Goodness, y’all… it’s crazy to think that baby girl #2 will be here in less than 2 months! Where has the time gone?! I wanted to sit down and share my thoughts on one of the most asked about baby products… baby monitors! I’ve always said I feel like monitors are so tricky to nail down the perfect one for you because there are just so many different features and SO many different options depending on what you’re looking for.
Today I thought it would be helpful to share a comparison between two monitors I have tried with Wyatt and give you my honest feedback about both! I hope you find this helpful! I am going to be comparing the Cubo Ai Sleep Safety Bundle (Cubo Ai Plus baby monitor + sleep sensor pad) and the Owlet Dream Duo (baby monitor + Owlet sock). Let’s get started!
First, I thought it would be helpful to provide a breakdown of the features, which you’ll find below:
Cubo Ai Plus baby monitor key features:
- Ai Baby Safety Detection: covered Face, Rollover Detection, danger Zone Detection
- HD Night Vision
- Photo capture
- Sleep analytics and 18 hour play back
- Built in lullabies
- Two-way audio notifications
Owlet baby monitor key features:
- HD 1080p video with night vision
- Two-way audio to your smartphone over a secure, encrypted WiFi connection
- 130 degree wide angle view
- 4xzoom
- Room temp sensor
- Sound and motion notifications
Product Comparison: Cubo Ai Sleep Safety Bundle vs. Owlet Dream Duo
Here are my thoughts on the two monitors:
I think both are great options for a baby monitor. Each one covers the bases as far as basic features you want in a baby monitor. But I thought it would be helpful for me to highlight the differences to provide the fullest picture on what you would be getting out of both options.
Features
I’d say that the Cubo Ai Plus baby monitor overall offers more features than the Owlet for the price. I’d also say it’s a better baby monitor for anxious parents. Nothing beats the peace of mind that the Ai Baby Safety Detection features and alerts provide. This technology detects safety concerns with covered face alerts, rollover detection, and danger zone detection. However, I will say this can also be a con for those who find advanced technology operation complicated and difficult to use. In order to utilize these alerts and notifications, you have to set up boundaries and zones which takes some extra work. But, once everything is setup as preferred, it truly is a great feature to have that gives parents peace of mind. But if you are someone who prefers just the basics in a baby monitor, the Owlet Dream Duo may be a better option for you.
Analytics
I also really love the sleep analytics and 18 hour playback features of the Cubo Ai baby monitor. When adjusting routines and determining sleep patterns during sleep training, this made perfecting sleep windows a breeze. I could easily review the exact sleep windows as well as compare and contrast changes to her routine to improve Wyatt’s sleep. These analytics are based on your baby’s movement and sounds which are detected by the camera view on the baby monitor, so keep in mind it’s not always perfectly precise. But for parents that thrive on analytics, this is an amazing feature to have.
In comparison, the Owlet does not have anything like this built into the app of the baby monitor. In order to obtain additional analytics, baby must be wearing the Owlet smart sock monitor, which is a device worn on your baby’s foot. With the Owlet Sock, you add additional analytic features like baby heart rate and oxygen levels. I loved being able to track these additional features with the Owlet sock, but I also found the Owlet sock a pain to use at times because Wyatt never loved wearing it. I also think there is a risk of misplacement and the potential for the device to move and set off false alerts, which was always scary for me as a new parent.
Quality of Camera, Views and Night Vision
Another thing I wanted to touch on is quality of camera, views and night vision capability. I personally feel the Cubo Ai baby monitor stand gives a better wide angle view of your baby and the crib area, and the night vision is incredible (much better than the Owlet in my opinion). However, I do wish that the Cubo Ai monitor had the ability to toggle and zoom like the Owlet baby monitor. I don’t think this is a necessary feature to have since you already have an incredible view with the Cubo Ai, but it certainly would be a nice feature to add.
Wifi Connectivity and App Use
Both the Cubo Ai baby monitor and the Owlet baby monitor require connectivity to wifi to work and use your phone as the monitor screen to view your baby, so there aren’t a lot of differences in that aspect of the monitors. However, I will say that I found the Owlet monitor to have connectivity issues more often that the Cubo Ai when logging into the apps.
Price Comparison
Price comparison: the Cubo Ai Sleep Safety bundle is $449 (monitor + sleep safety sensor) vs. $399 for the Owlet Dream Duo (owlet duo that includes monitor and owlet smart sock). The Cubo Ai Sleep Safety bundle comes in about $50 more expensive than the Owlet Dream Duo, but for the additional features, lack of technical difficulties and convenience of not having to use a wearable sock, I feel the Cubo product is worth the additional cost. If you are cost conscious and want a no frills simple monitor and don’t mind the extra step or putting a sock on your baby every night, the Owlet may be a better option.
Cubo Ai Sleep Sensor pad vs. Owlet Smart Sock
Lastly, I wanted to share my comparison between one of Cubo’s newest devices, the Cubo Ai Sleep Sensor Pad, and the Owlet Smart Sock:
The Cubo Ai Sleep Sensor pad is a non-contact option to track your baby’s sleep patterns. You simply place the sensor pad under their mattress and the pad sends your Cubo app notifications about your child’s sleep. The technology detects micromovements in your baby’s sleep and notifies parents when it cannot detect anything in the crib, letting parents know if their baby is breathing or not.
I believe that the fact the Cubo Ai Sleep Sensor pad is non-contact is a great feature. As I mentioned above, Wyatt didn’t always love wearing something on her foot to sleep. Sometimes, this made the Owlet Sleep Sock more trouble than it was worth in my opinion. The Cubo Ai Sleep Sensor pad was designed to not interrupt your baby’s natural sleeping patterns, which I really like. I also appreciate that the Cubo Ai Sensor pad is essentially a “set it and forget it” tool. It’s one less thing to remember when putting your little one to bed.
One downside to the Cubo Ai Sleep Sensor pad is that it is less of a preventative device as compared to the Owlet Smart Sock. The Cubo Sleep Sensor pad is designed to help you learn and track your child’s sleep patterns, but does not have the same safety tracking and notifications the Owlet Smart Sock has such as monitoring heart rate and oxygen levels.
Finally, here’s a price comparison between these two devices. The Cubo Sleep Safety Bundle is $399 compared to the Owlet Dream Duo at $399. Again, the Cubo bundle is comparable in price to the Owlet bundle.
Overall, I don’t think you can go wrong with either of these monitors or their smart device counterparts. It all just depends on what features are most important to you! I hope you found this blog post to be helpful! Comment down below if you’ve tried either of these monitors and what your thoughts are!
Thank you to Cubo Ai for sponsoring this blog post. Despite being sponsored, I always give my honest feedback regarding products and all opinions are my own. Thank you for supporting the brands that make this blog possible.