Smart Nora Review

UPDATED Mar. 2024
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Smart Nora anti-snoring pillow system does not work for everyone. It provides snoring relief through stimulation of throat muscles. It may not work for nasal snorers, fussy sleepers or individuals with snoring issues that do not stem from tension in the upper throat.

There is nothing quite like a great night’s rest. Unfortunately, people throughout the world are plagued by issues during their sleep that can prevent them from getting proper rest. One of the most common issues that people deal with in regards to troublesome sleep is snoring. Anti-snoring technology has been on the rise in recent years, largely in the form of anti-snoring pillows, but these products have gotten mixed reviews. Today, we are going to look at a product that is praised for its effectiveness – Smart Nora. Smart Nora is a complete anti-snoring pillow system that seeks to improve your rest by pushing back against your frequent snoring problems. The Smart Nora pillow-system is one of the first ‘smart pillows’ on the market designed to directly impact the severity of your snoring. With all of this being said, keep reading our Smart Nora review in order to see if this anti-snoring device lives up to the hype.

Homepage Smart Nora
This product is ranked #1 on our Best Anti-Snoring Pillows list.

How Smart Nora Works

If you struggle with snoring, you know that you’ll try just about anything in order to make it stop. Snoring isn’t just damaging to your own peaceful night’s rest, it also impacts the people around you. For that reason, you might feel inclined to try something a little more dramatic – such as the Smart Nora anti-snoring pillow system. At first glance, Smart Nora looks like any other pillow insert that you can find on the shelf of a local store. However, this is not the case. Smart Nora is a complete snoring system that attacks your problem at several different levels. Let’s look at what makes up the Smart Nora system before going into more technical details regarding how the system operates.

Pillow Insert – The Smart Nora system starts with the basic pillow insert. This small device fits easily into the pillowcase of your favorite pillow. Using Bluetooth technology, the insert interacts with the next device on our list.

Pebble Microphone – Looking like something from a sci-fi movie, the pebble microphone is the anchor to the Smart Nora system. This little white device is seated next to your bed, near your head, where it monitors for the sound of your snoring.

As you can see, this is a relatively self-contained snoring-relief system, but how does it actually work? Smart Nora acts as a piece of smart technology that monitors you during your sleep. The microphone is under constant surveillance for the sound of your snoring. Once your snoring is detected, a signal is sent to your pillow insert by way of the Bluetooth connectivity. Once your pillow insert is triggered by the microphone, the insert begins to gently inflate and deflate in a rhythmic fashion. This inflation/deflation stimulation works to help maneuver the muscles within the upper area of your throat.

As the Smart Nora pillow insert massages your upper throat, your breath becomes steadier and gentler. This process effectively targets the problem that primarily causes snoring: stressed out airways. Once your airways are relaxed, you’ll find that your snoring begins to diminish. Once your snoring stops, the pillow slowly quits the massaging motion and you are back to a regular night of rest. As an anti-snoring device, this is a genius approach to dealing with a very real problem that plagues people of all ages and health levels.

Smart Nora Different

With the Smart Nora system laid out, you’ll probably have two primary concerns. These issues pop up frequently among people who are interested in smart anti-snoring devices, so they are definitely worth addressing.

  1. Will the massaging motion of the Smart Nora pillow insert wake you up?
  2. Will the Smart Nora microphone be sensitive enough to hear your snoring?

Let’s address question #1 first. While no two people are similarly sensitive, it is pretty safe to assume that the massaging motion of Smart Nora will not impact your sleep. The developers of Smart Nora suggest that you might need to get used to the device for the first couple of days, but after that, you will be acclimated and no longer bothered by the gentle rocking motion.

In regards to question #2, the Smart Nora microphone is extremely sensitive to noises. Still, Smart Nora allows you to program the microphone to your own needs. There are five different audio monitoring levels:

  1. Very Low Sensitivity – If you are used to sleeping with background noises, such as a TV or audio player, choose a sound monitoring setting on the lower end of the sensitivity spectrum.
  2. Low Sensitivity 
  3. Normal Sensitivity
  4. High Sensitivity 
  5. Ultimate Sensitivity – Use this sensitivity for bedrooms that are completely quiet. Your pillow insert will be triggered by the quietest of snores.

Now that you’ve become familiar with Smart Nora’s core functionality, we can move on in order to learn a little bit more about the more technical details of the sleeping aid.

How Is Smart Nora Different?

As we alluded to earlier in our Smart Nora review, the Smart Nora sleeping aid is a dramatic departure from the conventional anti-snoring technology that you see on commercials and in stores. Smart Nora’s primary goal is to approach your snoring problem without fundamentally altering how you rest or the quality of the sleep that you are pursuing. This is pretty different from other anti-snoring sleep aids.

