Review - Muse S Gen 2: Why I DON'T believe it's reading my BRAIN!

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Muse S Gen 2
Ever feel like your brain can't shut off? Your thoughts are racing, you're replaying things over in your mind, and you just can't seem to relax or fall asleep? What if you could know what's going on inside your cranium? That's the premise of Muse brain sensing headbands.
Muse S is a headband-style device that claims to track your brain activity, and using built-in meditations, to help you relax, or even fall asleep. I recently got a sample of the Muse S to try out and see for myself what it can do. In this review I’ll walk you through how it works, what the experience is like, and whether I recommend it.
There are many devices out there that track sleep cycles to varying degrees of accuracy, but the Muse S takes things a step further. It’s a device that actually tracks EEG readings and provides feedback that can help you “train your brain.”It’s a combination sleep monitor, sleep helper and a meditation assistant.
What’s New in Gen 2
Muse S consists of a soft headband and a removable brain sensing pod that’s rechargeable.
The Gen 2 model improves upon the original version with better signal quality, faster battery charging, and a more accurate battery level indicator, claims Muse.
The most significant change is the updated headband, which uses more spandex to allow more stretch and make the band less likely to tear.
The ear electrodes are also wider to help maintain a strong signal…. Though as you’ll soon see its didn’t do much for my experience.
What Does Muse Monitor?
The Muse S is a meditation tool, as it claims to help you focus on meditation, while also monitoring your heart rate, brainwave activity or EEG, and breathing.
You choose a voice-guided mediation and then try to listen and focus.
The EEG readings sense when your brain is working harder and offer meditation options and sounds to help you relax, and give audio feedback when you do. If you’re not at peace, your brain is working harder; the Muse S increases the amount and frequency of certain sound effects, then lessons them as you relax.
When you’re fully relaxed, you’ll hear the chirping of birds.
Muse S also offers Sleep help: you an take one of the digital sleeping pills to help you fall asleep, and it will also do sleep position tracking, give you a sleep efficiency score, and “deep sleep insights.” You do, of course, need to wear the headband to sleep.
If you’re on Apple HealthKit, the Muse S will take over your sleep tracking and report back to your Health app while your phone or watch is charging.
Set up
You will need to download the Muse app and create an account. Next, charge up your Muse sensor and clip it into the headband. The app will take you though an initial demonstration and share tips if you’re not familiar with how to use it.
The thing I found out is that if the sensor isn’t clipped into the dock on the band correctly, it will not work properly. Make sure there’s no gaps between the dock and the sensor, and press to close any you do see. Even a small gap can mean your sensors won’t take readings.
With the brain sensor pod charged, put on the headband and open the app. Tap to connect to your band via Bluetooth. You’ll chose a session and the device will check the sensor contact with your skin. Then just sit back and listen to the audio.
Wearing and using Muse S
The headband has an adjustable strap that should let you get a snug but comfortable fit.
Also, very important is that you need to make sure the Muse logo is facing up; if the band is worn upside down, the sensors, particularly on the ears, can’t connect properly for a good reading.
Before each and every session the band will re-calibrate itself and this take about a minute. Each of the sensors across the front and behind the ears need to make perfect contact with your head of the whole thing will not work; there’s no, “4/5 sensors are working so let’s just go ahead anyway” option.
I can tell you I found this very difficult, particularly getting the ear sensors properly connected was a massive challenge that, frankly, stressed me out most times I used it. You’ve got to make sure no hair gets in the way.. which, for some of us, is a challenge. The coloured bars in the app will light up when you’ve got all your connections made.

[@jpr7915]

The breath meditation is actually a focus meditation. The muse is actually measuring how focused you are on your breath. You are obviously more focused during work than the meditation. It is misleading that they call it a calm score.

[@ErinLawrenceTV]

Good point. Better labelling could help.

