Overview
I tested five different white noise machines, plus a white noise app on my phone, a Bluetooth speaker, and a smart speaker to see which one is the loudest and how well each can cover up other noises around me. The goal was to find out which device works best if you want to block outside sounds and get a quiet, peaceful environment.
If you want to watch the full test, you can find the video above. Or, if you prefer to read, I have written everything down below so you don’t miss any details.
If you’re in a hurry, you can jump straight to the results section. There, I also included links to help you learn more or to buy any of the white noise machines I tested.
white noise machines, a phone and bluetooth speakers
Introduction
Hi, I’m Ashikur Rahman from sleepbetter.com. In this blog post, I wanted to try and compare how well different devices can mask or cover up noise. I tested five white noise machines, one white noise app on a smartphone, a Bluetooth speaker connected to the phone, and a smart speaker.
Many people ask me, “Why should I buy a white noise machine when I can just use my phone or a speaker I already have at home?” It’s a good question.
There are several reasons why a white noise machine might be better. Usually, a good white noise machine has better speaker quality. That means the sounds it makes are clearer and more natural. It can also get louder than a phone, and it usually does a better job at covering up background noises.
But once you add a Bluetooth speaker to the phone, things change a lot. Bluetooth speakers often have much better sound than phone speakers.
So, I decided to do some simple tests right in my bedroom to show exactly what I mean. This way, you can see which devices work best and why.
My plan for the tests
Not every device plays the same kind of sounds. For example, two of them (the Snooz and the Dohm Uno) only use a real internal fan to create white noise instead of playing recorded sounds. So for each device, I picked the sound option I thought would be best for blocking noise.
I used a decibel meter, which is a tool that measures how loud sounds are in decibels (dBA). I measured the loudest point of each device over a few seconds to get a fair idea of volume.
But just measuring loudness isn’t enough. I also paid close attention to how well each device blocked outside noises coming through my bedroom window, like the hum of air conditioning and some traffic noise far away.
To make things harder for the devices, I played loud dance music with strong bass from my TV in the next room. This would test if the devices can cover up even tough sounds like music with heavy bass.
I put the decibel meter on my bed pillow, because that’s where I’d be listening, and placed the devices on a table about three meters away near my bedroom door — basically between me and the TV.
If you want to learn more about each device, their features, or the different sounds they can make, I will share links to my full reviews later. But for now, let’s start with the first device.
1. Baseline test: the ambient bedroom noise
First, I wanted to measure the normal noise level in my bedroom without any white noise machines running. I had my decibel meter ready and then went next door to turn on the TV with music playing.
The meter showed 43.8 dBA. This means the quiet background noise from outside and the music next door combined comes to about this loudness. This number helps us compare how much louder each device is compared to the quiet room.
If you watch the video, you’ll hear some music faintly in the background. But when I’m speaking, I made sure to pause the music so you could hear me clearly. I also measured the decibel meter readings over longer times but edited the video to show only short clips so it wouldn’t be boring.
2. LectroFan Evo white noise machine
The first white noise machine I tested is the LectroFan Evo. I had high hopes for it because it’s known to be loud and have great sound quality. It has many different sounds including different white noise types and fan noises.
When I tested it, the decibel meter showed 77 dBA. That’s very loud, and honestly, it felt quite loud to listen to as well.
It did a great job of blocking outside noise. I couldn’t hear any sounds coming through the window at all.
When it comes to the music playing next door, I couldn’t hear the lyrics or most of the high-pitched sounds, but the bass still came through a little bit. This wasn’t a surprise because bass is harder to block.
This made me curious to see if any other device could block bass better. I suspected the Sony Bluetooth speaker might be the only one with a chance.
If you want to learn more about the LectroFan Evo or listen to some of its sounds, I have a full review linked in the video.
3. Dreamegg D11 white noise machine
Next, I tested the Dreamegg D11. This is a cheaper white noise machine and doesn’t have many sound options. I chose the simple white noise sound to test.
It measured 70.2 dBA on the decibel meter. That’s fairly loud, more than I expected for such a small device.
It blocked noise coming through the window okay, but I could still hear the bass and some of the music from the next room.
If you want to know more about this machine or hear its sounds, check out my detailed Dreamegg D11 review.
4. Samsung Galaxy S8 phone + ‘white noise generator’ app
Now I tested using a phone. I used a Samsung Galaxy S8—not the newest phone, but not very old either.
I used an app called ‘white noise generator’ that you can find on the Google Play store. It’s simple to use—you can tap buttons to select different noises and even mix them. For this test, I played pink noise and brown noise together.
The phone’s speaker reached 70.9 dBA, which was louder than I thought it would be.
However, it didn’t block the music well. I could still hear the lyrics and bass clearly. I think this is because the phone’s speaker is more directional—it sends sound mostly in one direction rather than filling the whole room.
The next test was to connect this phone app to a Bluetooth speaker and see how much better that would be.
5. Sony SRS-XB12 Bluetooth speaker + Samsung Galaxy S8 phone + ‘white noise generator’ app
Here I used the same phone and app but played the sound through a Sony SRS-XB12 Bluetooth speaker.
I chose this speaker because it is about the same size as many white noise machines, easy to carry, and reasonably priced (around $60).
I didn’t want to use a very expensive speaker because that wouldn’t be a fair comparison.
