Good sleep means good health. Noise masking earbuds help achieve both.

From loud traffic and barking dogs, to snoring partners and raucous neighbours, nights can be noisy. Noise cancelling headphones are great for peace and quiet while you’re awake, especially when you add a soothing soundtrack. But what about while you’re asleep? Sure, earplugs are a cheap and easy solution, but usually they either don’t work well enough because they fall out, or they work a little too well and you don’t hear your alarm clock the next morning. What if there was something that gave you the best of everything for a better night’s sleep? That’s what Bose noise-masking sleepbuds™ are all about.

1. They’re made for sleeping

Noise cancelling headphones traditionally come in two form factors: around-ear headphones or in-ear earbuds. They’re typically designed to be worn while sitting up or leaning back, but facing forward. That’s why wearing them while lying on your side or face down can be annoying at best and painful at worst. Not ideal for eight or more hours of rest. And earplugs, of course, are for general use. On the other hand, Bose noise-masking sleepbuds™ are specifically engineered to help you sleep better. Most people sleep with an ear pressed to their pillow, so creating something that’s comfortable for side-sleepers was at the top of our list. We designed our noise-masking sleepbuds™ with a pliable, silicone fin that conforms to the upper ridge of your ear, to keep them in place without having to be jammed deep inside your ears. We also made them dramatically smaller than other wireless earbuds on the market, which aren’t made for the sole purpose of better sleep.

2. They help you fall asleep

Bose noise-masking sleepbuds™ can make the noise go away, but they don’t do it by traditional active noise cancelling, like our Bose Noise Cancelling Headphones 700 do. Instead, our earbuds for sleeping use a combination of passive noise cancellation and “noise masking” to do the trick. The eartips provide passive (or non-electronic) noise cancelling—much the way earplugs do—by simply plugging up your ears. Then noise masking takes over. Whatever noise makes it past the eartips is counteracted by playing sounds directly into your inner ear so the noise never reaches your brain. If the brain doesn’t process the noise, it’s as if it was never there to begin with. Second, the sleep sounds that Bose sleepbuds™ come preloaded with—like a crackling campfire or a humming air conditioner—are specially crafted to relax and soothe, before lulling you to sleep.

3. They help you stay asleep

Even people who fall asleep easily can sleep poorly due to frequent “micro-awakenings” that occur when noises disturb them. Because their default setting is to play all night, and because they can play sounds for up to 16 hours on a single charge, Bose noise-masking sleepbuds™ can help prevent micro-awakenings so you sleep better through the night.

4. They wake you up when you need to wake up

Let’s face it: Sometimes you actually don’t want to stay asleep. That’s why you can set the volume level that suits your needs within the Bose Sleep app so it won’t block out things you actually do need to hear, like a fire alarm or a crying baby (assuming it’s your own baby, not someone else’s). What if only you need to wake up, but everyone else around you doesn’t? You can set an alarm in the Bose Sleep app; when it goes off, it’s played through your Bose noise-masking sleepbuds™ so only you will hear it.


Get to sleep.

Stay asleep.

Uniquely designed for sleep. They don’t stream music or use acoustic noise cancellation. Instead, these tiny, wireless earbuds use pre-loaded, soothing sounds to cover up unwanted noises.