Another tangible benefit of the Smart Nora sleeping system is that it allows you to retain your old sleeping habits. With anti-snoring pillows, you have to throw out your old comfortable pillows in order to use something that might be considered less comfortable – anti-snoring pillows are typically rather uncomfortable as they are made of special materials that are stiff and unyielding.

Ultimately, the Smart Nora system relies on smart technology in order to address your snoring problems. By using Bluetooth connectivity, smart microphones, and a specialized massaging device, the Smart Nora system is addressing your sleeping needs in the most elaborate way possible. Let us take a look at the differences between Smart Nora and other systems:

  • Retain Your Sleeping Habits – The Smart Nora system is unobtrusive which means that you do not have to change how you sleep. If you are a stomach sleeper or a side sleeper – or anything in between – you can continue sleeping like that.
  • No Uncomfortable Pillows – Ironically enough, most anti-snoring pillows are considered surprisingly uncomfortable. With Smart Nora, you can use the pillow that you’ve always liked. The Smart Nora pillow insert works with pillows of all shapes and sizes.
  • Customize Your Experience – Finally, the Smart Nora audio monitor can be manipulated in order to be as sensitive as you need it to be. With five different sensitivity settings, you can tailor the Smart Nora sleeping system to your needs.

While Smart Nora is not a perfect system, it is safe to say that it is one of the most unique anti-snoring options on the market. If you’ve tried every anti-snoring device around and want to give something new a shot, Smart Nora might be the product for you.

Smart Nora Bedsider Device

The heart of the Smart Nora anti-snoring system exists within the small bedside audio monitoring device known as the pebble, or bedsider. The bedsider is a small and ergonomic looking microphone that is placed near your bed in order to monitor your room for the sounds of snoring. The bedsider is supposedly the most advanced and integral aspect of this system – and that is something that we agree with. Without the bedsider, this system fundamentally doesn’t work. With that being said, does the bedsider live up to the expectations that the Smart Nora team have built up?

The bedsider microphone is supposed to be situated at your bedside. You can mount the audio monitor above you, on your headboard, or merely set it on your nightstand. The Smart Nora team suggests that the pebble microphone should be within four inches of your head in order to reach ‘optimum distance’ in terms of accurate audio recordings. Four inches seems a little close, however, so most users are likely going to be keeping the device at least a foot away from them at night.

One of the biggest concerns that you likely have regarding the bedsider is how accurate it is in filtering noise. Snoring, while loud, can be drowned out by the sounds of any number of other sources: fans, traffic outside of your home, television or even other people in your house. According to the Smart Nora team, the bedsider quickly adapts to these extraneous sounds before honing in on the specific sound of your snoring. While there are no specific details released in regards to this adaptability, user reviews point out that this has largely been the experience of customers everywhere.

Smart Nora Pillow Insert

What is going on underneath your head when the Smart Nora system activates? That is the question that we will now answer in our Smart Nora review. While the Smart Nora system is largely a smart system, relying on microphones and Bluetooth connectivity, the actual massaging mechanism relies on an air pump and a comfortable pillow insert in order to operate correctly.

The Smart Nora pillow insert was designed with comfort and flexibility in mind. The pillow insert easily slides into the pillowcase of your favorite pillow and it stretches from one end of the pillow to the other end. This design was intentional as the Smart Nora team wants you to be able to use the full length and width of your pillow throughout the night without giving up any of the comfortable benefits that come along with the pillow insert.

Once the pillow insert is fully inserted into your pillowcase, you’ll need to attach the air tube that the system comes with to the small pump that powers up the massaging mechanism. From the pillow insert to the pump, the pump then attaches to the bedsider audio monitor that we discussed earlier in our Smart Nora review. When all three pieces of the Smart Nora system are properly interfaced, they are immediately synced with Bluetooth technology. Now you are ready to get to sleep.

The Smart Nora pillow insert operates on a pump that has a battery life of nearly a full 24 hours. The long battery life allows you some flexibility if you are hitting the road and cannot take the entire system with you. With that being said, the Smart Nora team advises getting into the habit of sleeping with your pump powered on throughout the night. By sleeping with the pump plugged in, you don’t have to worry about dropping power through the night.

The pillow insert itself is nothing remarkable. The insert is made with a rubber-like coating and the massaging undulations are gentle and rhythmic. The biggest concern that we have with the pillow insert is that – when in motion – it might be troublesome for people who like to sleep while clutching the pillow. The Smart Nora development team assures customers that the rhythmic motion of the insert is easy to get acclimated to, but that depends from one person to another.

