Hatch
Rest 2nd Gen Sound Machine & Night Light
7.2/10 overall£70.00
An app-controlled sound machine and night light with custom colour, brightness and sound-schedule presets.
The verdict
The Hatch Rest is an app-controlled sound machine and night light with an extensive, updatable sound library and schedulable light-and-sound presets, priced at the top of this category. It suits parents wanting granular long-term control that grows useful into toddlerhood, but its Wi-Fi and app dependency add setup friction and a point of failure that simpler machines avoid.
The Rest is the smart-home end of this category: app control over an enormous sound library, custom light colours and brightness, and the ability to schedule different sound-and-light combinations for bedtime, night wakings and morning wake-up, all adjustable from a phone without walking into a dark nursery and fumbling for buttons.
Against the VAVA Sleep Soother's physical-button simplicity, the Rest trades a steeper initial setup (Wi-Fi pairing, app account, schedule configuration) for far more granular long-term control, which particularly pays off as a toddler sleep-training tool later on (using light colour as a "time to get up" cue), well beyond the newborn white-noise use case.
The app dependency is also its biggest weakness for some parents: if Wi-Fi drops or the app has an issue, features that would be a single button press on a simpler machine become a troubleshooting exercise at an inconvenient time.
Is the Rest 2nd Gen Sound Machine & Night Light worth it?
- Extensive, app-updatable sound and light library
- Schedulable presets grow useful into toddlerhood as a wake-up cue
- Physical touch controls as a backup to the app
What are the downsides of the Rest 2nd Gen Sound Machine & Night Light?
- More expensive than simpler sound machines
- Requires Wi-Fi and an app account to unlock full functionality
- Steeper initial setup than a plug-and-play device
Specs
- Light
- Custom colour and brightness, schedulable
- Power
- Mains powered
- Control
- App (Wi-Fi) plus physical top-touch controls
- Sound options
- Extensive library, app-updatable
How we scored it
Sound Quality
How consistent and non-looping the white noise sounds over a full night.
Large, regularly updated sound library.
Ease of Use
How simple it is to set timers, volume and routines without a manual.
Powerful once set up, but app and Wi-Fi dependency adds friction.
Value for Money
Features and battery life relative to price.
Feature-rich but the most expensive option in this category.
Weighted by importance for this category — see our editorial policy for how we test.
How this review was done
We haven't used the Rest 2nd Gen Sound Machine & Night Light ourselves yet. This review is built from Hatch's published specifications and product information, and scored the same way as everything else on the site. We'll update it, and the badge above, once we've tested it hands-on.
How it compares
|  |  |  | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | £70.00 | £24.99 | £30.00 | £59.95 |
| Overall score | 7.2/10 | 6/10 | 8.4/10 | 4.3/10 |
| Light | Custom colour and brightness, schedulable | — | Dimmable warm night light | — |
| Power | Mains powered | — | USB rechargeable | — |
| Sound options | Extensive library, app-updatable | — | White noise, rain, fan, heartbeat, lullabies | — |
Frequently asked questions
Does the Hatch Rest need Wi-Fi to work?+
Full functionality needs Wi-Fi pairing and an app account for schedule configuration, though physical top-touch controls are available as a backup. If Wi-Fi drops or the app has an issue, features that would be a single button press elsewhere become a troubleshooting exercise.
How does the Hatch Rest compare to the VAVA Sleep Soother?+
The Hatch Rest trades the VAVA's physical-button simplicity for far more granular long-term control via its app, including custom light colours and schedulable presets, which particularly pays off later as a toddler sleep-training tool.
Can the Hatch Rest be used as a toddler wake-up cue?+
Yes — its schedulable light-and-sound presets can use light colour as a 'time to get up' cue, making it useful well beyond the newborn white-noise stage and into toddlerhood.
Is the Hatch Rest the most expensive option in its category?+
Yes — it's noted as the most expensive option among comparable sound machines, reflecting its extensive, app-updatable sound and light library and scheduling features.
Guides that mention this
White Noise Machines for Babies: Safe Use & UK Picks
White noise machines can help babies settle, but they must stay out of the cot, well away from your baby and at a low volume. Here is what research and the Lullaby Trust say, plus six UK sleep aids compared on price and features.
Sleep Regressions: What's Actually Happening at 4 and 8 Months
Nothing is going wrong. Your baby's sleep architecture is maturing, and that temporarily makes sleep worse before it gets better.
Reviewed by
Sepehr
Software engineer, soon-to-be dad, uncle to four — the tech-obsessed half of the two of us testing this stuff. Currently building this site with my wife, ahead of our own baby arriving.