Table of Contents
Who among us hasn’t used earbuds to help them quiet an overly active brain (or a snoring partner) when going to bed at night?
Personally, bedtime is when I’m most likely to be using earbuds in the course of my day. Prior to this review, I used my first-gen AirPods Pro for listening to podcasts and video essays as I drifted off to sleep — on my more mindful nights, I opted for Loop earplugs. While I knew sleep earbuds existed, I never got on board with the idea they’d offer anything that different from my existing system (even though my existing system often meant I could only wear one AirPod comfortably as a side sleeper and that I often woke up to that AirPod dying).
Thankfully, the universe knew I deserved better, so when the chance to test out the Ozlo Sleepbuds came up, I took it.
The best noise-cancelling earbuds include the most comfortable buds I’ve ever tested
As someone who’s tested many (and owned a pair of) Bose headphones, my curiosity was piqued by Ozlo being founded by former Bose engineers — especially considering Bose discontinued its Sleepbuds line. After a few weeks of testing them nearly every night under my belt, I’ve ended up more of a sleep earbuds convert than I expected — let’s get into why.
The sleep earbud market
If you’ve Googled “best sleep earbuds” anytime recently, you’ll likely see a rotation of the following: sleep headbands from Amazon, the Soundcore Sleep A20 earbuds, Loop earplugs, and of course, the Ozlo Sleepbuds.
If you don’t like the idea of a headband and if you’re sticking to more recognizable brands (not Amazon keyboard smash brands), you’ll soon realize that sleep earbuds are one of the less saturated product markets out there. They also tend to be a market where if you want under-triple-digit prices, you’ll be making some sacrifices: in my research, I couldn’t find a budget pair that promised at least eight hours of battery life.
The Ozlo Sleepbuds…
Credit: Ozlo
Compared to the Bose Sleepbuds II.
Credit: Bose
That market space for sleep earbuds that could deliver a more premium experience (and battery life that actually lasts the length of a full night of sleep) is the reason the Bose Sleepbuds came up in the first place. With the Bose earbuds discontinued, the Ozlo Sleepbuds tried to take the passive noise cancellation and comfortable design that made them great and add in the ability to stream your own audio and track data around your sleep.
For gym rats and picky audiophiles alike, these are the 7 best headphones of 2025
At the time of writing, the only other sleep earbuds that claim to perform similarly are the Soundcore A20 earbuds — interestingly, the Soundcore earbuds are also about $120 cheaper, retailing at $150. I haven’t tested them (yet), so I won’t be comparing them head to head in this review, but it’s worth knowing that while the Ozlo Sleepbuds don’t have a ton of competitors, they aren’t totally unique.
Here’s why you might want to invest in the Ozlo Sleepbuds.
Comfort: Arguably the most important factor
First and foremost, the Ozlo Sleepbuds are incredibly comfortable. Their wingtips kept the earbuds in my ears without ever making me feel sore, and they sat at just the right point in my ears so that I could sleep on both sides without issue.
The most comfortable headphones we’ve ever tested will take care of your ears
Once I found the right tip and wing size out of the four sizes included in the box, I never experienced any issues with them falling out. In other words, they absolutely blew my experience with my AirPods out of the water, making a strong starting case for why someone might want to switch to sleep earbuds.
The choice of four different wingtip sizes made it easy to find the right fit.
Credit: Bethany Allard / Mashable
A streaming experience catered to actually sleeping
I also appreciated that the experience of using these earbuds truly felt tailored for falling and staying asleep. Ozlo could’ve relied on the side sleeper-friendly design for doing the heavy lifting, but it went a step further with how the earbuds stream audio and sleep sounds.
With the app, you can select your preferred “Sleep Sound,” with options like Fireglow, Misty Rain, and Into the Woods that mask sounds in your environment to assist with the earbuds’ passive noise cancellation. (I was partial to the default “Crimson Cloak” sound).
In addition to these sounds, you could stream your own audio and toggle when you’d like your sleep sound to kick in. You can delay it for any time between 15 minutes to two hours (within 15-minute increments) or choose a Beta feature that switches to your sleep sound once the earbuds recognize you’ve fallen asleep. I selected the Beta option for about a week of my testing period, and only woke up to a YouTube video once. (As a side note, streaming with Bluetooth does require that you keep your phone at least within 10 feet of the smart case for it to work, but that never presented any issues for me).
Plenty of alarm sounds are available.
Credit: Screenshot: Ozlo
Users also have a decent amount of choice for sleep sounds.
Credit: Screenshot: Ozlo
Alarm feature
Though not the most unique feature among sleep earbuds, I still have to give the alarm on the Ozlo Sleepbuds a shoutout. Working with an East Coast-based team while living on the West Coast has made me intimately familiar with the guilt of setting an alarm that my partner probably wishes was a tiny bit later. This simple feature basically solved that problem, alleviating my guilt and giving him another hour of sleep back. The snooze feature was also useful and reliable.
