CNET News - How accurately do fitness trackers monitor sleep?

As the "quantified self" craze continues, fitness trackers have us obsessing over not only how active we are but also how soundly we're sleeping. How do the devices stack up against clinical sleep studies though? CNET's Sumi Das visits the Stanford Sleep Center for an expert's opinion.

[niks]

How did this great man manage to fall asleep with all these sensors, belts etc. ? Such man does not need any tracker or sensor to monitor his sleep. He is legend

[Mickimoss]

Even though it's not 100% accurate, but fitness tracker has its own algorithm, and every night our sleep is determined by the same algorithm so we can compare our day to day sleep through that same algorithm, that's good enough information and statistic to be aware of our sleep data.

[nitelite]

How can having all those wires, sensors and machines attached to your body give a good picture of how you sleep? I would get a terrible sleep with that stuff attached to me. Not least because I generally sleep on my side and those wires would prevent you doing that. It would give an inaccurate picture just on that basis alone.

[Willowirl]

Should have compared the results of the sleep study to the fitbit

[TheWeeResearcher]

A comparison between sleep tracking gadgets and polysomnography would be really helpful.

[TonyTube]

Yeah, all that equipment looks comfortable enough for a good night's sleep.

[sammyt]

I did a couple of sleep studies and always thought that the (bad) results I got were at least in part attributed to having all those wires/sensors/monitors attached to my body/head! They were always in the way and I couldn't get to my favorite sleeping position (on my tummy) with them on. I use a fitbit to track my sleep and I do realize that their results are approximations based on their algorithms, but I use those results mainly on comparative basis as in to judge how my sleep on a given day compares to the days before. That, plus how I feel when I wake up, gives me a reasonably good idea whether or not I had a good night of sleep.

[pulontusi]

I just bought and tried Huawei band 6 and I was so amazed how it is actually recording my night sleep and naps in the morning. Like how many hours during the sleep is deep, light or rem sleeps i had. Very cool gadget. For me, it's very accurate.

[rajseb]

I love my Samsung watch. It pretty much captures my sleeping habits. Gives 4 different sleeping stages- Awake, Rem, light and deep. Seeing months of sleep. data, i'm focused on getting quality sleep everyday. If you have worked out, cold showered, set room temp 68°, 20mins of yoga before bed, you'll fall sleep early and get more of the "deep sleep" where your body will go thru reset/rebuild muscles.

[douglasbrown]

There's a lot of money to be made doing sleep studies, they didn't mention that...

[edwardhoffenheim]

Why does this video feel like its from decades ago?

[CCKnight]

I could not do a sleep study. I had the bad mesh surgery years ago and I have chronic pain and have a very hard time trying to sleep. When I lay down my bladder hurts and I’m up and down going to the bathroom. So the first time I got up they kicked me out of the hospital around 4 am saying they needed the room. I lost my cell phone and went back to the room around 8am and the bed was not made so I guess they didn’t need the room after all. So using a Fitbit might help me see how much sleep I’m getting. I got maybe four hours yesterday. It takes up too much of my time having to record and count my sleep everyday. My daughter recommended a Fitbit that tracks sleep so I’m going to try it.

[photelegy]

How much better is it if the watch not only measures the movement but also the heart rate?
Like a lot of smartwatches do nowadays

[RobinMarkowitzcoolmedia]

Sleep As Android uses an accelerometer, heart rate, and breathing/oxygen saturation. They are looking into a consumer eeg wearable that's comfortable for all night use.

It also can use sonar for actiography and breathing rate. They also have a sleep device, a lamp, which does actiography and simulates sunrise.

I'd say that's no small feat. It's a dedicated sleep app, not an appendage of a fitness band.

[bdv]

Does anyone know if there is any tracker that shows how often you get up at night to use the bathroom?

[johnwhite]

With all that stuff connected to you I’m guessing the results are wildly inaccurate

[obits]

If they can't track actual sleep, they are no better than a stopwatch and a pen and paper.

[deanneely]

Mine shows my seizures, in my sleep. It's been incredibly helpful.

[bulldozer]

I feel like it’s kind of hit or miss with the sleep trackers on watches. I know I woke up for about an hour and during that time for some reason it said rem sleep. Don’t know why seein as I got up and went tot he bathroom and everything. But I think it generally can give a good picture of your sleep maybe?

[AN-zgsr]

With all that machines and wires connected to ur body u need anesthesia to sleep lol 😜😜😂