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Bose Noise-Masking Sleepbuds $290.40 Delivered @ Amazon AU

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Amazon dropped their price again, they're now cheaper than before (apart from that 1-day Myer deal and Amazon flash sale!). You can also get 5% cashback with CashRewards too, making it $275.88.

These earbuds are designed to help people sleep via noise masking and passive noise isolation. There was quite a bit of discussion from the last time. To summarize:

  • They have a 30-day risk-free trial. Bose even provides a reply-paid envelope.
  • These are not wireless Bluetooth earphones. You cannot stream your own music to them.
  • They play back sounds that may help you sleep. White noise, environmental sounds (rain, waterfall, river etc).
  • Because different people are different, they will work wonders for some people but be useless for others. That's why there is a 30-day trial.
  • One reason why it's expensive is because it's a new, low-volume niche product which will never sell in large quantities, so they can't take advantage of economies of scale.

Some people can sleep with cheap foam earplugs or earphones. That's great for them, but not everybody finds them comfortable.

Custom silicone-molded earplugs don't always have a good seal - mine loses its seal when my jaw position changes. Something with flexible tips like this can maintain a better seal as the tips follow the shape of the ear canal when it changes shape.

Here is a review from an OzB'er.
CHOICE review
TechRadar review

Price History at C CamelCamelCamel.

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closed Comments

  • +3

    Personal opinion. Doesn't work at all, they're comfortable, but they're nothing more than normal sleep buds, with a very nice case, and extremely limited functionality, it doesn't play any music, it only plays sounds that it's preset to play from the app, that's it.

    • So you don't find they do a better job in terms of blocking noise than normal earplugs? Can you elaborate a bit more? I sleep with earplugs but looking for something that might work even better.

      • +1

        Nope doesn't do any more. Comfort? Yeah it feels nice. Functionality? Nope. Here's what it does, it can ONLY play these pre-downloaded sounds, I think they have updated the app with a few new ones, that then get updated on the sleep buds, so I think the sleepbuds might have some memory for some very average quality wave files that play water sounds and birds chirping sounds.

        But that's literally all it does, play sounds, the app controls and can stop the playing after a timer, and it can also set an alarm to wake you up.

        I don't think it's worth $300… It definitely did not improve sleep. Maybe some people really need white noise, but for people who don't benefit from white noise, these sleepbuds do nothing.

        I keep seeing positive reviews and all that saying it works successfully, but I have a feeling it's almost like paid reviews.

        • +2

          I keep seeing positive reviews and all that saying it works successfully, but I have a feeling it's almost like paid reviews.

          You have to keep in mind that different people are different. What works for some people may not work for you.

          So just because something doesn't work for you, it doesn't mean everyone else who finds it effective are paid shills.

          • @eug: Yes that's true and that's fair, but I would expect a mix bag of reviews, surely not everyone who has tried or purchased them have had positive reviews so far, the amount of negative reviews are very minimum.

            • @squaredonut:

              Yes that's true and that's fair, but I would expect a mix bag of reviews, surely not everyone who has tried or purchased them have had positive reviews so far, the amount of negative reviews are very minimum.

              You should have a look at the reviews on Amazon US where it got 3.3 out of 5.

              If you read through the comments you can see that they work really well for some people (51% of the reviewers voted 4 and 5 stars), average for 11% (3 stars), and 38% voted 1 star. That's from a total of of 547 customer reviews which is pretty decent. You can filter the reviews by verified purchases as well.

        • Thanks for this. I'm not sure about the noise-masking, does this mean it makes another type of noise (like white noise) to cancel out the first (unwanted) noise? So it's not noise-cancelling?

          • +1

            @End3vour: It's literally just very low bitrate white noise wav files.

          • @End3vour:

            I'm not sure about the noise-masking, does this mean it makes another type of noise (like white noise) to cancel out the first (unwanted) noise?

