Drown Out the Noise and Sleep Soundly With These Sound Machines

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Getting a good night’s sleep is hard. A third of all American adults report getting less than the daily recommended amount of sleep nearly every night. Too little noise, and the mind starts to race. Too much noise, and you can’t settle down. You can stop the balancing act with a sound machine.

These devices emit low-level noise that drowns out street parties, barking dogs, noisy neighbors, and anything else that goes bump in the night. It also breaks up the silence and provides a comfortable background hum for your hyperactive brain.

The soft blanket of noise from a sound machine is also effective for a private conversation or focused studying. The wave of sound keeps your voice from echoing down hallways or bleeding through thin walls. This is particularly useful when talking about sensitive subjects or in tight apartment buildings. A good sound machine has settings and sound variations for sleep and study, as well as for adults and babies.

If you’re having trouble drifting off, are parent to a fussy baby, or are simply looking for a bit more focus as you work, we tested out and reviewed several sound machines that help both noisy rooms and brains alike.

The Best Sound Machines

• Best Overall: LectroFan Evo Sound Machine

• Best Value: Dreamegg Portable Sound Machine

• Best Splurge: Hatch Restore 2 Sunrise Alarm Clock Sound Machine

• Best Alarm Clock: Loftie Smart Alarm Clock

• Most Portable: LectroFan Micro2 Non-Looping Sound Machine

What to Consider

Types of Sound Machines

Most sound machines we cover here are electronic. They’re about the size of an average portable Bluetooth speaker and come with physical buttons for the controls. These are ideal for your bedroom or home office, as the speaker is powerful enough to cover the entire room. A typical sound machine can reach up to 80 or more decibels, though you’ll most likely have more than enough for your bedroom with 50 to 60.

Portable sound machines are small enough to fit into a backpack pocket and are great for nights away from home. In camping tents or hotel rooms, whip out your device and lull yourself to sleep at the press of a button. The tradeoff for the portable size is the lack of power. Most portable sound machines don’t have the speaker volume to fill large rooms.

Other sound machines come with added features, including alarm clocks, lights, and internet connectivity. Smart devices with virtual assistants often have white noise or sound bath features as well.

There are also manual sound machines, if you don’t need or want all the functionality or control of a device. Instead of relying on an electronic speaker to pipe out noise, these devices have internal fans that create sound by physically moving the air. You adjust the external cover to change the frequency.

Sound Variety

Nearly all sound machines offer white noise, a sound made up of every frequency audible to the human ear. White noise balances each of these frequencies equally. Other “colors” of noise favor higher or lower frequencies over that balance. The two most common shades of sound to be included are pink and brown.

White noise is offered on all the devices on this list, though it’s rarely the most popular. White noise is a little too close to the hiss of TV static for most people. Brown and pink noises, which also come programmed on these devices, are a lot softer on the ears over a long period of time because of their lower frequencies.

Many speaker sound machines also come with more natural options, such as whale calls, chirping birds, and crashing waves, among others. If you prefer different noises for different points in the day or just variety in your sleep sounds, consider one of these.

Additional Features

Some sound machines come with built-in alarm clocks. These clocks come with night cycles that transition away from white noise and into bird chirps in the morning. This slowly lifts you out of sleep instead of jarring you awake the abrupt, loud alarms most of us use do. Even without a built-in alarm clock, sound machines often come with sleep timers that shut off the speakers after a preset period of time.

Many smart devices, like virtual assistants, also function as sound machines. In cases like this, you get tons of features outside of just the sound—sleep tools like morning alarms and timers, as well as conveniences like weather forecasts and music streaming.

Sound machines aren’t limited by the preset sound options, either. Because they have such high quality speakers, many come with Bluetooth connectivity so you can stream your own sounds—think music and podcasts—like a regular speaker.

Speaker Safety

While background noise at low volumes is generally safe for most kids and adults alike, there is concern when the volume goes up. It is generally safe for adults to have an average listening level below 70 decibels. For children and infants, that figure should be lower. Make sure to keep the noise levels on your sound machine at 50 decibels or below for children.

