Halo BassiNest 3.0S Review
Adding a little extra Smart to that bassinet
Researching to buy a bassinet for a baby can be the most trying yet exciting thing to do for new parents. One brand that I consistently came across that hovered above the rest of the field (somewhat figuratively speaking) was the Halo BassiNest. I originally saw it in-person at Target and found it to be surprisingly attractive looking in design for a bassinet.
On top of the minimalistic modern look, the 3.0S model has added features that somewhat smartifies the bassinet to help weary parents soothe your child. A newborn only has a short window of time to spend inside of a bassinet, so is it worth it to purchase a barely smart one at an added cost for your little one?
Purchase Price: $299.99
A big baby in the BassiNest
As the third iteration of a pretty popular line, the BassiNest has pretty much evolved into its final form. With a slight indenture in its oval shape to accommodate leaning adult bodies, the BassiNest is molded to hover over the edge of an adult mattress.
The best thing about the Halo’s design is that it swivels on a large and sturdy tripod stand so that parents can gain access to the inside of the bassinet from any direction. The Halo gets quite high up as it will work with beds that are from 24” - 30” high. The biggest potential issue for some master bedroom beds is the clearance needed for the tripod legs underneath the bed. The BassiNest has an extremely wide stretch of range with its sloping legs, thus making it occupy a good chunk of floorspace. This is to ensure that the baby is fully secured from tipping over as the Halo is quite sturdily locked into its position thanks to that tripod stand. Still, the mere mass of space the legs occupy is enough to scare off many potential buyers with lackluster real estate in their bedrooms.
Taking the Co out of co-sleep
The build material is quite sturdy
The company markets the BassiNest as “the closest, safest alternative to co-sleeping” and in many ways, it does feel like your baby is sleeping with you in your bed just without all the risks that may incur with that arrangement. Because your newborn is enclosed in their own space above the parent’s actual bed, the baby is safe from being accidentally squished, smacked, or suffocated on by a dozing adult. I found the flexibility of not only the nest portion of the bassinet to be highly effective, but the entire package of utility to be extremely functional. The 360 degree swivel rotation is as smooth as butter. My son doesn’t even notice the movement when I rotate his position.
The BassiNest has a wall that can be locked and unlocked in order to lower the wall while placing a little one inside. Parents quickly learn to lean their bodies inside with the baby while placing them down to avoid waking them and this is a terrific ability to have on a bed. Even when the latch is locked, the wall has a little flex to give that is enough to assist my motion. I have it locked a majority of the time. The mesh material goes down cleanly and I’m quite reassured about my son not rolling off thanks to the locking mechanic.
As a bassinet, the build material of the tripod and mesh wall seem durable and sturdy. Like most beds for little ones of this age, the mattress pad does not have much padding. It’s rather stiff and flat where some babies will not like lying on their backs. It may take some time for them to get acclimated with the sensation, but fortunately my son seems to have grown accustomed to it now and sleeps at moderate intervals of comfort.
a little bit of smarts
While the bassinet usage is more or less the same as all other bassinets in this segment, Halo has added some extra beneficial assists for parents in the form of an attachable command center that mounts to the underside of the nest. Powered by three AA batteries, this control compartment moderates all of the BassiNest’s “smart” features. I’ll straight up declare that potential buyers should taper their expectations. None of these bonus assists do their job particularly well. Still, many bassinets on the market are mere baby holders with none of these skillsets as an option, so in some cases, something is better than nothing.
There are five pressable buttons that each have a dedicated function in operating the system. They’re a linear progressing mechanic meaning that the user will have to press the button multiple times in one direction to toggle back to the settings prior. That means to get back to level one of a setting, you would have to press the same button to change it to level two, press the button again to turn off all of that function, and then press it once more to restart the setting to level one.