            It does passively block some noise like earplugs, but the main reason why you'd get it is for the masking.

            Do you have a pair of IEM-style earphones? When you put it on without playing anything through them, you'll notice that everything goes a bit quieter. But the moment you play e.g. sounds from a waterfall, river, or just white noise, you can barely hear the sounds around you. It's kinda like that, but more comfortable and wireless.

        • +1

          Without any sound on, were they effective at blocking out all sound? Or no different than the cheapy disposable foam ear plugs is sound blocking? If it blocks out the sound of a baby crying on a plane I would buy them straight away.

          • +1

            @Sammyboy: No different to normal buds, you can hear people talk, and you can hear snoring.

    • Totally agree

    • I've shared my experience and I might be just repeating myself here but "nothing more than normal sleep buds" doesn't do justice. I've tried different cheap and expensive foam/silicon buds and none of them was effective in blocking noise/snoring. At times, I'd wake up feeling pain because of the continuous pressure in my ears during the night, or I would wake up in the middle of the night without them. They were probably causing more damage than benefits. Considering the importance of regular good sleep, my only solution for the partner's snoring was sleeping in different bedrooms. Although I was skeptical about the sleepbuds being able to reduce or eliminate my perception of the snoring and other noises, that has been working amazingly for around one month. I've been sleeping without interruptions and waking up feeling rested, which is priceless by itself.
      Whatever is the mechanism, the sleepbuds do reduce/mix/block noises around, making most of them imperceptible.

      This is not a paid review, but I wouldn't mind if Bose wanted to give me a gift or something like that, although I suspect that would affect how my review is considered. I paid AUD 303.20.

      All in all, I recommend anyone who has problem sleeping to give it a try and just return it if not satisfied.

  • +2
  • I'll wait for the $20 chinese version in six months

    • +1

      It will randomly cut out, and sometimes go out of sync, battery will be half the life, and won't be as comfortable, but will be cheaper.

      • Still… wondering what is stopping people from just using a normal pair of earphones and just getting a cheap ass mp3 player to play some downloaded whale songs… or am I missing something? :)

        • +3

          If you can sleep comfortably with normal-sized earphones and a wire, that's the way to go - it's much cheaper. Some people find it too uncomfortable though. I find even foam earplugs uncomfortable for extended periods.

        • You are missing common sense, if someone sleeps on their side, how are they going to use headphones.

          • -2

            @onlinepred: Uh… no I'm not. $20 will buy you an iphone replica wireless (no cords) set. Probably enough battery life to get you off to sleep.

            I think the people paying $290 for this are the ones missing common sense!

            • +1

              @kronicmacstigator:

              Uh… no I'm not. $20 will buy you an iphone replica wireless (no cords) set.

              You need to understand that different people are different. Not everybody is like you. Some people find earphones of any kind uncomfortable. As I said, I even find foam earplugs uncomfortable - bulky Bluetooth earphones would be even worse.

              If you can sleep fine with headphones or earphones, that's great! Count yourself lucky. Just remember that there are many other people out there in the world. They're not lacking common sense, they're just not the same as you.

              • -1

                @eug: Well I need a $3500 CPAP machine to sleep… which ironically I pay $400-600 for (pays to shop around) so… was born premature so something had to give

                • @kronicmacstigator: So what if someone told you they can sleep perfectly fine with their cheap $80 mouthpiece, and anyone paying $600 for a CPAP machine is missing common sense?

                  • -1

                    @eug: Was having a go at onlinepred for saying I was missing common sense…

                    • @kronicmacstigator: You understand that having a big thing sticking out of your ear while sleeping on your side may be uncomfortable right? It's like using your cpap device while sleeping face down.

  • -2

    Jabra Elite 65t True Wireless Earphones - Gold Beige - $197

    https://www.tobydealsau.com/en_AU/product/jabra-elite-65t-tr…

    No idea about warranty or sourcing (or if they remit GST)…..

