2 Of The Best Sleep Headphones You Can Buy, According To Consumer Reports

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Urban living has its challenges, and one of them is constant noise from the surroundings. Whether it's from passing vehicles or people walking down the sidewalk, it can be tough to get continuous quiet so that you can get your daily dose of sleep without interruptions. Especially if you work on a night shift and are forced to sleep during the day, it becomes worse, because most people carry out their activities during the daytime. Even if you're lucky enough to live in a quiet place, you might live with someone who snores, which can be a constant source of irritation. 

If either of these cases describes your situation, the best solution to getting good sleep is to wear sleep headphones. Sleep headphones are typically more effective in muting external sounds, creating a distraction-free environment for the perfect good night's rest. This is because soothing sounds, like white noise, are played through such headphones and can act as a shield against constant environmental noise, according to Michael Grandner, a sleep expert and the director of the Sleep and Health Research Program at the University of Arizona, speaking to Consumer Reports. 

To help you get a good night's sleep in an environment full of distractions, these two sleep headphones are your best companions. They are recommended by the team of experts at Consumer Reports, who buy and test lots of gadgets to find standout options. You can check the full methodology at the end of the article for more details.

Ozlo's Sleepbuds are one of the best gadgets you can buy to help you sleep. Unlike traditional headphones, these earbuds are optimized to help you sleep in several ways. First, they don't have a microphone. So when you're ready for bed and put them on, you can't take calls. The earbuds' design also makes them perfect for blocking external noise. According to Consumer Reports, the Ozlo Sleepbuds are "effective" at blocking noises that can disrupt your sleep. Of course, human ears vary in size, and because of this, it's common to see earbuds with several tips of different sizes, and the Ozlo Sleepbuds are no exception. 

They come with four silicone tips of different sizes to make sure you can find the one that fits perfectly. Concerning fit and feel while sleeping, the team at Consumer Reports says the Sleepbuds are "lightweight" and "tuck perfectly," remaining in place for the night while being "virtually undetectable" even while sleeping on the side. Ozlo promises up to 10 hours of battery life per charge, and the companion case gives you an additional 32 hours. Consumer Reports found the battery life to be solid, comfortably lasting all night. 

The Sleepbuds have a companion app, appropriately named Ozlo Sleep, which includes a variety of sounds to help you sleep, but you can also use sounds downloaded on your device or from your go-to music streaming service. Since the Ozlo Sleepbuds are built to block disruptive noise, the app includes an alarm feature that you can set to ensure you wake up on time. While great, the Sleepbuds do have a steep price. You can buy the Ozlo Sleepbuds from Amazon, Walmart, or Best Buy for $274.

As one of the major headphone brands, Anker has a wide variety of earbuds and headphones that you can buy. For sleep, the Anker Soundcore Sleep A30 is one of the best you can get, per the experts from Consumer Reports. Specifically, the Sleep A30 excels in some of the key areas that matter for sleep headphones, including all-night battery life, comfort, and noise-masking. To start with comfort, the team says the Sleep A30 are "comfortable enough" but not as good as the Ozlo Sleepbuds. 

Additionally, they also don't feel undetectable while wearing them, which might be slightly distracting (but not to an extent that you can't sleep) if you're a side sleeper. Anker promises up to nine hours of battery life and up to 45 hours with the case. The Sleep A30 includes active noise cancelling (ANC), which should make the earbuds more effective in blocking sounds. However, Consumer Reports found that the Sleep A30 works just fine even without ANC enabled. 

You can also pair these earbuds with a companion app, which includes soothing sounds that you can play to lull yourself to sleep. If no single audio seems perfect, the app allows you to mix them for the perfect tune. You can also set an alarm in the app, which is quite handy for sleep headphones to ensure you get up at a specific time if you can't hear your phone's usual alarm. The Anker Soundcore Sleep A30 earbuds are available to buy from Amazon or Best Buy for $199.99. You can get them in Moonlit White or Mist Green.

The two products we've discussed are from Consumer Reports' list of the best sleep headphones. The team tried a variety of sleep-focused headphones and shortlisted the best by considering five aspects: comfort, all-night battery life, local media playback, alarm functionality, and noise-masking. The original list covers five options, but we've only listed two of the top-ranked headphones, from the top model to the runner-up option.