I’m someone who regularly sleeps with earbuds in my ear, but the thought of buying earbuds specifically for sleep has long seemed hard to justify. After all, my current buds were functional, so they were good enough, right? No. I was not right. Sleep earbuds have become my favorite, most important pair of buds.
Sleep is worth investing in
When buying earbuds starts to feel like self-care
Regular earbuds are not designed with sleep in mind. First and foremost, they prioritize sound quality. They need to be large enough to have the biggest drivers they can manage, and they need long stems to place the microphone closer to our mouths. These physical design choices make music sound richer and allow voices to come through more clearly on calls, but they also make our buds less comfortable to wear in bed.
As someone who primarily sleeps on my side, I’ve grown accustomed to having an earbud in whichever ear is facing up. If I’m trying to block out sound, then I muffle my other ear by placing it as firmly against the pillow as I can. I’m a sensitive sleeper in a house with two young kids—there have been many nights where blocking out noise is the only way I’m able to get some rest. While this system worked, at no point was it ever ideal.
Sleep earbuds flip the priorities
A microphone doesn’t matter when you’re asleep
Like regular earbuds, sleep earbuds need to prioritize a comfortable fit—except even more so. They have to be so comfortable that you don’t feel the need to yank them out at 2PM, a disruption that may just pull you out of a good night’s slumber. Likewise, these earbuds need to be snug. If they fall out, then they aren’t doing their job of blocking out sound or providing whichever background noise best helps you doze off.
In other words, sleep earbuds tackle the exact issues I faced when sleeping in regular buds. The CMF Buds 2 Plus that I reviewed quite favorably and still use as regular earbuds frequently fall out of my ears (like most earbuds without wingtips). I could say something similar about the JLab JBuds Pods ANC.
Since being sent the Fitnexa SomniPods 3, I now question my previous life choices. The difference was immediate on the first night. These earbuds are tiny enough that I can wear them comfortably in both ears while side-sleeping. 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 Fitnexa’s earbuds better for sleep 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 sleep-oriented earbuds with a small size that prioritize comfort, with numerous swappable silicone tips and fins included in the box. The buds 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 large drivers when you just need soft sounds playing in your ear at night. A microphone is needed even less.
Fitnexa is hardly alone. Anker’s Soundcore Sleep A20s are a similar pair of earbuds with a smaller size and a wide range of swappable tips to tailor comfort precisely to your ear.
Earbuds are not one size fits all
It’s worth having earbuds tailored for different situations and devices
I no longer rely on a single pair of earbuds for all my devices. I’m now a product reviewer that has been sent many earbuds that I didn’t have to pay for, including the earbuds that I now wear to bed. Obviously, it has its perks, and I’ve grown accustomed to having buds accessible in different parts of the house, with the option to have them paired with different devices.
You don’t need to be in my line of work to own more than one pair. Earbuds have become such a vital part of many of our jobs and entertainment alike. I’ve reached a point where if all of my buds died, I would very quickly buy replacements. I don’t need to be running back and forth between my office and my bedroom each day to retrieve my buds.
Similarly, I no longer view earbuds as a product whose prices are difficult to justify. They have become essential tech devices—or at least as essential as any consumer tech product can claim to be.
If I can justify having a small, cheap pair of buds like the JLab GO Pods ANC that fit in my Nintendo Switch 2 carrying case, then I can easily justify having buds that I wear for sleep, an activity that takes up a much longer portion of my life and more greatly affects my well-being. I say this even though sleep earbuds routinely cost over $100. I’ve been a more pleasant person to be around at night since I can more easily tune out the sounds of family members who don’t wish to go to bed as early as I do, and few things are worth more of an investment than health and family harmony.
Stephan is the sports journalist for the Maple Grove Report.
