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Overview
I tested seven white noise machines that have a real fan inside to find out how well they block different kinds of noise. I also compared the volume, main features, and how they actually sound.
You can watch the full test in the video above, or read the transcript below. There’s also an accompanying video below in which I play their sounds so you can listen to them all.
Video transcript
Please note that I made a few minor edits to the transcript and added some extra notes for clarity.
Introduction
All seven of these white noise machines have a real fan inside. There are no recordings – it’s just the authentic sound of rushing air. Four of them are made by Yogasleep. They have an adjustable tone, and they’re very simple to use with just one or two buttons.
The other three are made by Snooz. These are usually louder, but they’re also more expensive and need an app to access some of the features.
In the photo above, you can see all seven white noise machines I included in my tests. From left to right: Snooz Breez, Snooz Pro, and Snooz Original. Yogasleep Classic, Yogasleep Dohm Uno, Yogasleep Dohm, and Yogasleep Dohm Uno.
Key questions I set out to answer
Over the last 10 years, I’ve tested nearly 40 white noise machines. In this video, I’m going to test out these ones in different situations to answer some of the most important questions I have:
- How well do they mask annoying noise?
- What noise are they not so good at masking?
- Which ones are the loudest?
- Is louder always better or do any of them have a particular tone that works well even at lower volume levels?
As I’m testing them over the next couple of days, I should also get a feel for which one I think sounds best, but I know that’s a very subjective point.
So what I’m going to do is make another video that’ll publish just before this one with a longer play through of all the sounds and tones. That way, you can decide for yourself which one you think sounds best.
To be transparent, I bought six myself, but I did get the Breez sent to me as a demo because it wasn’t available where I live.
Here’s another photo of them all so you can compare the sizes. they are relatively similar in size other than the Breez. That one is probably a bit too big to fit comfortably on most nightstands if you’re using it in the bedroom.
Video play through of all the sounds and tones
In the six minute video below, I play each of the white noise machines so you can listen to the different fan sounds, tones, and volume levels. There is minimal talking from me as I wanted you to be able to focus on the machines.
Volume test
Let’s start with the test I think is going to interest a lot of people: finding out which one’s the loudest and which one’s the quietest.
Note: I recorded the volume from 1 meter away (3.3 feet) with a handheld sound level meter.
As a baseline, the average of three readings for the ambient room noise was 31.5 dBA.
The quietest white noise machine was the Dohm Classic at 54.4 dBA. The Dohm Uno was 55.2 dBA. The Dohm was 55.4 dBA. The Dohm Nova was 64.6 dBA.
The Snooz Original was 66.3 dBA. The Snooz Pro was 67.1 dBA. The Breez with the fan that doesn’t blow air was 68.8 dBA. The Breez with both fans was 70.2 dBA. Just as a comparison, my standard desk fan was 47.6 dBA.
| Reading 1 | Reading 2 | Reading 3 | Average dBA | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Room noise | 30.6 | 31.4 | 32.4 | 31.5 dBA |
| Yogasleep Dohm Classic | 54.3 | 53.5 | 55.3 | 54.4 dBA |
| Yogasleep Dohm Uno | 55.2 | 55.4 | 55.1 | 55.2 dBA |
| Yogasleep Dohm | 55.3 | 55.4 | 55.6 | 55.4 dBA |
| Yogasleep Dohm Nova | 65 | 64.4 | 64.3 | 64.6 dBA |
| SNOOZ Original | 66.7 | 66 | 66.3 | 66.3 dBA |
| SNOOZ Pro | 67.1 | 66.8 | 67.5 | 67.1 dBA |
| SNOOZ Breez 1 Fan | 68.2 | 69.5 | 68.6 | 68.8 dBA |
| SNOOZ Breez 2 Fans | 70.1 | 69.4 | 71.2 | 70.2 dBA |
| Desk Fan | 47.4 | 47.5 | 47.9 | 47.6 dBA |
So now we know which are the loudest, but are they also the most effective? Let’s do some noise masking tests to find out.
