Beddit has released an upgraded version of its sleep monitor, which it says is the first sensor to require no manual interaction from the user.
The upgraded Beddit Smart can automatically track your sleep, without having to be told when you're in bed, which goes a long way to taking the fuss out of sleep tracking. What's more, unlike wrist-based trackers such as the Misfit Shine, there's no wearable element, which should mean a more comfortable night's rest.
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The Beddit sensor slips under the top sheet of your bed, and uses Bluetooth Low Energy to connect to your smartphone, which harvests the data. Beddit says that the Bluetooth connection will be made automatically when your smartphone is placed within range – although we will hold our opinions on that until we can fully test, as that sort of tech is notoriously flakey.
As well as a new sensor, the app has also been updated with a host of new features. In addition to the usual deep and light sleep tracking, the updated Beddit will provide graphs of short-term sleep history which will reveal trends in your sleep quality, insights into recent sleep versus your average and sleep efficiency.
Here at Wareable we've been dubious about the usefulness of sleep monitoring. Clearly we will reserve judgment on the Beddit Smart until we've had time to try it out, but the move to push the technology into the background to collect more natural data gets the thumbs up from us.
However, we'd like to see more actionable data – such as ideal temperatures and timings – and features such as smarter alarms and smart home control.
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James is the co-founder of Wareable, and he has been a technology journalist for 15 years.
He started his career at Future Publishing, James became the features editor of T3 Magazine and T3.com and was a regular contributor to TechRadar – before leaving Future Publishing to found Wareable in 2014.
James has been at the helm of Wareable since 2014 and has become one of the leading experts in wearable technologies globally. He has reviewed, tested, and covered pretty much every wearable on the market, and is passionate about the evolving industry, and wearables helping people achieve healthier and happier lives.