I purchased the Muse S a few months ago and since then, have been using it daily.Here's the TLDR:The Muse S is a fantastic device, beautifully designed, and the first sleep headband I've tried that's actually comfortable enough to wear to bed. It has tons of sensors to monitor brain activity, heart rate, breath rate, etc... and it's useful not only for falling asleep, but also for general meditation purposes, as it uses the same software and includes the same sensors as the Muse 2. Interaxon is a solid company that's been around for a while and considered the industry leader in this space, so it's unlikely you'll get stuck with a useless paperweight, as happens so often with products sold on Kickstarter. The downside is the Muse app, in its current form, isn't the greatest. In fact, it's pretty bad. It doesn't support any sleep tracking features, so it's really only useful for falling asleep, not monitoring your sleep. The included daytime meditations are a mixed bag. Some are decent, others not so much. For example, the breath meditation is great, except unlike most other breathing apps, that allow you to set your desired breath rate, this one forces you to breathe at a preset rate, which can be uncomfortable. The good news is, Muse has a new app in beta, that's supposed to be vastly improved and includes all the sleep tracking features, which is the main reason why people would buy this device in the first place.Here's the full review:First, the un-boxing was a really nice experience. It was like un-boxing an Apple product. The packaging was very premium quality and much smaller than I anticipated. The box was literally smaller than the box my Apple watch came in. You can tell they put a lot of effort into making a good first impressionThe device itself looks and feels super-premium. The power source and CPU pod attach to the center of the headband using a strong magnet that snaps into place with a satisfying click. Likewise, the clasp that holds the band in place also uses a strong magnet, rather than a conventional plastic snap connector. It’s very stylish. You could wear this in public without attracting much attention. It might even make a good conversation starter! Most importantly, it’s super comfortable to wear. It feels like you’re wearing a normal headband I often forget I have it on, and have worn it all day without any problems, no headaches or anything. I'm also able to sleep comfortably while wearing it, which makes it the first sleep headband I've tried that's actually comfortable enough to use for its intended purpose.I had never meditated before and didn’t buy the Muse for that purpose. I bought it for two reasons:1. I have high blood pressure and there’s a lot of scientific evidence suggesting the technique used in the Muse breathing meditation can lower blood pressure significantly .I previously purchased and subsequently returned a $300 Resperate unit that’s FDA approved to lower blood pressure using a breathing meditation. While the Muse S is not FDA approved for anything, after using both devices, I can say the Muse S breathing meditation is pretty much the same thing as the Resperate’s, plus the Muse S does a lot more than just breathing meditations. Also, the Resperate uses a wired band with a pressure sensor to detect your breathing and wired ear buds; very inconvenient to use.2. I often have trouble falling asleep and the Muse S is specifically designed as a sleep aid. I previously purchased and returned the $500 Dreem headband, which is a dedicated sleep aid and sleep tracker. Not only did the Dreem look completely ridiculous, but it was extremely uncomfortable to sleep with it on, which pretty much defeated the purpose of all its advanced sensors and technology.So, the theoretical appeal of the Muse S for me, was that it replaced the functionality of two other devices, while offering much additional functionality and being more comfortable and stylish than either of those devices. Over the past several months, I've been following a daily meditation protocol, I implemented to attempt to lower my blood pressure:1. Breath meditation for 5 minutes. This calms your body down, putting you in a more relaxed state.2. Heart meditation for 10 minutes. This allows you to slow your heart rate. I’ve been able to get my heart rate down to less than 50 BPM without exercise.3. Mind meditation for 10 minutes. This calms your brain activity.Following this protocol every morning, I’ve been able to lower my blood pressure from 140/90 to 100/70. The effect is both cumulative and persistent thought the day and will actually last for several days without meditating. I’ve been taking blood pressure medication for many years and while it helped