    • The Jabra has been discussed before. If you can sleep comfortably with them, that's great! Lucky you. But not everyone can. These are more comfortable.

    • +1

      Why not just wear headphones then lol. If you can sleep with those gigantic things in your ears…

  • Would love to try them but damn could fork out that much. Gotta stick with my foam ear plug

  • Really something worth buying from the Bose store direct as you get a 30 day satisfaction money back guarantee.

    Did a lot of research that showed people either hate them or love them. Decided to buy them myself and returned them a week later. Only need them when the neighbour dog is barking or other random noises keep me from sleeping and for that purpose my usual earphones did just as good with much more variety of sound via my music streaming service.

    Also, had to search for one for a good 10 minutes after they must have fallen out one night despite good fit. Doesn't happen with my wired earphones.

    So long story short, get an option to return them because $300 is a lot of money and second hand market for these wouldnt be big considering the ear wax they'd accrue over time…

    • Can you not use claim the 30 day money back if buying from amazon?

      • +2

        Hmm, the last Amazon listing (and one of the reviews) mentioned the trial. I just had a look again and the current listing doesn't mention the trial any more.

        Just to be sure I started a chat with Amazon and asked if I could return the Sleepbuds if they don't work well for me. They said yes.

        Could be worth asking them yourself before buying to be 100% sure?

        • Ok, thanks for that.

      • Yeah official Bose offered trial ended early January but see comment above about perhaps being able to return to Amazon

  • Did anyone else read it as "noise making"

  • How much do sleeping pills cost compared to these earbuds

    • +1

      Sleeping pills might be useful for some time or specific situations but are not recommended for chronic use as they modify your sleep pattern.

      • Isn't that the same as drinking yourself to sleep?

    • How much do sleeping pills cost compared to these earbuds

      Have you tried them? They're a last-ditch solution for me, as I feel groggy for the whole morning after I wake up.

  • -1

    "These are not wireless Bluetooth earphones. You cannot stream your own music to them."
    Cant see why they couldnt given they have bluetooth…. must be Bose limiting their functionality

    • Cant see why they couldnt given they have bluetooth…. must be Bose limiting their functionality

      They are incredibly small - smaller than any existing Bluetooth earphones which have poor battery life right now. The battery technology simply isn't there yet. Even multi-billion-dollar tech giants like Sony, Apple, Samsung, and Huawei are unable to create a similarly-sized Bluetooth earphone that performs decently - and it's not because they're not trying.

  • +1

    Use a Vornado fan or Marpac Dohm Classic White Noise Sound Machine.

    I might have gone for these Bose if they played music, so I could you know listen to hypnosis or ASMR stuff.

  • Bose still have the advertised 30 day trial on their store website.
    https://www.bose.com.au/en_au/products/headphones/noise_mask…

    They also have a separate website with details but the claim form says it expires 31 December.
    Maybe it has been extended?

    http://bosesleeptrial.com/

    **heaps of stuff on their website have a 30 day risk free trial. Worse case - get from Bose and either return if not happy or return and buy cheaper.

  • Bought these for my mum and they didn't suit her. Went into the Bose store and they said that the 30 day trial ended with purchases before 31 Dec when purchasing from a reseller. Anyone have any ideas on how I can refund from Amazon?

    • Start a chat with them and mention it isn't suitable.

    • Hi, can you let me know how you went? I'm considering buying them but only if there's a way to return them if they don't suit.

      • +1

        Hi - I emailed them and they said it was fine to return. I'm just waiting for the money to be credited back to my account before I post a final confirmation that it's ok.

        I also went into the Bose store and they said that any product bought from them have a 30 day trial period, so if you want better reassurance, might be better to pop into the store

        • Thanks for the update. I assume you bought from the Amazon sale and returned directly to Bose?

  • This bargain has expired

    • Cheers. Next time use the "Report" function in the top to notify a Moderator. I've reported it now

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