Smart Nora Pillow Insert

Smart Nora App

Originally developed on Kickstarter, a crowdfunding website, the Smart Nora team promised a companion application for iOS devices. At this point in time, the Smart Nora companion app for iOS devices is in the final stages of beta testing. The Smart Nora team haven’t released a specific date for when this application will go on the market, but customers are starting to get antsy in anticipation. The Smart Nora sleeping system is completely functional without using the application, but the promise of an app still has people perking their ears up.

According to Nora, when the application releases, the app will be used to monitor your sleeping statistics in order to help broadcast when you are most commonly snoring. The application will compile your sleep data so that you can reference it at a later time in order to really get a handle on your sleep-related issues. If the application is released and does all of the things that the Nora team has promised, it’ll be a game-changer for the anti-snoring industry. Still, we have to mark the Smart Nora system down a tick for not having the application available at launch.

Does Smart Nora Stop Snoring?

As an anti-snoring device, the Smart Nora sleeping system is as effective as you are going to find. While Smart Nora doesn’t address the roots of your snoring condition, it does alleviate the symptoms that manifest in your throat. Although no anti-snoring device is perfect, most users find that Smart Nora has had a positive impact in their fight against the prevalence of snoring in their lives. Is Smart Nora a one-size-fits-all product? Probably not. Does Smart Nora work to actually make an impact on snoring? Absolutely.

Smart Nora approaches the issue of snoring by addressing the most common instigator of the condition: tension in your upper throat. When your throat feels constricted, you are most likely going to trigger your snoring condition. When the Smart Nora bedsider registers snoring coming from the room, the pillow insert initiates the rhythmic massaging motion. This massaging motion, as we highlighted earlier on in our Smart Nora review, works to relax your upper throat and ease the tension that exists there.

Who Should Buy Smart Nora?

The Smart Nora anti-snoring sleeping system is primarily marketed as a ‘sleeping enhancement’ used to address the issue of snoring. Smart Nora is pretty exclusively marketed toward people who have trouble snoring. If you find that your snoring, or the snoring of your partner, has become problematic, the Smart Nora anti-snoring sleep system might be an ideal addition to your bedroom.

Considering that the Smart Nora system is on the pricier end of the spectrum, it is likely also targeted more toward people who are willing to invest heavily in addressing the problems of their snoring. While not explicitly a medical device – and not extensively clinically tested – the Smart Nora system has proven to work well in addressing snoring in the bedroom.

Finally, the Smart Nora sleeping system isn’t really considered a solution for simple sleeping problems. It is aggressively targeted toward people who want to address their heavy snoring. This product would not be an ideal addition to the bedroom for people who are simply light sleepers.

What Users Think About Smart Nora

We stressed many times throughout our Smart Nora review that the Smart Nora sleeping system is far from a perfect anti-snoring device. With that being said, customers have been effusive in praise of the device. Let’s take a brief moment to highlight a few of the most common compliments that the Smart Nora system has received before looking at a few of the more common complaints relating to the Smart Nora system.

Compliments – Customers are happy with the ability to incorporate the pillow insert into their sleeping routine without changing their sleeping position (stomach, side, hugging the pillow). Customers also like how they can manipulate the sensitivity of the bedsider audio monitor so as to get the most accurate readings throughout the night. Finally, customers are satisfied with how the Smart Nora system helps to address immediate snoring issues, citing it as a benefit to their partners.

Complaints – The most common complaint by far relating to the system is its heightened price point. The Smart Nora system is priced like a premium product, which largely puts it out of the reach for many people. Secondary complaints relating to the Smart Nora system include the lack of a bedside application for iOS devices and the inability to fine-tune the massage settings of the pillow insert.

Smart Nora Cost & Refund Policy

The full Smart Nora system comes at the premium price of $329. The system comes with the pillow insert, the pebble audio monitor, an overhead mount, a USB charger, a universal plug, and a base charger.

Smart Nora price

All Smart Nora systems come complete with a 30-night money-back guarantee. This guarantee is considered part of the ‘trial’ period which entails a full refund if you are not happy. The trial period begins the day that your Smart Nora is delivered to your footsteps.  Each Smart Nora system also comes with a one year warranty that covers a pretty extensive list of potential issues.

Smart Nora Pros & Cons

If you are still unsure if Smart Nora is right for you, check out the key advantages and flaws of this snoring aid.

