Can you compare different sleep trackers for me?

The Huberman Lab features several discussions about sleep trackers, comparing them and examining their limitations and benefits. Here's a summary of some key insights mentioned about different sleep trackers:

Accuracy and Utility

• Best Ones - The best sleep trackers publicly available are currently about 70% effective at staging sleep. Experts suggest taking their data with a grain of salt and not living one's life strictly based on them 1.
• Objective vs. Subjective Data - Combining objective data from sleep trackers with subjective assessment of sleep quality is advised. This helps account for the varying accuracy of devices and personal perception 1.

Placebo Effect

• Sleep Scores - Sleep trackers can create a belief effect, where individuals may feel their level of wakefulness is influenced by their sleep score from the previous night rather than how they subjectively feel 1 2.

Advancements

• Near-future Predictions - Advancements in technology suggest sleep trackers may soon reach the level of accuracy of polysomnography (PSG), potentially obtaining FDA approval for diagnosing sleep disorders 3.
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    1

    Sleep Science Insights

    00:39:21
    
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    2

    Sleep Tracking Insights

    01:10:34
    
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    3

    Sleep for Performance

    02:02:33
    
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    4

    Tracking Insights

    01:02:00
    

Reliability

• Contextual Reliance - Despite the role of sleep trackers, understanding of the technology's limitations is important. For instance, the physiology of the sleep state can differ between cortical (what we measure) and subcortical structures, potentially impacting the accuracy of trackers 1.

Behavioral Tools

• Tracking Impact - Sleep trackers are likened to a behavioral tool, similar to a continuous glucose monitor (CGM) or caloric trackers. Knowing that they are being tracked can motivate individuals to make healthier decisions, although they have limitations in predicting actual performance 4 2.

Remember, these insights are a synthesis of opinions and research discussed on the Huberman Lab. Sleep trackers can be useful tools for understanding one’s sleep habits and potentially improving sleep hygiene, but they may not be completely accurate and should not be the sole metric for assessing sleep quality.