Sleep earplugs and headphones for side sleepers: Loop, soundcore and headbands compared

What to look for in sleep earplugs for side sleepers

The two numbers that matter are how much sound a plug takes off, given as SNR in decibels, and how far it sticks out of your ear when your head is on the pillow.

• Noise reduction (SNR). SNR is a single lab rating in decibels. Loop Dream is rated 27dB, the highest in Loop's range, and Loop Quiet 2 is rated 24dB. The number assumes a good seal, so a plug that sits badly will do less than it says on the box.
• Profile. A plug that stands proud of your ear gets pushed in when you roll over. Loop says it reshaped the ring on Dream to spread pressure over a smaller area and coated it in soft silicone for side sleepers. Soundcore's Sleep A30 earbuds weigh 3g each.
• Tips and sizes. Loop Dream comes with oval tips made of memory foam over soft silicone, in XS, S, M and L. Quiet 2 has four silicone tip sizes, with medium fitted. Your ears are not always the same size, so try a different tip in each if one side keeps working loose.
• Silence or sound. Earplugs only take noise away. Sleep headphones let you replace it with something steady of your choosing. Decide which you want before you spend.
• Battery, for anything electronic. Soundcore quotes 7 hours for the A30 with noise cancelling on over Bluetooth, and up to 16 hours in its sleep mode with noise cancelling off. The MUSICOZY headband lists at least 16 hours.
• Cleaning. You will wear these every night, so washable matters. Silicone wipes clean. The MUSICOZY speakers lift out so the band can go in the wash.

Earplugs or sleep headphones?

Choose earplugs if you want quiet; choose sleep headphones if silence itself keeps you alert, or if you want to cover a noise with a sound you pick.

Earplugs are cheaper, need no charging and do not depend on a phone. Loop Quiet 2 at under £20 is the sensible first try. If the ring digs in on the pillow, Loop Dream at about £44.95 is the same idea reshaped for lying on your side.

Headphones give you control. The MUSICOZY headband at under £15 puts thin speakers inside a stretchy band, so nothing goes in your ear canal. It is the one for people who cannot stand anything in their ears, but it blocks very little by itself: the sound you play does the work, so pair it with a noise track or an app such as Endel.

Soundcore Sleep A30 earbuds, at about £199.99, try to do both. They have active noise cancelling, play sleep sounds stored on the buds, and the case listens for snoring and plays masking sound, which soundcore says is certified by TÜV Rheinland. They also have an alarm that only you hear. That is a lot of money for something that lives in your ears overnight, so they make most sense after cheaper plugs have already let you down.

Sleep earplugs and headphones compared

If you share a bed or a wall

For a snoring partner, a mix of blocking and covering suits most people: plugs to cut the volume, and a steady sound to cover what gets through.

Snoring is irregular, which is what makes it so hard to tune out. Loop Dream takes the edge off, and a quiet white noise machine on your side of the bed can fill in the rest. If you would rather keep the sound to yourself, the MUSICOZY headband plays a noise track only you hear. The A30 does both jobs in one pair of buds, at a price.

For thin walls and street noise, SNR is the figure to compare. Three decibels between Quiet 2 and Dream sounds small, but the decibel scale is logarithmic, so small numbers are real differences.

If you live with someone who needs to reach you in the night, a child or a person you care for, think hard before going for maximum blocking. A lower-rated plug in one ear, or sound over silence, may be the better trade.

Things to know

• Test your alarm with earplugs in. Plugs turn sound down, not off, but check you can still hear your alarm clock, a smoke alarm and, if it applies, a child.
• Keep them clean. Wash silicone plugs and tips as the maker says, and stop using them if your ears get sore or itchy. Speak to a pharmacist or GP if soreness carries on.
• Foam wears out. Memory foam tips lose their spring over time, so expect to replace tips.
• Bluetooth at night means a phone near the bed. The A30 can play sounds stored on the buds in its sleep mode, so the phone can stay across the room.
• Loop's own site showed us a euro price for Dream; the price here is the UK one in our data, under £50.
• We have not tested any of these ourselves. Specs are from maker and retailer pages on 11 September 2026.