in the beginning, I’ve found that it’s become less effective as I’ve gotten older. I believe this meditation protocol has addressed the root cause of the issue, by reducing anxiety and stress.The sleep features are where the Muse S has much room for improvement.First, the Muse S has no built-in speakers. I knew this when I bought it, but still, it was a bit of a “duh” moment when I was getting ready for bed the first time and realized I’d have to either use my iPhone speaker or my Airpods, neither of which seemed ideal for sleeping. I opted for the Airpods and it was fine when I sleeping on my back, but it prevented me from being able to sleep on my side. I ended up purchasing a Dreampad sleep pillow, which delivers sound via bone induction rather than conventional speakers, so when your head is on the pillow, you’re immersed in the sound. The Dreampad has worked out great and could be used effectively with any audio source.Another big problem is the Muse S currently does NOT support sleep tracking! How can a company release an EEG headband, with a 10-hour battery life, specifically advertised as a sleep device and not include sleep tracking? It seems like the device hardware was engineered specifically for sleep tracking, but the app doesn’t support it. I was so shocked by this that I went back and re-read the Muse website to make sure I wasn’t missing something. Sure enough, there’s no mention of sleep tracking on the website. I just assumed it would support it, since every similar device I’ve looked at and tried, supports sleep tracking. The good news is, Muse currently has a new app in beta, which includes all the sleep tracking features.The “Sleep Journeys” are just meh. There’s maybe a dozen to choose from and they only last for 10 - 20 minutes, which is not enough time for me to fall asleep. Supposedly, they adapt to your brainwaves to play different sounds depending on your mental state, but I didn’t notice this happening. The big problem is, after the Sleep Journey ends, the device shuts off and that’s it! If you haven’t yet fallen asleep, you have to open the app and manually start another Sleep Journey. From such a hi-tech device, I’d expect that it would continue playing the Journey at least until it detects that you’ve fallen asleep.The Soundscapes use a timer, so you can play them for up to four hours. This is better than a 20-minute Sleep Journey, but still seems arbitrary. What if you want the sound to play all night, to prevent you from waking up in the middle of the night? What if you want it to play until you fall asleep? What if you want it to play until it’s time to wake up, then use a smart alarm to wake you when you’re not in a REM state? The whole point of an EEG headband is to be able to detect what’s going on in your brain and adapt accordingly. In its present form, the sleep features are actually worse than those offered by numerous iOS apps.It’s also disappointing that the standard Muse app doesn’t support viewing and streaming raw EEG data. For that, you have to buy the Muse Direct app, which presently doesn’t support the Muse S. I ended up buying the Mind Monitor third-party app, which works great, but the UI is not very polished, so it feels like a hobbyist app, not in keeping with the premium feel of the Muse device. For $350, I think Muse should make Muse Direct a free download and add support for the Muse S.Despite all these criticisms, I'm giving the Muse S a 5-star review, because it has helped me lower my stress level and my blood pressure dramatically, which obviously, you can't put a price on. Moreover, once the new sleep tracking features become available, the Muse S should become one of the best sleep tracking devices on the market, which I view as an added bonus.I have been using the Muse headband for about eight weeks, and overall have had a great experience.After downloading the app, setup and calibration were straightforward. I did have to adjust the band a couple of times for all of the sensors to connect, and repositioning behind the ears did the trick. The app has a great visual of all the sensors and will let you know which one is not reading, so you can adjust.The app has a friendly interface and offers different meditation options: mind, heart, body, breath, guided and timed. The app also has several meditations grouped by theme (Stress, Calm, Resilience, etc.) in the Collections area and some Courses (Essentials, Foundations, Happiness, etc.) that provide a lesson-based approach to the selected course.I have used many well-known meditations apps and devices over the last several years and have an idea of what does and does not work for me in my practice. For me, guided meditations work best, but I