Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I'm writing this review after having completed 50 sessions with the product. First I'll say that overall I am very pleased with it. I have minor critiques, but they are just that - minor. Since the product includes hardware and software, I'll review both. The hardware: The headset has a difficult task in reading brainwaves but it does it quite well for the price. Patience is required to ensure a proper connection with all the sensors. Many people will not have that patience. Ironically, those without patience are the ones who could benefit from Muse the most. With that said, proper use should be within the capability of most people. Although the built in batteries last a reasonable amount of time between recharges, I find that accuracy suffers as they lose their charge. This is no surprise, but the charge indicator function seems to give a slightly optimistic appraisal. Plan on recharging at 50% or earlier if you want accurate feedback. For anyone thinking this is too much money for a neurofeedback device, keep in mind that professional devices are well over $1000. Bluetooth connection is simple to setup and seems to work fine. The worst issue with the hardware is that you may have to put a fair amount of time into each session to ensure you get good contact. If that bothers you, then neurofeedback probably isn't for you. The software (the app): The app is very well thought out. I particularly liked that it "unlocked" new features after you accumulated a certain amount of success. Ample settings are provided to suit your needs. My favorite features are the tracking of data. These are all time and date stamped and kept online associated to your account. This is accessed on the app itself. I would love it if the data could be exported or at least be reviewed on a computer. Maybe they will add that in the future. My next favorite feature is the bird feedback. After a certain amount of time spent in the "calm" mental state, you are rewarded with the sound of birds chirping. Personally I find this more helpful in terms of feedback than the wave sounds. This opinion may change if I can improve my meditation skills from their current state. The app has had a couple of minor bugs, but they are not deal breakers. It allows you to set weekly goals. After setting a weekly goal, the setting stayed on the default value when it was supposed to have changed at the beginning of the week. The next week, it changed to the value I set - a minor annoyance. Another bug which remains currently is that the audio sometimes drops out for a couple of seconds right at the end of a session. Again, not a deal breaker - just a minor flaw. When the app was updated I was optimistic that bug would be fixed, but it was not. If it never gets fixed, it won't affect my usage. Overall I rate the app highly for what Muse says it will do. Overall opinion: The Muse headband and Calm app do what they claim very well. I only rate this 4 instead of 5 because I would love to have the option for more advanced feedback. I've been interested in meditation and neurofeedback for almost 30 years. I've done a lot of research into professional EEG equipment for meditation usage and the price has always been prohibitive. Muse has been the first company I've seen to offer a quality product for a price I can justify. Ideally though, the app would offer feedback and/or data regarding the specific brainwave patterns it reads (Alpha, Beta, Theta etc...). Also, a computer interface would be the icing on the cake - as more expensive EEG units offer.