Owlet vs Miku – how do these smart baby monitors compare?
Bringing a new baby home from the hospital causes a flood of emotions. New parents feel love, joy and excitement but also heavy responsibility and worry. When the health and safety of your child become the highest priority, it is easy to feel panicked and unsettled. I was terrified!
Enter Smart Baby Monitors. These products have cutting edge technology that can take some of the stress out of the newborn stage. If you’ve been researching baby monitors you’ll know that two baby monitors, the Owlet Dream Duo and Miku Smart Baby Monitor are at the forefront of Smart Baby Monitor technology.
Trying to decide between the Owlet Dream Duo and Miku Smart Baby Monitor? Read on to learn about their features, differences, and get all of the information you need to make an informed decision.
Note: this blog post probably contains affiliate links, which means we may receive small commissions from purchases made through links in this post (at NO extra cost to you). You can read our full disclosure for more information.
TL:DR (too long, didn’t read)
Short on time? Ultimately, we decided that the Miku Smart Baby Monitor was the best buy because of customer service and reports of Owlet false alarms. You can check it out here on Amazon.
Do I *Really* Need a baby monitor?
Baby monitors have been around less than a hundred years. In that time they have progressed from a simple two-way radio, to live video feed, to current amazing smart baby monitor technology. Many smart baby monitors include sensors that monitor sleep, breathing, heart rate, room temperature and humidity levels, and provide tracking methods so you can analyze your baby’s sleep patterns. Whew!
There is no question that baby monitors make life easier. They allow you to move around the house more freely, knowing that you can hear and respond to your baby quickly.
Most parents will tell you that anything that makes life with a new baby easier is a good thing! It is easy to understand why a baby monitor should be on your must-buy list.
But which baby monitor is the best buy? Keep reading to learn more about the Owlet Dream Duo and the Miku Smart Baby Monitor and decide if these Smart Baby Monitors are the right fit for your family.
Owlet Dream DUO Review
The Owlet Dream Duo includes a wearable sock, base station and wall mountable video monitor.
Owlet Dream DUO Important Features
Video monitor features include:
- Two-way talk capabilities (talk to your baby through the speakers)
- High Definition Video (1080P) with 130 degree view
- High Definition Night Vision
- Temperature and humidity sensor for baby’s room temperature
- The camera can be mounted on the wall with a safe wall mounting kit
- Encrypted connection to prevent hacking into your baby’s camera
- Access the video feed via an app on your smartphone
Dream Duo features include:
- Measures the baby’s heart rate
- Notification on the base station and app if your baby’s oxygen or heart rate levels leave “safe” zones
- Keep track of sleep quality and total hours slept (it’s logged automatically for you.)
- App for viewing data and video
- HSA/FSA approved
How does the Owlet Dream DUO work?
The Owlet Dream Duo uses “wearable technology.” The sock is strapped onto your baby’s foot during nap or night time. The sensors relay information, including the baby’s heart rate, to the base station and an app on your smartphone.
Owlet Dream DUO Pros/Cons
Pros
- The newest design (Dream Duo) promises a better fit for the baby’s foot and improved accuracy
- Peace of mind knowing that you’ll be notified if anything changes with baby
- The ability to know and analyze your baby’s sleep quality and trends
Cons
- Users report that false alarms occur when the sock isn’t properly on the baby’s foot
- Alarms can cause increased anxiety for parents
Miku Smart Baby Monitor Review
The Miku Smart Baby Monitor is a single unit that mounts to a wall and uses special technology to monitor the baby with no physical contact.
Miku Smart Baby Monitor Important Features
- 5 megapixel video camera with 130 degree view
- High Definition Speakers
- Two-way talk capabilities (talk to your baby through the speakers)
- Four Core Qualcomm Processor works in real-time, whether or not you have an internet connection (you do need to have WiFi though). Information will be stored and then relayed to your smartphone once the WiFi is reconnected.
- High Definition Night Vision
- The temperature and humidity sensor lets you know the conditions in the baby’s room
- Measures baby’s respiration rate (RPM) inhalations and exhalations
- Measures the baby’s heart rate
- Monitors for baby’s movement, and notifies you if they wake up
- Notification capabilities through the app. You can choose which notifications/alarms you want
- View Sleep quality and total hours slept
- Built-in white noise
- Choose soothing sounds or create a lullaby playlist on the app. The sounds or songs play through the Miku speakers
- Miku’s Artificial Intelligence is constantly being updated. Software updates happen automatically.
- The camera can be mounted on the wall, or put on a stand – you can even take it on holidays with you!
- App for viewing data and video
- High Security “Crypto-Chip” to prevent hacking into your baby’s camera
- HSA/FSA approved
How does the Miku Smart Baby Monitor Work?
The Miku Smart Baby Monitor is contact-free monitoring. This means that all of the data is collected using their proprietary “SensorFusion technology.” With a birds-eye view from the mounted Miku Smart Baby Monitor, the Miku video camera uses optical sensing via radio waves to detect motion, breathing, audio, and nursery conditions.
This information, including your baby’s breathing RPM, heart rate, and amount of sleep, is then sent to an app on your smartphone.
How does the Miku Smart Baby Monitor Charge?
