Best sleep headphones: What would we pick for a calmer night’s sleep?

We’ve looked at some of the best headphones for sleeping and picked the ones we think are actually worth your attention

Living in a city comes with its pluses and difficulties. It’s convenient for work opportunities, fun outings, and plenty of places to connect, but at night, the noise from the streets can drive you insane.

If you find yourself in a similar situation, or simply need specific sounds to help you fall asleep without ads ruining the mood, you may want to consider headphones for sleeping.

There are a few main sleep-headphone formats: wireless earbuds, earmuff-style headphones, and headbands with integrated speakers. In our experience, wireless earbuds are the most convenient option at the moment. The right pair can be comfortable whether you sleep on your side or back.

For this reason, we tested and picked our favorite options for this best sleep headphones guide. Here, you’ll find our recommendations, key specifications, and our personal experiences with comfort, fit, and noise masking.

Our checklist: Best sleep headphones

1. Fitnexa SomniPods 3: Best sleep headphones for versatile everyday use
2. Ozlo Sleepbuds 2: Best headphones for restless sleepers
3. Anker’s soundcore Sleep A20: Best headphones for sleep with a long battery life
4. Anker’s soundcore Sleep A30 Special: Best sleep headphones for environmental noise blocking

What are sleep headphones?

If this is your first time looking for headphones designed for sleeping, you may wonder what sleep earbuds actually are and how they’re any different from regular headphones.

The differences may seem minimal, but they start to matter once you’re lying in bed. Sleep headphones are designed specifically for wearing in bed. They tend to have a more low-profile design, a more secure fit, and features focused on nighttime routines. If you’ve ever tried going to sleep with regular wireless earbuds, you’ve probably noticed they aren’t particularly comfortable for long periods. They might start pressing against your ears or fall out as you move around.

With sleep headphones you also have a wide range of white noise audios, ambient sounds, music, podcasts, meditations, and sleep stories. Some even use passive noise isolation or active noise cancellation (ANC) to reduce outside noise.

This makes sleep headphones particularly useful if you’re a light sleeper, live near a noisy street, have a partner with a different sleep schedule, or just find that certain sounds help you drift off easier.

What we looked at when picking the best sleep headphones

We tested each model over several weeks, although we didn’t follow a strict testing schedule. Our main focus was simple: how comfortable are they to sleep in, do they stay in place throughout the night, and how long does the battery last?

For this review, we didn’t use smartwatch data to determine whether sleep headphones actually improve sleep quality or duration. A few of Wareable testers did, however, note that they seemed to fall asleep faster using the earbuds.

We also looked at how well they reduce or mask outside noise and how easy they are to use before bed. Finally, we took into consideration the available sleep sounds and other features that may make sleep headphones more useful as part of your nightly routine.

Fitnexa SomniPods 3

Best overall for everyday use

Get SomniPods 3

• Sleep features: Sleep tracking, hybrid ANC, passive noise isolation, sound masking, AI Sleep Coach
• App: Fitnexa app
• Connectivity: Bluetooth 5.4
• Battery life: Up to 12 hours; up to 48 hours with charging case
• Price: From $159.99

At the moment, we award the first place in this best sleep headphones guide to Fitnexa SomniPods 3. They’re designed for sleep, but unlike some dedicated sleep earbuds, you can also use them as your everyday Bluetooth earbuds for music and calls.

Each earbud weighs around 3.3g and has a low-profile, slim design, sitting close to your ear. During testing, we found no obvious pressure points when lying on a side, so we think SomniPods 3 are pretty comfortable.

Fitnexa also includes multiple ear-tip and wing sizes, so you can adjust the fit if the default setup doesn’t feel right. Of course, ear shapes vary, and if you already find regular earbuds or earplugs uncomfortable, these may not be for you.

You’ll need the Fitnexa app to access its wider selection of sleep sounds. There are also three built-in tracks that work offline, while Bluetooth lets you stream your own music and podcasts from Spotify.

In our testing, our team members found SomniPods 3 convenient enough to wear throughout the night, as they stayed in place even when moving around. We noted that the battery lasted around eight hours for us, although your mileage may depend on how you use ANC and Bluetooth.

The hybrid ANC is rated for up to 42 decibels of noise reduction. It doesn’t mean every sound disappears, but, in our experience, it noticeably reduced background noise from planes and traffic. Sadly, the ANC tends to drain battery quite quickly, so advertised 12 hours of battery life wasn’t true in our testing.

Currently listed at $159.99, SomniPods 3 seems like a valid option, especially if you find a Fitnexa discount.

Ozlo Sleepbuds 2

Best for people who toss and turn during sleep

Get Sleepbuds 2

• Sleep features: Sleep Patterns, in-ear alarm, passive noise isolation, adaptive sound masking,
• App: Ozlo Sleep app
• Connectivity: Bluetooth 5.3
• Battery life: Up to 14 hours
• Price: $279

We put Ozlo Sleepbuds 2 in second place, mostly because of their higher price tag, though we also found some features less polished than on Fitnexa SomniPods 3. Still, you may like these if you’re willing to spend more and tend to toss and turn a lot during the night.

Ozlo’s earbuds are even lighter than SomniPods 3, at just 1.6g per earbud. The design is different, too, with a small silicone tip and low-profile shape designed to sit securely in your ear. Ozlo specifically positions them for side sleepers, and in our testing, they felt snug and stayed in place throughout the night.

The extra security is particularly useful because Sleepbuds 2 has a built-in personal alarm. It wakes you through the earbuds rather than relying on your phone, although we found the in-ear alarm a little too startling for us. You can also still hear your regular phone alarm with the earbuds in, unless you've set its volume very low.

