I Tried Bose’s $250 Sleepbuds — & This Is How They Impacted My Zzzs

What price would you put on a good night's rest? $100? $200? More?

This is a question that mattress and sheet companies have always posed to potential customers, but it's one that tech companies are increasingly asking, too, as they roll out digitally-enhanced products to battle the so-called sleep epidemic sweeping the nation. (It's a bit ironic: The sleep tech industry exists to sell you electronics that combat problems many people blame on being caused by tech in the first place.)

There are LED sleep lights, Bluetooth snore detectors, and smart sleep masks specifically designed to maximize the quality of the precious hours you spend between the sheets. More recently, audio company Bose released its own hyped sleep device, Sleepbuds. Earbuds for sleep? If that sounds a little counterintuitive, it is: The $250 pair of noise-masking, wireless earbuds are only to be used when sleeping. Unlike every other Bose product, you can't use them to stream music.

Still, statistics show that sleep is a continuing issue and if logging offline an hour before hitting the pillow isn't working (or isn't possible), Sleepbuds seem like as worthy an attempt as any other. We put them to test over a summer weekend full of noisy air conditioning units, honking in the street, and creaking floorboards.