Nanit Sound and Light review

Price on writing: £100

Overal rating:

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What we like

Several useful functions in one machine
Allows you to programme in a routine for your baby
Unit is battery powered and holds a charge for up to eight hours
Offers a good option for parents who want to reduce tech
Audio quality is good, the monitor picks up baby cries very clearly even with white noise in the background

What we don't like

Would benefit from a two-way talk feature
Lack of video means it's not ideal for parents who want to keep an eye on their baby while sleeping - and although it is compatible with the Nanit Pro Baby Monitor, we found it a little clunky while trying to integrate the two machines
The audio monitoring occasionally dropped out without notification during testing

Key specs

*We found it worked as long as we stayed within range of our wifi, including in the garden

How we tested the Nanit Sound and Light

I tested the Nanit Sound + Light monitor over a period of three months when my baby was aged from three to six months old. During this time we used the monitor in a variety of different locations to better understand how easy it was to transport, set up and use when out and about. I took a variety of notes on the monitor's stand out features, reliability and overall quality.

Read next: The best cribs and travel cots for peaceful nights

How easy is the Sound + Light to set up and use for the first time?

You can plug in and turn on the sound and light machine very easily. There’s a power switch at the base of the speaker and an On/Off button at the top of the unit. Two discreet buttons at the back of the machine can be operated manually to adjust the light and sound.

The functionality really opens up when you use it with the app, where you can adjust the light and sounds, activate the baby monitor function and set up cry notifications - but this all takes a bit more effort to set up.

Once you've downloaded the Nanit Sound and Light app onto your phone, you follow the on screen instructions to set up a wifi connection. It didn’t connect straight away, but after a few tries we were able to get it working. Overall the app is fairly intuitive to use, we were able to set up sound and light customisations in under five minutes.

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Are the instructions for the Nanit Sound + Light easy to understand?

The unit doesn’t come with paper instructions, instead there’s a QR code that directs you to download the sound and light app (available on Apple or Android) and a link to further instructions.

The instructions within the app are really clear and even troubleshooting a failed Wifi connection was fairly straightforward. All in all I think it’s reasonably intuitive to use, though I’m not sure my mother-in-law would agree.

Mumsnet editor Tina

Nanit Sound + Light

£100

Buy now from Amazon

If you’re looking for a baby monitor that can be passed on to baby sitters or inlaws to use, I’m not sure this one is a good fit. Guests need to download the app onto their phone and then be given access by the main account holder, I didn’t even bother trying this with my technophobe in-laws. Thankfully the buttons on the machine are easy enough for anyone to get the hang of.

How does the monitor look?

I really like the look of the Nanit Sound and Light, it’s small enough to carry with you if you’re going away for the weekend and all the touchpoints feel really well made.

I like that you can adjust almost everything on this machine, the colour of the light from bright white to deep blue, the nice variety of sounds - we mainly used pink noise but there are also waves, wind, a tumble dryer, birds rain, even a shh-ing sound. You can also change the brightness of the clock display - which was especially helpful when we were using the Nanit in our room

It’s bigger than a lot of other white noise machines or night lights but it offers so much more flexibility than an ordinary sound and light machine, so it’s probably a bit unfair to compare it to a run of the mill white noise machine like the tommee tippee dream maker because there really is no comparison; the speaker quality, ease of use and customisable features of the Nanit make it a far superior machine, but it will set you back £100 instead of a bargain £20, so it’s worth considering if this is something you really want to invest in.

Read next: The best cot bed mattress, bunk beds and blackout blinds for peaceful nights

How sturdy is the monitor?

All the touch points on the sound and light machine feel really well made and work flawlessly. The stubby little Nanit box isn’t particularly but weighty enough to feel like it won’t break easily. That being said - it’s going to need to be a gadget that’s out of reach for children, a toddler could probably cause quite a bit of damage with it.

MNHQ tester Tina

Nanit Sound + Light

£100

Buy now from Amazon

How does the monitor work? What’s it like to use day to day?

Day to day it’s fairly straightforward to use. You pre-save your favourite settings so that they turn on by simply touching the top button on the unit. You can also adjust the sound and light using the buttons on the back of the machine.

Alternatively you can use the settings on the app to turn it on remotely. The baby monitor function needs to be turned on in the app, you can either have it on all the time or use the cry notifications to be notified when content sleepy babbling turns into crying.

I find it much nicer to get an alert than having to listen to the white noise machine through the speaker on my phone in the evenings.

Having said this, there have been a few times when the cry alert has taken longer than I would have wanted to notify me. So this function may not suit parents who want to have ears on their baby at all times.

On a few occasions the audio monitoring has dropped out without notifying me, I’ve had to restart the app to get it working again. It’s not a huge issue for us because our house is fairly small, but if you’re looking for 100% reliability on audio monitoring the Nanit isn’t quite there yet.

Is the WiFi connection secure?

