Device review
Xen by Neuvana review: the only one that made the session enjoyable
Our verdict
Xen by Neuvana: $449
Xen is the only device in this category that treats the experience as part of the design. The stimulation rides along with whatever you are listening to, for 15 minutes, five days a week. Given that the real failure mode in this field is people quietly stopping, that is a more serious idea than it sounds.
Best for people who have abandoned a stimulation routine before because it was boring.
Not for anyone buying on published evidence. This is the thinnest position in the category on that measure.
The idea, which is better than it sounds
Every other device in this category asks you to stop what you are doing. Sit still, hold something to your neck, wear a clip on your ear, wait. Xen asks you to put in earbuds and listen to music for fifteen minutes, with the stimulation synced to the audio.
It is easy to read that as a gimmick. It is worth taking more seriously than that. Across every device we have looked at, the thing that actually determines whether one works for a given person is whether they keep using it, and the published trials that found benefits ran daily for one to two months. A session you would have wanted anyway is a real answer to that problem, and nobody else in this category has attempted one.
Fifteen minutes, five days a week, is also a lighter ask than the 30 to 60 minutes daily that the most evidenced ear device wants.
The evidence, which is the weak spot
Neuvana's marketing points to research from institutions including Jefferson, Walter Reed and DARPA, and publishes figures such as 100 percent of participants seeing measurably better sleep scores and 80 percent feeling more balanced.
Those are the company's claims and its own data. Naming the institutions that study a field is not the same as having a trial of your product, and a PubMed search returns no indexed study naming Xen or Neuvana. Searches that look like they find something return papers about whale hearing and albatross navigation.
To be fair about the comparison: this is also true of Pulsetto, Truvaga, Sensate, Vagustim and Hoolest. Only Parasym's device is named in published trial methods among the vagus devices. Xen is not unusually bad here, it is simply not the exception.
What the research does and does not support is worth five minutes before spending $449 on any of them.
Specifications
| Price | $449 |
|---|---|
| Placement | Earbuds, stimulation at the ear |
| The idea | Stimulation synced to whatever you are listening to |
| Recommended use | 15 minutes a day, 5 days a week |
| App | Required |
| Subscription | None stated |
| Consumable | Conductive solution, supplied with a micro-drip sprayer |
| Returns | 30 days, you pay return shipping |
| Battery and warranty | Not published by the manufacturer |
| Named in indexed publications | No |
That second to last row is not an oversight on our part. Neuvana does not publish battery life, charging time or warranty length on the product page or the returns page. For a $449 device those are reasonable things to expect before you buy, and we do not print numbers we cannot source.
Where it falls short
You are wearing earbuds. That is the whole design, and it means the session is not something you can do while talking to someone or moving around freely.
Thin published specifications. No battery figure, no warranty term. You are asked to take a fair amount on trust at this price.
There is a consumable. A conductive solution, supplied with a micro-drip sprayer, which will need replacing.
Who should buy it
Buy it if you know yourself well enough to admit that a tedious routine is one you will drop, and fifteen minutes of music is one you will keep.
Do not buy it if the published record is what you are paying for.
Consider instead: the direct comparison with Nuropod, which is the same nerve branch with the opposite philosophy, or the full ear device list.
Frequently asked questions
It syncs the stimulation to your music. Instead of sitting still with a clip for half an hour, you put in earbuds and listen to something you already wanted to listen to for 15 minutes. It is the only device in this category that treats the experience as part of the design.