Muse S Athena Sleep Headband hands-on review

Tester Ruth jones wearing the Muse S Athena Headband, a blue border with the word tested repeated — (Image credit: Future)

As a sleep tracking aficionado, I love the insight of my Withings Sleep Mat and I've used it to make real changes to my rest. But one thing it won't do is take an active role in getting me better sleep. The Muse S Athena headband, however, promises to improve my sleep while I'm literally snoozing.

The best sleep trackers right now are all about the data. But recently tech has started moving beyond simple tracking to responsive intervention. The Muse S Athena with its Sleep Assist and Deep Sleep Boost is at the forefront of this innovation. It helps that it comes with gold-standard sleep tracking, as well.

But at $474 for the Muse S Athena Sleep Headband from Amazon, you might expect your sleep tracker to tuck you up with a hot cocoa. I admit, I was a skeptic but after a week of testing one feature has me convinced the Athena can read my mind — and it's using those powers to help me sleep.

What is the Muse S Athena Headband?

The Muse S Athena Headband is a health tracking wearable that uses in-built sensors to monitor your sleep and brain health. These insights are accessible via the Muse app.

But the Muse S Athena doesn't just watch your sleep; it's designed to actively improve it. Using trackers to identify changes in brain signals that indicate different sleep stages, it intervenes using targeted sounds to improve the quality of your sleep.

And it's not all about sleep... ish. The Muse S Athena also works as a meditation headband, with courses available in the Muse app.

During these meditation sessions, the Muse draws on your data to provide feedback and target the session to your needs. As a result, Muse claims regularly using the headband can improve focus, memory and, yes, sleep.

How does the Muse S Athena Headband work?

Along the straps of the Muse S Athena headband are a series of sensors that sit on your forehead and tuck behind your ears.

These sensors carry out three levels of tracking (brace yourself for some acronyms). First, PPG (Photoplethysmography) sensors monitor your heart rate. Next, fNRI (functional near-infrared spectroscopy) tracks changes in blood flow and oxygen in your brain. Finally, EEG (electroencephalogram) sensors monitor the electrical signals in your brain.

A close up of the sensors on the inside of the Muse S Athena headband — (Image credit: Future)

With this tracking triple-threat, the Muse S Athena closely mimics polysomnography aka the gold-standard of sleep tracking. It just does so without the wires, machines and the doctor watching in another room.

Having collected this data, it uses the results to give your sleep a nudge in the right direction, all while you're snoozing away.

A wearable to help you fall asleep fast

I'm still in the midst of testing my Muse S Athena headband (it takes a few days to set it up properly.) With that said, I'm confident I already know what my favorite feature is: Sleep Assist. Specifically, the drowse-inducing volume moderation.

The Muse S Athena app comes with a series of sleep sounds, including meditations and white noise. Personally, I'm a big fan of the Woodland Marsh with binaural beats. To me, it sounds like a hot Louisiana night (keep in mind, I've never been to Louisiana.)

The Muse S Athena Headband on a white table — (Image credit: Future)

So far, so ordinary. What really makes the Athena stand out is the volume adaptation.

When the sensors identify you're approaching sleep, the volume of the sleep sound lowers to match, And if you start to wake up, the volume lifts again, so you can hear your relaxing sounds properly..

For me, it's like turning sleepiness up a few notches, because it accurately mimics that natural slow, soft move towards sleep. It tricks my brain into thinking I'm getting veerryy sleeeeppy and can take me from wide awake to the edge of snooze in minutes.

It's also great at easing a racing mind (night is prime time for anxiety, in my experience.) I've found as the Muse gets quiet, so do my troublesome thoughts.

It prevents late night wake-ups

The other big feature of the Muse S Athena is the Deep Sleep Boost. While the Sleep Assist helps you drift off, the Deep Sleep Boost keeps you asleep.

It does this again by monitoring your brain signals and playing a 'whisper-quiet' sound once you're in deep sleep (the sleep stage most associated with recovery.) This sound strengthens slow wave brain activity (associated with deep sleep), so you're less likely to wake up. And by deepening this recovery stage, you wake up feeling fresher.

I can confirm that 'whisper-quiet' is accurate — I haven't heard the sound once. I've also experienced few late night wake ups during my testing period.

However, the Deep Sleep Boost is also intended to enhance the quality of your deep sleep and it takes some time to make sure it's personalized to your needs. I want me and my Muse to get to know each other better before I cast my judgement.

Final thoughts

The Muse S Athena is a health tracker that uses gold-standard sleep and brain tracking to not just measure your sleep but to actively improve it. Although it feels bulky at first, I quickly adapted to having it on my head and it does accurately track my sleep.

So far, the stand-out feature for me is the Sleep Assist, which responds to your brain waves by turning the volume up or down on your favorite sleepy-sounds. It perfectly recreates that feeling of drifting into sleep and it's a cue for instant drowsiness.

Tester Ruth Jones wears the Muse S Athena headband — (Image credit: Future)

For those who often find they wake up groggy, the Deep Sleep Boost could be the secret to fresher mornings — but I'm holding judgement until I've got the personalization right.

If it's simple sleep sounds you want, the Muse S Athena is a high-cost investment. The MUSICOZY is a much cheaper alternative. And while the sleep tracking is good, the Oura Ring is just as impressive and less bulky. The Muse also doesn't have the general health tracking of the Oura Ring or Apple Watch.

However, none of these products claim to actively improve your sleep and if the Deep Sleep Boost is at good as helping you wake up fresh as the Sleep Assist is at helping you drift off, the Muse might be worth the investment.

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Ruth is an experienced Senior Staff writer at Tom’s Guide, covering all things sleep and mattresses. She writes to help people sleep better, from how-tos to the latest deals to mattress reviews, and has interviewed an array of experts who share her passion. She is also our specialist on memory foam — she’s flown around the world to see memory foam being made — and leads our hotel mattress content. She has a deep interest in the link between sleep and health, and has tried enough mattresses, from Helix to Nectar to Simba, to know the right bed really can make a difference to your wellbeing. Before joining the team at Tom’s Guide, Ruth worked as a sleep and mattress writer for our sister website, TechRadar.