For young children and infants, place the sound machine on the opposite end of the room, or more close to 7 feet away from their head. Try to limit usage with a sleep timer, so it doesn’t play all night long.

How We Tested

We tested several different sound machines and considered our personal sleep quality with each device. We took those unscientific impressions with a hefty grain of salt, though, focusing primarily on metrics we could measure and compare—speaker quality, sound options, size, price, and power.

We used each sound machine for overnight sleep and background noise while working. For our sleep tests, we focused on sound quality and the device’s ability to mute noise outside of the bedroom. For the sound machines with sleep timers or alarms, we tried out these features as well.

We tested each sound machine as an individual device and then in comparison to one another. We highlighted the strengths of each one and which use cases they shine in. In the case of the Dohm, Hatch, and Loftie, we gathered first-hand experiences of editors on the Popular Mechanics team.

We tested and used all sound machines on this list except the Amazon Echo and Sound+Sleep. For sound machines we did not test ourselves, we researched each option on product websites, read reviews from other online publications, and sifted through hundreds of customer reviews.

Evo Sound Machine

Forget the fancy bells and whistles. This sound machine from LectroFan provides everything you need at an affordable price. Combine its quality and cost, and there are very few options that compete.

This sound machine has just six buttons, but on those six buttons are everything you need to control every aspect of the device. Don’t let the simple design fool you. This sound machine has over 20 sounds to choose from and a timer feature that lasts for up to eight hours.

Even though the traditional power adaptor keeps it from being the most portable pick as well, I was impressed with how small it was. It fit comfortably on a crowded nightstand and would easily fit in a backpack or carryon luggage.

While the lack of buttons streamlines the device, it also hinders the timer feature. I had to press through the button and count out the hours in my head. The only indicator is a small beep once you reach eight hours.

Portable Sound Machine

The value of this portable sound machine from Dreamegg comes from more than the price. This sound machine comes with a collection of lullaby music and sounds for babies and kids.

Alongside the melodic tunes of “Cradle Song” and “Rock-a-bye Baby” are sounds of vacuuming, a parent shushing, and even fetal noises that mimic the sound patterns babies hear inside the womb.

I was most impressed by the small locking feature on the back of the sound machine. If your kids are playing around with it, flip the switch and all the settings will stay as you programmed them—even if the little ones are pressing all the buttons.

The locking feature also makes it easy to leave overnight in a kid’s bedroom without them changing the preset sleep timer or blasting th volume.

The sound machine takes its portable design beyond just the size. It comes with a rope and hook so you can hang it on strollers, in bedrooms, or on a door handle. Was able to tie it comfortably around my closet door a few feet away from my bed, letting the sound wash over the entire room.

Restore 2 Sunrise Alarm Clock and Sound Machine

Hatch has evolved its product from just a sound machine into the ultimate nightstand companion. Consolidate your lamp, alarm clock, and sleep device into one machine with this Restore 2.

With the press of a button, the sound machine begins a three-part cycle to help you fall asleep, sleep deeply, and wake up gently. It begins by playing noises, music, meditations, or even bedtime stories as you go through your nighttime routine and get into bed. It then transitions into traditional white noise or nature sounds as you sleep.

Senior Reviews Editor at Best Products Cat Bowen uses the Hatch as a part of her regular routine. “I love it because I have the ADHD and I need sound all of the time,” Bowen says. “Hatch has several in-built sounds that play in a constant stream with no interruption. I also love that it wakes me up slowly with light and a gentle song that increases in volume.”

The alarm clock function wakes you up with a specific sound meant to mimic birdsong and chimes.

Smart Alarm Clock

With a tech-forward, modern style and a powerful internal speaker, this alarm clock from Loftie is both a time piece and a conversation piece.