The Miku Smart Baby Monitor is not wireless – it runs while plugged into an electrical outlet. There are options for mounting the 5” x 2.8” unit on the wall or a stand.
Miku Smart Baby Monitor PROS and CONS
Pros
- Contact-free monitoring
- Choice of what notifications/alarms you want
- Miku offers a 20 percent discount to students and teachers, nurses and military and first responders
Cons
- Not supported outside of the United States and Canada
- Requires a smartphone for use
- Doesn’t measure oxygen levels
Why Use a Smart Baby Monitor instead of an audio or video monitor?
The different types of baby monitors come with drastically different price tags. Simpler audio or video baby monitors might be sufficient for your family depending on the layout of your home and your personal level of worry.
You might want to purchase a smart baby monitor if:
- Baby’s sleeping area is far away from where you sleep or are doing your daily activities
- Your concern about your baby’s health while sleeping is causing you to miss sleep and/or feel anxious
- You would enjoy tracking and analyzing your baby’s sleep patterns
You might think about waiting on a smart baby monitor if:
- Baby is sleeping in the same room as you (and you don’t feel anxious)
- Your living space is within hearing distance of the place where baby naps
- “Information overload” stresses you out
Audio or Video baby monitors are a useful tool for basic monitoring of your baby. Smart Baby Monitors like the Owlet Dream Duo or Miku Smart Baby Monitor provide a much broader range of information and can give you comfort knowing that your baby is being constantly monitored while they sleep.
How to Choose Between the Owlet or the Miku
The Owlet Dream Duo and Miku Smart Baby Monitor both provide useful information and peace of mind for parents of newborns. With a very similar price tag when choosing between the two you may want to consider:
- Do I want/need to track heart rate? (Choose Dream Duo)
- Would I use white noise/lullaby music? (Choose Miku Smart Baby Monitor)
- Would false alarms from wearable technology placement worry me too much? (Choose Miku Smart Baby Monitor)
- Do I want access to video capture for 30 days? (Choose Miku Smart Baby Monitor)
Smart Baby Monitor FAQ
Is it worth buying the Owlet/Miku?
Many parents who use Smart Baby Monitors say that the cost is worth the peace of mind they get from their baby being constantly monitored while sleeping. If you have a lower penchant for worry, or have your baby sleep in the same room as you, purchasing a Smart Baby Monitor might not be the best investment
Do pediatricians recommend the Owlet/Miku?
The American Academy of Pediatrics released a statement regarding Smart Baby Monitors. It says, “There is no evidence that the use of infant home apnea monitors decreases the incidence of SIDS and should not be used routinely for this purpose; however, they might be of value for selected infants at risk for apnea or cardiovascular events after discharge.”
The AAP also says that a home apnea monitor may be needed and prescribed by a doctor if: Your baby needs home oxygen or your baby has serious breathing problems.
Can these baby monitors prevent SIDS?
In short, no. Smart Baby Monitors can alert you to changes in your baby’s breathing or oxygen level, but they cannot definitively prevent SIDS.
The Owlet website states the product is “not as stringent as a medical monitor.” and “Do not use the Smart Sock if your doctor recommends the use of a hospital apnea monitor or hospital pulse oximeter.”
The Miku website states that [the] “Miku baby monitor is not a medical device and is not intended to diagnose, cure, treat, alleviate or prevent any disease or health condition or investigate, replace or modify any physiological process. You are responsible for the health and wellbeing of your baby and following safe sleep, health, and care guidelines.”
Will these monitors tell you if baby stops breathing?
The Owlet Dream Duo will sound an alarm through the base and your app if your baby’s status changes.
The Miku Smart Baby Monitor sends an alert for sleep apnea pauses that are longer than 20 seconds.
Do these monitors give false alarms?
Previous versions of the Owlet Smart Sock were reported to have many false alarms. This led to a class-action lawsuit filed in April 2019 alleging that “the monitors tend to report false alarms, often multiple times per night, that fill parents with fear and anxiety about their babies’ health.” The previous version was also discontinued in the USA after the FDA determined that Owlet was required to register its product as a medical device. Note the current version for sale in the USA has had the oxygen saturation measuring feature removed.
On their website, Owlet says that sock fit/placement is the #1 reason for false alarms. They also cited other reasons the sensors might not work properly including sickness, movement that isn’t the baby (baby swing etc), higher elevation, and baby’s foot temperature. As a mom and Owlet Smart Sock user, I found false alarms to be very infrequent so I didn’t mind too much. I would rather be woken for a false alarm than a missed alarm!
Some users of the Miku Smart Baby Monitor report false alarms in that the “No Movement” alarm goes off when you remove the baby from the crib for diaper changes and feedings.
Conclusion
No baby monitor can replace the careful observation of loving parents. The Owlet Dream Duo and the Miku Smart Baby Monitor can work as a companion to careful parenting and help reduce stress you might feel when your baby is sleeping.
The incidents of reported false alarms with the Owlet Dream Duo make the Miku Smart Baby Monitor the better choice between the two.
Miku’s superior customer support, easy set-up, sound and music capabilities and contact-free monitoring make it the clear winner in this Smart Baby Monitor comparison.