As much as I love a good gadget I’ve had concerns about using a wifi enabled listening device in our nursery - with so many alternative options it seems like an unnecessary risk. However Nanit pride themselves in offering ultra secure connections and that gave me some peace of mind about using it. Additional security features include two step verification, and really clear privacy settings that allow you to give and remove access to others in your parenting team.

Read next: Discover the best baby sleeping bags and mattresses for kids

Does the monitor have good video quality?

There isn’t any video functionality with the light and sound machine, but you can use a Nanit Pro camera alongside the sound and light machine if you want to. When we tested integrating the two machines, we found it a little clunky.

You need to use a separate app for the camera and then you can adjust some of the sound and light settings in the camera app, but not all of them. It all seemed a bit overkill.

MNHQ editor Tina

Nanit Sound + Light

£100

Buy now from Amazon

The Nanit camera on its own has loads of really clever features, so if you’ve already invested in that, it’s probably not worth splashing out on their white noise machine.

What is the audio quality like on the Nanit Sound + Light?

The monitor audio quality is quite good, even with the white noise machine on in the background the monitor picks up babbles and cries really clearly. For a £100 audio only monitor I would have liked to have two way talkback functionality.

The actual speaker is really good, the sound quality of the white noise machine was much nicer than the dream machine that we tested.

Related: The best baby blankets, kids' weighted blankets and toddler beds according to Mumsnet

What are the unique selling points of the Nanit Sound + Light?

The unique thing about this baby monitor is that it’s not really a baby monitor at all. It’s more like a white noise machine and night time light with the additional functionality of a baby monitor.

It’s a very clever machine and for parents who aren’t keen on video monitoring, but want to minimise the tech in their nursery this could be a really good option.

Night light, sound machine, temperature tracking and monitor rolled into one. The cry notifications are really useful, and you can set up bedtime and morning routines where the light slowly turns on or off to signal to your baby that it’s time to wake up.

The routines are a nice idea, but you have to set them up to go on at a certain time, which is great in theory but which baby in the world actually sticks that closely to a timed schedule? I would have liked to be able to just turn on night time wind down mode, or nap time lights instead of having to programme them into a specific time of day.

One other nice feature is that you don’t have to plug it in to use it. It’s got a battery life of about eight hours so if you’re napping in different parts of the house it’s easy to just take it along with you.

What is the range like for the Nanit Sound + Light?

The monitor signal works as long as you're in range of your wifi - we could turn the listening functionality of the monitor on in our garden, which was very helpful.

Unlike the Nanit camera, where you can watch your baby cam wherever you are - you can’t use the listening functionality of the Sound and light machine when you’re out and about and someone else is looking after your baby.

MNHQ editor Tina

Nanit Sound + Light

£100

Buy now from Amazon

However if you have cry notifications enabled you’ll still get them when you’re out of Wifi range. I found this quite unhelpful actually, it was hard to get a cry notification and not know whats happening or be able to do anything about it. So I tried to remember to turn them off if someone else was looking after DS.

Is the Nanit Sound and Light worth it?

If all you’re looking for is an audio baby monitor then this Sound and Light machine probably isn’t the device for you. The Motorola AM21 Digital Audio Baby Monitor, our best monitor for under £30, would probably be a better choice.

I think the Nanit sound and light does a pretty good job of getting all your bases covered in one unit: night light, white noise machine, temperature and humidity tracker and a monitor all in one, sleek nicely made rechargeable unit.

If sound quality matters to you then this is a really good white noise machine, with a nice light that can be adjusted to suit your needs - and I can see us using this well into the toddler years to help with wake up times.

Overall verdict:

While the Nanit Sound and Light is expensive for an audio-only baby monitor, its additional features offer a lot to like. I love that the unit is rechargeable. You can use it plugged in, in one space, but if you’re napping in different parts of the house you can easily take it along with you. I also really like the cry notifications, much nicer than having to listen to the dull hum of white noise through a baby monitor all evening.

I would have liked to see a two way talk back feature on the monitor and I think the routines functionality is a good idea, but would be more useful if they could be enabled at any time rather than having to be tied into a specific time. Sometimes bedtime starts at 6:30, sometimes it starts at 7pm. In all the ways that you can customise the Nanit Sound and Light, I would have liked the machine to be flexible enough to cope with that too.

If you haven’t already discovered the wonders of pink noise (like white noise but easier on the ears) or still need a night light for your nursery, then this is a really fun gadget that’s well made and built to last.

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About the author

Tina Williams is the Head of Editorial Content at Mumsnet where she leads a team of expert writers and editors to develop Mumsnet Swears By, the home for product reviews and buying advice, where parents test and recommend the products they love. She was previously Mumsnet’s Head of Reviews and developed a comprehensive testing system to rigorously test baby essentials and new product innovations.

About Mumsnet Reviews

All Mumsnet product reviews are written by real people after weeks of research and testing – this includes recommendations from the Mumsnet Talk boards. We work hard to provide honest and independent advice you can trust. Sometimes, we earn revenue through affiliate (click-to-buy) links in our articles. However, we never allow this to influence our coverage.