I've been reviewing and using QuietOn's noise-canceling sleep earbuds for over five years now, and each new version is a little better than the last.
Battery life has improved, the earbuds have become smaller, and the foam earbuds have been upgraded. The focus is clearly on incremental improvements rather than outright updates, which is no different with the latest models, although the company itself has changed hands in the meantime.
In fact, when I first took them out of the box, it felt like there was almost no difference between them.Previous 3.1 models andQuietOn4. However, after testing the new version over the past few weeks, that opinion is starting to change.
Here’s why.
Features and Technology
If you're unfamiliar with QuietOn's approach to improving sleep, it's worth a quick discussion here. These earbuds, like all previous models, focus on one thing: reducing the amount of noise that enters your ears while you're trying to sleep.
They act more like noise-canceling earplugs than traditional earplugs. There's no Bluetooth, no preloaded music or sleep sounds, and in fact, no audio playback at all. This is the main reason why they can stay so small while still easily lasting all night on a single charge.
It also helps that no physical buttons or touch-sensitive controls are required. No apps, no configuration, and no need to keep your phone nearby. You can take them out of the box and put them in your ears. That's it.
The company has been quite public about saying that it has focused its noise cancellation capabilities primarily on low-frequency sounds, such as snoring, bass-heavy music and television, and the hum of traffic and airplane engines. That's where these earbuds work best; high-frequency sounds like conversations or an alarm going off aren't blocked as much.
design
The most obvious change between the previous model and this one is its color. QuietOn seems to switch back and forth between black and white casings and stems: version 2 was black, version 3 was white, and now we're back to black.
I prefer black, it looks more stylish and means you get matching ear tips and foam tips, but I wouldn't base a buying decision on it.
Aside from the color, there are no other changes to the case, either internally or externally. It's the same size and weight, has 6 LEDs on the front to show the charge level of each earbud, and 3 LEDs on the back to show the charge level of the case itself.
It charges via USB C, and comes with a short USB-A to C cable in the box, just in case you don't already have a dozen.
Turning to the headphones themselves, they're still very small and nearly invisible when worn. However, they now feature a more oval design and are angled slightly differently to help them fit more comfortably into your ear canal. It's a subtle but noticeable difference.
As before, the earbuds connect magnetically to the charging pins. They move around a bit in the stand, but didn't affect charging in my testing.
Tips are new too, and the change is more noticeable. Gone is the old, firmer memory foam tip, replaced by a noticeably softer Comply foam tip.
If you've ever purchased a set of Comply earbuds for regular earbuds (which I usually do), you won't be surprised to hear about these improvements. Their extra “squeezability” makes it easier to get a good fit once they expand inside my ear canal, and because they're softer, they're more comfortable to wear for long periods of time.
There are four different sizes, from XS to L, so you should be able to find a suit that fits. This is important because if the earphones don't seal properly within your ears, the noise canceling effectiveness will be significantly reduced.
These apparently have some kind of wax guard built in to help prevent dirt from building up inside the tip. During testing, I didn't particularly notice any differences compared to my usual Comply tips, but hey, a little extra hygiene isn't a bad thing.
test
Fortunately or not, I live near a popular bar near the city center. That's fine when I want to have a drink in the sun on a Friday night, but not so good a few hours later when everyone is standing outside yelling at each other, waiting for an Uber to arrive.
This gave me a lot of opportunities to test ways to keep noise out of my ear holes, and I slept with earplugs or plugs in every night. Within two weeks, I completely switched to QuietOn 4.
After trying different ear tip sizes and settling on medium, I started testing the ear tips while I was working during the day. It's the middle of summer here in Australia, so I have a fan running constantly in my office: QuietOn should do a good job of reducing that white noise.
Sure enough, it is. Squeeze the earplugs, insert them into your ears, wait 15-20 seconds for the foam to expand and turn on the noise reduction function, and the ambient sound suddenly drops significantly. I can still hear the fan, but it's very quiet; a far cry from the dull roar from before.
Considering these earbuds are worn for over 8 hours at a time, the next test is comfort. I wore the QuietOn 4 for the rest of the workday, taking them out only once for lunch. They remained comfortable throughout and didn't suffer from the sweating, itchiness, or ear pain that I've experienced with other headphones for extended periods of time.
So far, so good. Of course, the true test of these earbuds is whether they actually help me sleep. I've struggled with a lot of different sleep-focused tech aids, including earlier models of the QuietOn: Either they didn't block enough sound, or they weren't comfortable enough for a side sleeper like me, who wore them all night long with the ear touching the pillow.
Thanks in part to the updated design, and I suspect more to those new Comply tips, the QuietOn 4 immediately feels more comfortable than any previous version. While still not as unobtrusive as my best foam earplugs, they are the closest I've found so far.
I've had problems in the past with the hard plastic of the earbud handles pressing uncomfortably into my ears, amplifying small noises and vibrations when I move my head slightly on the pillow.
Both issues were improved in previous models, but are still noticeable. They've improved again this time around: I wouldn't say either problem has completely gone away, but for the first time I've been able to put the QuietOn earbuds in both ears while sleeping and wear them all night long.
When it comes to blocking sound, they continue to do a pretty good job at blocking the low-frequency noises they're optimized for: traffic, the hum of my bedroom air conditioner, and my partner's fake snoring last night when I invited her to be a reluctant test participant.
Sudden high-pitched sounds, like car doors slamming and drunken shouting, were reduced but not eliminated entirely; with QuietOn enabled, they registered in the background if I wasn't asleep but didn't wake me up once I dozed off.
Although the noise-canceling technology hasn't changed, the QuietOn 4 cancels out more external sound than previous models: I strongly suspect this is because the new Comply headphones fit snugly more easily.
Battery life is as expected from QuietOn, with the headphones easily lasting all night. In the real world, as long as you put them back in the charging case when you get up in the morning and charge the case every few days, you shouldn't have an issue with the sudden loss of noise cancellation in the middle of the night.
Once the headset is completely depleted, it takes approximately 2.5 hours to fully charge again. The charging case itself takes slightly longer to charge from empty, at just over three hours in total.
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judgment
I've really liked the QuietOn earbuds I've used in the past, but they always came with a caveat: If you sleep on your front or side, you may find them uncomfortable against the pillow against your ears.
While this latest version doesn't completely eliminate the possibility of that happening, the tweaked design and improved foam tips have made a noticeable difference. This is the first time I've been able to wear QuietOn headphones in both ears all night, not just once, but several nights in a row.
Little else about the product has changed, including the underlying noise-canceling technology, but these new Comply foam tips still help cancel more noise than previous models.
Simply put, I sleep better with the QuietOn 4 than with any previous version of this product, and they are more effective at reducing most types of background noise than anything else I can comfortably wear in bed. Easily lasts all night on a single charge.
Only one question remains: are they worth the money? The exact price will vary depending on where you live, as QuietOn is now available via dealer network All over the world rather than buying directly from their website but they are not cheap anywhere.
For some people, that's not the case: If you can sleep well enough with a regular set of foam earplugs or some other method of blocking out unwanted noise, there's no need to pay extra for a set of QuietOn.
However, if you've tried everything else and still find yourself kept awake every night by a snoring partner or noisy neighbors, that's a different story. As someone who has struggled with insomnia for years, I know how desperate I am for any solution when I haven't had a good night's sleep in weeks.
For some people at least, QuietOn 4 is that solution. Respected.
All pictures are from the author