Ozlo’s earbuds are controlled through the companion app, where you can choose sleep sounds, adjust audio, set your alarm, and view Sleep Patterns. You can also stream your own content from services like Spotify, Calm, and Audible before Sleepbuds 2 automatically switches to sleep sounds or masking when you fall asleep.

For noise, Ozlo doesn’t use ANC. Instead, the silicone tips provide passive isolation while adaptive masking sounds are designed to reduce the impact of disruptions like snoring or traffic.

Anker soundcore Sleep A20

Best for long battery life

Get soundcore Sleep A20

• Sleep features: Sleep Score, sleep tracking, alarm, and timer
• App: Anker soundcore
• Connectivity: Bluetooth 5.3
• Battery life: Up to 14 hours in Sleep Mode; up to 10 hours in Bluetooth Mode
• Price: From $149.99

If you’re not keen on spending a few hundred bucks on sleep headphones, you may like soundcore Sleep A20 by Anker. At $149.99, it’s one of the more affordable options on our list while still covering the basics you’d expect from sleep earbuds.

Of course, you’ll have to make some compromises. In our experience, the fit isn’t as secure as the options above, with the earbuds protruding slightly more than we’d like. The Wareable tester found them generally comfortable when sleeping on their side, but one earbud fell out a few times during the night.

Another compromise is the lack of active noise cancellation. Like Ozlo, Sleep A20 uses passive noise blocking and sound masking to make background sounds less noticeable. We found that you still may hear traffic or louder talking from your neighbours, although music really helps to make those sounds less annoying.

That said, we were impressed by the audio selection. You can stream your own content over Bluetooth, including from platforms such as Spotify and YouTube, while the soundcore app also offers lots of built-in sleep sounds.

Battery life is the real gem here, though. In our testing, the earbuds easily lasted through the night, while the charging case gave us enough power to go through the week without recharging it. The brand rates the case for up to 80 additional hours in Sleep Mode, making Sleep A20 a particularly good choice if you tend to forget to charge your devices.

Anker soundcore Sleep A30 Special

Best for its noise-cancelling technology

Get soundcore Sleep A30 Special

• Sleep features: Sleep tracking, ANC, passive isolation, adaptive snore masking, sleep sounds, and in-ear alarm
• App: Anker soundcore
• Connectivity: Bluetooth 5.4
• Battery life: Up to 10 hours
• Price: From $199.99

Although last in our ranking, soundcore Sleep A30 Special is still worth your attention, at least in our eyes. If you like Anker’s soundcore design and app but want proper active noise cancellation, this is the option to look at.

It’s more expensive than Sleep A20 and Fitnexa SomniPods 3, which is one reason it didn’t make our top three. But you’re getting more advanced noise reduction in return.

Sleep A30 Special combines ANC, passive noise isolation, and adaptive sound masking, while offering a wider range of sleep audio like Calm Sleep Stories, AI Brainwave Audio, and white noise. You also can stream your own music over Bluetooth.

In terms of comfort, Sleep A30 Special didn’t feel particularly different from Sleep A20 during our testing. We did, though, think the noise cancellation and overall audio quality were better.

The trade-off is the battery life. Every time we used these earbuds, they were either out of battery or close to it, particularly when streaming music from Spotify. The brand claims 8–10 hours of battery life, but ANC and Bluetooth use may reduce that. In our testing, the advertised battery life didn’t hold up, while the charging case also needed recharging sooner than the claimed five nights.

Quick pick: Best sleep headphones compared

Feature	Fitnexa SomniPods 3	Ozlo Sleepbuds 2	Anker’s soundcore Sleep A20	Anker’s soundcore Sleep A30 Special
Price	$159.99	$279	$149.99	$199.99
Warranty	18 months	12 months	18 months	18 months
Noise cancellation technology	Hybrid ANC, passive noise isolation, and built-in sleep sounds	Passive noise isolation and adaptive sound masking	Passive noise blocking and sound masking	ANC, passive noise isolation, and adaptive sound masking
Claimed battery life	Up to 12 hours	Up to 14 hours	Up to 14 hours	Up to 10 hours
Audio library	Sleep sounds, white noise, brainwave-inspired audio	Sleep sounds and soundscapes	Sleep sounds and white noise	Sleep stories, AI brainwave audio, white noise and meditation
Verdict	Best if you want sleep earbuds that double as everyday earbuds	Best for restless sleepers who want secure fit	Best if you want affordability and long battery life	Best for light sleepers who want effective noise blocking
Official websites	Visit Fitnexa	Visit Ozlo	Visit Anker	Visit Anker

Can sleep headphones block all noise?

To be honest, no. Even the best sleep headphones can’t completely block everything around you. You may still hear sudden loud noises, nearby voices, or a door closing, depending on the headphones and how well they fit.

The type of noise control also matters:

• Passive noise isolation. Uses the earbud’s physical seal to reduce some outside sounds, particularly higher-frequency noise.
• Active noise cancellation (ANC). Uses microphones and processing to reduce suitable, steady low-frequency sounds like traffic, but it won’t make them disappear completely.
• Sound masking. Plays another sound, such as white noise or rain, to make environmental noise less noticeable rather than actually blocking it.

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Our final ruling: Which sleep headphones should you buy?

In short, we think Fitnexa SomniPods 3 are the best sleep headphones on the market right now. They offer solid noise reduction, a secure and comfortable fit that stays put through the night, good battery life, and easy usability. For us, they strike the best balance between price and what you get for your money.

That said, your priorities may be completely different from ours. Every option on our list has something worth attention, so your choice will come down to your habits, budget, comfort preferences, and the features you care about.

FAQ’s