The SNOO Smart Sleeper Bassinet, Tested and Reviewed by Two Moms

In a nutshell:
The SNOO Smart Sleeper Bassinet is a game-changer for new parents. We trialled the SNOO with two families and both of our testers appreciated the user-friendly app, innovative cry detection technology and the soothing range of motion. But as our product testers and survey respondents note, these features come with a high price tag.

The early days of parenthood require a lot of baby gear, including a few furniture items you’ve probably never shopped for before—like a bassinet. Considering that the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends room-sharing for the first six months (at least) of your child’s life, a bassinet offers a more compact, newborn-friendly sleep space for little ones. And when it comes to bassinets, one name always seems to rise to the top: The SNOO Smart Sleeper Bassinet.

The SNOO has earned high praise from new and seasoned parents alike; many even credit it as the reason they’re sleeping an extra hour or two every night. And it’s a hit with us our product testers too, earning it a Best of The Bump award two years in a row.

Curious about whether it actually gets the job done? To get the lowdown on how it really works for families, we asked two independent product testers to try the SNOO with their newborns. Below, find an honest SNOO bassinet review—including pros and cons to consider, technical specs and additional input from members of The Bump community.

How Does the SNOO Smart Sleeper Bassinet Work?

How We Tested the SNOO Smart Sleeper Bassinet

To figure out whether the SNOO is truly at the top of its class:

• In 2023 we enlisted the help of Caitlin H., an independent product tester and mom of three, including a one-month-old. She used the SNOO in her own home—for naps and nighttime sleep—and reviewed it for ease of assembly, features, effectiveness, smart functionality, portability, style and design and value for money.
• This year we conducted a second review of the SNOO with Shawna C. and her 6-week-old baby. As well as assessing the testing criteria listed above, Shawna provided feedback on the bassinet’s app and sleep analytics, cry-detection technology and range of motion. Shawna then rated the SNOO for each category on a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being the worst possible score and 10 being the best.
• We surveyed over 300 members of The Bump community, and asked them to tell us about their favorite bassinets. Several comments from parents who used the SNOO are included alongside our product testers’ review.

Editorial integrity is at the heart of everything we publish. Read about how The Bump develops and reviews all articles, including product reviews.

Happiest Baby SNOO Smart Sleeper Bassinet Review

Ease of use

Both testers gave the SNOO a top score for assembly and ease of use. “It was a very easy assembly job that only took one person to put together,” says Caitlin, noting that it took approximately 10 minutes to assemble the SNOO. “This bassinet was super-easy to assemble,” agrees Shawna, who said the assembly took her 15 minutes. “The bassinet needed to be upside down for you to assemble the legs. They clicked on super-easy and my 5- and 3-year-old actually helped me put them on,” shared Shawna.

“We were able to use the written instructions that came with the product and they were very clear and straightforward,” says Caitlin, who noted that she didn’t need to watch any videos or seek third-party guidance while assembling the bassinet. Shawna also said the written instructions were easy to follow and exact.

As this is a smart bassinet, the set-up process is a little more complicated than a regular bassinet. “You do need to plug it in, but the instructions explain it exactly,” says Shawna. “The lead was a great length and the bassinet comes with a cover that slides on one of the bassinet legs for you to run the power cord through, so you don’t even see the cord,” continues Shawna.

“The bassinet did need to be synced with my WiFi, which was simple and easy,” adds Shawna. “I found the app fast on my app store and once it was downloaded it walked me through how to set it all up.”

Once assembled, the SNOO is easy to use and care for. “This bassinet has been pretty easy to keep clean,” says Shawna, who has simply used a wet paper towel to wipe it down.

Shawna’s rating: 10 out of 10

General features

“The bassinet had so many desirable features,” gushes Caitlin. For starters, “this bassinet came with the SNOO swaddles for all different sizes and that is one of my favorite add-ons for this one,” shares Shawna. “[The bassinet] lays flat and you can attach a swaddle to the sides, so you’re confident baby is laying on their back, and is safe,” adds Caitlin.

