In working on our sleep routine, we decided to give noise a try. What we found surprised us: a little “rain on a tent” from Alexa or Sleep Deep 432Hz on the Insight Timer app turned out to be a game changer. We also tested a few noise machines. These seven helped us have sweeter dreams.
Fan for Life
Snooz ($80) contains a real fan inside its acoustic base that plays a nonlooping constant stream of fan noise — without cool air — from the sound of a table fan to the louder noise of an airplane. The Snooz app lets you personalize settings to automatically turn on your choice of fan noise when you need it. It’s good for travel and looks really cute on a nightstand.
All the Options
With 48 white/pink/brown noises, fan sounds, and real nature sounds — crickets, whales underwater, rain and thunder — the high-fidelity Sound + Sleep Mini ($76) has something for every restless sleeper. Our favorite part, however, is that it smartly responds to the environment and automatically adjusts its volume for the ambient noise in the room. There is also a timer, so it doesn’t go all night.
Smells Like Zzzz
The ArtNaturals sound machine ($31) is also an essential oil diffuser with changing colored lights. Though it doesn’t have as many sound choices as some of the other machines — just six — you’re getting two products in one. We added Edens Garden Good Night blend to our evening routine and now find we don’t want to fall asleep without it.
Everlasting Classic
Invented in 1962, the Dohm ($45) makes just one sound: a fan-based white noise. It does, however, have two speed options. People who buy it tend to love it and rave about the customer service.
Refresh and Recharge
Pure Enrichment’s Wave sleep therapy machine ($30) makes six hi-fi sounds — white noise, a fan, the ocean, rain, a stream, and a summer’s night. The timer can be set for 15, 30, or 60 minutes, and the volume is easily adjusted. It also has a USB port, so you can charge your phone or tablet from the device.
Cute Cube
The Avantek white noise machine ($37) plays 20 nonlooping sounds, from white noise to fans to nature. You can set it to play until you turn it off, or use the auto-off timer for one to seven hours of soothing sound. A memory function automatically restores your selected volume, sound, and time should, for some reason, you or someone else try something that you don’t like as well.
Road Tripper
Our founder loves this little machine. “I use it every night, and it’s fab for traveling everywhere,” she says. The wireless LectroFan Micro has 10 sounds and is also a Bluetooth speaker with a built-in microphone, so you can listen to music or make calls when you’re not resting. Fully charged, the battery lasts six hours — and at $28 it’s the least expensive machine on the list.
