Alphabeats EEG Focus Trainer Review: Getting You Into The Zone

	Alphabeats EEG Focus Trainer - $15.99 (Monthly), $149 (Annual), Brainbit Headband $499 The Alphabeats EEG Focus Trainer uses proprietary neurofeedback technology and a specialized app to help users train their brain and achieve optimal mental focus more quickly.
	High Quality (Doesn't feel like a first-gen product) Wireless, easily portable Long battery life Effective at increasing and strengthening alpha waves	Can't customize or personalized audio Some degree of guesswork to find one's own focus method(s) Occasional battery level inaccuracies

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Ask almost any athlete what the most crucial (and often most challenging) part of training is, aside from achieving peak physical fitness, and a common answer will be focus and mental fortitude, aka getting into "the zone." We all know it isn't easy to train our brains, especially with today's busy lifestyles, but this is where Alphabeats, a Netherlands-based neurotechnology company comes in with its potentially revolutionary approach to mental training, involving an app, music, neurofeedback, and a special headband.

But, does it actually work? Well, in an effort to answer that question, I spent three full months with the Alphabeats EEG Focus Trainer and have some opinions. Here’s what I found...

Alphabeats Concept, Setup, and App

Two main components make up the Alphabeats experience -- the app itself and the companion headband made by BrainBit. The headband consists of a soft adjustable strap with four EEG sensor pads arranged in the 10, 2, 4, and 8 o’clock positions. A small battery pack magnetically sits in a slot on the left temple, which is counterbalanced nicely by the circuit module on the opposite side. The battery is removable for charging within a separate dock.


Donning the headband is not much different than a regular sweatband or headlamp, with the only special requirement being to lightly wet the sensor pads before each use. Once you’ve installed the app on your phone, set up an account, and paired the headband to your device, starting a session is as easy as selecting a quick activity for recovery or focus training, or firing up one of the longer multi-session programs. When launching any of these sessions, the app will pose pre- and post-session questions, which are optional and don’t seem to have any bearing on the final results. After users select their preferred radio stream, the EEG sensors will do their thing, and help users ensure the band and sensors are sitting properly on their head, picking up signals, etc.


What follows is a form of gamified brain training that works using neurofeedback (via music) and cognitive tasks (via visual games). For example, when the user is listening to a track on an audio stream, and then loses focus for whatever reason, the proprietary system will alter the quality of the audio playback, i.e. reduce bass and depth, until the person regains focus. Another thing to note is that the neurofeedback latency between the app and headband is very low, so there's minimal lag, which can break a user’s concentration.

When I asked Odette Latenstein van Voorst, the 21-year old pro kayaker from the Netherlands, about using Alphabeats in her training regimen, she said, "I really like the direct feedback from Alphabeats that tells me whether I’m focused or not. Another of my favorite parts is that I can bring Alphabeats everywhere and every time I want to meditate, it is a conscious decision." 


The ultimate goal is for your brain to lock into and maintain those alpha waves, which usually equates to general calmness and a sense of well-being. Alphabeats says that its program can also help its users achieve peak performance, better manage stress, and improve sleep and overall mental resilience, so there’s a lot of potential applications for this technology.

Alphabeats: The Good

One of the first things that struck me upon regularly using the was the Alphabeats EEG Focus Trainer was the cohesiveness of the ecosystem. Between the quality and intuitiveness of the app, the quality of the headband, the smooth music feed integration, and the well-sorted proprietary algorithms, it doesn’t feel like a first generation product. Aside from the occasional bug (more on that later), I have no qualms using or recommending the hardware and software.

As for the Brainbit Headband, which is Alphabeats’ defacto EEG hardware, it is well built and very easy and convenient to use, thanks to its long-lasting battery and wireless connectivity. Going on a trip? Need to move from room to room? No problem -- just pick it up and go. On a full charge, it lasts for ages.

