Rest Easy With This 4.6-Star-Rated White Noise Machine That’s on Sale for $18

If you’re trying to get a good night’s rest in a noisy neighborhood, a white noise machine might be able to help. In a 2021 interview with CNN, Dr. Michael Grandner, director of the Sleep and Health Research Program at the University of Arizona College of Medicine, said these types of sound machines use a process known as noise or sound masking to “create a blanket of sound around you that absorbs other sound waves, so that little creaks and cracks and cars driving by don’t quite make it to your brain, and you don’t respond to them.”

For anyone looking to try it out next time they need a solid eight hours, the 4.6-star-rated HoMedics SoundSpa white noise sound machine is currently available in silver for just $18 on Amazon, so you can save about 27 percent off the original $24 retail price. It’s also available in blue and gold, but for the full price.

This nighttime device has six natural sound recordings for you to choose from, including white noise, thunder, ocean, rain, summer night, and brook. Weighing in at just half a pound and measuring 6.5 inches long by 6 inches wide, you can easily fit this gadget into a backpack, suitcase, or carry-on bag. It has three auto-timers, so if you don’t want ocean waves crashing all night long, you can have them turn off after 15-, 30-, or 60-minute intervals. The main gadget comes with an AC adapter and a starter guide, but you’ll have to get four AA batteries separately.

One reviewer claims it used to take them about an hour to fall asleep each night, and now it is only 20 minutes. “I also don’t wake up as many times during the night. I love how the volume is adjustable and how the machine offers more than just white noise,” they added. Another reviewer found that it was great for minimizing sleep disruption due to outside noise. “At our old apartment there were many kids and my wife worked overnight,” they wrote. “This machine would cancel out all the noise outside our window from the kids playing. Now, we have a baby. We popped batteries into this puppy and bring it with us around the house or on the go. It works great!”

Check out the HoMedics SoundSpa white noise sound machine in silver on Amazon for $18.

A version of this story originally ran in 2021 and has been updated to reflect current pricing.