Wireless earbuds are a lot of things nowadays, and some of them have nothing to do with playing music. According to Apple, wireless earbuds are also a health-tracking device. To Nothing, they’re a conduit to ChatGPT. Per this company, they’re also a full-on computer in your ear.
The usefulness of those expanded capabilities varies, but one that really speaks to me is the potential to help me do one of the things I love most: sleep. Take these recently announced wireless earbuds from NextSense, for example. Smartbuds, as the company has dubbed them, embed an EEG sensor in earbuds to monitor your sleep. The difference here is that, unlike sleep-tracking apps, these earbuds can monitor your sleep in real time.
© NextSenseWhy on earth would you need that if you’re, you know, sleeping? Well, according to NextSense, these Smartbuds can actually adjust to your sleeping patterns on the fly, thanks to a half dozen sensors, and then provide audio stimulation accordingly, all with the goal of deeper sleep. The approach of using a wearable with an EEG to improve sleep isn’t novel—there are headbands that do the same—but after testing some of those headbands myself, I’m much more intrigued by the potential of wireless earbuds. Let’s just say I don’t find strapping a whole headband onto my forehead, nodes and all, to be the most comfortable way to get some shut-eye.
I haven’t tested NextSense’s Smartbuds myself, so I can’t speak to whether they work or are comfortable to wear, but there is some initial evidence that a form factor like this can help. NextSense isn’t the only company pursuing the idea, either. Alternatives are set to hit the market, like the Naox Link NX01, which was shown off at CES this past year. Naox’s version won’t go on sale until the end of this year, but the company is apparently already considering licensing its technology to non-sleep-focused earbud makers, so there’s a chance EEG tech like this could expand in the not-so-distant future.
It’s not all about EEGs, either. There are other sleep-focused buds that focus less on real-time health metrics and more on providing you with the most comfortable way to play sleep-assisting, noise-blocking sounds of your choice. My favorite in that category may be Soundcore’s Sleep A30 wireless earbuds. I had a chance to test the Sleep A30 recently and was impressed by a few things. One is that they are genuinely comfortable to wear at night, even for side sleepers. If you’ve ever tried to wear traditional earbuds while lying down, you know just how uncomfortable that can be.
Another important factor is the level of noise they block. I live on the ground floor of an apartment in New York, and as you might imagine, there are often a few things happening outside, and not all of them are quiet. Not only do the Sleep A30 block out that sound, but they also excel at cancelling out simulated snoring (I played an audio loop at high volume). Seriously, these are some of the strongest active noise-cancellation earbuds I’ve used to date—sleep-focused or not.
© Raymond Wong / GizmodoWhat I’m trying to say is that there are now layers to this sleep earbuds thing. Some of them, like those with EEG, are more sophisticated health-tracking wearables that can actually monitor your sleep, while others are just meant to save you from the scourge of snoring or your cats beating each other up at night.
There are some caveats, of course. NextSense’s earbuds, for example, require a $14.99 monthly subscription, on top of their $399 retail price (there’s a $249 early-bird special right now, though). I think I speak for everyone when I say that adding another subscription to my life isn’t high on my to-do list. That being said, I’ve been surprised so far by the quality and usefulness of sleep earbuds, and even if the category wasn’t on your radar before, believe me when I say it may be time to stop sleeping on it and try a pair.
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