I thought sleep earbuds were a waste of money—now they’re my favorite pair
I’m someone who regularly sleeps with headphones in my ear, but the idea of buying headphones specifically for sleeping has long seemed difficult to justify. After all, my current headphones were functional, so they were good enough, right? No, I wasn’t right. Sleep headphones have become my favorite and most important pair of headphones.
Sleep is worth investing in
When buying headphones starts to feel like self-care
Regular headphones are not designed for sleeping. Above all, they prioritize sound quality. They need to be large enough to have the biggest speakers they can handle, and they need long booms to place the microphone closer to our mouths. These physical design choices make music sound richer and allow voices to come through more clearly during calls, but they also make our headphones less comfortable to wear to bed.
As someone who primarily sleeps on my side, I’ve gotten used to having an earbud in my upward-facing ear. If I’m trying to block out the sound, I muffle my other ear by placing it as firmly against the pillow as possible. I am a sensitive sleeper in a house with two young children. There have been many nights where blocking out noise is the only way for me to get any rest. Although this system worked, it was never ideal.
Sleep headphones reverse priorities
A microphone doesn’t matter when you sleep
Like regular headphones, sleep headphones should prioritize a comfortable fit, but even more so. They should be so comfortable that you don’t feel the need to take them off at 2 p.m., a disruption that might just take you out of a good night’s sleep. Likewise, these headphones should fit well. If they fall out, they’re not doing their job of blocking sound or providing the background noise that best helps you fall asleep.
In other words, the sleep headphones solve exactly the problems I faced when sleeping with regular headphones. The CMF Buds 2 Plus which I reviewed quite favorably and still use as regular earbuds frequently fall out of my ears (as do most earbuds without wing tips). I could say something similar about the JLab JBuds Pods ANC.
Since receiving the Fitnexa SomniPods 3, I am now questioning my previous life choices. The difference was immediate from the first night. These headphones are small enough that I can comfortably wear them in both ears when sleeping on my side. They have soft wingtips, which hold them firmly in place without pressing rigidly against my ear. It’s the smaller size and softer wingtips that make the Fitnexa earbuds better for sleeping than my previous sleep companions, my Samsung Galaxy Buds FE.
- Battery life
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Up to 12 hours (earbuds), Up to 48 hours (case)
- Brand
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Fitnexa
The Fitnexa SomniPods 3 are small, sleep-focused earbuds that prioritize comfort, with plenty of swappable silicone tips and fins included in the box. The earbuds also pair with Fitnexa’s companion app, which provides various sleep aids in the form of music, meditations, and podcasts.
Fitnexa can make these changes because who needs big speakers when you just need soft sounds playing in your ear at night. A microphone is even less necessary.
Fitnexa is not alone. Anker’s Soundcore Sleep A20 are a similar pair of earbuds with a smaller size and a wide range of replaceable tips to tailor comfort precisely to your ear.
Headphones are not one size fits all
It’s worth having headphones suitable for different situations and devices
I no longer rely on one pair of headphones for all my devices. I’m now a product reviewer who has received many headphones that I didn’t have to pay for, including the headphones I now wear to bed. Obviously this has its benefits, and I’ve gotten used to having headphones accessible in different parts of the house, with the ability to pair them with different devices.
You don’t have to be in my job to own more than one pair. Headphones have become an essential part of many of our jobs and entertainment. I’ve reached a point where if all my buds died, I would buy replacements very quickly. I don’t have to go back and forth between my office and my room every day to collect my buds.
Likewise, I no longer view headphones as a product whose prices are difficult to justify. They have become essential technological devices – or at least as essential as any consumer technology product can claim to be.
If I can justify having a small, inexpensive pair of headphones like the JLab GO Pods ANC that fit in my Nintendo Switch 2 carrying case, then I can easily justify having headphones that I wear to sleep, an activity that takes up a much longer portion of my life and affects my well-being more. I say this even though sleep headphones typically cost over $100. I’m a nicer person to be around at night since I can more easily ignore the noises of family members who don’t want to go to bed as early as me, and few things are more worth an investment than health and family harmony.
