Muse S Athena review 2025

In the modern fast-paced environment, I continuously seek solutions that would help me avoid distractions and stay focused. This search first led me to try the Muse S Gen 2 headband, and now, the newer, more accurate Muse S Athena, equipped with improved EEG technology and cutting-edge fNIRS sensors.

In this Muse S Athena review, I want to share how this device helped me meet my meditation, sleep, and wellness goals. I also worked with the Cybernews team to compare my experience against expert reviews and research.

To put things into perspective, almost a third of US residents do not get enough sleep, according to the National Sleep Foundation. The Muse S Athena aims to address this with improved sleep and stress tracking, enhanced electroencephalographic (EEG) sensors for brain wave monitoring, and functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) sensors to measure blood oxygen levels and blood flow. I found the fNIRS data especially useful – it gave me insight into how deeply I was focusing and where I needed to improve.

Athena also tracks heart rate, respiratory rate, and body movement, combining this with real-time audio feedback through the Muse app, updated with an additional mental strength training program.

While Muse S was promising, the upgraded Muse S Athena takes it further. Here’s what I learned after using it for a month.

Overview of Muse S Athena

Muse S Athena is designed to help you improve sleep, reduce stress, and boost mental focus through real-time feedback and personalized coaching. The soft, stretchy headband fits comfortably and comes in two colors, opal and carbon. Building on earlier versions, Athena improves key features and adds new cognitive fitness tools targeting focus, endurance, and recovery.

The device uses advanced sensors to monitor your brain activity, blood oxygen levels, heart rate, and movement. This data tailors your sessions through Muse's AI-driven Foundational Brain Model (FBM), trained on more than 80,000 EEG recordings.

Lastly, the Muse app ties it all together. During guided sessions, it listens to your brain waves and adjusts the audio live to help you relax and stay focused. The app also includes game elements to keep you motivated and supports both open- and closed-eye modes – a feature exclusive to Athena.

Take a look at the table below for more specifics.

Price	$474.99/$519.98
Claimed benefits	Improved focus, sleep, mental endurance, and recovery, potential anxiety reduction, meditation training, health data tracking (heart rate, breathing patterns, brain waves, blood flow, blood oxygen levels, and movement)
Technology	Electroencephalography, photoplethysmography, gyroscope, functional near-infrared spectroscopy, accelerometer, Smart-Fade feature, and Bluetooth
Mobile app integration	The Muse mobile app, which allows pairing with audio apps like Apple Music, Calm, Spotify, etc.
Country of origin	Canada
Certifications	Certified by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), Underwriters Laboratories (UL), and the European Conformity (CE)

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Pros and cons of Muse S Athena

How I evaluated the Muse S Athena device

I combine work with studies, so sleepless nights and periods of exhaustion are no strangers. Although I never had issues falling asleep, I noticed I regularly wake up after midnight if I stress too much. That's why I was eager to try out the Digital Sleeping Pill (DSP) feature, designed for full-night rest, and see if it could help me fall asleep faster and stay asleep longer.

The new headband also interested me, since I was curious if it wouldn’t make my head hurt after wearing it for hours on end.

I also wondered how the battery life would hold up in practice. While 10 hours sounds like a lot, I wasn’t sure how it would hold up.

Besides the above, I decided to test out the daily meditation sessions. Because I often switch from work to studies, I struggle with clearing my mind for new tasks. Remaining calm, productive, and focused is essential for both these aspects of my life, not to mention overall well-being.

I went into this determined to find out if Athena offered any real benefits. So, I closely examined the guided track options, app navigation, headband comfort, and the remaining nooks and crannies. Additionally, the Cybernews research team and I reviewed online feedback to compare my experience with others.

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How does Muse S Athena headband work?

Muse S Athena includes silver thread EEG sensors, new fNIRS sensors, and upgraded PPG technology. Combined with an accelerometer and gyroscope, it provides comprehensive, real-time biofeedback. Brain wave and blood flow visualizations are available live.

The most notable new installments in the Muse S Athena model are the fNIRS sensors. Unlike EEG, which only shows that you are focusing, fNIRS shows exactly how much your brain is working to focus. It does this by tracking your blood flow and blood oxygen levels. The logic behind this is simple – the more you use your brain, the more oxygen it will demand. In the Muse app, this is called a Strength session, a game where you make an owl fly with just your mind. Afterward, you get a score and a breakdown of your brain activity during the session.

