Muse S Athena review: Tracking brain states, sleep and now effort

Muse S Athena

8.5

Design

8.0/10

Features

9.5/10

Ease of use

8.5/10

Value for money

8.0/10

Pros

• Well built, soft headband
• Adds fNIRS for tracking mental effort
• Cognitive and recovery scoring post-session
• Accurate sleep stage tracking using EEG
• Brainwave and blood flow visualisation

Cons

• Requires open app for sleep tracking
• Acoustic feedback can be distracting at times
• Some features are locked behind subscription

Choosemuse.com

Muse S Athena review: One minute review

Muse S Athena is the most advanced version of the company’s headband to date. It brings more sensors, smarter software, and a shift toward personalised cognitive insights. I’ve practically followed this product line from the start—reviewing the Muse 2 back in 2019, when real-time EEG feedback at home still felt experimental. A couple of years later I tested the Muse S, which added sleep tracking and a softer design for overnight use. Athena feels like a natural evolution of that journey.

Back then, there were two things I felt were missing. One was the ability to track cognitive performance over time, the other was real-time access to raw brainwave data. Athena delivers both.

On the surface, not much has changed. The design is familiar, comfortable, and still sleep-friendly. But under the hood, Athena is a different animal. The addition of fNIRS gives it the ability to track mental effort, not just brain states, offering a new way to measure cognitive endurance. The company upgraded the EEG and heart rate sensors, and the device now delivers more stable, more detailed biofeedback.

Daytime meditation still shines, and the new Strength session adds a sense of challenge and progress. Sleep tracking remains a strong feature, and tools like the Go-to-Sleep Journeys and Digital Sleep Pill make it easier to drift off and stay asleep. Add in brainwave visualisation, cognitive performance scores, and solid battery life, and you’ve got a headband that’s doing more than just guiding meditation.

If you’re serious about mental fitness, this is the version to get. It’s more advanced than anything else out there, both in terms of hardware and the depth of insights it delivers.

Those ready to dive in can pick up the Muse S Athena for $474.99 from the choosemuse.com website. That’s not cheap, but given the hardware upgrades it’s arguably fair for what you’re getting. Plus there’s a 30-day money back guarantee if it doesn’t live up to expectations. The Gen 2 Muse S no longer appears on the site, so it’s likely being phased out. Muse 2 is still around and can be purchased for $249.99.

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Design & hardware
How to use for daytime meditation
How to use to enhance sleep

Muse S Athena review: Design & hardware

• Breathable stretch fabric offers a secure and comfortable fit, day or night
• Redesigned sensor pod with low-profile button and hidden LED indicators
• Includes, for the first time, fNIRS sensors
• Enhanced internal electronics deliver faster, more accurate feedback

Look & feel

At first glance, Muse S Athena looks almost identical to Muse S. The soft, fabric headband design is still here. That familiar, wraparound style remains unchanged, and if you’ve used Muse S before, Athena will feel instantly familiar.

There are a few subtle changes worth pointing out. The pod that holds the sensors has a slightly different shape, though it still snaps into the middle of the band using strong magnets. The enclosure has also been tweaked a bit.

Another tweak are to do with the multi-coloured LED lights, which are now located on the front of the pod. You’ll notice the indicators stay hidden when inactive and light up to show battery status and other basics when active. A single physical button at the bottom of the pod powers the device on or off. The main lights will turn off during sleep, but there are a two tiny LED lights on the underside that helps you confirm whether the device is running.

The strap system is still there and there was no need to change that as it works well. Clip at the back, elastic section for adjustability, soft fabric all the way around. For me it is pretty easy to get a good fit, and the strap stays in place—something that matters if you plan to use the device to track sleep through the night. With Muse devices, signal quality is import and it largely depends on proper contact with the skin.

For care, you can hand-wash the fabric band using mild, unscented detergent. Wipe the pod with a dry cloth only—avoid any chemicals or moisture. So make sure to remove the pod if you are planning any spring cleaning.

All in all, the design doesn’t stray too far from Muse S. And that’s probably a good thing. That device was already well-designed, and Athena keeps that same comfortable feel.

Under the hood

Athena takes everything Muse S did and builds on it. It keeps the same headband format and core idea of helping you train your mind and sleep better, but pushes the tech inside forward in a few important ways. This makes it feel more grown up.

The biggest new addition is a sensor called fNIRS. It tracks how oxygen flows through the front part of your brain using near-infrared light. That might sound a bit sci-fi, but the idea is simple.

EEG shows what your brain is doing and how efficiently it processes tasks through changes in brainwave activity. fNIRS, on the other hand, shows how hard your brain is working, i.e how much energy it is using. Whether you’re trying to stay focused or mentally winding down, Athena can now measure the effort behind those states, not just the end result.