Pros
  • Immediately addresses snoring problems as they happen
  • Elaborate ‘smart technology’ caters to your sleeping environment
  • Comfortable pillow insert is easy to adapt to
  • 30-day free trial period with a full refund
  • 1-year warranty on the entire system
  • Proven to be effective
Cons
  • System is not affordable for everyone
  • Sensitivity levels can be difficult to dial in
  • Lack of iOS application support

Verdict

When you look for an anti-snoring solution, your hope is to find a product that uniquely and acceptably addresses the problem that you have been dealing with. While there are plenty of anti-snoring solutions on the market, the majority of them fall into the gimmick category. We have seen how ineffective anti-snoring pillows can be. We have also seen how cumbersome other snoring ‘solutions’ can be when incorporating them into your sleeping routine. The Smart Nora system is the first anti-snoring solution that addresses snoring in an instantaneous way so that you can get the sleep that you deserve while also helping your partner to get a solid night’s rest. While we do have issues with the Smart Nora system, we have to admit that Smart Nora seems to do its job better than the competitors. Smart Nora seems like the perfect solution for people who have tried everything else and just want something that works.

User Reviews (8)

Smart Nora customer rating based on 8 user reviews.

The Smart Nora reviews listed below reflect the opinions and experiences of real users and are in no way influenced by the company reviewed here. Before publishing each review, our team checks whether it was submitted by an actual user in an effort to prevent false or spammy reviews.

  1. Anne | February 26, 2021

    My grandchildren used to want me to shut my bedroom door, because I snored so loud now they will sleep in the same room

  2. DBR | December 24, 2020

    After trying other snoring solutions (chin strap, nose plugs, etc.), my wife & I are very grateful to be able to sleep in the same room thanks to Nora! I am the snorer and I feel more rested and with more oxygen after a night’s sleep now. My wife also sleeps way better and that is the best part. It definitely takes a few weeks of getting used to, but after that you barely notice it during the middle of the night.

    Pro tip: Cover the Pebble with a sock so the light doesn’t disturb your sleep.

  3. Wesley Peixoto | May 19, 2020

    I have mild sleep apnea, and I used it for 30 days. Per my wife, it did not ‎help at all my snoring. Customer support could be better since I tried to return it without success. They have some base to refuse because I asked to return after 60 days, and their policy is 30 days, although I placed the order on 02/20/2020, and on 02/11/2020, they had a 90-day Money-Back Guarantee offer. When I realized it did not work, it was in the beginning/middle of the Covid-19 crisis, and leaving the house to a UPS post was not recommended.
    The policy was made to allow customers to evaluate it for 30 days, what I did. A company that truly values their customers may consider a different approach. I’m disappointed with the product and with SmartNora’s core values.

  4. Brian Turner | June 1, 2018

    I ordered Smart Nora at the point when my wife could no longer stand the scary sounds I was making throughout the night. I’ve tried everything from chin straps to pillow wedges and nothing worked. Smart Nora started working right away. My wife noticed significant change the very first night and now, two weeks later, I’m getting seven hours of quiet sleep out of eight total.

  5. Sharon Simms | April 30, 2018

    I was a bit reluctant because of the price, but I finally bought it for my hubby 10 days ago. He hasn’t stopped snoring completely, but believe me, there’s a huuuge difference. He used to snore so loud, I’d wake up more than 5 times a night. Now, I sleep like a baby and he says he feels much better rested too. So happy I decided to give it a try!

  6. Tony Farley | February 7, 2018

    Whoever invented nora is a genius. Everything else I tried was either useless or so uncomfortable I’d rather snore. I have been having serious snoring problems for years, I can’t explain how good it feels to be able to sleep well again.

  7. Marshall Mathison | January 22, 2018

    Is it worth the cash? Well, if you only snore occasionally and it doesn’t bother you that much, then I guess no, because you probably don’t even need a snoring aid. I used to wake up at least a couple of times during the night, so I’d gladly spend three times as much just so I don’t have to go back to being tired all the time.

  8. Stella Osborne | January 17, 2018

    First off, yes, it does work. BUT this thing was so hard to set up that I almost gave up. Too sensitive, not sensitive enough, it was frustrating as hell.

  9. Richard Dahlin | January 9, 2018

    Didn’t work for me. Was a Christmas present that my wife bought for me. Didn’t know it had a 30 day return policy that was way expired from time she bought it and time she gave it to me for Christmas. I used it for 15 days and found it to be uncomfortable and woke me up when bag inflated. When I tried to return they took hard line that it was passed the 30 days so tough luck. Let the buyer beware. I would not recommend this company!

  10. Gavin Olson | August 9, 2017

    Can’t believe I finally get to say this – it works! Tried a bunch of other snoring aids, including chin straps, this is the only one that worked. 10 out of 5 stars!

  11. Barry Morgan | June 1, 2017

    My wife says I snore less, but I still wake up exhausted. Not sure what to think.

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