Noise masking tests
Noise test 1: traffic & birdsong through a bedroom window
Let’s start with a test in my bedroom during the daytime. About 100 meters away from my bedroom window, there’s a main road.
I can hear the traffic at the moment in the distance. You probably can’t, because my microphone won’t pick it up. There are also a few birds and occasionally some construction noise in the distance.
My rating system
In terms of ratings, I was going to give them a score out of 10 for how much noise they mask, but I’ve realised it’s very subjective and difficult to do because some of the noise is intermittent.
What I’ll do instead is give them the not very scientific but probably more reasonable ratings of: they mask some noise, they mask most of the noise, or they mask all of the noise.
Note: I later added the rating of ‘none’ and ‘none-some’ to the graphs as I thought the blocking was so minimal that ‘some’ was perhaps too much.
I’m also not going to play through all the different machines on camera for each test because it would make this an extremely long video. And I need to play around with the different volumes and tone settings to find out which ones work best.
But let’s listen to at least one, which is the Dohm Uno here, and then I’ll do the rest in my own time. Immediately, I can hear that it’s masking the noise in the distance of the traffic, but I can hear some birds still.
Results
| Machine | Light traffic (window shut) | Birds (window shut) | Distant construction, loud vehicles, sirens |
|---|---|---|---|
| SNOOZ Breez | All | All | Most |
| SNOOZ Pro | All | All | Some |
| SNOOZ Original | All | All | Some |
| Yogasleep Dohm Nova | All | All | Some |
| Yogasleep Dohm | All | Some | Some (closer to none) |
| Yogasleep Dohm Uno | All | Some | Some (closer to none) |
| Yogasleep Dohm Classic | All | Some | Some (closer to none) |
It’s taken a while, but the results are in. What I found is that all seven are able to block out all of the traffic noise. But as I said, it is quite far away, so I think if you live right next to a main road, a busy main road, you are going to hear some.
When it came to the birdsong, only the Breez, the Snooz Original, the Snooz Pro, and the Dohm Nova were able to block it all out. The other three, they only blocked out some of the bird song; I could definitely hear it.
I actually spent a couple of hours lying here in silence waiting for motorbikes, trucks, construction noise and sirens, and then turned them on as quickly as I could to see if they masked it.
What I found is that the Breez, the Snooz Original, the Snooz Pro, and the Dohm Nova were able to block out some of that more intense noise, but the others really struggled with it. So if you live somewhere that’s very noisy with very loud external noise, then I think the three Dohms, they’re really not going to do the job at all.
Even the others, you’d have to have them very close to your head, right on the nightstand for example, and on a very loud volume if you wanted to mask even most of it. So it’s a bit of an issue if you live somewhere really loud.
The photo above is a still from my video to show where I had them during the tests in my bedroom. I spent many hours lying there listening to them to see how well they mask noise with different tone and volume settings.
Noise test 2: music in adjacent room
This next test is going to be a really difficult one for the white noise machines but probably the most fun one for me, and that’s some music next door. Let’s get some drum and bass going and see if we can mask that. I don’t have my hopes up!
A bit more volume maybe? And there we go, so if you’ve got annoying neighbours or housemates playing music late at night or early in the morning, let’s see if we can mask that.
Let’s start with the Snooz. Interestingly, even on volume seven it’s blocking out the mids and the treble but not the bass. Let’s turn it all the way up and see. I can still hear the bass, so this is going to be a difficult test.
Results
| Machine | Loud music Mids & highs | Loud music Bass | Quiet music |
|---|---|---|---|
| SNOOZ Breez | All | Most | All |
| SNOOZ Pro | All | Most | All |
| SNOOZ Original | All | Most | All |
| Yogasleep Dohm Nova | All | Most | All |
| Yogasleep Dohm | Some | None-some | Most |
| Yogasleep Dohm Uno | Some | None-some | Most |
| Yogasleep Dohm Classic | Some | None-some | Most |
It shouldn’t come as any surprise then, but none of the white noise machines were able to block out all of the music. However, the Snooz Breez, the Snooz Original, the Snooz Pro, and the Dohm Nova did do a really good job of blocking out the mids and the highs. They just struggled a bit with the bass, but they did manage to block out most of it. Whether I’d be able to sleep with that or not is a different question.