When I tested this setup, it reached 73.6 dBA, which is quite loud, though not as loud as the LectroFan Evo.
More importantly, it did an excellent job blocking out the music from next door. When I was sitting in my bedroom, I couldn’t hear any music at all, not even the bass.
So, this setup looks like a winner for sound masking.
Since testing, I’ve used this little Sony speaker in my home office and really like it. If you want a good Bluetooth speaker that won’t break the bank, this one is worth considering.
6. Lectrofan Micro 2 white noise machine
Next, I tried the tiny Lectrofan Micro 2. This is one of the smallest white noise machines available.
I didn’t expect it to be very loud or block much noise, but I like this one for travel or small spaces.
It reached 69.3 dBA, which was not as loud as others, but still good for its size.
It blocked most music and ambient noise except for the bass, which I could still hear.
If you want to hear more about this small machine, check my full Lectrofan Micro 2 review.
7. Snooz white noise machine
The Snooz uses a real internal fan to create white noise, with no recordings or speakers.
It measured 66.4 dBA, louder than I expected for a fan-based device.
It blocked the outside air conditioning noise well, but the music from next door was still quite clear.
This machine is the most expensive internal fan style I found and includes volume control, which many don’t have. That helps with masking noise better.
If you like fan sounds for relaxing, this is a great choice. But if you want to block louder noises, recorded sound machines may be better and cheaper.
More details and a demo are in my full Snooz review.
8. Dohm Uno white noise machine
The Dohm Uno is another internal fan machine, and I used an older model with the Marpac label (now called Dohm Uno).
It was the quietest machine tested at just 55 dBA.
It didn’t do well at blocking music next door — I could hear everything clearly.
It can block some outdoor noises, but is better for gentle relaxation rather than masking loud sounds.
If you want to know more, see my comparison of the Dohm Uno and the newer Rohm model.
9. Echo Dot 3rd Gen + pink noise from Spotify
Lastly, I tested the Echo Dot (third generation), a smart speaker I use at home.
Despite being small, it has a good quality speaker. I like it for listening to music like jazz while I cook or relax.
I played pink noise from Spotify through the Echo Dot.
It reached 74.2 dBA, which was quite loud and filled the room well.
It blocked outside noises and most of the music next door, but like many devices, some bass still got through.
If you already own a smart speaker, it might be enough for white noise without buying another device. You can find lots of free white noise sounds online for it.
Results and conclusions
Now, let’s look at all the results side by side by the loudest decibel reading each device had.
The loudest was the LectroFan Evo at 77 dBA.
Next was the Echo Dot with 74.2 dBA.
Then the Sony Bluetooth speaker with 73.6 dBA (playing from the phone app).
The phone speaker alone was 70.9 dBA.
Dreamegg D11 was 70.2 dBA.
Lectrofan Micro 2 was 69.3 dBA.
Snooz was 66.4 dBA.
Dohm Uno was 55 dBA.
The quiet ambient noise was 43.8 dBA.
Keep in mind that the decibel scale is logarithmic. This means the difference between 77 dBA and 74.2 dBA is bigger than it seems, and the difference between 77 dBA and 55 dBA is very large.
Links to buy the white noise machines
If you want to learn more or buy any of these devices, here are the links I recommend:
LectroFan Evo (loudest) – Amazon
Echo Dot – Amazon
Sony SRS-XB12 – Amazon
Dreamegg D11 – Amazon
Lectrofan Micro 2 – Amazon
Snooz – GetSnooz.com
Dohm Uno (quietest) – Amazon
How well they blocked out the air conditioning units and traffic noise
All the devices except one did a good job of blocking outside noise like the hum from air conditioning and traffic sounds in the distance.
The one that didn’t work well was the Dohm Uno. It was too quiet and didn’t fill the room enough to mask the outside sounds.
Because of this, I wouldn’t recommend the Dohm Uno if you need strong sound masking.
How well they blocked out music from another room
When it came to blocking the loud dance music with bass from the next room, the results were mixed and fell into three groups:
The Dohm Uno, Snooz, and phone speaker alone didn’t block much. You could hear all the bass and lyrics clearly.
The Echo Dot, LectroFan Evo, LectroFan Micro 2, and Dreamegg D11 did a decent job of blocking a lot of the sound, but the bass still came through.
The Sony Bluetooth speaker was the only one that blocked the music completely, including the bass.
However, the Sony speaker had to be set to the maximum volume to do that. It was very loud and not comfortable to listen to for a long time. I wouldn’t use that loud noise to help me sleep or relax because it could hurt your ears or be annoying.
My own conclusions
Here are some final thoughts based on these tests:
If you’re unsure whether you need a white noise machine, remember that a phone and a decent speaker can be good enough for many people. You don’t have to spend extra money if you already have these.
If you want to block loud outside noise, white noise machines that only use a fan (like Snooz and Dohm Uno) probably won’t be loud enough. They’re better for gentle, relaxing sounds.
Even though phones can be loud, their speakers tend to be directional and don’t fill the room evenly. So, they’re not the best choice if you want a full sound experience. A machine or a Bluetooth speaker will do better.
White noise has its limits. It can help some people sleep better, but listening to it every night for a long time might not be good for you. If you can physically block the noise (like with earplugs) or listen to music you enjoy, that might be a better and more pleasant solution.
I hope you found this article helpful and interesting. Thank You so for reading!