11 Best White Noise Machines for Sounder Sleep

Whether you’re a light sleeper who needs background noise in order to drift off or you’re the parent of an infant, the best white noise machines can be a real blessing to own. Maybe you’re hoping to muffle the jarring sounds of a snoring or sleep-talking partner, traffic noise, a crying baby, a barking dog, or maybe you struggle with tinnitus, at any rate you need to hush the world around you. On the other hand, if silence keeps you up at night, and only consistent ambient noise (such as fan sounds or the soothing sounds of ocean waves) sets you at ease, a white noise machine can provide that consistent sensory relief. Truthfully, what jolts us awake isn’t loud sounds so much as it is changes in sounds—and a high-quality sound machine is a handy sleep product that can mask those disturbances, resulting in better sleep.

What to look for in a white noise machine?

For SELF’s product reviews, we spoke with sleep experts to develop guidelines for how to buy the best white noise machine for your needs. You can dive a little deeper into our white-noise machine buying guide but based on our reporting, the most important criteria to consider when shopping for a sound machine include three things: 

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1. Customizability: The types of sound options the machine offers, from fan sounds to brown noise to nature sounds to lullabies.
2. Volume range: If your machine is for a baby, the noise should never reach above 50 decibels.
3. Looping and non-looping features: How seamlessly the sound recordings end and begin again, ensuring you don’t jolt awake in a lull.

There are many factors to weigh, but luckily, there are all sorts of high-quality sound machines and sleep apps for exhausted people to incorporate in their pre-sleep habit. You’ll find quite a range of features, including portable white noise machines, machines that act as alarm clocks and night lights, have headphone jacks, varying sounds, and are rechargeable. Below, we’ve gathered some of the best white noise machines, including sound machines from Lectrofan, Hatch, Yogasleep, Snooz, Marpac, and more, for sale at Amazon, Target, and Walmart.