The other three Dohms though – they did a really poor job. I could hear all the bass and most of the mids and highs as well, so I definitely wouldn’t be reaching for those if I had loud music.
However, it does depend on the volume and also the size of the Bluetooth speaker. I had it very loudly, and it’s a whopping great big Bluetooth speaker.
I’ve been experimenting with a lower volume level to the point where it might irritate me if I was trying to sleep, but it’s not extreme, and I have found that most of them can block out a lot of that noise. And the four most powerful ones again, the Breez, the two Snoozes, and the Dohm Nova were able to block it out completely.
This is the Dohm Nova for example. Can I hear it still? Yes, so let’s have a listen. For me, I can’t hear even the bass with the Dohm Nova at that volume level. So again, it depends very much on the size of the sound system, the type of music probably, and the volume level.
In the photo above, you can see the four Yogasleep devices. Left to right: Dohm Uno, Dohm, Dohm Nova, Dohm Classic. As you can see, they all have cables – all seven need to be plugged in to work as there are none with an internal rechargeable battery. The Dohm Uno is the only one that has just one speed option – hence the name ‘Uno’.
Noise test 3: snoring
Next up, we have the snoring test. I have a feeling this isn’t going to go too well because past experience has taught me that even having a very loud white noise machine on a nightstand on one side of you doesn’t really do a lot when there’s snoring right on the other side of you. It just kind of adds more noise into the room, but we’ll give it a go anyway.
Unfortunately for me, Irene wasn’t too keen on appearing on camera pretending to snore. Can’t think why! So I’ve got a recording of snoring instead and a Bluetooth speaker. To give you one example, I’ll play the Snooz Pro, and you can have a listen. If you’ve got headphones in, you’ll probably be able to hear the snoring. I can definitely hear it!
Results
| Machine | Loud snoring (50 dBA max) | Lighter snoring (40dBA max) |
|---|---|---|
| SNOOZ Breez | Some | Most |
| SNOOZ Pro | Some | Most |
| SNOOZ Original | Some | Most |
| Yogasleep Dohm Nova | Some | Most |
| Yogasleep Dohm | None-some | Some |
| Yogasleep Dohm Uno | None-some | Some |
| Yogasleep Dohm Classic | None-some | Some |
As I expected then, none of the white noise machines were able to block out all of the snoring, especially at that volume. In fact, I’d only say that they could block out some of it. In the case of the Dohm Classic, the Dohm, and the Dohm Uno, I think saying ‘some’ is being generous.
When I dropped the volume down a bit, and especially if I lay on this side of the bed and lay on my side and had the volume turned up on the Snooz Breez, the Snooz Pro, or the Snooz Original, or the Dohm Nova, then it did mask a lot of it – I’d say most of it.
However, I’m unlikely to spend the whole night like that. And it does mean that your partner would have to agree to have very loud white noise in the bedroom. As I said earlier then, white noise machines are not the best choice to block out snoring if it’s in the same room as you. If it’s coming from another room, sure, you might be able to block out some, but not a snoring partner.
In the photo above, you can see the three Snooz devices. Left to right: Snooz Pro, Snooz Breez, Snooz Original. All three have manual buttons for the ten speed settings. But if you want to access the auto-off timers and other features unique to the Snooz devices, you need to download their app.
Noise test 4: stomping and door slamming in a room above
For this next test, I popped round to my sister’s. She lives in a really old, creaky house with wooden floorboards and not a lot of sound insulation. So if you live somewhere with upstairs neighbours that are annoying you by walking around, this could be an interesting one.
I’ve got my little helper upstairs, and when I give him the signal, he’s going to do some stomping.
“Okay, stomp time!”
He’s very excited because I’ve given him permission to slam the doors. All right, let’s see. I’m not even sure that the Breez is going to do much about that.