often find it challenging to sit still and focus without my mind wandering off on its own - this is where the Muse headband excelled in my experience.The first meditation I tried was from the Mind category. After the headband is confirmed to be working, an excellent tutorial lets you know how the session will work. There is a rain soundscape in the background, and the app tells you that when the band senses that you have lost focus, the soundscape will change to heavier rain. When your mind finds the calm place, the rain lets up, and you hear birds chirping. Sounds cool in concept and works even better in its application. Having that audio cue to refocus your mind was a game-changer for me. The immediate biofeedback from the soundscape makes you pay attention to the breath - plus, there is a cool Professor X thing going on when it feels like you are controlling the weather with your mind! At the end of the session, you can see a summary of your experience on a graph that tracks when you were above (losing focus) and below (finding calm) your baseline.I would recommend that everyone try the Heart meditation at least once. Like the Mind meditation, the Heart session uses one of the sensors to sync up your heartbeat in the soundscape. If you lose focus, the heart rate increases, and when you find calm, it slows down. It is hard to describe, but getting your breath in sync with your beating heart is a different kind of experience that creates a feeling of “oneness.” If you haven’t tried it, you are missing out. It would be nice to have heart rate variability tracked for each session, given that there is a heart sensor in place - HRV would be valuable information to add to the summary page at the end.I did try the Guided mediation option and found it to be lacking any soundscape or biofeedback. Adding the soundscape and biofeedback would improve the Guided experience. However, this is the option that I used the least.I was excited to try the Sleep Journey option but did not have much luck with the guided sessions. They were too short and ended before I fell asleep and left me wondering if there was more coming or if it was over. Adding an option to continue the soundscape for a while - or indefinitely - would be a great option to extend the session. However, there is an option to use external audio during a Sleep session, which is where I found the best experience. The band does its tracking in conjunction with any other app or audio that you want to use. For example, I used a different app with an extended soundscape, and the headband continued to track the data. When I woke up, I checked the results and found that the sensors had lost connection at some point in the night. The data provided is interesting: sleep position, time spent in various sleep stages, heart rate, stillness, etc. The results give an overall Sleep score, but it will not be accurate if the sensors disconnect. Adding an option to provide a gentle tone or alarm that would notify you to adjust the headband would make a big difference in the quality of the Sleep experience.Despite a few shortcomings, the Muse S Headband is my go-to meditation companion above the other apps and devices I have available for my practice. The biofeedback sets Muse apart from all the others and provides a new mediation experience.The cost may seem a bit high, but it is relative to the type of experience you want to have. If you prefer to take it to the next level, I would recommend giving it a try.By allowing me to monitor my calm state during meditation, and providing bio feedback, I have gotten a lot more out of my meditations.The original one I bought stopped sensing my brain signals. But their excellent client service replace it and the new one works fine. They also took some of my suggestions for improving their app, but I still wish it showed the remaining batter power.A work in progress, but a great concept.Das Produkt ist hoffnungslos überteuert und hält auch nicht, was es verspricht. Dennoch gebe ich zu, dass die Idee gut ist und durchaus Potenzial hätte. Allerdings ist die Firma hinter Muse extrem radikal vertriebsorientiert: Es geht nur ums Verkaufen, danach kennt man den Kunden nicht mehr. Produkt kaputt : Null Chance auf Support. Technische Probleme : Null Chance auf Supoort. Teuer bezahlte Kurse nicht abrufbar: Null Chance auf Support. Hat man dem Kunden das Geld aus der Tasche gezogen, ist das Ziel erreicht. Was man mit Muse aber lernt ist Anger-Control - sonst müsste man sich ständig aufregen und ärgern ;-)It's an interesting gadget. Just know that you don't need it to meditate. However, it can give you some motivation do meditate more.The UI/UX of the app is moronic. At some point, I struggled