The convenience and portability doesn’t come at the expense of battery life. I easily got through about two and a half weeks of use, consisting of one to two eight-minute sessions per day. There is the slight annoyance of breaking out an older micro-USB cable to power the charging cradle, because practically everyone else has moved on to USB-C nowadays, but that's a minor nit-pick.


Of course, the big question remains: How effective is the whole Alphabeats experience? The technology is backed by real science and tested by professional athletes. How does it work for a regular person in the real world? Well, after undergoing at least one 8-minute alpha wave training session per day for the past 90 days (which is the recommended minimum time frame to see measurable focus gains), I feel I'm now able to more easily enter a focus state while prepping for a run or bike ride, or if I just want to chill out at the end of a stressful day.

Part of the appeal of Alphabeats is the simplicity and gamification of the entire training regimen. On top of that, using Alphabeats doesn’t mean that you need to ditch any other mental or focus training programs either. I found that Alphabeats not only works well on its own, but it works just as great as a compliment to other focus-meditative regimens.

Van Voorst also shared how Alphabeats supplements her other forms of mental training, such as, "YouTube videos of breath exercises, just listening to music, and repeating a non-verbal sentence in my mind. Although repeating the non-verbal sentence I often wander off. What I like about Alphabeats is that it is a conscious act of putting on the headband and getting the direct feedback."

Alphabeats: The Not So Good

We like that Alphabeats taps into Feed.fm, which is awesome for its breadth of channel options. However, for the many users who prefer queuing up a set of favorite songs to enhance their focus, streaming radio is not the answer. As it is, you have a limited number of skips per hour, you can’t set favorites, filter with granularly (such as by tempo or energy), or play your own locally-stored audio files. Another downer is that you can’t change radio channels mid-session; if you choose R&B at the start, you’re stuck with R&B.

Some users may not have the patience to achieve the payoffs either, which admittedly (and understandably) require at least a 90-day commitment. For those who DO decide to commit to the program though, another part of that challenge lies with the guesswork behind finding one’s own optimal focus technique(s). After all, focus and relaxation efficacy differ from person-to-person, so while the Alphabeats app is awesome at laying down the foundation for you to begin the process, finding your sweet spot or “it” zone requires quite a bit of trial and error.

For me, it took about a week or so before I learned what worked best. I found that I needed to either warm-up my brain by playing one of the in-app games (React-O-Matic is my favorite) and focusing my mind to literally think about “more bass” when listening to music. I know that’s oddly specific, but it works for me.

I should also point out that I’ve had some issues with battery level inaccuracies or maybe some kind of phantom battery drain. It hasn't happened often, but on a couple of occasions, the battery level was around 70-plus percent one day, only to drop to zero the next day, so the headband failed to connect to my phone. When I plugged the battery into the charger, the battery was flat.

Another quirk I found odd is that the Alphabeats app doesn’t automatically mute phone notifications. Many of my sessions were interrupted by text dings here and email pings there. And yes, I know I can manually enable do-not-disturb, but it would be more convenient if the Alphabeats app muted notifications automatically while the app is running.

The Overall Alphabeats Experience And Verdict

After spending more than three months with Alphabeats and the BrainBit headband, I can definitively say that the program works for me. Before I started the regimen, I imagined some sort of quick and noticeable change to my mental focus and mood, but in reality the effect required some effort and consistency. The experience was more about creating self-awareness of my mental state, and taking small, easily manageable steps within the app to fine-tune my brain waves. Speaking of the app, it’s easy to use anytime, intuitive and well-designed, and so is the BrainBit Headband.

All of that said, the combination of the hardware and Alphabeats subscription may be somewhat cost-prohibitive for some, especially for personal use. The headband retails for $499, while the Alphabeats program requires a $16 monthly plan or $150 annual subscription. On the plus side, buyers can claim up to 30-percent of the cost on their FSA/HSA accounts. If the Alphabeats EEG Focus Trainer concept seems appealing to you, it's worth giving it a try. It worked for me, and may work for you as well.