Results
| Machine | Loud stomping. Machine by head. | Loud stomping. Machine end of bed. | Quiet walking. Machine by head. |
|---|---|---|---|
| SNOOZ Breez | Some | None-some | All |
| SNOOZ Pro | Some | None-some | All |
| SNOOZ Original | Some | None-some | Most |
| Yogasleep Dohm Nova | Some | None-some | Most |
| Yogasleep Dohm | None | None | Some |
| Yogasleep Dohm Uno | None | None | Some |
| Yogasleep Dohm Classic | None | None | Some |
Unsurprisingly, none of the white noise machines were able to completely block out the stomping, but it did depend on how close I had them to my head and how much he was actually stomping.
When I was lying in the bed there and I had them on the bedside table, if I had them on the maximum volume, the Breez, the Snooz Original, and the Pro, and also the Dohm Nova were able to block out quite a lot, but the others didn’t do a very good job at all.
When I had the white noise machines further away, then pretty much none of them blocked out much that would be considered a good amount of blocking.
When he was stomping around lightly, padding around lightly, perhaps if you lived in a house that doesn’t have wooden floorboards and has better sound insulation, you can just hear that dull thudding, I think they are capable of blocking out a reasonable amount.
But with wooden floorboards in an old house like this one, it’s a tricky one to block out.
Noise test 5: loud birdsong through an open window
While I’m here, I thought I’d also see if I can mask the birdsong. Being in the middle of the countryside, it’s pretty loud at the moment because it’s early spring. So let me show you through the window there, and then I’ll spend some time seeing if I can mask it with the fans.
Results
| Machine | Window open. Machine on bedside table. | Window open. Machine next to window. |
|---|---|---|
| SNOOZ Breez | All (except crows) | All (except crows) |
| SNOOZ Pro | All (except crows) | All (except crows) |
| SNOOZ Original | All (except crows) | All (except crows) |
| Yogasleep Dohm Nova | All (except crows) | All (except crows) |
| Yogasleep Dohm | Some | Some |
| Yogasleep Dohm Uno | Some | Some |
| Yogasleep Dohm Classic | Some | Some |
With the window here open, there was a lot of birdsong, and it didn’t really matter where I put the white noise machines. Whether I had them right next to me on the bedside table or by the window, it was the same story.
The Snooz Breez, the Original, and the Pro, and the Dohm Nova managed to stop all of the birdsong from reaching my ears. The only thing that would occasionally get through would be a really loud crow.
The others didn’t do a very good job at all, unfortunately. The Dohm Classic, the Dohm, and the Dohm Uno just didn’t block much of the birds. Obviously, having the windows open, which you might do in the summer, is going to make it much louder. If you’ve got them closed and you have double glazing or thick glass and well-sealed windows, then it’s going to block out a lot more.
In the photo above, I’m about to test them in my sister’s house. I went there to test some stomping and walking in a room above as there are old wooden floorboards. I have upstairs neighbours too, but they don’t make enough noise for me to reliably test the machines. The one and only time I actually wanted them to make noise!
Results recap & my questions answered
After a week of doing some very loud noise tests and just using them in my home, I now have the answer to my original questions.
1. What noise are they good and bad at blocking?
To answer the first two questions – what noise are they good and bad at blocking – I’ve split them into two groups here.
The 3 quiet machines
In the quiet group, we have the Yogasleep Dohm, the Dohm Classic, and the Dohm Uno. Unfortunately, I found that these were just too quiet to mask most noise effectively. They could mask the sound of distant traffic and some birdsong if it was through a closed window.
But with the window open, loud music next door, stomping upstairs or snoring, they just did a really bad job. So overall, I wouldn’t recommend any of these three if your main goal is to mask loud noise. I think they’re okay if you just want the relaxing sound of an authentic fan that doesn’t blow cold air around the room, but for noise masking, they’re just not up to it.
The 4 loud machines
The other four did a much better job though – the Snooz Breez, the Snooz Original and Pro, and the Yogasleep Dohm Nova. In my noise tests, I found that these four could easily mask the sound of distant traffic, and they even managed to block out some of the louder noise like motorbikes, lorries, construction noise, and sirens.
