Happy Valentines Day from Earjobs! Today we’re thinking about those patient loved ones who put up with our snoring, late night gaming session or just a little bit too much chat before bedtime. This year, put the power tools, craft set and Uber Eats vouchers away. There is no better way to say “Happy Valentines Day My Love” than with the gift of a good night’s sleep.
($31.99 for 60 pairs)
Some of the strongest ear plugs on the market are designed for work. They’re those thin little nuggets of foam that feel like thick plastic in your ear. Not so bad when you’re down a mine shaft or in an excavator, but difficult to sleep with. If you’re someone who’s prone to a bit of a snore, give your loved one the gift of a good night’s rest with the all new Earjobs Comfy Foam. They’re built with the same high noise rating as our industrial plugs, but with a special new formula for maximum comfort and softness.
The Comfy Foam plugs work by softly inflating inside the ear canal, preventing sound from penetrating with a special formula designed to target louder noises. Rated to 33 NRR, these are going to block up to 33dB of sound, sufficient for even the loudest of mouth breathers. They’re soft enough for side sleepers, and useful also for study, work, or giving yourself a break from your future Mozart’s drum lessons.
Each bottle comes with sixty pairs, with the Comfy Foam shaped to fit the vast majority of adults. They’re made of hypoallergenic materials, so they are soft and comfortable even for the most sensitive ears. Made with an eye-catching magenta and blue colour scheme, they’re visible even in low light situations (or in the bottom of a backpack). Suitable for snoring, power tools, noisy neighbours, traffic and construction.
($33.99)
The best ear plugs for side sleepers are soft and flexible, capable of taking the weight of your head without jamming into the sensitive ear canal. If your valentine is a light sleeper, or just someone who sleeps on their side, the Alpine SleepDeep is an excellent choice.
An upgrade to the popular SleepSoft model, the SleepDeep has done away with the rigid plastic tail. The entire body is soft and pliant, with a new oval shape that’s more comfortable when compressed into the ear. The core is made of a dense sound blocking gel, making this set among the strongest and highest sound blocking plugs made of silicone. When properly fitted, they’re going to suppress about 27dB of noise.
The SleepDeep’s new ergonomic design is suitable particularly for individuals with smaller or narrower ears, with the oval shape designed to conform to the natural contour of the ear. Like the Comfy Foam, they’re a set and forget plug – you won’t even know you’re wearing them!
Compared to disposable plugs, reusables are far more ecologically conscious, lasting up to a hundred uses (and possibly more depending on your ears). The SleepDeep comes with a rigid plastic case for hygiene and safety, even on the go. For more information on the SleepDeep, see our in-depth review here.
($29.99)
If you’re an early riser, shift worker, or just have dodgy curtains, a 3D sleep mask can be the difference between a good or bad night’s sleep. The Dozy works by comfortably sealing off the eye with flexible cups, preventing the light leakage associated with ordinary sleep masks. With a fully adjustable velcro strap and removable eye cups, the Dozy is a completely customisable set, able to be put together to match the shape of your face or head for a soft and secure fit.
In contrast to a flat mask, the 3D shape of the Dozy ensures sufficient space for you to open your eyes or blink while wearing them. Not only does this minimise pressure on the delicate eyelid, but also is good for protecting eyelashes or providing a barrier for the eye for individuals who sleep face down. The velcro strap avoids the tugging or pulling that comes with elastic (particularly great for mask fatigue in the COVID era).
The Dozy best showcases its light locking abilities for sleepers during the day. If your valentine is FiFo, a shift worker, or just partial to an afternoon siesta, it’s a great solution for sleeping in the brightest hours of the day. The padding on the front eye cups is also super soft for sleeping on planes, trains, or the back seat of cars, meaning less conflict on those long rides home from the family holiday.
Each set of the Dozy comes with a FREE set of Earjobs Comfy Wax, a hypoallergenic, ecologically conscious wax plug that blocks about 23dB. For more information on the Comfy Wax, see here.
LectroFan® Digital Fan and White Noise Machine
$89.99
If you’re curious about sound machines for sleep, look no further than the LectroFan, one of the best white noise machines on the market for sleeping. With twenty digitally generated noises and an easy to operate sleep timer, it’s a super versatile sleep machine for the price, providing high quality noise at all volumes.
But first, to clear up any confusion: what is white noise? White noise is a soothing type of sound that works to cover up disruptive noise. The way it works is best understood through a comparison to clogging a drain. When you clog a drain, no water can go through it. In the same way, when white noise is played, it covers all the available sounds the human ear can process, making that barking dog, rattling window, or noisy neighbour disappear.
The LectroFan is a digital white noise machine that actually generates the noise as it’s playing. In contrast to cheaper units, which play tinny recordings on loop, the LectroFan is producing new sound — ensuring no sudden loops, awkward repetitions, or annoying distortion. Not only useful for sleep, white noise can be used for study, for yoga, for meditating, or for any other situation where you want to replace external noise with something soft and soothing. It comes in both black and white colours, so versatile for your Valentine’s carefully curated bedroom design. Powered through a wall outlet, so no worries about batteries.
QuietOn3.1 Noise Cancelling Sleep Earbuds
($389.00)
Maybe you’re not a garden variety snorer. Maybe your Valentine has suffered through a lifetime of deep, rugged exhales and they’re starting to crack. Maybe you have the worst neighbours in the universe and no amount of strongly worded letters under the door are going to cut it. If you’ve tried everything else, it’s time for the QuietOn3.
The QuietOn3 is a noise canceling sleep earphone. What this means is that the ear buds have small microphones on the exterior that work to identify and ‘cancel out’ external noise. When inserted into the ears with the right fitting tips, a noise-removing seal is created, with the microphones slowly identifying and suppressing snores and other sounds. It’s a subtle, gradual experience — the external world will gently drip away.
The QuietOn3 has a variety of optimisations over the original set. The buds are about 30% smaller, both width and height, making them much more comfortable in the ear. They are also better shaped for fit within the ear ear canal, fitting a wider variety of ear sizes and shapes. Improvements in the noise canceling has made for superior performance with a wider array of sounds and the newly upgraded look of the charging case and tips makes for a more luxurious appearance.
As with our previous sleep plugs, the QuietOn3 is suitable not just for bedtime. It’s useful for meditation, for study, for work, or for any context where you want to lower external noise without necessarily resorting to music or podcasts. For more information, see our QuietOn3 review here.