When I heard about the Dreem headband and watched reviews comparing the accuracy of the Dreem headband to other medical devices, I was excited to try it out and to see if it would be useful to me. Reviews from scientists such as this one describe it as an accurate way to track sleep cycles. I already own the Oura Ring and wanted to see how it compared.
Why I Want to Track My Sleep
Sleeping well is one of the most important things you can do to improve both your physical and mental health. If you work out a lot as I do, sleep is also one of the most important factors in recovery. If there is any way to optimize sleep, I want to find it and optimize the hell out of it.
What I like About The Dreem Headband
I already use the Oura Ring as a device to measure various sleep cycles. Having the measurements on the Dreem headband in addition to the Oura Ring’s measurements help validate and confirm the readings. From what I’ve read, the Dreem headband is more accurate in determine specific sleep cycles such as deep sleep and REM sleep. So having the Dreem’s readings and knowing its one of the more accurate measurements out there is great.
What I Don’t Like About the Dreem Headband
- The headband is not comfortable and tends to come off the head if you move around a lot in sleep. There have been multiple occasions where I’ve woken up with the headband off.
- The “nap mode” doesn’t really tell you any information besides the time you allocated towards the nap. It would be interesting to know what sleep cycles you reach even during naps.
- The Dreem headband is costly. They know it so they make the price difficult to find on the website. I’m sure they’ve A/B tested this and realize it’s the best way to market the product, but it is still annoying. It’s difficult to even “add to cart” on their website here. The cost is around 500.00 USD.
- The Dreem allows you to set certain sounds while sleeping using their bone conduction technology. There are no ear or headphones. Personally, these sounds were not conducive to good sleep and I had to turn them off. Maybe it takes time to get used to the sounds but I didn’t have the patience for it.
Comparing to the Oura Ring
The data from the Dreem Headband compared to the Oura Ring is different, but not different enough to change my behavior. For my purposes, they both give me enough information to find cracks and weaknesses in my sleep game. When my Oura ring broke a few months back, I felt like something important that was part of my daily life was missing. I missed tracking nap and sleep durations, heart rate variability, and basic daily activity levels such as steps taken. I purchased another Oura ring to replace the one that was broken. If the Dreem device broke I don’t think I would replace the current iteration of their device.
Conclusion
Although the Dreem headband is known to be accurate in terms of detecting specific sleep stages, for actual applicable changes you can make to your daily routine to improve sleep, I don’t find it to be much better than using the Oura ring. Based on the cost and utility of the device, I would not recommend the Dreem headband at this time.