With birdsong, they did a really good job as well, and they could mask most of it even with a window open. When it came to music, as long as it wasn’t too loud, they could mask all of it, but when I turned the volume up, some of the bass still got through.
With snoring, they could mask some of it if it was loud and most if it was quiet. However, I just don’t think a white noise machine is the best way to block out snoring. You’re much better off with headphones or earplugs, and even better asking the person who snores to get it checked out if it’s very loud and consistent to rule out underlying causes such as sleep apnea.
With someone stomping around upstairs, I found that they could mask most of it if it was relatively light, but when it was very loud stomping and door slamming, they struggled with that and only masked some of it.
So again, with a white noise machine, you’d have to have it very loudly right next to you to mask stomping, so you might be better off with headphones or earplugs again.
Overall, I thought these four were very effective. However, you do need to balance the need to protect your hearing with the volume needed to mask some noise. It’s good that they all have 10 volume settings, so you can turn it down when you don’t need so much volume.
2. Is louder better or do any have a tone that works well at lower volume levels?
The next question I had was whether any of them have a particular tone that can mask noise well even on a lower volume level. Even though I found that the different tones within each device could be better or worse, overall I found that it was just simply the case that if you had louder external noise to block, you needed more volume.
Volume and price comparison table
It was also the case that the louder ones are more expensive. You can see in the table below that the louder Snooz machines are much more expensive than the quieter Dohms.
They also have more features and app controls, but if you don’t need loud volume, you can save a lot of money with one of the quieter ones.
Note: The prices in the table below were accurate on April 3, 2025.
| Average max volume (dBA) | Price (USD) | Price (GBP) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Snooz Breez | 70.2 | $199.99 | Unavailable |
| Snooz Pro | 67.1 | $119.99 | £182.66 |
| Snooz Original | 66.3 | $89.99 | £152.99 |
| Yogasleep Dohm Nova | 64.6 | $64.99 | £79.99 |
| Yogasleep Dohm | 55.4 | $49.99 | £64.95 |
| Yogasleep Dohm Uno | 55.2 | $36.99 | £34.95 |
| Yogasleep Dohm Classic | 54.4 | $49.99 | £59.95 |
3. Which machine did I like best?
Finally, which white noise machine did I like best? Well, definitely not the Yogasleep Dohm. I found that the case rattles to the point where I returned the first one because it rattled, but the second one does as well. So there’s a problem with those ones I think.
With the Dohm Classic and the Dohm Uno, I do like the fan sound, but I could hear the motor more than the others.
The Snooz Breez was the loudest, and I really like the fact that it has two fans. You can have cooling air in the summer with the fan sound, or you can just have the second fan that doesn’t blow air but also blocks out a lot of noise in the winter.
However, it’s also the most expensive and the biggest, so if you’re only using it for the sound of the fan rather than the air, I probably wouldn’t choose that one.
I really like the look and the sound of the Snooz Pro. However, it does annoy me that you have to pick it up to change the tone because the adjuster is on the underside.
That just leaves the Snooz Original and the Yogasleep Dohm Nova, which were my equal favorites. They both sound good and mask external noise really well.
If you’re in the US then they’re both very good choices. I think the Snooz perhaps sounds a bit better and is louder, but you do need an app to access the features, whereas with the Dohm Nova, the physical buttons for the timer and nightlight are right on the top.
If you’re in the UK, I’d probably go with the Dohm Nova because the Snooz devices, as much as I like them, are more expensive here. Also, mine came with a US plug, which is just a bit annoying. If you’re in the rest of the world, I’d just check the prices and the features and also which plug it comes with.
Thanks for watching the video and/or reading this article.
Sleep well.
Links to buy the white noise machines
If you’d like to find out more about any of the white noise machines I’ve discussed, or buy one, you can find them on the official company websites and Amazon.
Snooz website
The Snooz Original, Pro, and Breez can all be found on Getsnooz.com
Yogasleep website
The yogasleep Dohm, Uno, Classic, and Nova can all be found on Yogasleep.com
Amazon
They are all sold on Amazon in the US. Some countries may not have all the models, such as the Breez.