[@casius00]

Thanks for the honest review. I have a thought as to why your scores came out the way they did. I am a major incident manager and that means that I deal with very stressful situations that have high impact and high engagement. I wear a fitbit charge 4 and have found that my heart rate drops as much as 6 beats per minute when I am deeply engaged in my job. This is usually a conference bridge with a decent number of technical and management stakehodlers. I guide the call and the resources to assist with resolution of what ever issue has brought us to the call. I have to listen to all the opinions and feedback, sometimes from people far smarter and more knowledgeable than I am LOL. I think that for me this has, over the years, forced my mind into a more zen like state that allows me to handle all the moving part of this type of conversation. I think this may be what you are going through or at least something like it. I am guessing here but if the typing you were doing was work related, you were focusing on a review and you were also pulling from your experience with product ABC. this, for you, may actually push you into a focused state, hence the score. If you are trying to test the device, i would suggest adding some activity that is more random eg, walking around your house and making a cup of your favorite beverage. this would be a less focused activity and may generate a more divergent score. Cheers.

[@ErinLawrenceTV]

Thanks for the info Roger!

[@drcross463]

thats an excellent idea.

[@mvn17997]

I can relate to that experience, with my Garmin vivowatch I measured the same effect, when I am facilitating, leading meetings, surprisingly I observed that my heart rate goes significantly down. At first I thought it was the device's error, only to realise later that in that situation I am indeed, in flow and pretty much 'zen'.

[@sammiller9855]

My main issue with Muse eeg biofeedback is that it doesn't give you readings of brainwaves. It only gives you a calm rating. Also, the company is secretive of the "algorithm" used to determine one's calm state. I still use my Muse 2 largely for motivation.

[@ErinLawrenceTV]

Great point. If you’re getting something out of the motivation then that can still be valuable.

[@Aashishkebab]

There's a PC app to get raw data

[@christophergame7977]

The title of your KZbin reads "Why I DON'T believe it's reading my brain!" I am not interested in meditation, but I am interested in recording sleep. It's hard or impossible for the user to be very confident about whether or when the Muse S (Gen 2) is reading his brain. It's a problem that the skin/electrode contact is a bit erratic. As I see it, there are four possible ways for the Muse S (Gen 2) to detect sleep/wake: by detecting and analysing: (1) EEG; (2) rapid eye EMG ; (3) head movement; (4) heart rate. The EEG and EMG are likely to be of poor quality because the electrode connection is poor. Head movement detection is probably not too bad. The heart rate detector seems a bit erratic as judged from the heartbeat icon. The Muse S (Gen 2) should integrate all four in order to detect sleep/wake. I have checked the sleep report of the Muse S (Gen 2) against video of my sleep, and against separate independent SpO2 and plethysographic and ECG heart rate recordings. My impression is that the Muse S (Gen 2) sleep record is relatively accurate, but that's no more than an educated guess. I can't examine its distinction between REM, light, and deep sleep with any accuracy. I am suspicious that the light/REM sleep distinction might be unreliable. I haven't recorded myself having any "deep sleep" with the Muse S (Gen 2).

[@Christopher-md7tf]

Getting and, more importantly, KEEPING the sensors connecting properly is such a major PITA that it honestly ruins the whole device for me, especially the sleep tracking. Like you, I'm also not really convinced about the accuracy of the device's EEG readings, as I found that the feedback doesn't really correspond to my internal state that much. All in all, it seems like the tech for this type of device just isn't where it needs to be yet.

[@ErinLawrenceTV]

I agree 100%, Christopher. Thanks for adding your comments here.

[@AnotherCoyote]

Excellent review! The only honest one I've seen so far! The most important thing to me is 'Single point focus' mastery during meditation, which, when you do it correctly you can achieve altered states of consciousness like your aches and body disappearing and you only feeling your mind rising up and down on a sea of consciousness while being perfectly mindful of the room, clock, and people around you, which is called Access Concentration and comes before a Jhana state. Jhana states, according to Buddhism, are states that grant super powers or activate your ability to talk with the spirit world, and eventually gain enlightenment as single point focus is the key to everything. Whether any of that is true or not, I DO love the Access concentration states I've achieved so far, so I will be measuring ALL EEG/Brain devices by whether I'll get better at getting back to that Access Concentration state again or not.

