I'd like to analyse my sleep as it's something I think may be an issue. Fitbit is one of the devices on the market that does this and there are mixed views on its usefulness. Any experiences or alternative recommendations to add?

Sorry, can't really contribute to that. This is what I consider to be the weakest feature of the device (and I've not been tempted to try it yet).
Also I rarely have problems sleeping! So don't feel I need help/analysis of that part of my day.
But in all other regards I think the Fitbit is a very impressive device, it really has highlighted potential areas of improvement in my daily routine and I've definitely been more active since I stated using it.

I think we're only seeing the start of health interactive devices such as this, there's a long way to go, but huge potential and much money to be made by the company that really nails it.

Thanks David, I'd say we're probably still at the stage where we'll need multiple devices until an Apple like entity comes along with a killer unified product offering. I'm looking at Zeo as well for the sleep part. I'm concerned that I really don't feel rested and would like to be able to quantify rather than guess my way along.

I feel the Fitbit is one of the best thought-out & mature devices on the market at present, but still a version 1 product (with current tech). Nike Fuelband & Jawbone Up feel like 'dipping toes' in market (& a bit rushed).
So yeah, enormous rewards for the entity that gets this right, but it's a complex market with different aims: e.g., health/drugs monitoring - fitness - sleep, etc.
Not sure if one company would cover all that, but I expect Apple & Google (Android) will be the hubs.

Zeo seems popular for the sleep monitoring - and certainly worth looking at something to help if you're not getting enough sleep, nothing worse than that.

I would expect Microsoft to get in there too. Don't they have some sort of HealthVault offering? They also have some pretty interesting things going on with the Kinect that could make it a useful sensor in the context of health and fitness.

My biggest single problem with the FitBit sleep tracking is that it has a sensitivity mode which doesn't work the way you'd expect it to. I almost always sleep through the night but would like to be able to see the patterns of my sleep cycles. Instead, the FitBit detects motions and simply decides, at any time, if I am "awake" or "asleep".

Here's my sleep from last night in "normal mode": i.imgur.com
And here it is in "sensitive mode": i.imgur.com

"Normal" mode gives me almost no information, but "sensitive" mode makes assumptions that I was awake for nearly half the time I was in bed, which is simply not true.

Sorry, I screwed the link up, here's the sensitive mode version: i.imgur.com

Clearly it gives me more actual information about my sleep cycle, but it would be a lot nicer if it would actually graph the intensity of motion detected throughout the night rather than simply a binary "asleep/awake" state.

Thanks for that Connor. Marie had a similar point when we were discussing this on twitter; that it seemed to treat motion as awake and no motion as asleep. So that would seem to limit its usefulness somewhat (not completely though).

FitBit's sleep tracking has been easy to use. The wrist strap could be awkward for someone who doesn't sleep well, but it doesn't bother me. FitBit's service is smart enough to recognize an activity starting at night and ending in the morning as a sleep record.
I find the raw measurements match times that I recall waking up. The efficiency rating is suspect, as I haven't seen a rating <95%. FitBit provides several time intervals (last week, month, year) that nicely summarize sleep patterns. For example, in my last month of college I logged an unhealthy average of 4.33 hours/night, waking 3.85 times (with sleep recorded on 27 nights). I've since recovered.
My one gripe—there is no way to see sleep data in their app.

That's to know, thanks for jumping in Aaron :)

To echo Aaron, my experience has been similar - however, what I like is to keep track of my sleep for the week, and see how lack of enough sleep, or even 'too much', actually affects how I feel by the end of the week...

I have both the Fitbit Ultra and a Zeo unit, and have used both for tracking sleep.

The sleep data that the Zeo provides simply outclasses what the Fitbit can provide. The quality of sleep is detected from EEG pads you wear while sleeping, and one of four depths of sleep is recorded. In non-scientific testing, the Zeo correlates well with my perception of my own sleep patterns, whereas the Fitbit's graph, no matter how it's tweaked, doesn't do much more than tell me when I pushed the button to start tracking and when I woke up.

That said, the Fitbit is a lot easier and more comfortable to wear to bed, even if the wristband is a bit fiddly, and tracks daily movement perfectly, which the Zeo does not.

I'm thinking the level of information from the Zeo is probably what I want in terms of looking at my sleep. So thanks for that Owen and Bilal.

I can still see a place for the FitBit as part of an overall 'quantified self' effort. I've tracked my cycle commuting and casual trips with an iPhone app for since early 2010 and that has been a big motivator for me.

James,

I use Sleep as Android.

It gives me great useful stats out of the box. tung.ly Stats

An add-on give me more detail and does a regression to give me advice.
tung.ly Advice

When looking for sleep tracking, my suggestion would be to look for these features:
Sound Recording
Rating
Note taking, sleep diary
Exportable data

Thanks Tung Ly, looks like you really extract the maximum there :) I did use an app on iPhone similar to Sleep as Android and didn't find the quality of the results back to be that good. So my thinking has been a wearable device would provide better quality information.

James, I thought moving to a wearable device would give me higher quality data as well. One of the reasons I tried FitBit. I've come to believe that more data isn't necessarily better. A wearable device, in the case of FitBit, doesn't give you much more accuracy. My first problem was forgetting to set the thing to sleep. With my phone app, it's part of my routine. The phone tells me I should be getting ready to go to bed, and is my alarm. FitBit never nags me of anything. With the phone, it asks me to rate my sleep when I wake. I get a daily reminder with the alarm that I care about getting good sleep.

In a sense, I am hiring this app to be my sleep coach that I can confide in. With the FitBit, I felt like it was a chore. The coach didn't care about me or my day. It wasn't even there unless I remembered about it.

I've used Fitbit, BodyMedia and now, Zeo Sleep manager. Fitbit can measure how often you toss and turn, but this may or may not really measure the quality of your sleep. Additionally, you have to remember to put into "sleep/activity" mode - I often forget to do this. BodyMedia works the same way although it will automatically register you as asleep based on (1) the time you input into your profile and (2) your activity levels.
For genuine sleep quality (that's affordable at least), I recommend using the Zeo (mysleep.myzeo.com). It measures multiple levels of sleep (light, REM and deep) with the only cost being looking like someone from an 80's workout video.

So far, its been the best sleep investment I've made.

Tung Ly, I'm not sure being asked to rate my sleep is what I need as I don't think that would provide needed insight - though I may look at trying it all the same. Very good points about how devices fit into your life.

Jeff, thanks for joining in. I read some interesting notes on the Zeo site about peoples experiences measuring REM e.g. the man who mentioned his wife's anti-depressants were apparently causing her to get 0 REM time (as measure by the Zeo).

@tisjames - definitely. It seems like a lot of drugs (even the ones for sleep) wind up screwing up our ability to move between REM and deep sleep (and hence, affect memory formation).

I just finished Dreamland, and highly recommend it (found it on BrainPickings)

amazon.com

brainpickings.org