for one hour to connect it. It seems you need to connect this to your phone first, before your headset, for excellent results.It's an ok product, but nowhere near worth £300. I would have recommended it for £100.I so much want to give it five stars, but I can’t.It works exactly as described, and I think it is wonderful.Unfortunately, repeatedly the rear sensors have failed. It’s still under warranty, so the band has now been replaced - twice. On each occasion, following detailed questions about the nature of the failure, I simply had to send evidence that I had destroyed the faulty band, and a replacement was posted to me.I’ve only used the newest band twice in the past month or so due to the anxiety I now feel when waiting for the calibration process to complete.I certainly can’t contemplate using it while sleeping as I feel it’s a bit fragile, which is a pity because that’s one of its core functions.A simply wonderful piece of tech *when it works*.Ich meditiere nun etwa 3 Wochen mit dem Muse S, nachdem ich seit September 2019 meine Erfahrungen mit dem Muse der ersten Generation gesammelt habe.Hier in Kürze meine Eindrücke:- Das Muse S sitzt bequemer und sicherer, es verrutscht nicht - dadurch keine störenden Signalabbrüche- Die Akkulaufzeit deckt gut eine Nacht ab, wenn man es ausschließlich für Meditationen verwendet, komme ich auf gute 5 Stunden Akkulaufzeit.- Die Muse App bietet im kostenfreien Angebot mehr Abwechslung, da es auch Herz, Körper und Atemmeditationen gibt sowie Einschlafhilfe. Über kurz oder lang wird man aber wahrscheinlich den kostenpflichtigen Bereich freischalten wollen und somit eine große Vielfalt an Übungen nutzen können. Tipp: Es gibt immer wieder Angebote für ein Jahresabo zum halben Preis. Warten lohnt sich!- Bislang kann das Muse S nicht den Schlaf tracken - schade!- Das Gerät und das Band sind getrennte Artikel, Bänder können für knapp 130 Euro nachgekauft werden beim Hersteller- Bitte das Band nicht überdehnen, YouToube Anleitungen beim Aufsetzen beachten, damit die Kabel im Band nicht beschädigt werden. Empfindlich!Insgesamt bin ich mit dem Muse S zufriedener als mit dem Muse der ersten Generation, es kann einfach mehr und verrutscht nicht so leicht. Mir ist in 3 Wochen noch keine Meditation durch Signalabbruch gestört worden. Außerdem habe ich nach der Meditation nicht die unangenehmen Druckstellen an der Stirn wie beim älteren Modell.Schade finde ich, dass das Muse S nicht den Schlaf tracken kann. Das sollte man eigentlich schon erwarten dürfen bei einem Gerät, das dafür konzipiert ist, die ganze Nacht getragen zu werden. Ich habe dies nur 2 mal testhalber gemacht, kann jedoch den Nutzen nicht ersehen. Die Schlafdauer sagt mir schließlich auch ein Blick auf den Wecker.Darum benütze ich es für die "herkömmlichen" Meditationen, auch vor dem Schlafengehen, nehme das Headband aber ab, wenn ich nicht tatsächlich schon tief eingeschlafen bin.Ein weiteres Manko ist, dass das Headband auch nachts nur mit laufender App genutzt werden kann. Ich halte mein Smartphone lieber nachts von meinem Bett fern wegen der Strahlung und auch das Leuchten empfinde ich eher als störend. Klar, man könnte das Display abdunkeln, aber wie gesagt, was soll das alles, wenn die Schlafqualität nicht getrackt wird?Abgesehen davon hilft mir das Muse S aber tatsächlich, zu mehr Ruhe zu kommen. Ich nutze das kostenpflichtige Abo und profitiere so zusätzlich von vielen abwechslungsreichen geführten Meditationen.Das Muse S macht Spaß, aber ein bisschen technikbegeistert muss man sicherlich sein um davon wirklich profitieren zu können.Der ganz große Vorteil gegenüber den Vorgängermodellen ist meiner Meinung nach der Umstand, dass es die Verbindung sicher aufrecht erhält. Mich hatte es immer extrem gestresst, nie zu wissen, wann eine Meditation wegen Signalverlust das nächste mal abbricht. Dieses Problem hab ich mit dem Muse S nicht mehr und kann ganz anders abschalten.Der eine Punkt Abzug in der Gesamtbewertung resultiert aus dem hohen Preis - der meiner Meinung nach auch im kostenfreien Teil der App mehr verfügbare Angebote rechtfertigen würde. Außerdem aus der Tatsache, dass die Schlafqualität nicht getrackt wird - ich hoffe, da bessert InterAxon noch nach.I'm also an owner of the original Muse Headband. Which I found great for meditating, and getting yourself deeper into the zone. Although it does have its share of issues, like randomly losing signal, and issue I was hoping that this version would eliminate, and that it does. The muse s is comfortable, reliable and excellently packaged, you certainly get a great feel for quality, much higher than the original. It's also compatible with the community c# sdk if you're interested in developing for it.