Garmin Index Sleep Monitor
ZDNET’s key takeaways
- The Garmin Index Sleep Monitor is on the market for $170 in S/M and L/XL sizes.
- The band may be very comfy and light-weight, the monitor tracks as much as seven nights of sleep, and the sleep/restoration metrics are effectively built-in into the Garmin Join ecosystem.
- It is nonetheless pretty costly for a single-purpose wearable, regardless that FSA/HSA protection is supported.
extra shopping for decisions
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As a daily reader of my work, you doubtless know I am a fan of Garmin watches, particularly for the built-in LED flashlight I exploit day by day.
I have been hoping for a wise ring that would sync with Garmin Join, permitting me to assemble key metrics for restoration and coaching standing with out sporting a cumbersome watch to mattress. Whereas a wise ring is not but an possibility, Garmin has launched a single-purpose wearable to fill the void: the Index Sleep Monitor.
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The Index Sleep Monitor is designed to trace per week of sleep and combine that information into your Garmin Join ecosystem and smartwatch. Whereas you should use the monitor and not using a Garmin watch, you may be restricted to viewing sleep particulars within the smartphone app.
The system consists of an ultra-comfortable band that measures 2.5 inches vast. Two various lengths can be found, relying in your higher arm circumference. The L/XL dimension suits my arm the very best, however there’s additionally an S/M dimension out there.
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The band weighs solely 16 to twenty grams, relying on the scale, and I can’t stress sufficient how extraordinarily comfy it’s to put on each evening. That side of the product could also be its most essential, contemplating it could exchange one thing simply as delicate as a wise ring.
The Index Sleep Monitor module can be gentle at 14.5 grams (0.5 ounce) and fees up with an ordinary Garmin charging cable. Garmin advertises as much as seven nights of sleep monitoring with eight hours of sleep. I typically sleep about 7.5 hours per evening, and the marketed battery life has been correct.
I maintain the Index Sleep Monitor on my nightstand and slide it on after I go to mattress. I check plenty of wearables, however my choice is to not put on a watch after I sleep since I roll, and watches typically get hung up beneath me, inflicting me to lose sleep information.
The Venu X1 has been nice to put on to sleep with its ultra-thin kind issue, however my sleep has been even higher when I’m solely sporting the Garmin Index Sleep Monitor.
Past its sleep monitoring capabilities, the Index Sleep Monitor options an alarm with a “Good Alarm” operate — a functionality additionally discovered on the Venu X1 and Vivoactive 6. This function can wake you gently throughout a lightweight sleep section as much as half-hour earlier than your scheduled time.
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The alarm itself is a vibration with three adjustable depth ranges. A double faucet on the monitor will snooze the alarm for 10 minutes, whereas 4 faucets will cease it completely.
The Index Sleep Monitor captures a complete set of metrics, together with whole sleep, phases, motion, respiratory disturbances, resting coronary heart price, coronary heart price variability, blood oxygen, and pores and skin temperature. This information is essential, because it feeds straight into Garmin’s Physique Battery, restoration, and ladies’s well being calculations.
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Whereas the monitor gives a technique to gather these insights with out sporting a watch to mattress, its $150 value level is troublesome to justify on condition that many Garmin watches present related performance. A value nearer to $99 would make its worth proposition extra compelling.
At its present value, the Index Sleep Monitor might function greater than only a sleep tracker. Its smooth design and band are well-suited to operate as a coronary heart price monitor for actions the place a watch is not allowed or optimum, resembling basketball or soccer, capturing very important efficiency information.
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After a number of weeks of use, the monitor has persistently supplied extra correct sleep information than a watch, which typically confirmed gaps. This newfound accuracy, together with the consolation of not sporting a watch to mattress, permits me to totally decide to the Garmin ecosystem, now not needing to complement with a wise ring for key metrics.
ZDNET’s shopping for recommendation
Sporting a watch to trace sleep can result in irritating information gaps, undesirable battery drain, and discomfort. The Garmin Index Sleep Monitor gives a extra comfy and correct system for capturing key well being metrics. The system feeds this information into the Garmin ecosystem, offering a holistic, full-body standing report that has enormously improved my outlook.
I simply want the system had been extra accessibly priced, as its $170 sticker tag could make it troublesome to justify for some customers, particularly for being a single-purpose gadget.
