Reviews

Tracking My Sleep with the S+ by ResMed

Have you ever wondered exactly how well you do or don’t sleep? For a while, I used my Fitbit Flex to track my sleep. It recorded me being restless a lot. I wasn’t too sure it was all that accurate. I’m the first to admit I’m not a great sleeper. I wake up possibly more tired than when I went to sleep. It’s safe to say tracking my sleep was a really good idea for me and could prove key in finding out exactly why I wake up more tired than the night before. Enter the S+ by ResMed to track my sleep.

What Is The S+?

The S+ is a non-contact sleep tracker. You place it next to your bed facing your chest, and while you are asleep, it monitors your breathing, the room temperature and the noise levels. To see all this information, you need to connect it to an app via Bluetooth, and you can track it from your phone.

Upon waking up, the app calculates your sleep and gives you any feedback you need. I was actually really curious to find out if the app could pinpoint why I sleep so badly and wake up exhausted.

Features.

• Alarm. Via the app, you can set an alarm to wake you up gently in the morning in a half-hour window leading up to the time you set. For example, if you set the alarm for 7 a.m., the app will choose a time between 6.30 and 7 to wake you up when you are in light sleep.
• Mind Clear. A notepad to help clear your mind of anything that may disturb you the night or prevent you from sleeping.
• Drift to Sleep. You can choose a relaxing tune that plays to help you fall asleep. Synced to your breathing, the tune slows down as you fall asleep.

Results of Tracking My Sleep.

I have been using the S+ sleep tracker for about two weeks now. I popped it on the bedside table next to my bed and downloaded the app. Everything seemed pretty straightforward and easy to find my way around, so there were no problems there.

Upon first use, you will need to enter your details into the app so it can give a more tailored response. My routine has been to set my alarm for 7 a.m. for the school run and set a drift-to-sleep tune to help me fall asleep.

Results?

I’m not going to lie, I expected my chart to show a lot of waking up during the night and disturbed sleep. Except it didn’t. I still woke up feeling exhausted, yet I woke up earlier and easier, which shocked me. A lover of the snooze button, I found the S+ gentle wake-up a lot better to wake up to. As in, I actually managed to wake up. Not immediately, it’s not a miracle worker after all. But I didn’t switch it off and turn over back into a deep sleep. So that’s progress, right?

Upon checking my results, however, I was shocked. With a sleep score of between 89 and 97 out of 100 over a 10-day period, I was actually sleeping a lot better than I thought. I usually lost points for deep sleep and REM sleep.

As you can see from the charts above, everything is colour-coded, making it easy to see straight away how you have slept. Obviously, we need to be getting enough REM and deep sleep, and tracking my sleep is proving I’m not quite getting enough. I’m not far off most days, but I still haven’t managed to hit the elusive 100% for either yet.

The one main thing that kept coming up, and totally expected, was my lack of exercise. The app, after tracking my sleep, comes up with tips and suggestions personalised to me on how to improve my sleep. Tailored from the information gathered, the S+ lets you know how you can improve your sleeping habits. My lack of exercise could be the key to hitting 100%. Also, I found out I needed to cut back on drinking coffee later in the day. Not altogether, because no one needs to see that! But limiting my intake after a certain time would be a great help.

Verdict.

From the very first night, I instantly liked the tracker. I loved waking up every morning and seeing exactly how well I slept. True the suggestions have been pretty much the same most days, but with scores like mine, there doesn’t really seem to be much room for improvement.

I still feel that I am awake more than the tracker picks up at night, but I’m not wide awake sitting up, so it’s possible I feel awake during my light sleep. Or the tracker thinks I’m in a light sleep as I don’t move around too much.

One morning, Olivia’s friend came over for a sleepover and forgot to unset her school alarm at 6 a.m. I got up, switched it off, and went back to sleep, yet there was no disruption monitored. So, while I do think it is accurate, it’s not quite as sensitive to my movements as I thought.

I love, love, love the alarm. When I set it for 7 a.m., it gives you a half-hour window to wake up. So between half 6 and 7 a.m., whenever I was sleeping the lightest, the alarm would wake me up. Nothing too drastic and annoying, more of a gentle nudge. It is absolutely my favourite alarm to be woken up by and much more preferable to my phone alarm.

Recommended for Tracking My Sleep?

Absolutely. If you are a bad sleeper or just want to improve your sleeping habits, this is the tool for you. The S+ by ResMed is your nighttime right-hand man, providing insight when you can’t. I was shocked at how well I slept and totally agree with the results that exercise could definitely be key to a good night’s sleep for me.

Also, the drift to sleep function eliminates the need for the TV to be on when falling asleep, meaning that I’m not subconsciously staying awake as I listen to Grey’s Anatomy in the background.

The S+ by ResMed retails for £99.00 currently.

*Disclaimer: I was provided with the S+ for purpose of this review and all thoughts and opinions are my own. This post contains my own personal Amazon affiliate link. Should you not want to click via this link, click on the word ‘Amazon’ in the last sentence to take you to the same place*