Garmin Index Sleep Monitor
ZDNET’s key takeaways
- The Garmin Index Sleep Monitor is offered for $170 in S/M and L/XL sizes.
- The band could 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, despite the fact that FSA/HSA protection is supported.
extra shopping for decisions
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As a daily reader of my work, you probably know I am a fan of Garmin watches, particularly for the built-in LED flashlight I exploit every day.
I have been hoping for a sensible 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 sensible ring is not but an choice, 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 every week of sleep and combine that information into your Garmin Join ecosystem and smartwatch. Whereas you should utilize the monitor with no 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 huge. Two various lengths can be found, relying in your higher arm circumference. The L/XL measurement suits my arm one of the best, however there’s additionally an S/M measurement out there.
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The band weighs solely 16 to twenty grams, relying on the scale, and I can not stress sufficient how extraordinarily comfy it’s to put on each night time. That facet of the product could also be its most essential, contemplating it will exchange one thing simply as refined as a sensible ring.
The Index Sleep Monitor module can be mild at 14.5 grams (0.5 ounce) and costs up with a normal 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 night time, and the marketed battery life has been correct.
I maintain the Index Sleep Monitor on my nightstand and slide it on once I go to mattress. I take a look at a number of wearables, however my desire is to not put on a watch once 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 type 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” perform — a functionality additionally discovered on the Venu X1 and Vivoactive 6. This characteristic 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 solely.
The Index Sleep Monitor captures a complete set of metrics, together with complete sleep, phases, motion, respiratory disturbances, resting coronary heart fee, coronary heart fee variability, blood oxygen, and pores and skin temperature. This information is important, because it feeds immediately into Garmin’s Physique Battery, restoration, and girls’s well being calculations.
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Whereas the monitor affords a approach to accumulate these insights with out sporting a watch to mattress, its $150 worth level is troublesome to justify provided that many Garmin watches present comparable performance. A worth nearer to $99 would make its worth proposition extra compelling.
At its present worth, the Index Sleep Monitor might function greater than only a sleep tracker. Its glossy design and band are well-suited to perform as a coronary heart fee monitor for actions the place a watch is not allowed or optimum, reminiscent of basketball or soccer, capturing very important efficiency information.
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After a number of weeks of use, the monitor has constantly offered 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, not needing to complement with a sensible ring for key metrics.
ZDNET’s shopping for recommendation
Carrying a watch to trace sleep can result in irritating information gaps, undesirable battery drain, and discomfort. The Garmin Index Sleep Monitor affords a extra comfy and correct system for capturing key well being metrics. The gadget feeds this information into the Garmin ecosystem, offering a holistic, full-body standing report that has drastically improved my outlook.
I simply want the gadget have been extra accessibly priced, as its $170 sticker tag could make it troublesome to justify for some shoppers, particularly for being a single-purpose gadget.
