Bose, responsible for a number of popular personal audio solutions has now announced availability for its latest pair of wireless earbuds, the Sleepbuds. However, unlike its other earphone and headphone solutions, the Sleepbuds are not designed to play music – at all. That is, not in the traditional sense as while they are capable of playing sounds, they are not designed to stream or play audio tracks from a connected device.
The reason being, is as their name suggests, Sleepbuds are more preoccupied with helping wearers get a better sleep at night. In the same way that many people already use earplugs in the bedroom to drown out sound, these earbuds are simply a sleeping aid. Albeit, one that also comes with some smarts to modernize the approach. In other words, they are not simply earplugs. For example, these earbuds do not make use of noise cancellation, but instead adopt what Bose refers to as “noise-masking” technology. As per the announcement, successfully masking noise is not just as simple as drowning out sounds or by increasing the volume of calming sounds to counteract against environmental noise at night. Instead, they have been specifically designed to patch over issues arising from existing solutions with ten pre-loaded “sleeptracks.” Which Bose explains “mirror the frequencies of snoring, neighbors, dogs, traffic, and more.”
In spite of their lack of features, these are smart earbuds in the sense they come with a corresponding Sleep Android app which lets the wearer control the ear buds, adjust the settings, and even set an alarm for the morning. Likewise, as these are designed to be worn in the ear and all night, Bose states it has spent a lot of time on the design to ensure they are not just lightweight but comfortable. In addition, as these are a wireless solution they do come with a dedicated battery which the company states can run for up to sixteen hours before needing to be charged again. In terms of availability, the Bose Sleepbuds are set to become available to buy in the US and Canada starting from June 21, 2018. The ear buds will be available directly from Bose, as well as “select” retailers, and priced at $249 in the US. Bose also states its new sleeping tool is due to become available in Asia-Pacific, Europe, Mexico and Latin America later in the year.
