Our Somnox Sleep Robot review aims to determine if a robot pillow could really help you sleep.
There are plenty of gadgets out there designed to deliver a better quality of sleep. From white noise machines that block out auditory distractions to memory-foam eye masks.
But one particular piece of sleep technology is gaining a lot of media attention right now.
The Somnox Sleep Robot is essentially a robot pillow that encourages a good night’s sleep.
This unusual cuddle robot helps you fall asleep by encouraging you to synchronize your breath with the breathing rhythm of the bot. Yes, this robot breathes.
The product builds on the idea that deep breathing and meditation can encourage faster, better quality sleep experiences. It also comes with an app that allows you to set your breathing pattern and the ability to play music or sound while you drift off.
Let’s take a closer look.
Sleep Robot: Design
The Somnox Sleep Robot is an award-winning product that uses robotic tech to help you doze off and enjoy a more natural period of rest.
The kidney-bean-shaped pillow features extra-soft padding, so you can hold it close to your body as you settle down to snooze. There’s also an ultra-soft cover to protect the device from sweat and make it feel incredible.
This product doesn’t feel like a cuddle robot. It’s more like having a high-tech teddy bear with you in bed. The design supports side-sleepers by allowing you to spoon the pillow, which may mean it’s not ideal for back and stomach sleepers.
Somnox created the Sleep Robot in collaboration with Dutch mattress company Auping. This partnership means that the outer cover of the robot features extra-sustainable recycled fabric from the Auping line.
Within the cover, you’ll find a layer of memory foam surrounding the robotic mechanism. You get a washable sleeve included with the device, so you’re less likely to ruin it with sweat, dirt, and skin cells.
Specs:
- Size: 355 x 03 x 127mm
- Weight: 1.9kg
- Li-ion 2900mAh battery
- 10 hours battery life
- CO2 and Accelerometer sensors
- Bluetooth 4.0
- 16GB SD card storage
Sleep Robot: Features
The Somnox Sleep Robot is impressively feature-rich. We had no idea what to expect when we purchased this robot pillow, but what you get is a carefully constructed solution tailor-made for people with sleep problems. If you have issues with anxiety, stress, or just an inability to “shut down” when you snuggle up in bed at night, this is the product for you.
The Somnox Sleep Robot works by supporting your parasympathetic nervous system, slowing your breathing, and promoting relaxation.
When you switch the device on, it offers a guided breathing experience to help you relax your mind and body, similar to meditation. The robot can detect your breathing, and it automatically adapts to it.
Features include:
- Somnox app for insights into you breathing patterns
- Automatic breathing detection
- Soothing sounds built into the system
- Music streaming with Bluetooth 4.0
- Personalized breathing patterns
- Automatic software updates
- SD storage functionality
- EMF-free option
Sleep Robot: Performance
Setting up the Somnox Sleep Robot is simple enough. You install the app on your Android or Apple device and use the Bluetooth connection to link your new cuddle robot. In the app, you’ll find three programs: sleep, napping, and relaxation.
Somnox supports better sleep by creating conditions that make it easiest for you to drift off. This means the robot is also ideal for napping and relaxation purposes.
The programs in the app are pretty similar, but there are different breathing ratios. For instance, the deep breathing for sleep follows a 1:2 ration where you take twice as long to exhale.
Napping supports “calm breathing”, while the relaxation program encourages extra-deep breathing. After choosing the program you want to use, you can customize your preferences, including how long you want your Sleep Robot to breath for (between 5 and 90 minutes).
You’ll also have the option to add sound and music to the experience. There are 20 built-in sounds available, including white noise, ambient sound, and nature sounds. Each of these sounds are lovely, and you can also upload your own audio files onto the Micro-SD storage card if you prefer.
Since the app is only there to allow you to choose your sleep program preferences, you don’t have to worry about any EMF issues. All your settings are locally stored.
Sleep Robot: Extra benefits
One of the more recent features to appear on the Somnox Sleep Robot is an “adaptive breathing” option. This is a biofeedback capability that allows your robot to adapt to your breathing patterns.
An in-built CO2 sensor detects inhalations, then mimics your breathing to help you slow down gradually.
The ability to add your own music, ASMR content, or podcasts into the sleeping experience is a nice bonus too. However, it can take a while to figure out how to set your system up. You’ll need to plug the SD card into your computer, which is a bit of a hassle if you don’t have a PC with the right slot.
Since this is, first and foremost, a cuddle robot, there aren’t a lot of extra buttons and dials to get in your way. You control the device mainly through the app, although there is an on/off button and volume controls on the device if you don’t want to fiddle with your phone.
There’s a pulsating light feature included, which activates alongside your robot’s breathing rate, but you can turn this off if you prefer.
Sleep Robot: Verdict
Who would have guessed that a sleeping robot would be such a delight?
The robotic sleep pillow from Somnox is a unique, but pioneering experience for a good night’s sleep. You may find the slightly mechanical sound that comes from the device a little distracting at first, but this problem seems to solve itself over time.
According to Somnox, different people adapt to the experience at different rates. You might find that it takes a few days before you can automatically synchronize your breathing with the robot.
However, we felt that it was easier than expected to fall into a rhythm with this product. Rather than focusing on your common stressful thoughts, the Somnox Sleep Robot encourages you to concentrate on relaxation.
The combination of the soft breathing movements of the robot, combined with any relaxing nature sounds you may want to listen to does make it much easier to drift off to sleep.
This isn’t just another random sleep gadget that promises the world in exchange for a chunk of your bank accounts. We can genuinely see this product being a valuable solution for daily relaxation and better sleep quality.
Our biggest issues with the Somnox robot is that it can take a while for you to notice the benefits, and that you may not be able to sleep on your back and stomach with the device.
