My Personal Flowtime Review: Does It Really Work?

As someone who values meditation time, and accessing deep states of focus, flow, and relaxation, I was really keen to dive into Flowtime. This biofeedback wearable device is essentially a personal wellbeing coach, offering feedback to improve your mental and physical health.

I've had mine for a few weeks now, testing away and writing notes in anticipation of writing this review for you. BTW, I tried my best to take some good pictures of my device and the packaging. They didn't turn out great, but you'll get the idea!

First, I'll cover some basic information on how the device works and the technology behind it, then I'll cover the app, and then give some insight to my first session, and finish up with the pricing and shipping details.

What Is Flowtime?

Flowtime is a wearable headband device that features brainwave and heart rate sensors to monitor your brain activity, heart rate, HRV, focus, relaxation, stress levels, and more—all in real-time. In short: t provides crucial data to help you gain insights into your patterns and the effectiveness of your meditation practices.

You can take part in guided lessons, meditate to relaxing sounds, do breathing training, and set a timer for your session.

If you're new to all this, let me just help you understand Biosensing feedback, often referred to as biofeedback, is.

Basically, it's a technology that uses sensors to monitor physiological signals from your body, such as heart rate, brainwaves, or breathing patterns. This data is then processed and presented back to you in real-time, usually through visual, auditory, or tactile cues.

The purpose of biosensing feedback is to help you become more aware of your body's physiological responses so that you can learn to control them consciously. For example, by seeing your heart rate on a screen or hearing a tone that changes with your brainwave activity, you can practice techniques to lower your heart rate, reduce stress, or enhance focus. It's often used in practices like meditation, stress management, or even in clinical settings to help with various health conditions.

Flowtime is using this technology to help you meditate, manage stress, flow, attention, and sleep.

Tracking and Feedback

Flowtime’s EEG & PPG sensors track your body signals with precision. The device provides real-time sound alerts according to your status and goals, making meditation sessions more effective and immersive.

The built-in EEG & PPG sensors allow for simultaneous tracking of brain and body changes across 9 key metrics. This includes:

Coherence: tracking the positive synchronization between your heart, nervous system and breathing.
Flow: tracking your ability to be fully present and relaxed.
Attention: tracking your concentration and ability to ignore distraction.
Meditation: tracking the time you spend in meditation.
Relaxation: tracking how calm and relaxed you are.
Brainwaves: monitoring the fluctuations and production of alpha, beta, theta, delta, and gamma brainwaves.
Additionally: monitoring heart rate, HRV (heart rate variability – the shift in timing between heartbeats), and stress

Flowtime offers multiple practice modes to suit different needs. You can start with guided mode to learn the basics, or do independent sessions with ambient sounds or the timer mode. You can practice any available lesson while recording your biodata.

Once you finish a session, that sessions's data will be immediately available in the app dashboard.

Breathing Exercises

Flowtime allows you to monitor and optimize your breathing patterns to enhance both brain and body performance. Different patterns can be selected for various effects:

More Energy: Inhale > Exhale
More Calm: Inhale < Exhale
Higher HRV: 5s Inhale + 5s Exhale

Sleep Tracking

Flowtime also helps measure your sleep. The Brain Tag monitors EEG, heart rate, breathing, temperature, and movement, offering a comprehensive overview of your sleep quality. This feature alone sets Flowtime apart from many other wearable meditation devices on the market.

Daily Motivation

Tracking your goals daily with Flowtime's three-ring system makes meditation feel more tangible and less abstract. Every minute you practice counts towards closing the rings, which helps in maintaining a consistent meditation routine.

Trends and Reports

Flowtime helps you spot important changes through trends. By focusing on long-term habits and health trends, you can see significant improvements over months or even a year. This approach is particularly useful for metrics like HRV, which can be less responsive in the short term.

Small daily goals, like a ten-minute meditation session, help in maintaining a long-term meditation habit.

Meditation reports from Flowtime are designed to help you understand your unique brainwave patterns. There is no such thing as a “good” or “bad” meditation session. Instead, focus on the trends and improvements over time. This perspective helps in building awareness and concentration, and the reports assist in recalling and understanding those meditative moments.

Flowtime Headband

My immediate thought was how light the Flowtime headband is. It's really comfortable, making it easy to forget you're even wearing it. It actually feels quite futuristic to use, like using something I imagined the future would look like when I was a kid!

There is a small switch on the end of the right-side sensor. Simply hold that down and pair with your phone to begin using the app.

Key features of the headband include:

Flexible sensors for a better fit on the forehead.
Larger sensors for superior signal quality.
Improved softness of the shell and rubber bands.
Battery Life: 8 hours of continuous use (comes with a USB cable that you can charge from any USB port)
Connection: Bluetooth

Also worth noting is the company's sustainability commitment. The headband is made using eco-friendly materials. This includes FSC® Certified Recyclable Packaging, DuPont Sorona® Eco-efficient Performance Fiber, and Bio-based Sponge, which saves 30% energy and reduces 63% CO2 emissions.

Good on you!

Offline Functionality

The good news is that with the latest app, Timer Mode and Breathing Training (see below) work offline. So, you'll receive real-time data and biodata reports even without internet access. Once you're back online, your reports sync up, ensuring no data loss during network interruptions or device switches.