[@ErinLawrenceTV]

Thanks for the note, and the kind words. Great feedback here.

[@Michael-ze5xw]

You know this is a real review unlike most of the KZbin reviews because there’s no affiliate link

[@stevegill7456]

I was going to buy the Muse S but now I'm having second thoughts. I have the original Muse headband (Muse 1, I guess) and it works great, although I can't use it for sleep. I learnt TM many years ago (before it became so expensive) so I tested the Muse 1 headband with that, with no session running on my phone, ie. no music, narration, etc. I was using it purely as a monitoring device. The brain waves dropped a lot lower with TM than they did with the Muse meditations I have used so far. So I can verify that at least my headband seems to be able to read brain waves reasonably accurately. Not sure what's happened with Muse S.

[@kaisonatkapow.network7001]

Can you give some names / links to good sources of learning TM ? ("I learnt TM many years ago (before it became so expensive)". Hard to tell which might be the most effective. Perhaps Muse is good place to start...?

[@sureshsarat5298]

I just bought the Muse 2. Tried it for 2 days. The first day with the guided meditation. The scores were very low. bTW, I have been doing meditation on and off for a long time now. As such, got back to my own way of meditating with the muse tracking my brain waves, and bingo .. the scores shot up. And another important point I noted. The heat beat rated were higher than the guided meditation sessions. I maintained the same breath patterns between the two days . So I think Muse 2 does track brain waves. Anyway will try more and get back

[@nc01sadh]

Can you tell me if it gives the grade of the state of the brain waves ( for e.g whether your brain is in alpha, beta, gamma or theta). Or does it even gives you brain frequency readings such as (4-8 Hz)[ Theta Waves]. I've heard that Theta Waves is the state of perfect stillness, where your mind activity is completely shut and is also considered the state of heightened joy. If not Muse, is there some different gadgets that can do similar thing as Muse but can also give the brain waves readings in frequency?

[@magneto_savage]

I work in Wallstreet and my Muse changed my life for positive I use Mendi neurofeedback and Muse meditations I also use Myndlift. It wont happen overnight you have to put the work

[@MyMuseTherapy-bt5jh]

How long did you meditate? I usually have about 200 birds/hour, but I've been meditating for 30 years... so keep training your brain. You were probably trying too hard. The longterm benefits comes from the neurofeedback it provides. In otherwords, your reward centers are activated when you hear the birds which makes you want to recreate the same brainwaves to hear them again. Some of my sessions are nonstop 🐦 🦃 🦉 🐥 🐔 🦅 🐦

[@sureshsarat5298]

Just my two cents : What is ‘being calm ‘ ?

[@ErinLawrenceTV]

Good question. Different for everyone.

[@failfection]

I'd be curious if you are stressed while working or calm. Focusing on work vs focusing on breathing could be more similar than we realize

[@ErinLawrenceTV]

Great point! I’m generally pretty chill all the time… I wonder if I could engineer my response in a different way?

[@lyndagabriel6539]

Thank you so much, I like to see the challenges with any tech I'm considering (as usual, it's in my basket as I research). This has been helpful for me to consider possible issues. I'm in the category that can still benefit, an established meditator. Now I just need to decide between the S and Muse 2... I wish I could find a video about the relative comfort... the S looks more comfortable, but your morning stigmata says otherwise! But I don't NEED the sleep part... decisions, doh!

[@ErinLawrenceTV]

Glad it was helpful!

[@whya2ndaccount]

Thanks for the review, and the end credit sequence (looks like you have a 4 legged stress reliever).

[@ErinLawrenceTV]

Haha, for sure!