“The sides are mesh, however it’s thick and too hard to see much through it,” says Shawna who said she couldn’t really see her baby through the side walls while laying beside him. On the plus side, Shawna said “the mattress was firm, yet still soft enough for my baby.”

“I don’t think you were able to adjust the height for this bassinet, it seems to be one height and that’s all,” says Shawna. “It also doesn’t have any storage, but the fact that it has so many amazing smart options makes up for that,” concludes Shawna.

Shawna’s rating: 10 out of 10

Smart features

“We loved all the smart functions that this bassinet offered,” says Caitlin, who especially enjoyed the app’s sleep analytics (more on that later). “This bassinet was amazing,” exclaimed Shawna. “When it detected restlessness or crying it would start to slowly move and shush the baby back to sleep,” she explained, adding that the SNOO’s cry-detection technology was intuitive and knew exactly what to do. “There were different sounds to pick from such as lullabies and white noise,” and you can select your preferred motion setting based on baby’s preference. “My baby seemed to enjoy the white noise over any of the music provided,” adds Shawna. She also liked the fact that “the bassinet times out and stops once he falls back asleep,” as this was a feature that worked well for her family.

“I would say 75 percent of the time it soothed him before he started crying worse! The other 25 percent he was too worked up and wasn’t able to stop,” explains Shawna. “We also love how the bassinet detects the baby crying and the rocking automatically starts to soothe the baby back to sleep,” adds Caitlin.

Another smart feature both parents liked was SNOO’s weaning mode, which helps babies transition to a crib by gradually reducing the rocking motion in the run-up. “We love that there is a feature to gradually help a baby adjust to no motion if needed before transitioning to a crib,” explains Caitlin.

Shawna’s rating: 10 out of 10

Range of motion

“This bassinet rocked side to side and also had a vibration setting,” explains Shawna, adding that her baby seemed to enjoy both of these options but preferred the side-to-side motion. “The motion was super smooth and definitely helped my baby as if I was rocking him back to sleep,” continues Shawna. Caitlin also described the rocking feature as “smooth” and “loved how you can change the intensity of the rocking.”

Shawna also drew attention to the “motion limiter for smaller newborn babies.” This feature limits the rocking motion to the lowest three levels, which young infants may prefer. Some parents worry about the level of noise generated by smart bassinets, but Shawna said it didn’t make any squeaky or mechanical noises while in motion.

Shawna’s rating: 10 out of 10

App and sleep analytics

When you purchase the SNOO, you gain access to a 9-month premium subscription to the Happiest Baby app—but parents who don’t have a free subscription can also pay as they go.

“When you download the app it makes you create an account and enter your baby’s information, such as age and sex,” explains Shawna, who used the app on her Apple iPhone. Some phone apps can be a pain to set up and use, especially for sleep-deprived parents. But with regards to the Happiest Baby app Caitlin said “the app is very easy to use, and we had no difficulty.” Shawna found the app a little complicated to use at first, but once she got the hang of it she agreed that “everything was pretty simple.”

“The app that comes with the bassinet is very useful in tracking sleep and when the baby needs soothing the most,” says Caitlin. One of the biggest plus points of the app is the daily sleep log. “It shows a bunch of insights such as the total hours slept and the longest hours slept,” explains Shawna, who was also a fan of the app functionality. Caitlin used these custom sleep analytics to gain a better understanding of her 4-week-old’s sleep patterns. Right off the bat she “noticed some nights he could sleep until 3 a.m., but some nights he was waking up around 12:30 a.m. and whining.” Caitlin found this helpful because, “as a mom it’s sometimes hard to know when to let your baby cry a couple of seconds and when to jump up and get them immediately. The tracking features reassured me that he could sleep longer stretches of time and he was often easily soothed back to sleep by the SNOO if he woke up at 12:30 a.m.”

On top of accessing the daily sleep log, parents can also customize the bassinet’s settings and operate the SNOO from the app.“You could change almost any setting in the app, it was super user-friendly,” says Shawna. “The app has a pause button right on the homepage, which is super functional and easy to use,” concludes Shawna.