Getting Started (the app)

Simply download the free Flowtime app (compatible with the latest iOS and Android versions) and connect the headband via Bluetooth to access all your tracking data. You can choose from a variety of free meditation programs, listen to music, or even use your own content while recording your biodata.

With your headband purchase, you'll receive a complimentary 3-month membership to explore premium lessons. Even without a membership, you’ll still have full access to your biodata and other essential insights.

The app is very good; very intuitive and makes it easy to get started. It even guides you through connecting your headband.

If you choose a premium app membership (included with the headband deal) you can access over 200 guided meditation lessons, including Relax, Sleep, Focus, Self-care, and Moments.

However, the app is free to download and use, so premium membership is not required unless you want the guided lessons and sounds. You do still get a few sessions free, which are really good. The narrators' voices are so soothing.

The Timer mode is also free, allowing you to listen to any audio from other apps while recording your biodata.

My Personal Experience with Flowtime

For the record, I like tech, but I don't like complicated. I don't want to answer 20 questions and have multiple settings to adjust before I get started. If I want to mediate, access flow state, or reduce my anxiety, I want to jump in at the touch of a button. I was therefore please to see just the headset and user guide in the box.

Bonus: The device comes fully charged out of the box.

So, I put on the Flowtime headband, ensuring the sensors were comfortably placed on my forehead and not touching any hair (not that I have much, lol). If you do, sweep it out of the way as this can interfere with the sensors. I then installed the app.

After connecting it to the app via Bluetooth (the screens instruct you through this), I chose a relaxation session called “It's Okay, Relax”, with Angela, who has a very calming voice. I set the biofeedback interval to 10 seconds, with a gentle bell sound as my auditory cue.

If you didn't know, this is a way to regularly monitor and adjust your physiological state during meditation, breathing exercises, or other relaxation techniques. The gentle bell acts as a periodic reminder or cue to check in with your body and mind, helping you maintain focus, adjust your breathing, or notice any changes in your relaxation or stress levels. This can enhance the effectiveness of your practice by keeping you engaged and aware of your physiological responses.

Please note: If you get a poor connection between your head/skin and the Flowtime sensors, the app will prompt you to adjust it. It sometimes takes me a few adjustments to get it right. If you can't get a good connection, test out the different size headband attachments that come with your device, as seen below.

Switch on your device. Make sure you enable Bluetooth on your phone or tablet. Then tap connect.

Use a different size band if the standard one doesn't fit snuggly to your skin, as this may cause connection issues.

The Session Begins

I settled into a comfortable seated position and began my guided meditation. You can't feel anything on your head, no sensation, but you will soon see a report on the screen that shows it is collecting data (takes about 2 minutes for the first reading to appear).

Within a few minutes, the bell sound indicated that I had entered a state of coherence. This feedback was motivating, assuring me that I was on the right track and that everything was working as it should be. Throughout the session, the bell continued to ring at intervals, confirming that I was maintaining this state. By the way, the biofeedback prompt can be turned off from settings.

Real-Time Monitoring

One of the most fascinating aspects was seeing my brainwave activity and heart rate changes displayed in real time on the app. As I listened, I could see fluctuations in my heart rate and coherence, as my heart, nervous system and breathing synchronized. I also noticed how my heart rate and Beta waves increased when I touched my phone to check the metrics again – a sure sign that the phone is a stimulant.

Note to self: if you want to see the on-screen metrics as you go, extend your screen saver on time in the settings of your phone, otherwise the screen will lock after a couple of minutes.

Realtime statistics appear as you listen. You can scroll through to deep dive on individual metrics.

Post-Session Insights

After the 7-minute guided session, the app generated a comprehensive report of my metrics. As seen below, the graphs highlighted the fluctuations in my alpha, beta, and theta waves, providing a clear visual of my journey through different states of consciousness.

The report also shows my stress level, my heart rate variability (HRV), time spent in meditation, flow, and coherence, and my levels of attention and relaxation during the meditation.

The post listening report helps you understand your state of mind and how further practice can improve your wellbeing.

Reflecting on the Experience

Flowtime makes it possible to objectively see the benefits of my meditation practice. The real-time biofeedback helped me understand where my mind and body were at and helped me make a conscious effort to relax, while the detailed post-session report provided valuable insights into my physiological responses.

I think this is really motivating, given that many people don't meditate because they can't see any immediate benefit or metric that tells them it's beneficial.

My big takeaway from my testing thus far is just how sensitive the metrics are to my behavior. For example, if I open my eyes, touch the phone, or work on my computer while listening, the metrics reflect changes in my brainwaves.

This testing has been a solid reminder that taking time to completely switch off and relax is so important. Often when we think we are relaxing, like when watching TV or scrolling social media, we are actually engaged in stimulation that is not neccessarily beneficial to our mental and physical wellbeing.

Flowtime Pricing

Headband + 1-year app premium: £242
Headband only (with basic app): £176

Shipping Options

Free Shipping: Generally takes 10 to 30 days, depending on the destination country and customs process, usually via local postal service with a tracking number.
Commercial Shipping: Costs vary between 15 to 25 USD, shown at checkout, typically taking about 5 to 7 days if flight and customs clearance proceed smoothly.