[@carlocarnevali7790]

It would be very useful to compare it to the first Gen muse S that had very bad problems of durability, after just the first 2 months of use the textile sensors started to wear and tear up. Let's see if they improved on it.

[@sobeautifulsrilanka]

Seems like there are more problems with the Muse S vs Muse 2.

[@yugiohmane4716]

Yeah i own the Muse S gen 1 and it doesn't work that well and i also agree that the neurofeedback signal is that accurate in comparison to traditional feedback. What to do you think is more accurate a Ocean sound or regular feedback which is a beeping noise i think you already know it's the beeping noise. Evidently your brain doesn't respond to the signal if it's over 500ms away i that's the reason why the Muse S isn't that accurate. Trying to find a better device or a cap that covers the whole brain and has over 21 sensors not just 4 like the Muse series has.

[@ErinLawrenceTV]

Good point, thank you!

[@fabiolagarcia3504]

Good information. Thank You for your honest review. I wont definitely invest in something so expensive like that if it has all negative side.

[@mindboard8203]

Is there any good portable neurofeedback?

[@ericfresh]

Very interesting but I'll hold off for a couple years maybe gen3 or 4 will fix those issues.

[@ErinLawrenceTV]

Good call.

[@mazkebar]

Okay in ur title u stated (Gen 2), but NO WHERE in the video u’r staying Muse S (Gen 2), so this is confusing! Please clarify if it’s Gen 1 or Gen 2! Plz n thank u

[@RG-mt2yr]

Looks like a gen 2. The whole review is half arsed

[@ronm6585]

Thanks for the review Erin.

[@ErinLawrenceTV]

Sure thing Ron!

[@DrStephenT]

That black dot on your wall is very distracting but I’m now glad its not on dirt on my iPad Pro 😂❤

[@camwoo7143]

Thanks for the honest review, this is too much of a hassle. I'm holding out for that mystical "zending" machine!

[@ErinLawrenceTV]

Thanks for watching!

[@Mungbeansoup85]

This is making me feel like my meditation app + comfy noise canceling headphones is enough...

[@ErinLawrenceTV]

That’s my preference also…

[@Mungbeansoup85]

@@ErinLawrenceTV Sometimes you want to get fancy and you realize the basics are enough.

[@rontsang4308]

That indentation on your forehead...that's not good. And the gaps in the front module speaks more about poor quality than anything. Thanks for the review though.

[@Chrismyersart]

Great review!!

[@ja9pwnw119]

IS MENDI BETTER THAN THE MUSeTHEN PLEASE HELP I NEED TO KNOW TO HELP WITH MY ADICTION

[@nahdinsabla]

Did the muse sensors on the sides pick up right away? I'm having trouble with the band detecting the side sensors... I'm assuming its because it's touching my hair and not directly my skin, any suggestions?

[@ErinLawrenceTV]

I had the same issue it’s finicky.

[@ttuanmu]

I just got mine, and I plan to shave the sides of my head. 😂😂😂

[@NooneyTroll]

Thanks Erin you saved me £250 on a maybe, won't bother with it and look somewhere else.

[@ErinLawrenceTV]

Glad I could help!

[@ja9pwnw119]

The device works its just uncomfortable

[@gemsher78]

Have you tried the Mendi?

[@ErinLawrenceTV]

No. Tell me about it.

[@kjeksklaus7944]

I sent mine back as I was getting over 90% accuracy from day 1. So it was useless.

[@timjerome8942]

Thank you for this thoughtful, multi faceted and critical review.

[@ErinLawrenceTV]

Thank you so much Tim!

[@MayTheSchwartzBeWithYou]

Great review. I almost never pay attention to KZbin ads, but as someone who's been sleeping deprived ever since 7th grade (I'm in my early 30s now), I saw the ad and was ready to spend $400 on this if it actually worked. Sadly, seems like it would just be a waste of money.

[@ErinLawrenceTV]

Glad I could help!

[@muhammadibnwaraqa]

was cons the S but your vid turned me off