Sound options: 20 (10 fan sounds, 10 colored noises) | Notable features: clear sound quality, large sound catalog, non-looping, 60-minute timer
Best for Babies: Nanit Sound & Light Machine
Why it’s worth it: Nanit’s Sound & Light Machine also happens to be a smart monitor, so it’s the perfect addition to your newborn or baby’s room. As a sound machine, Nanit’s device has 11 built-in sounds and a customizable night light to enhance your (or your children’s) bedroom. It’s not only one of the best white noise machines ever, but it’s also a smart baby monitor and features Cry Detection technology, which alerts parents of when their children need them. This smart device also tracks humidity to make sure your little one’s air isn’t too dry.
Sound options: 11 | Notable features: cry detection, humidity monitor, phone-free options, Google Home-connectable
Best Budget: Homedics SoundSleep
Why it’s worth it: If you want a no-frills gadget, we recommend the Homedics SoundSleep white noise sound machine. This travel-friendly device features six different sounds, like classic white noise, crashing ocean waves, and calming summer night nature sounds, to lull you to sleep. Homedics’s device also features a twist knob for adjustable volume control and an alarm with three timer options (15. 30, and 60 minutes).
Sound options: 6 | Notable features: travel-friendly size, built-in timer, adjustable volume control
Frequently Asked Questions
How can ambient sound improve my sleep routine?
Ambient noise in general is known for its soothing, relaxing properties—hence its presence in the form of audio-led meditation apps, sound baths, and spa music, to name a few—but, according to the Sleep Foundation, white noise is popular for its combination of all sound frequencies at equal measure. This frequency combination creates a sound similar to a static TV or untuned radio. According to a 2017 study in Frontiers in Neurology, healthy subjects exposed to broadband sounds like white noise enjoyed a 38% reduction in sleep onset latency, or the time it took them to fall asleep. A sub-study also monitored subjects who reported trouble sleeping at home; in those cases, patients reported a subjective increase in sleep quality. The results are in: White or ambient noise can help you sleep.
What’s the difference between white, brown, and pink noise?
“Colored” noise is a form of sound therapy that classifies the sound spectrum and contains low frequencies at various volume levels. “The balance of how much energy they have and what the frequency range is is really what changes between those descriptors of pink versus brown versus white,” explains Barbara Shinn-Cunningham, Ph.D., a Cowan professor of auditory neuroscience and director at Neuroscience Institute at Carnegie Mellon University. “The differences might have real perceptual consequences but they all have this quality of being kind of boring to the brain and capable of blocking out other sounds.”
