Interested in tracking your sleep, but can't stand wearing something on your wrist to bed?
You may be interested in the $139.99 Amazon Halo Rise contactless sleep tracker. Announced Wednesday, the Halo Rise sits on your bedside table, using low-energy sensor and machine learning technology to automatically track your slumber. When you wake up, the Halo app shows the amount of time you spent in each sleep stage (REM, light, and deep) the previous night, and gives you a sleep score to help you quickly gauge the duration and quality of your shut-eye.
The Halo Rise is slated to start shipping later this year. If you're interested, you can sign up to be notified when it's available.
Though Amazon calls this device the "first of its kind," the company seemingly drew inspiration from the Google Nest Hub (2nd Gen), released last year, which uses a motion sensor to contactlessly track your sleep from the bedside table.
The Halo Rise works similarly, using sensors to track micromovements, like your chest rising and falling as you breathe. It then uses machine learning technology to translate that data into sleep stages.
The device has no camera or microphone, and Amazon tells me it has only been trained to analyze breathing patterns and sleep stages, not other activities that might be going on in the room. There is an option to put the Halo Rise into standby mode, which disables the sensor technology used for sleep tracking.
The Halo Rise will only track the sleep of the person closest to the device. Amazon says it extensively tested and validated the technology in many different settings—with various types of bedding, single and dual sleepers, pets in the bed, people young and old, and a range of body types.
The device sends your breathing pattern data to Amazon's servers for processing. Amazon says this data is encrypted in transit and at rest in the cloud; it's automatically deleted from its systems after 10 days. The company adds that Halo health data is never used for marketing, product recommendations, or advertising. You can download or delete your data at any time via the Halo app.
Design-wise, the Halo Rise is a plastic circular disc sitting atop a stainless steel stand. It features a small digital clock, a semicircle of 300 lux LEDs that function as a wake-up light, and a small speaker for alarms. The wake-up light can gradually brighten in the morning, simulating a sunrise. Buttons on the Rise let you adjust the light's brightness, start a sunset simulation where the lights gradually dim, and snooze the alarm.
On the inside, the Halo Rise also packs environmental sensors that measure your room's temperature, humidity, and light levels throughout the night. If it senses your room is too hot for optimal sleep, it will notify you in the Halo app.
Naturally, the Halo Rise supports Amazon Alexa, so you can ask a compatible Echo device how you slept. You can also incorporate the Halo Rise into Alexa Routines, so the virtual assistant automatically dims the lights when you hop into bed, for instance.
The Halo Rise comes with a six-month Amazon Halo app membership, which also gives you access to a library of sleep resources, meditations, workout videos, and healthy recipes. If you decide not to renew your membership after the free trial, you'll still be able to see your sleep score and sleep stage data, but you'll lose access to all other Halo app features.
The Rise is the third device in Amazon's Halo lineup, which also includes two wearable fitness trackers: the screen-free Band and the touch-screen View. The Halo View earned excellent marks in my review as one of the most value-rich fitness trackers. I'm excited to try the Halo Rise, so stay tuned for my full review in the future.