Two years ago, Bose released a unique pair of true wireless ear buds whose sole purpose was to help you sleep better at night. It was the first product of its kind, so it integrated a number of things that might not work for everyone. Well, the outfit took the feedback about that original model and refined it in the form of the Bose Sleepbuds II.
The second generation of the sleep-assisting wearable, the ear buds come in a more compact size than its predecessor, making it comfortable to wear even for side sleepers, many of whom found the original design a bit too intrusive. Basically, it’s a pair of ear buds that you’re not supposed to feel while you’re tossing and turning in bed, allowing it to work its magic to help you sleep without any inconvenience.
The Bose Sleepbuds II are true wireless ear buds that’s a whole lot smaller than the ear buds you wear to listen to music while you run or lift weights, coming in at just 1.1 x 0.98 x 0.5 inches (width x height x depth) and weighing just 0.08 ounces. This allows it to wear nearly flat on your ears, while adding no noticeable weight, so you can go to bed as normally as you do every night. It achieves this smaller size by ditching the battery from the original and switching to a more compact NiMH cell. Granted, it also gained less playback time at just 10 hours between charges compared to 16 hours in the original, but we have a feeling you don’t intend to snooze for the 16 hours a night anyway. And in case you do, we doubt you’re the kind of guy who actually needs any help getting to sleep.
Like the original, the ear buds are designed to passively block noise using specially-designed ear tips, whether it’s your partner snoring next to you, the dogs barking next door, or the sound of car engines passing by outside. More than a pair of ear plugs, though, it’s designed to play specific sounds that are meant to help you sleep.
The Bose Sleepbuds II come with a companion app where you can choose what sounds to play while you close your eyes and lie in bed. There’s standard noise masking audio, which plays a consistent mix of frequencies that are designed to drown out any noise that manages to pass its way through the passive noise cancellation. Don’t want to sleep to a fancier version of white noise? Not a problem, as they also offer environmental sounds that are meant to relax the mind and body, as well as a variety of nature sounds, in case you sleep better when you’re feeling closer to the Earth. Or something.
It comes with three sizes of umbrella-shaped silicone ear tips, so you can find the perfect fit that will stay in your ears at all times, while a pliable fin lodges snugly in the ridge of your ears to further keep it from falling off. Other features include a charging case that holds up to 30 hours’ worth of power, a 30-foot Bluetooth range, and an alarm feature, so it can wake you up with a different sound exactly when you need it.
The Bose Sleepbuds II comes out October 6th, priced at $249.95.