With fNIRS, the idea is that with regular practice, you can train your brain to work harder and recover more quickly. A bit like lifting weights and cooling down after a workout.

The company says they’ve also improved EEG performance. The signal is now sharper and more detailed thanks to higher resolution readings and upgraded internal referencing. If you’ve used Muse before, you’ll probably notice faster signal lock and fewer hiccups during sessions.

Heart rate tracking got an upgrade too. The PPG sensor now uses three wavelengths: infrared, near-infrared, and red. This helps with more accurate heart and sleep data. On top of that, Athena uses silver-thread sensors that should hold up better over time and deliver a cleaner signal. 

Finally, they’ve also updated the wireless chip. Bluetooth LE 5.3 is faster and more stable than the older version.

As far as battery life – it is unchanged from before. You can expect around 10 hours between charges which, depending on use, is enough to get you through a few days of meditation. This sort of battery life is also good for a single night of tracking sleep. So if you intend to use the device for that purpose – you will need to charge every day.

Muse S Athena vs Muse S: the differences

Here’s a summary of the improvements Muse S Athena brings over its predecessors.

Muse S Athena review: How to use for daytime meditation

• Easy app-based setup with multiple meditation modes
• Strength session trains focus like a mental workout
• Cognitive scores offer insight into sharpness and recovery

Muse S Athena can be used for daytime meditation in much the same way as earlier models. The setup process is straightforward. Download the Muse app for iOS or Android, pair the device, and you’re good to go. Everything is controlled through the app, which is cleanly designed and easy to navigate. The default “Meditate” tab takes you straight into the available sessions.

I found the pairing process to be quick and easy. Also, I had no problems switching between my iPhone and iPad, as at times I preferred to view the results on a larger display

You’ll find the familiar options still there: Mind Meditation, Heart Meditation, Body Meditation, Breath Meditation, and Timer. Each one uses different sensors depending on the focus—whether that’s your brain, heart, breath, or stillness. They let you choose the session length and soundscape, and in some cases, you’ll get guided instructions.

The classic Mind Meditation is still my favourite. You calm your mind and the app reflects that with fewer environmental sounds. The calmer you are, the quieter it gets. Bird sounds let you know when you’re on track. You can earn badges and track progress over time. It still feels strange and a bit magical to control something with your mind alone.

The upside is that the acoustic feedback makes it really easy to catch when my mind starts to wander, and it helps snap me back to the breath pretty fast. The downside is that sometimes the sounds can be distracting on their own, pulling my attention outward when I’m trying to go inward. That said, the biofeedback does its job. It works.

Plus, if you find you would like silence while meditating – there is an option for that as well. Choose external audio sessions – without actually listening to external audio. What I like to do is, in this setting, I opt to hear the birds. They are never distracting and allow me to know when I am in deep focus.

There’s something for everyone when it comes to the types of meditations available. In fact, the variety can feel a bit overwhelming at first. It takes a few days to explore the options and figure out which ones suit you best. It’s definitely a learning experience.

And if that is not enough – you can opt for the Premium Subscription. It unlocks 500+ sessions, allows for sync with external apps and spits out some more advanced data. The good news? You don’t really need it as there’s plenty on offer without it.

What I also like are the simple explanations and tips that are sprinkled throughout the app. There really is a lot to take in and this helps to keep the learning curve manageable.

But what’s really new in Athena is how it pushes all of this further.

A new kind of feedback

As mentioned earlier – Muse S Athena introduces a new kind of feedback experience through its fNIRS sensors. These track oxygenated blood flow in your prefrontal cortex, giving you a read on how much mental effort you’re actually exerting. Alongside the standard EEG feedback, this opens the door to a new type of training: cognitive endurance.

One example is a new session type called Strength. In it, you’re asked to generate as much mental effort as possible by concentrating on the horizon in the image. Your focus propels an owl forward. The harder you push mentally, the quicker it flies.

It’s an interesting shift. Instead of just calming the mind, you’re now training it to perform—similar to how physical workouts build muscle. Your brain, like any other part of your body, needs oxygen to function. The harder you think, the more oxygen your prefrontal cortex demands. Athena measures this in real time and uses that data to assess your cognitive endurance.

It’s definitely an interesting addition. In practice, I found it works well. Having said that, I did have one session where I could not get the owl to move no matter how hard I focused. I am still not sure if that was to do with me or incorrect headband positioning.

Real-time brainwave visualisation is now part of the package

Last year, the company added a new brainwave visualization feature to its app. Which means can now see your brain activity during and after sessions, broken down into gamma, beta, alpha, theta, and delta waves. Each of these relates to a different mental state, so it gives you a clearer picture of what your brain is doing while you are meditating.

You get detailed reports after each session with this type of data, and there’s a mode where you can watch your brainwaves in real time. With Muse S Athena you can even view a livestream of your brain blood oxygenation.