Without the S letter
For $85 cheaper, you can purchase the 3.0 Bassinest without the control module
So what added functions does this $85 add-on provide for the Halo? The most useful one in my opinion is the soothing sound button. Hitting the play button right in the center will toggle through 4 different calming soundtracks. This ranges from white noise to womb sounds. There’s also a button to toggle between 2 levels of volume. Both of them don’t project too loudly as the speaker is a mono one hidden somewhere inside the plastic controller. The baby can hear it from under them while laying in the bassinet, but other people in the room shouldn’t really hear much of anything coming out of the bed. That works out well for parents as unlike dedicated white noise machines like a Hatch, the audio isn’t filling up the entire environment of a room. It’s easier for parents to sleep next to.
There’s also a button that can toggle through two levels of vibration. Unlike an actual full smart crib like a Cradlewise or a Snoo, Halo doesn’t actually physically move a baby through motion. The control panel can emit a gentle massager-like vibration through the cushion in an attempt to soothe a baby. The lowest level is the one I normally use with my newborn, but I’m not sure how effective it is in helping him sleep. Over time, it just became a routine for me to press the white noise and vibration buttons in an effort to maintain continuity after I set him down. If my little one has fallen asleep with a combination of these settings, far be it for me to fight superstition and change what precious resources it takes to get him to doze off.
The last two buttons on the command center are night light toggles. There are two separate orange night lights on the Halo. One is directly inside the crib and the other one is below it. Regardless of which of the two brightness settings you’re on, the lights don’t get too illuminated in a dark room. I assume that’s the intent so that it doesn’t wake the sleeping baby, but I also found it a bit useless in practice. It isn’t bright enough for me to check for dirty diaper lines, nor is it a red light which is the hue lights should be in a baby room. In theory, the bottom light, I assume, is to illuminate the floor so that parents can approach the crib and have a little bit of sight without turning on the overhead room lights and waking a baby.
While I mentioned that I didn’t find any of the core features to function particularly well in their execution, I would be ignorant to dismiss that if you went out and purchased a wall plug night light, and a white noise machine, the total investment amount may mount up to be close to the additional $85 Halo is asking for. At least this is all wrapped up neatly into a small module that tucks into the design of the BassiNest cleanly and you don’t need to worry about storing those additional purchases on shelves nearby.
I just didn’t find it to be useful in everyday use. The lights are the least used of the features in our household. Another thing to consider when it comes to these features is that the efficiency and performance of the functions will deteriorate along with the batteries. That means the vibration will get weaker, the lights will get dimmer, and the sound will become softer the more the batteries deplenish. In that case, this serves as a battery level indicator. From my usage, it took about a month before it was time to swap out for a new set of batteries. On the flip side of using disposable batteries, the bassinet does not to be tethered to a wall outlet.
final thoughts
The command module adds addition functions to the bassinet
No, the Halo BassiNest is not a direct competitor to Snoo or Cradlewise. I don’t even consider it to be anywhere near the ballpark. However, it is a great value bassinet that offers an attractive looking bed for those early days of your child’s life.
I don’t think it’s necessarily the best bassinet on the market, but the mixture of the brand reputation that Halo has created, along with the easy accessibility of the market in which Halo distributes to, makes the Halo BassiNest a more reliable purchase than say an off brand from Amazon. That’s the thing with the baby tech market, we as adults may be willing to test out cheaper alternatives from uncurated sources for our own needs, but when it comes to the safety of our offsprings, we aren’t afraid to back up the brinks truck full of cash for brand names. Companies have made fortunes off establishing their names in the baby market and this bassinet is no different.
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Alex
Caught in between the conundrum of his fascination with retro and the future, Alex has a very unique taste in technology. Never one to follow trends like his millennial peers yet constantly desiring to get ahead of the curve, he sees technology like he does his other love: comic books. Always looking for the best value or a hidden gem, his collector mindset reflects on some of his favorite gadgets: the Moto X (2015), HTC U11 and the Google Pixelbook. If there’s a good tech deal out there, Alex is on the hunt!