Silent night: Bose’s new noise-masking Sleepbuds

Bose is best known for making premium hi-fi equipment but now the US audio giant is concentrating its efforts on giving consumers a good night’s sleep. 

The company took to crowd-funding site Indiegogo last November to see whether customers would be interested in prototype wireless, noise-cancelling earphones designed to help shut out intrusive sounds at night.

The answer was a resounding yes: the first small batch of prototype earphones, dubbed Sleepbuds, sold out within six days.

With that success in mind, the company is now launching them at stores across the US from autumn. 

The sleepbuds use “noise-masking technology”, says Bose, and feature sculpted rubber earbuds that play specially designed sleep-promoting tracks. 

These tracks hide background noise by mirroring the frequencies of intrusive sounds, such as dogs barking or someone snoring, to neutralise potentially sleep-disrupting environmental noise. 

The smallest product that Bose has ever made, the Sleepbuds measure in at just over 1cm in width and height and are completely wireless, connecting to the user’s smartphone through a low-energy Bluetooth connection. 

Once connected, users can choose between ten audio backing tracks, including the sound of gentle waves, and can also set an alarm for the morning. 

The batteries last for around 16 hours, and are powered up using a compact wireless charging case that comes with the Sleepbuds. 

Bose stresses that the Sleepbuds do not double as a pair of wireless headphones, so you can’t stream music or TV shows through them. For that, you could try the company’s noise-cancelling QC35 MKII headphones.

Sleepbuds will only be available in North America initially, with prices starting at $250 (£190). 

But if they prove to be popular, it may not be long until they go on sale across the pond too.