I can’t rest without white noise playing in the background. In its absence, I find myself gazing at the ceiling, struggling to sleep. Luckily, I have an excellent sound machine at home that assists me in drifting off each night, keeping my restless mind at bay. It has greatly enhanced my sleep quality, but only when I’m home. During my travels, I’m in a bind—my Hatch Restore is too cumbersome to take along, and I’m not keen on checking a bag just to carry an alarm clock.
After numerous sleepless nights in hotels and holidays spoiled by fatigue, I impulsively purchased a compact sound machine, and it’s hands down the best $25 I’ve invested this year.
By the way: Babelio technically designed this sound machine for infants. But I’m sticking with it. Aren’t we all simply adult babies, anyway?
In the absence of the Babelio portable sound machine, I depend on Spotify and an extensive white noise playlist, which somewhat works but quickly depletes my iPhone’s battery. Regrettably, sleep earbuds aren’t suitable for me.
Babelio’s portable white noise machine is palm-sized yet performs as effectively as my Hatch at home. The speaker is roughly the diameter of a quarter, making it convenient for travel. You can also acquire a carrying case with a strap to attach it to your backpack. I purchased one and highly endorse it. I appreciate its sleek design; I selected the elegant wood grain finish, though there are numerous choices.
Its battery life is short—lasting only three nights before needing a recharge—but its portability compensates for this. Furthermore, you can charge it while in use, ensuring no interruptions during your sleep.
The compact noise machine features 15 non-looping tracks, which include white noise, pink noise, brown noise, oscillating fan, rain, waves, insects, campfire, birds, streams, and more. I generally prefer plain white noise, but it’s nice to have alternatives.
It also comes equipped with a programmable timer to shut off automatically during your sleep and a memory function that recalls your favorite track, volume, and time settings from the previous session. I don’t use this feature much, but it could be handy for a quick snooze.
The cherry on top? This sound machine often goes on sale. As of this writing, it’s available for just $16.99 on Amazon, so if you’re interested, make sure to seize the discount. (And if you hold off, it’s likely to be on sale again soon.)