch, $99. Rated 4.0 stars. It's gigantic and does not look comfortable to sleep with. More features than I'm looking for, and is overpriced IMHO.

I ended up going with the Xiaomi Mi band, both for the price point and the impressive review from CNET and a couple of bloggers. It seems like it's reliable. It's a shame the Lark doesn't support Android or I would have gone with that. The Misfit Shine had the same features, so I may go with that if the Xiaomi is a dud, but the Jawbone UP 24 is also worth looking into, as it's half the price of the Shine due to the release of the latest Jawbone.

emptythought - you beat me to it : ) Looks like I made a good choice - thanks for the suggestion!
posted by onecircleaday at 3:40 PM on July 10, 2015

I've been looking for this too! In the meantime I've been using a 'dumb' wristband alarm and I've experienced what andrewcooke mentioned. I've adapted to the point where I frequently wake up before the first alarm.

I've been using the $12 Pivotal Tracker for this. The app support is terrible and there are a lot of bugs when syncing and configuring. It's too unreliable for sleep/movement tracking features but the vibrate alert works fine and doesn't wake my sleeping partner.

I also set a phone alarm as a backup and get up to silence it before it goes off.

On preview, maybe I should check out the miband too, thanks!
posted by boffin police at 3:48 PM on July 10, 2015

Response by poster: I've been using the Z-Band as a "dumb" alarm, but syncing is an issue too. It's not 100% reliable. Mi Band it is! I actually canceled my Amazon order and got it from emptythought's slickdeals link, for $10 less.
posted by onecircleaday at 4:01 PM on July 10, 2015

wow. things have changed a lot. checking out the mi band too...
posted by andrewcooke at 4:46 PM on July 10, 2015

I use Sleep as Android with an Android Wear device. It's set to vibrate at the optimum point in my sleep schedule. I've been very happy with it.

The LG G watch is available for less than $100 now, and worked perfectly with this setup for me.
posted by builderofscience at 7:37 PM on July 10, 2015