Ear’s to a good night’s slumber...
Tech sleep aid is pricey but well-engineered
QuietOn Sleep Buds
From €199, QuietOn.com ★★★
The birdsong we’d gotten used to during lockdown will probably soon be replaced by the rumble of commerce and travel as life gets back to normal.
For anyone living in an urban area or close to commuter routes, the return of car and foot traffic can be disruptive for sleep. Also, apart from background noise, many of us have to put up with a partner’s snoring, perhaps one of the most aggravating noises known to humanity.
To improve my sleep, I have tried some tech-enabled sleeping aids previously, but recently received a pair of QuietOn Sleep Buds. It’s important to remember that these won’t play music, they act purely as noise cancelling earbuds to help you get a better night’s sleep.
Made by a Finnish company, the buds use active noise control to give you some peace and quiet as you drift off.
The buds arrive in a small robust charging case that you can throw in a bag when you travel or will keep the buds safe in a bedside locker.
Also in the package are two pairs of bud tips in different sizes, a short USB charging cable, as well as a quick start guide.
The buds need to be in the case to charge, and what you’re actually doing is charging the case, which in turn will charge the buds.
It’s really important to get the sizing right on these, as you want to get the most secure fit possible for bedtime. Fitting them is just like using a regular pair of music buds. Pop them in and a slight twist backwards sets them securely in your ear.
The buds have two different modes, Hearing and Silent and there’s a small button on the buds to switch between the two modes.
The Silent mode cancels out the sound completely so is great for bedtime, but the Hearing mode is designed to allow you to hear someone speaking so would be useful for work, or travelling on a train.
The technology that QuietOn uses is very smart stuff and called feed-forward Active Noise Cancelling. Essentially, the earbuds listen for noise, analyse its frequency and fill your ears with a counter-balance that doesn’t disturb you.
This is really effective with low frequency noise, like snoring or ambient noise coming through the wall. Other sleep aids use masking, but this cancelling technique is more effective.
I found wearing a bud to bed a little awkward at first, and did have to fiddle with them to ensure they stayed in all, or most of the night.
That said, over a week there is no doubt that I slept better, and I can’t recall waking once because of TV, footsteps or general noise.
The earbuds, overall, are well made, with a nice Nordic design touch. However, the mode change button is a tad tricky to use and I felt I was pressing it too hard on occasion.
Also, at just shy of €200, you might expect the QuietOn would have another trick or two up its sleeve, like music, touch controls, or a clever app to add functionality.
However, if you have a snoring spouse, or the TV downstairs is always too loud as you get to bed, these are a well-engineered solution to help you get to the land of nod, and keep you there undisturbed.
SILENT MODE CANCELS OUT THE SOUND COMPLETELY