Meditation is a personal practice that one does to hone in on their mindfulness. It trains your attention and awareness to achieve a certain mentality that will allow you to be emotionally calm and clear. So for today, we will be taking a closer look at our Muse S review and see if this is the wearable to help you with your meditation.
Unlike its predecessor, the Muse and the Muse 2, the S in the Muse S stands for sleep. Meaning, this particular wearable has now sleep-tracking sensors and functions that aim to help you sleep better at night. However, the guided meditations you receive from the Muse S are still pretty great.
Personally, it’s quite surprising, albeit impressive, that we have advanced into an age wherein technology now plays a hand in making your meditation sessions better. So let’s see how the Muse S fairs well and if it really does the job in making us more mindful. Read on to find out more about our Muse S review.
See where the Muse S ranks in our list of The Best Sleep Trackers 2021.
Overview of the Muse S
As you might already know, the Muse S headband is a brain-sensing headband that offers guidance for your meditation sessions as well as acting as a sleep tracker at night. The Muse S uses an electroencephalogram (EEG) and a number of other sensors to give you feedback regarding your meditation.
The Muse S is designed as a device that allows you to have an idea of how your meditations go and help you further improve them so you can have a more effective session. Moreover, this headband also efficiently monitors your sleeping patterns at night.
All you have to do is wrap the wearable around your head during the day before starting your meditations or overnight as you go to bed.
What does the Muse S do exactly?
Unlike an actual human coach that personally guides you through your meditations, the Muse S can sense what your brain is actually doing and will tell you about it as it’s happening. Using a pair of headphones or earphones is ideal so you can listen to audio cues in real-time regarding feedback from your meditation.
When it comes to sleep tracking, the Muse S will monitor your brain activity, your movements, heart rate, and body temperature through your skin overnight.
Once the Muse S has collected all that data from your sleeping patterns and meditation sessions, it will base everything from the collected information to continuously guide you through meditation sessions during the day along with suggestions to improve, then at night, it will provide you with detailed sleep monitoring.
How the Muse S feels like when in use.
While the headband itself feels really comfortable to wear due to the soft fabric material, it does take some time to get used to. After all, it’s not every day you wrap something around your forehead. However, it can be a rather unique alternative for anyone who might be uncomfortable with wearing a watch while they sleep.
Although personally, wearing a watch is much more preferable and I find it a lot more unobstructive. But to each their own.
In addition, the Muse S also connects to the Muse app installed on your phone via Bluetooth. You can use this to listen to soothing soundscapes or bedtime stories that can help ease you off to sleep.
Once morning arrives, you will find yourself waking to the Muse S already finished collecting the data from your sleeping patterns and habits, and is now readily available to be viewed on the dedicated application on your phone. The data itself is an extremely detailed breakdown of your overall sleep quality.
Features & Specifications
- Product Dimensions: 2.99 x 6.34 x 7.68 inches
- Manufacturer / Brand: Muse.
- Sensor Type: Wearable.
- Item Weight: 12.8 ounces.
- Material: Fabric.
- Wireless Communication Standard: Bluetooth
- Connectivity: Bluetooth
- Compatible Devices: Apple iOS 11 and higher (integrates with HealthKit sleep and meditation), Android 5 or higher, Huawei devices NOT supported.
- Battery: 10 hours and uses Lithium Ion.
- Colors: Grey.
- Extra Special Features: Sleep (EEG + PPG + Accelerometer), Mind (EEG), Heart (PPG + Pulse Oximetry), Body (Accelerometer), and Breath (PPG + Gyroscope).
Come check out Muse’s preview of the Muse S in their Youtube channel below.
What We Love About The Muse S
From being your aid to having better meditation sessions to capable sleep tracking abilities, let’s dive into the things we love about the Muse S.
Meditation Aiding
While the Muse S obviously wants to be a balance between achieving better meditation and sleeping habits, its meditation aid capabilities are where it truly shines the most.
As we live in such stressful times in the midst of an ongoing pandemic, it can actually be quite helpful to start developing and practising your mindfulness to ease ourselves from any stress. Staying calm and relaxed through meditation is a great way to do that.
And that’s what the Muse S is exactly for. It’s perfect for beginners who want to dip their toes in meditation without needing a human coach since we are all recommended to practice social distancing.
Moreover, the audio cues you receive during your meditating sessions are really handy in letting you have an idea of what your brain is going through at the moment. If the Muse S is sensing that your brain is particularly more active or stressed, it will send you the appropriate audio cues such as roaring thunder and waves or strong gusts of wind.
But if your brain is on the calmer side, you’ll get more soothing and tranquil sounds to accompany your current state. This way, you will get an idea of what works in your meditation sessions and what you need to adjust or change in order to avoid any stressful activity in your brain.
Sleep Tracking Features
Admittedly, the sleep tracking capabilities of the Muse S are not entirely too impressive. It’s something we have already seen in previous wearables like fitness trackers and smartwatches. But it’s still a great addition and something I welcome to an already terrific device that promotes a more mindful lifestyle.
What I did like with its sleep monitoring features is how it also uses the appropriate audio to help you doze off. As someone who struggles with sleeping regularly, this is something I really appreciate. You can choose between soothing and tranquil soundscapes or having bedtime stories told to you in a gentle manner.
Then in the morning, you can check the app to view the detailed results of your overall sleep quality and patterns. One thing to keep in mind though, the app does use a lot of your phone’s battery, so keeping it plugged in is highly recommended.
Design & Comfortability
When it comes to the comfort of use, you’ll have no worries with the Muse S. Unlike its predecessors, the Muse S was able to take away all the flaws the previous models had in terms of design and was able to perfect it in this particular unit.
The headband itself is made of really soft fabric and feels light and comfortable to wear all around. It will still take some time getting used to but once you’re there, it will just feel natural. The Muse S is also washable, just make sure to take out the removable pod that houses the battery before throwing it into the laundry.
Our Least Favorite Things
As for all products that we review, we are bound to find some things that we are not particularly fond of with the Muse S. So here are some of them.
It Still Uses A Micro-USB For Charging
At this time and age, who even uses micro-USBs anymore? People and other companies are now moving to use USB-C. So it was pretty disappointing to find that the Muse S still uses a micro-USB for charging. Especially now that this type of USB port is slowly becoming extinct.
It’s Fairly Expensive
Money might not be an object for some of you but this is still a pretty expensive piece of technology in my personal opinion. If you don’t mind spending a few hundred dollars on a brain-sensing headband, then by all means.
But I feel like you can get cheaper alternatives like a dedicated fitness tracker or smartwatch for improving your wellness.
In A Nutshell
Not that we have broken down what we loved and disliked about the Muse S, here’s a narrowed down list of the good and the bad with this particular brain-sensing headband.
Pros
- Great wellness tools to increase one’s mindfulness
- Impressive mediation guides during the day.
- Helps you relax and get to sleep at night via relaxing soundscapes and bedtime stories.
- Provides an in-depth breakdown of your sleep quality and stats.
- Unique design.
Cons
- The design can take some time getting used to especially if you’re wearing it to sleep.
- Expensive.
- Still uses a micro-USB for charging.
Final Verdict
Meditation is not for everyone. Some people are into it. Some are not. But if you’re someone who is willing to spend a few hundred bucks on a device that will help you increase your mindfulness and wellness, then this is a device you might want to consider.
Plus, the sleep tracking features on this wearable are not too bad either. As long as you don’t mind wearing a headband going to sleep.
Do you already own the Muse S? Or still planning and pondering on it? Feel free to share any of your insights, experiences, or suggestions in the comments section below. I would love to hear your thoughts about our Muse S review!
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