4 Best Sleep Trackers + How To Use Them, From Sleep Specialists

The Oura Ring Gen3 lives up to its motto "A sleep lab wrapped around your finger" to earn the best overall spot on our list.

Let's start with the tracker's design: A sleek ring that's hardly bigger than a wedding band but packed with ultra-sensitive sensors to measure body temperature, pulse, and movement throughout the night. It then estimates how much time you spend in deeper sleep stages like REM to assign you a sleep score on a scale of 100.

And it does so pretty accurately. When pitted against a polysomnography (PSG) test, the gold standard for sleep testing in a lab, the latest Oura Ring had accuracy levels up to 92.6% in measuring key sleep metrics. Both Breus and Bhopal trust the discreet ring with their sleep tracking. "I don't like wearing a watch and find it much more comfortable to wear a ring during sleep, and it's also one of the more accurate devices at measuring total sleep time and sleep efficiency," Bhopal tells mindbodygreen.

Oura rings are designed to be worn all day long, not just during sleep. They also track your temperature and movement patterns during the day to gauge how your body is performing and how much energy you have to give (which it then shows you in a daily Readiness score). The Gen3 version even uses this data to estimate when you might be getting sick and when women can expect to get their period.

These readings can be accessed in real time on the Oura app. There, you can see your sleep and readiness scores, how they've changed over time, and personalized tips on how you can optimize them moving forward. Oura is also building out a library of educational content on how to interpret the signals your body is sending you while you're awake and asleep.

When you order your first ring, Oura will send you a free sizing kit that includes a few throwaway tester rings. Once you've found your size, your ring will arrive with a charging station (it has an impressive seven days of battery life) and access to the Oura app.

It's free for the first six months; then you have to pay $5.99/month. At $299 plus these monthly fees, the Oura is an investment, but for such a small and convenient tracker, it offers unparalleled sleep and health data.

Three months of sleeping with the Oura ring gave me valuable information about the habits that disrupted my sleep (bedtimes after 11:30pm; late dinners) and helped me sleep more deeply (exercising; avoiding alcohol). Since I was new to sleeping with the knowledge I was being monitored, I did have trouble falling asleep the first few nights of using the Oura—a phenomenon known as orthosomnia, or the preoccupation with perfecting sleep data.

What users say:

"The Oura ring is sleek and comfortable. I wear it as the brand recommends, on my pointer finger, without any disturbance to my sleep whatsoever... Each morning, I look forward to viewing my sleep score and my readiness score, using these insights to think more deeply about my routines. Since getting the ring, I've adjusted the timing of my meals, played around with my sleep schedule, and experimented with different supplements. I've seen significant improvements in my sleep quality simply by leaning into the lessons from Oura."—Carleigh Ferrante, mbg Commerce Editor

If you can get used to wearing a watch to bed, the Fitbit Versa 4 is your best option for sleep tracking.

It measures most of the same metrics as the Oura ring—heart rate, heart rate variability, respiratory rate, blood oxygen levels—to give you an idea of how much time you spent asleep each night.

It's also been shown to give very accurate readings on time awake vs. time asleep in research trials. "If you are looking for accuracy data, Fitbit and Oura have the best reliability of data for falling asleep, waking up, and total sleep time, per the literature," Breus says.

If you shell out an extra $9.99 for a Premium membership, your Fitbit will also give you an estimate of how much time you spent in various sleep stages and a report on noise levels. Plus, you'll get access to Calm's library of sleep meditations to help you wind down. Another nice feature is you can program your watch to act as your morning alarm so you can minimize other devices in your bedroom.

But the real selling point of the Versa 4 is its activity features. A built-in GPS will follow you on your workouts, and heart rate tracking will give you a report on the intensity of your training. You can also play music, make calls, and use Alexa voice assistant from your water-resistant watch, making this a top pick for those who want to work out without their phone on hand. All that moving around during the day will improve your sleep at night!

The Inspire 3 is sleeker than the Versa 4, and less bulky to sleep with. It's missing some of the bells and whistles like a built-in GPS and Alexa, but it will tell you the basics of how much time you spend asleep each night. It also provides insights into your heart rate variability; a key indicator of stress and relaxation levels.

If you shell out for a Premium membership ($10 per month), the Fitbit Inspire 3 will estimate how long you stay in light, deep, and REM sleep too, as well as give you a "Readiness Score" each morning.

If you're just looking to keep an eye on your sleep and are less concerned with exercise tracking, this is a great entry point option for you. It also features an impressive 10-day battery life so you don't have to worry about charging it before bed each night.

It has a smaller screen than the larger Versa 4, but its sleek display shows you the basics like the time, your heart rate, and push notifications from your phone.

So, Eight Sleep is a lot more than an app. The high-tech cover will heat and cool your mattress to your optimal temperature through the night and automatically adjust based on your needs. It will also wake you up in the morning with a gentle vibration, and it comes with two-side controls so those with bed partners can customize their settings.

But it's on this list for its sleep tracking capabilities: Through the night, it collects data on your heart rate, HRV, and respiratory rate, and delivers a sleep fitness score on a scale of 0 to 100 to your phone each morning. The accompanying app also monitors your sleep scores over time and pings you with suggestions on how to improve your score.

According to in-house testing from the company, people report 32% better sleep quality (based on daytime energy scores, sleep interruptions, and sleep onset) when sleeping on a Pod mattress. However, the company is lacking the sleep metrics accuracy testing of Fitbit and Oura.

Of course, there are cheaper ways to track your sleep, but if the prospect of personalizing your temperature and separating your sleep settings from your partner appeals to you and you have the money, it's worth a shot. Reviewers do note that setup is a bit arduous, and the pod cover is heavy and cumbersome. But once you get it on your bed, you're all set to track your sleep wearable-free.

What users say:

"The Eight Sleep Pod 3 Cover for my mattress was a game changer for me. It's a smart mattress pad cover that allows you to set each side of the bed between 55 degrees to 110 degrees Fahrenheit. It also allows you to schedule personalized temperatures for each phase of the night, and you can do this from your phone. You can think of this as a type of wearable tech since it allows you to track sleep stages, sleep time, and REM sleep for each side of the bed."—Longevity specialist Seema Bonney, M.D.