All of this is definitely interesting to look at, but I haven’t found much practical use for the data yet. Maybe with more time, it’ll become more useful.

Cognitive Performance and Brain Recharge score

Worth a special mention are the Cognitive Performance and Brain Recharge scores, available exclusively on Muse S Athena. You’ll find them in the post-session reports, and they’re designed to give you a quick snapshot of how your brain is functioning that day.

Cognitive Performance uses something called alpha peak frequency, which links to focus, processing speed, and overall mental sharpness. A higher score generally means you’re more alert and better prepared for mentally demanding tasks. The system sets a baseline after a few sessions and tracks future scores against it. So this is a score that you can aim to increase over time.

Brain Recharge, on the other hand, is based on alpha power. It gives you a sense of how well-rested or mentally recovered you are—basically, your brain’s version of recovery status after a workout.

These scores are still pretty new, but I’m already finding them useful. They also signal a shift in direction: Muse is starting to move beyond just meditation and into the space of cognitive fitness. Which makes the device more useful.

On the flip side, it seems you will need a premium subscription to access these metrics. I do wish the company reconsiders and includes them as part of the free subscription – as they are very useful.

Muse S Athena review: How to use to enhance sleep

• Tracks brainwaves, heart rate, breath, and movement for accurate sleep stage detection
• Go-to-Sleep Journeys use real-time biofeedback to ease you into sleep
• Digital Sleep Pill restarts audio if you wake up, helping you drift back off

Muse S Athena isn’t just for meditation, it also tracks your sleep. You can wear it overnight or for naps, and the data it captures goes beyond what you’d get from a typical smartwatch. While I wouldn’t personally use it every night, it’s great for checking in on your sleep quality from time to time. That’s actually what InteraXon recommends.

The advantage here is that Athena S tracks brainwaves directly using EEG, along with heart rate, breathing, movement and brain oxygenation. This combination gives it an edge in identifying sleep stages accurately. The app presents everything in a clean, easy-to-read format, along with a Sleep Score after each session. It’s useful if you want more insight than what you’d get from a wrist-based device.

You’ll also find a feature called Go-to-Sleep Journeys. These are responsive audio experiences designed to help ease you into sleep. They use real-time biofeedback—your brain activity, heart rate, breath, and movement—to adjust the soundscapes and voice guidance. Think of it like a smart bedtime story that knows when you’re drifting off. You can set how long it plays, and the app fades out automatically once you’re asleep.

Comfort is better than earlier models, though it still takes a bit of adjusting to get the fit just right for overnight use. If you tend to toss and turn, the pod can shift slightly, which might end a session early. But once it’s in place, it generally stays put. For anyone curious about their sleep patterns—or dealing with sleep issues—it’s a solid tool to have on hand.

Out of curiosity, I compared sleep stats from the Muse S Athena with those from the Garmin Forerunner 955 on my wrist. The results were actually quite close. In the example above, Muse recorded a total time in bed of 8 hours and 22 minutes—just 6 minutes more than Garmin.

What really caught my attention was how closely the REM and deep sleep figures matched up, with only a few minutes difference between them. I did not expect that. The larger difference came in the light sleep and awake time categories. Muse seemed more sensitive here and did a much better job pinpointing when I was actually awake versus just in light sleep. I listen to podcasts at night and tend to have a low heart rate, which can throw off wrist-based trackers. But Muse handled this much better and felt more accurate in detecting true sleep.

Digital Sleep Pill uses smart fade technology

The Digital Sleep Pill is still here. It builds on the Go-to-Sleep Journeys with a more intelligent system that uses smart fade technology. The idea is that it not only fades out sound once you fall asleep, but it can also detect if you’ve woken up during the night. When that happens, it gently fades the audio back in—whether that’s a sleep story, ambient soundscape, or guided meditation, depending on your settings.

You can customise how long the fade lasts, the volume, and other small details. In practice, it’s a strange but interesting experience. If you’re a light sleeper or taking a nap, the audio can feel like it’s blending with your dreams. Sometimes it’s hard to tell whether you’re awake or still drifting. It’s the kind of feature that could be genuinely useful for people who struggle with falling—or staying—asleep.

A final word on safety

Safety deserves a quick mention. It’s good to be cautious with any tech that involves sensors on the head.

Muse S Athena uses passive sensors—EEG and fNIRS. That means it’s not sending any electrical current into your brain. EEG just reads the tiny voltages naturally produced by your brain’s activity. fNIRS uses low-intensity infrared light, which is non-ionizing, to measure blood oxygenation in your prefrontal cortex. Neither of these technologies is inherently dangerous. They’re also used in clinical and research settings with tight safety regulations.

So there’s no obvious reason to expect harm. Still, it’s worth being mindful of any physical discomfort, avoiding overuse, and taking breaks if you notice skin irritation or sensitivity.

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