I cannot sleep in total silence. I need the hum of a fan or crack of a fire. Too much outside noise and I can’t turn my brain off, but too much quiet and every toss, turn, or sniffle sounds amplified.

Whether or not you feel the same, you probably still don’t get enough sleep, and for many people, it’s not for lack of trying. But help is available. A good sound machine (also called a white-noise machine or sleep machine) is just one tool in an arsenal of gadgets that can help you get your recommended number of z’s.

WIRED’s gear reviewers have filled their homes with sound machines for everything from muffling Witcher battles in the living room while the kids snooze to keeping us asleep while night-owl partners sneak into bed. These are our favorite machines for getting some shut-eye.

Check out our many other buying guides for getting a good night’s rest, such as the Best Mattresses and the Best Sunrise Alarm Clocks.

Updated March 2022: We’ve added new picks from Lectrofan, Hatch, Dreamegg, Morphée and Snooz.

Special offer for Gear readers: Get a 1-year subscription to WIRED for $5 ($25 off). This includes unlimited access to WIRED.com and our print magazine (if you’d like). Subscriptions help fund the work we do every day.

If you buy something using links in our stories, we may earn a commission. This helps support our journalism. Learn more. Please also consider subscribing to WIRED

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

You May Also Like

You’ve been using WhatsApp wrong for YEARS – three hacks you need to know

WHATSAPP is filled with hidden features – and there are three you…

Elon Musk Wants to Make Teslas in Russia

MOSCOW— Elon Musk raised the prospect of Russian-made Tesla Inc. TSLA 0.75%…

Netflix teams up with Microsoft on cheaper streaming with adverts

Platform belatedly follows rivals in appealing to cash-strapped consumers as it loses…

Russia is BARRED from new Large Hadron Collider experiments

Russia has been barred from new Large Hadron Collider experiments due to…