After a week of snoring neighbors and late-night parties, the QuietOn 4 proved why sleep earbuds matter

I’ve been waiting for the right moment to test the QuietOn 4 sleep earbuds. Or, to be more precise, the wrong moment. The QuietOn earbuds aren’t for music, podcasts, or chatting to AI like many regular wireless Bluetooth earbuds. They’re designed to mask unwanted sounds when you’re trying to sleep. So, not always the best or most fun situations. Over the last week, I’ve been (un)fortunate enough to stress test the QuietOn 4 earbuds, and I couldn’t have done without them. QuietOn 4 8/10 Wired/Wireless Wireless Battery Life 28 hrs Earbud weight 2 grams Microphones Y The QuietOn 4 sleep earbuds remove all tech-based distractions and the bulky size associated with normal Bluetooth earbuds, and after putting them in your ears, the ANC minimizes irritating external sounds for a peaceful night's sleep. Pros & Cons Lightweight and comfortable No app or distractions Long battery life Effective ANC No option to stream white noise or audio Fiddly case design Price, specs, and availability The QuietOn 4 costs $315 or £259, and are available from various retailers in the US, UK, and Europe. Competitors include the cheaper Anker Soundcore Sleep A30 and the similarly priced Ozlo Sleepbuds 2. Specifications Wired/Wireless Wireless Battery Life 28 hrs Noise Cancellation Y Bluetooth N Microphones Y Charging Port USB C Earbud weight 2 grams Charging case weight 47 grams QuietOn 4 design and comfort A comfortable night's sleep The QuietOn 4 earbuds are tiny. The body is smaller than the stem on most other earbuds, and contains the battery, Active Noise Cancelation (ANC) technology, and microphone. It’s attached to the speaker, and the eartips are made from memory foam. There are four sizes included in the box. You squeeze the tip to warm it up and squash it down before inserting it in your ear canal, and it takes a few seconds for it to then conform and create a tight seal. Made from plastic, the earbuds are very light but don’t feel especially durable or expensive. The shape is designed to fit in your ear’s concha, and you turn it to make sure it’s seated correctly. I’ve worn sleep earbuds before. The original, now-discontinued Bose Sleepbuds were always my preference, followed by the Ozlo Sleepbuds 2. The QuietOn 3 were decent, but not especially comfortable. That has changed with the QuietOn 4. The refined shape and foam eartips make them supremely comfortable, and once I’d worn them for a night, I was used to the way they felt and could sleep through without a problem. For reference, I sleep on my side. Anyone who has never worn any earbuds or earplugs to sleep will have to persevere to get the benefits, though. It’s an odd sensation at first, but you will get used to it. I find it easier to adapt to earbuds than a sleep mask, for example. This also applies to the Comply foam eartips. The first night, they felt quite large, and I did experience some pain in my ear the morning after. Once past that first night, the eartips softened and conformed better with my ear, and I didn’t experience any further irritation. One other thing to note is, if you sleep in a hot environment, you may find the eartips make your ears sweat. This is a problem that affects all earbuds, and is not unique to the QuietOn 4. Sleep earbuds must be comfortable enough to not only wear all night, but also not be irritating in a way that stops you falling asleep, or staying asleep. The QuietOn 4 succeeded in being a comfortable all-night partner, and I haven’t had any second thoughts before reaching for them. QuietOn 4 app and Bluetooth There’s neither, and that’s a good thing The most important thing to know here is the QuietOn 4 do not have Bluetooth, and there’s no app on your phone to sync or customize the earbuds. At first, you may think this makes the earbuds basic, but this simplicity is exactly what you want from earbuds designed to help you sleep. There are no distractions, no concerns about using connected earbuds all night, and the battery life is far longer than a set of Bluetooth-linked earbuds. You’re most likely to put the QuietOn 4 earbuds in your ears just as you’re ready to sleep. Messing around with an app and Bluetooth syncing is likely to interrupt that process. There’s not even an on/off switch. You take the earbuds out of the case, put them in your ears, and they just work. However, if you want a set of sleep earbuds that play white noise or a podcast to help you sleep, the QuietOn 4 do not offer this functionality. QuietOn 4 Active Noise Cancellation and effectiveness Do they really work? To test the QuietOn 4, I took them on a busy week away from home, where I’d be spending time in different hotels. I, rather unfortunately, needed them immediately. The first hotel I stayed in had thin walls, and a heavily snoring neighbor could be heard through them. The QuietOn 4 almost completely isolated me from the sound. When I heard more snoring in my Airbnb location, it totally removed the sound because it was slightly further away. The ANC is perfectly judged. It doesn’t cause that sensation of fullness in your ears, and doesn’t make it feel like you’re underwater either. There’s little to no pressure, and they don’t completely isolate you from the world. I heard my alarm without a problem. When I returned home, a nearby house had a very late party complete with thumping bass. Again, the QuietOn 4 took away 90% of the irritating sound. I could still hear it a little, but it was minimized so I could easily get to sleep. This is an important point. Don’t expect the QuietOn 4 to remove all sounds from around you completely. They won’t do that. Instead, expect them to make irritating sounds less noticeable, so you find it easier to fall asleep. Over the course of a week, I put the QuietOn 4 to the test in situations where I normally would have found it hard to fall asleep, or been stressed out by external noise. Instead, by wearing them, I slept normally. This isn’t just because of the ANC, it’s also because of the comfort and the complete lack of set-up. What could have been tortuous for me, turned into a torture test for the QuietOn 4, and they made noisy nights more than just bearable, but peaceful. What I can’t say is how effective they’ll be if you sleep next to someone who snores. They’ll definitely dull down sound, but a train still sounds like a train, even if you’re a few streets away from one. If you don’t want to hear a peep from anyone or anything, the QuietOn 4 probably won’t do the job. Wearing the QuietOn 4 outside is also interesting. The ANC dulls traffic noise, nearby conversation, and general ambient sound effectively. It’s similar to wearing normal Bluetooth earbuds without any audio playing, and may help increase focus, lessen distraction, or help with anxiety. QuietOn 4 battery and charging Nothing to cause a sleepless night The earbuds sit inside a charging case, just like regular Bluetooth earbuds. There are three LED indicators showing the charge status of each earbud on the front, and three LEDs showing the case’s battery status on the back. QuietOn says the earbud’s battery will last for 28 hours, but does not give a total time for the case. I wore the QuietOn 4 for five consecutive nights, and the case’s battery still had two LEDs illuminated and a full charge in each earbud. The case is made from plastic, and although the lid uses magnets to keep it closed, the magnets for the earbuds inside are weak, and they wobble around on the charging pogo pins. Additionally, I find it hard to open the case by feel alone due to the way the front and rear of the case is designed, which is annoying in the dark. Should you buy the QuietOn 4? Yes, you should buy the QuietOn 4. If you have trouble sleeping due to ambient external sounds or snoring, they are a comfortable, effective, and no-fuss solution to the problem. What they aren’t is a high-tech product with different modes, white noise profiles, software to update, or Bluetooth connections to maintain. Rather than being a negative, this is a resounding positive. The QuietOn 4 made the nights on my week away more restful than it would have been if I hadn’t had them with me, and I think that’s a very strong recommendation. QuietOn 4 8/10 Battery Life 28 hrs Noise Cancellation Y Earbud weight 2 grams Microphones Y The QuietOn 4 sleep earbuds are very effective at removing distracting sounds that stop you falling asleep. The light earbuds are comfortable to wear all night, and the complete lack of high-tech features paired with long battery life makes them easy to live with.