Like all other sensors, fNIRS is active during the night. It records things like oxygen dips, which add more detail to your sleep report. The EEG sensors measure Delta, Theta, Alpha, Beta, and Gamma brainwaves. These electrical pulses are recorded in hertz (Hz) and translated into waveforms that show your emotional and mental state. Like Muse S, Muse S Athena also uses audio feedback to guide you into relaxation or focus.

For example, if the device senses that you are distracted, it will automatically play rain or wind sounds to remind you to focus on breathing. The Muse app grants access to over 500 guided meditations (with a premium subscription). These meditations each serve a specific purpose: sleep, focus, stress reduction, emotional control, and more.

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What are the potential benefits of using Muse S Athena?

Interaxon, the brain’s behind the device, claims that using Muse may help enhance your sleep health, cognitive fitness, and relaxation. Let’s look at what we know.

Stress detection and reduction

Do you need to become more aware of your stress levels? Scientific studies in 2022 using a Muse headband propose that it can detect stress with accuracy rates of over 93%. Muse also received user praise for its ability to reduce stress in individuals, with 77% of its users reporting better stress management and 78% mentioning they feel more relaxed and calm.

Improved focus

The components of cognitive fitness are focus, endurance, and recovery. A study on mindfulness meditation training suggests that it improves executive attention. Users seeking to enhance their concentration may find Muse S Athena a helpful meditation and focus aid. So far, 72% of users noted better focus and clarity, as per the 2021 study led by Western University, Cambridge Brain Science, Hatch, and Interaxon.

Improved sleep quality

A customer research study proposes sleep quality improvement in 20% of respondents.

While the initial number might not present much, Muse devices are still capable sleep trackers, with 86% accuracy in identifying sleep stages, according to a 2023 study by Interaxon. Thus, users seeking to assess their sleep health may appreciate the Muse S and Muse S Athena headbands.

How to use the neurofeedback system

Using Muse S is straightforward enough. Here’s how to set up and use Muse S for use with guided meditations:

1. Download the Muse app. Visit the App Store or the Google Play Store to download the official Muse app.
   
2. Turn on the Muse S Athena device. Click the button on the underside of the Muse pod – the main part of the headband. The headband should flash blue cascading lights while it seeks to pair with your mobile device via Bluetooth.
   
3. Check the Muse S Athena battery level. Click the power button twice to check the battery level of the headband. Two lights indicate a full charge.
   
4. Connect the Muse S Athena headband to the app. Ensure that Bluetooth and location services are active on your mobile device. Afterward, on your Muse S Athena, click the Bluetooth icon on the topleft of the Muse mobile app screen.
   
5. Fit the Muse S Athena on your head. Extend the headband so it’s slightly larger than your head. Next, place the headband along the middle of your forehead so it’s not too high up (near your hairline) or too low (touching your eyebrows). Ensure that there’s no hair between the sensors and your skin.
   
6. Conduct a sensor check and calibration of Muse S Athena. The app will automatically check and calibrate your headband's sensors, which will take about a minute. Muse recommends letting your mind wander during this step to establish a baseline for your meditation session.
   
7. Start a meditation on the Muse app. Select the Train tab and locate Guided Meditations under More Experiences. Then, tap the meditation you would like to do, like Happiness or Resilience, and press Start Session to begin.
   

Muse S Athena headband price

There are two options available when purchasing the Muse S Athena. Here’s what they include:

	Device only	Bundle & save
Product	Muse S Athena device and USB-C charging cable	Muse S Athena device and 1-year premium Muse app subscription, USB-C charging cable
Price	$474.99	$519.98
Return policy	30 days	30 days
Warranty	1 year	1 year

Muse comes with a 30-day refund period, a 1-year warranty, and free shipping in the US, UK, Canada, and most EU countries.

If you didn't get the Bundle option, you will need to purchase the premium version of the app in order to enjoy its complete list of features. Below are the membership subscription prices:

• $12.99/month
• $49.99/year

You can keep using Muse S Athena without a subscription, but you do need to subscribe to enjoy these features:

• Pair Muse S Athena with external meditation, audio, or music apps
• 500+ guided meditations
• New meditations released monthly
• Personalized Alpha Peak score and cognitive assessment
• Access to your Brain Recovery Score

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My experience with Muse S Athena

My month-long experience with the Muse S Athena headband and its app was overall a positive one.

Firstly, I was satisfied with my first tries at guided breathing meditation. I did daily 20-minute meditation sessions whenever I felt distracted.

I found the Muse app very beginner-friendly, as it kept alerting me of the correct way to relax my breathing. What's more, it did so by changing what sounds it plays, instead of interrupting meditation with words. The same applies to its other meditation types as well.