Shawna’s rating: 10 out of 10

Effectiveness

Shawna said her 6-week-old son “definitely slept better with this bassinet” and gave it a top score for effectiveness. “Once I put him in the swaddle attached to the bassinet and turned it on with the white noise, swaying and vibration he looked around a little and slowly fell asleep,” shares Shawna. Although Caitlin also found the bassinet effective she noted that “it was sometimes difficult to get the swaddle as tight as we would like, but our baby adjusted quickly.”

“The SNOO bassinet is very effective at calming down our baby,” adds Caitlin. “Especially in the middle of the night when he eats and doesn’t want to go back to sleep, the gentle rocking motion is very effective in putting him back to sleep, which allows us to get more sleep!”

Based on her positive experience, Shawna told us that she will “keep my child on this bassinet for as long as he fits it.”

Shawna’s rating: 10 out of 10

Style and design

“I love the aesthetic of this bassinet,” says Shawna. “The white mesh and the wood bottom are perfect together,” and Shawna notes that the bassinet would fit into any nursery and look amazing. “The bassinet is very sleek and appealing to the eye, yet feels sturdy—I’m never worried about my baby not being safe,” agrees Caitlin, who also gave the SNOO a top score for style.

In terms of size, Shawna says “this bassinet was a great size for my 6-week-old” but notes that it may be too small by the time her child hits the 5 month mark. According to Caitlin, the SNOO is”small enough to fit in our bedroom without taking up too much space, but big enough that our baby will have plenty of room to grow in it.” Caitlin also notes that “the legs are directly under the bassinet, so they don’t take up extra space.”

“The bassinet isn’t super-portable, but it is easy to move around in the same room,” says Caitlin. “It was heavy, but not too heavy that I couldn’t move it or needed help at all with it,” confirms Shawna. “The height of this bassinet was perfect and easy for me to bend over and pick him up,” says Shawna who also didn’t have any issues placing her child into the SNOO.

Shawna says that “if I would change anything it would be to not have a cord and to use batteries, so it didn’t need to be plugged in.”

Shawna’s rating: 9 out of 10.

Value for money

Shawna’s verdict on the price? “I think this is an amazing bassinet! That being said, I do think it’s a little expensive.” Especially as Shawna notes that additional crib sheets and sleep sacks are sold separately. Caitlin agrees that the price is “the biggest downside of the product.”

However, both our testers felt that some parents may be able to justify the price. “I think if you use it from when your child is a newborn, or if you plan on having multiple kids use it, it can definitely be worth the money,” says Caitlin. Shawna said that she loved all of the features and “would definitely purchase this if it was on sale.”

With all that said, both of our testers loved the SNOO and Caitlin points out that “there’s no price you can put on getting a good night’s sleep!”

Shawna’s rating: 8 out of 10

Summary

Both Shawna and Caitlin would recommend the SNOO to family and friends. Shawna says “I would definitely recommend this bassinet!” And Caitlin backs this statement, saying “I would recommend this bassinet, because getting sleep as a new parent is so important.”

In summation, Shawna says “all of the smart features definitely come in handy especially with a newborn.” And Caitlin ended her review by saying: “The bassinet helps me have peace of mind, and the app functions help me analyze when my baby is waking, and when he needs extra soothing. The bassinet also helps the baby get down for naps, so I can have a free hand while he’s soothed by the calming rocking and white noise!”

Shawna’s average rating: 9.5 out of 10.

More Thoughts From The Bump Community

In addition to Caitlin and Shawna’s SNOO reviews, we received feedback from other members of The Bump community in a survey conducted in 2023. Like our independent product tester, they all have firsthand experience with the product. They shared what they loved about the SNOO—plus, what could be improved. Here’s what they said:

Pros

Cons

*Note: Some names have been changed due to privacy requests

About the writer:
Martina Garvey is an editor at The Bump, where she writes and edits e-commerce content for pregnancy, postpartum and parenting. Over a nine plus year career in educational publishing and digital media, Martina has developed a keen eye for detail and robust reporting skills. As a staff member on The Bump for over four years, she leverages an in-depth knowledge of must-have baby gear that parents can trust.