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 snug and light-weight, the monitor tracks as much as seven nights of sleep, and the sleep/restoration metrics are nicely built-in into the Garmin Join ecosystem.
- It is nonetheless pretty costly for a single-purpose wearable, though FSA/HSA protection is supported.
extra shopping for selections
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As an everyday reader of my work, you doubtless know I am a fan of Garmin watches, particularly for the built-in LED flashlight I take advantage of every day.
I have been hoping for a sensible ring that might 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 knowledge into your Garmin Join ecosystem and smartwatch. Whereas you should utilize the monitor with no Garmin watch, you will be restricted to viewing sleep particulars within the smartphone app.
The system consists of an ultra-comfortable band that measures 2.5 inches extensive. 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 obtainable.
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The band weighs solely 16 to twenty grams, relying on the dimensions, and I can’t stress sufficient how extraordinarily snug it’s to put on each evening. That side of the product could also be its most essential, contemplating it will exchange one thing simply as delicate as a sensible ring.
The Index Sleep Monitor module can be gentle at 14.5 grams (0.5 ounce) and costs up with a typical 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 preserve the Index Sleep Monitor on my nightstand and slide it on after I go to mattress. I take a look at a number 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 knowledge.
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” perform — a functionality additionally discovered on the Venu X1 and Vivoactive 6. This characteristic can wake you gently throughout a light-weight 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 fully.
The Index Sleep Monitor captures a complete set of metrics, together with whole sleep, phases, motion, respiration disturbances, resting coronary heart fee, coronary heart fee variability, blood oxygen, and pores and skin temperature. This knowledge is vital, because it feeds straight into Garmin’s Physique Battery, restoration, and girls’s well being calculations.
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Whereas the monitor affords a strategy to gather these insights with out sporting a watch to mattress, its $150 worth level is tough to justify on condition that many Garmin watches present related 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 modern 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, equivalent to basketball or soccer, capturing important efficiency knowledge.
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After a number of weeks of use, the monitor has persistently supplied extra correct sleep knowledge 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 knowledge gaps, undesirable battery drain, and discomfort. The Garmin Index Sleep Monitor affords a extra snug and correct system for capturing key well being metrics. The machine feeds this knowledge into the Garmin ecosystem, offering a holistic, full-body standing report that has drastically improved my outlook.
I simply want the machine have been extra accessibly priced, as its $170 sticker tag could make it tough to justify for some customers, particularly for being a single-purpose gadget.
