The Best White Noise Machines

While some resort to pills, nightly bedtime routines, and other things that improve sleep, the best white noise machines can help you sleep so you can wake up refreshed, maintain a healthy weight, improve your mood, and reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, and hypersomnia, among others.

What to Look Out For In a White-Noise Machine

A white noise machine is a lifesaver for people or parents losing sleep over their (child’s) inability to fall and stay asleep. And although you can use your phone as a white noise machine, it has its limitations. That being said, we’ve compiled the best white noise machines to buy and what to look out for while at it. They include:

• Runtime: If you want to enjoy a full 8-hour sleep cycle, it is important that your white noise machine is able to last that long. The best white noise machines are either battery or AC-powered for strong performance.
• Looping: Continuous white noise or nature sounds in the background can help to prolong and deepen your sleep provided it repeats in a loop, beware of noise pollution. The best white noise machines have continuous play/loop functionality as well as non-looping sounds.
• Portability: White noise machines are generally portable so they can be moved about from room to room. If you travel a lot, you can also get white noise machines that are even more portable and suitable for travel or sleepovers.
• Sounds and Volume Control: Different white noise machines feature different soothing natural sounds including fan noises, wind, rain, thunderstorm, and bonfire, among others. They also allow you to variate the volume as well as the timing.
• Remote/App/Voice Control: Unlike the best white noise apps, white noise machines can be controlled via touch buttons, an app, or voice command. This way, you won’t need to interrupt your sleep and get out of bed just to tweak the machine.

Best Overall: Homedics SoundSleep White Noise Sound Machine

Whether or not you’re undergoing any kind of sleep therapy, a white noise machine like the Homedics SoundSleep White Noise Sound Machine is a must-have. It is our top pick for the best white noise machine for a sound night’s sleep.

It features six relaxing nature sounds (White Noise, Thunder, Rain, Ocean, Summer Night, and Brook) for improved sleep or sharper focus while working or reading. It has a volume knob, and auto-off timer (10, 15, and 30 minutes), and can be used at home, in the office, nursery, and so on.

Best for Babies: Hatch Rest Baby Sound Machine With Night Light

Babies are known to wake up multiple times at night, but if your little one constantly struggles more than usual to fall and stay asleep, we recommend you try the Hatch Rest Baby Sound Machine With Night Light. It features touch buttons, a clock, and a dimmable Smart Night Light as well as Toddler Lock to prevent your kids from fiddling with it via the touch buttons.

It also has Time-for-Bed and Time-to-Rise reminders and a sound machine for soothing sounds such as White Noise, Heartbeat, Ocean, Wind, Fan, Rain, and Lullabies. With an optional Hatch Sleep Membership, you can access bedtime stories, classic music tunes, and other expert-curated sleep content. It also supports Wi-Fi connectivity and can be app-controlled.

Best Premium: LectroFan High-Fidelity White Noise Machine

One of the best ways to beat insomnia, sleep like a baby, and overcome hypersomnia (the next morning), is to get a white noise machine like the LectroFan High-Fidelity White Noise Machine. It features 10 fan sounds and 10 ambient noise variations that cut across white noise, brown noise, and pink noise.

It features a solid-state design, and touch buttons, and is both USB and AC-powered (110 Volts). It produces 60-minute-long non-looping sounds and contains no moving parts whatsoever. It is made in the USA and is great for adults and children alike.

Best for Travel: Magicteam Sound Machines White Noise Machine

If you’re traveling any time soon or going for a sleepover, you’ll want to go with the Magicteam Sound Machines White Noise Machine neatly tucked inside your traveling bag or handbag. It can rock both you and your babies to sleep in no time, whether home or away.

This compact white noise machine features 20 non-looping natural soothing sounds (including white, brown, blue, pink, brook, bonfire, rain, ocean, and bird sounds) with up to 32 volume levels It also has a last memory function, and is both USB and AC-powered. It also features a solid-state design with a variable auto-timer and continuous play.

Best Anti-Snoring: Marpac Dohm Classic White Noise Machine With Real Fan

If you have a roommate, partner, or parent whose constant snoring affects your quality and quantity of sleep, then get the Marpac Dohm Classic White Noise Machine With Real Fan. While most other white noise machines only feature fan noises, this comes with a real fan.

This fan-based natural sound machine is AC-powered (120 Volts). It features two speed options for adjusting tone and volume and is simple to use with adequate touch buttons. This noise-masking sound machine produces loud enough fan noises to drown out noisy snoring and block eavesdroppers, among others, similar to the best in-ear noise-canceling buds.

Best for Google Homes: Google Nest Mini (2nd Gen)

If you already own a Google Home device such as the Google Nest Wi-Fi and are looking for healthier alternative ways to improve your sleep, we recommend the 2nd Gen Google Nest Mini, one of the best white noise machines for a restful night’s sleep.

The Google Nest Mini is a powerful and versatile device that you can use to voice-control other smart devices at home with a voice command. Simply say “Hey Google” and ask it to play your favorite white noise or soothing nature sound.

Best for Amazon Homes: Amazon Echo Dot (5th Gen)

While the Google Nest Mini is ideal for Google smart home products, the Amazon Echo Dot is the best option for those in the Amazon smart home ecosystem. Given the right commands, it can also easily double as one of the best white noise machines.

This fifth generation of Echo Dot devices comes with more vibrant sounds, easier integration, and perfect synchronization with Alexa. You can have it read you bedtime stories or play you soothing nature sounds or white noises from Amazon Music, Spotify, Apple Music, and Bluetooth, among others.