Getting used to short daily meditation sessions was easy. I particularly enjoyed app gamification, which gave me rewards if I stayed relaxed and controlled my breathing for the majority of 20 minutes. It also made it easier to jump to unfinished tasks afterward, as it simply helped me clear my mind.

I also tested out the Strength session game, which took some initial finessing. I wasn’t sure how exactly to move the owl with just my mind, but it got easier the more I tried it.

During my sleep, I used its Digital Sleeping Pill feature. It's a smart feature designed to help you fall asleep by actively monitoring brain waves and adjusting relaxing content and volume. This time, I chose nature soundscape tracks instead of guided meditation, as I believed it would be more efficient.

The experience was twofold. I have to admit that falling asleep felt a bit unnatural, but Muse activated soothing tracks during my midnight wake-ups. Since my mind tends to wander a lot, quickly falling back asleep made a difference in my sleep quality, and I generally felt more rested in the morning.

The headband is lightweight and comfortable. I didn’t notice any onsets of headache, tightness, or itchiness after wearing it for longer periods. But the battery was disappointing. If I charged it in the morning and used it consistently throughout the day, I had to charge it again for the night if I wanted to use DSP. I was afraid it might die on me otherwise.

Does using Muse S Athena have any drawbacks?

Muse S Athena uses EEG and fNIRS sensors and audio feedback technology, both of which are generally safe. Still, it is best to consult with a healthcare provider before purchasing any health tech device to ensure it will not cause any adverse effects, interfere with existing medical conditions or treatments, or provide misleading results that could impact your health decisions.

Additionally, while the Muse S Athena headband has FCC, UL, and CE certifications, it does not have FDA clearance or approval. It is not a medical device and should not be used to treat, prevent, or cure any conditions or diseases.

Like with most neurofeedback devices, the research is still in its early stages and thus not entirely persuasive. In the future, it would be good to see Muse S Athena tested thoroughly by third parties so we could validate the generally positive user experience with scientific data.

Lastly, the battery concerns. Muse S Athena requires a constant Bluetooth connection with your smartphone, which can drain the phone’s battery. The headband also needs to be charged before use, as it only has a 10-hour battery life.

Muse S Athena compared to other neurofeedback devices

How does Muse S Athena compare to other popular neurofeedback devices? Check out this comparison table:

Brand	Muse	Sens.ai	Mendi	BrainTap
Price	$474.99 (device only), $519.98 (bundle)	$1500	$299	$907
What’s included	Muse S Athena headband, USB-C charging cable/+ 1-year premium app subscription	Sens.ai headset, 60-day free membership, GeniusPulse™ controller, hard-shell travel case, charger with regional adaptors	Mendi headband, charging cable	BrainTap headset, 1-year subscription
Main technology	EEG, fNIRS, and audio feedback	EEG and tPBM	fNIRS	Audio-visual brain entrainment
Battery life	10 hours	Unspecified	60 sessions	5 hours
Warranty	1 year	1 year	Unspecified	1 year

Glossary: EEG – electroencephalogram, tPBM – transcranial photobiomodulation, fNIRS — functional near-infrared spectroscopy

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What do customers say about the Muse S Athena device?

Muse has a 3.5-star rating on Trustpilot. Buyers enjoy its accurate sleep tracking feature and meditation programs, helping them lower their stress levels. Users also report that the headband is comfortable to wear, even during sleep, and the app's audio feedback is relaxing.

Additionally, customers seem to agree that the Muse S Athena is an improvement over earlier device versions with fNIRS implementation, allowing for new training sessions and biofeedback.

However, users also report issues with customer service and Bluetooth compatibility.

Muse S Athena review: is it worth it?

Overall, the Muse S Athena is a pricey but worthwhile investment for mindfulness exercises and sleep. Because meditating is a highly personal experience, its 500-track selection ensures that most users can find one that helps them relax efficiently.

I particularly liked the Digital Sleeping Pill feature, which helped me control my post-midnight wakeups. Although it did not eliminate them, it helped to rock me back to sleep, instead of letting my mind wander somewhere else. In general, I would say that Athena’s sleep features are especially advanced compared to other devices on the market, as it combines EEG and fNIRS for a truly detailed experience. Despite the battery concerns, Muse S Athena offers a range of potential benefits. Use small, comfortable earbuds for night audio sessions or find a calm environment for brain training or meditation, and explore how Athena can support your wellness journey.

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