As a sound machine, it comes with over 100 free tracks that range from traditional white noise and nature sounds to meditations and breathwork guides. The Loftie has also become the de facto bedside necessity for our Reviews Editor Danny Perez.

After using it for months, Perez says, “The Loftie alarm clock unexpectedly changed my nighttime routine. I don’t sleep with noise, but I do like to wind down with some and read before bed. The Loftie has natural sound options that help me tune out my downstairs neighbors and random cat fights outside my window. The nighttime routine alarm beckons me to bed and then I listen to preloaded sounds like ‘campfire’ or ‘morning rain’ for half an hour or so before turning my lights out.

“The speakers are plenty loud to use for both a sound machine and an alarm clock,” he adds. “The fact that I don’t need my phone to stream the sounds or set an alarm keeps me away from any screens. Plus it looks sleek on my nightstand.” He says the display light dims very low, so light sleepers needn’t worry about the brightness.

Perez likes that he can schedule different alarm times for different days: “I know you’re supposed to wake up at the same time every day, but I don’t wan’t to. It’s nice to have my alarms set for office days, work-from-home days, and weekend morning long runs without constantly changing times.”

Micro2 Non-Looping Sound Machine

This compact sound machine from LectroFan could fit in your pocket. Don’t let the size fool you. The sound machine comes packed with enough punch to fill a bedroom or even double as a portable Bluetooth speaker.

The small size gives way to simple functionality. The five buttons are intuitive to use and work essentially the same way whether you’re blasting fan sounds or your favorite song. To swap between white noise or Bluetooth, simply flip the switch.

What stood out the most during testing was the swivel-top design. The speaker twists up and to the side, so you can angle it directly toward your head as you sleep. The directional flexibility also focuses the sound toward your ears as you sleep, more effectively drowning out other sounds.

The angling top also meant I could keep the volume on the sound machine lower than some of the other options. That said, it really is just a portable option, lacking even a basic timer function.

Yogasleep Dohm White Noise Machine

Instead of pumping in your sleep sounds through a speaker, make them yourself. This device creates its noise through an internal fan, generating natural sound instead of replicating it.

Director of Product Content Will Egensteiner keeps the Dohm in his son’s room for naps and bedtime, saying, “I like it primarily because it’s manual, with a fan inside that moves the air to create a pleasant whoosh (unlike the tinny static of YouTube clips of white noise I’ve resorted to).

“But it’s also blessedly easy to use, which I appreciate as I’m trying to juggle a sleepy toddler without spending time futzing with an app or too many buttons,” he continues. “The single switch flips up and down to activate the low and high speed settings, respectively, for softer or louder noise. And the housing and cap rotate to close or open vents, producing a gentler or more forceful hum as they keep air contained or let it out. This means that, when we’re done with story time, all I have to do is press the switch to turn the Dohm on, and we’re back to the bedtime routine.”

Echo Dot (5th Gen) with clock

While the Echo Dot is a virtual assistant, it is capable of playing white noise and other sleep sounds, too. Use the device to control your smart lights, stream music, read news headlines, and provide real time weather forecasts.

As a sound machine, simply request the type of noise you want to hear, and the Echo Dot will play it. This includes ocean sounds, white noise, rain sounds and more. That said, without dedicated functionality, some of the sounds may loop or abruptly stop after the track ends.

Alongside its smart functions, this version of the Echo Dot also works as an alarm clock. With a digital display on the front of the speaker, you can set alarms, check the time, and even snooze a few times all from the same device you order new rolls of toilet paper from.

High Fidelity Sleep Sound Machine

This is a sound machine that listens as much as it speaks. With an adaptive sound feature, the device automatically changes and mixes its sounds to respond and counteract the noises in the environment.

Unlike other sound machines, the majority of options on this device are sounds found in every day life such as trains, waterfalls, rain, and fireplaces. The non-looping sounds play continuously or on an up to two-hour timer.

When the timer is active, this sound machine will slowly reduce the volume, so the shut off doesn’t disturb you as you sleep.

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