Hands-on: Sleeping with the SleepPhones in Las Vegas
Finally, headphones that you can comfortably wear in bed.
If you've ever tried to listen to music or watch videos while wearing headphones and lying in bed, you'll know that it's kind of hopeless. Your ears either start hurting, or the over-the-ear headphones just end up shifting off your head entirely. That's why when we passed by the SleepPhones booth at the Consumer Electronics Show, we had to give these fleece headphones a try.
Two flattened headphones are embedded into either side of the fleece headban and are adjustable to fit over your ears. The headphones are attached by a cord that's wrapped in a material designed to minimize tangling (more on this later). You can access the headphones themselves through the velcro compartment at the bottom of the band, which comes in handy when you need to wash the band and need to remove the electronics inside.
The SleepPhones plug into any audio device with a 3.5mm audio jack so we attached it to our Samsung Galaxy Note II to play some tunes from our Rdio app and watch some YouTube videos to lull us to sleep. CES is an exhausting experience, so we had no problems falling asleep.
Let's start with what the SleepPhones get right. The fleece headband is so comfortable that we forgot we were wearing it when we woke up the following morning. Listening to a classic piece like Rachmaninoff's Elegie in E-flat Minor was soothing, and for once it was comfortable to look at YouTube clips in bed, without disturbing our roommate.
The worst part about the SleepPhones is that it is wired, so if you tend to toss and turn in your sleep, you could wake up with the cord all tangled around you. That's what we woke up to and we had to untangle the cord from our neck when we got out of bed. Overall, that seems like a chocking hazard waiting to happen. In addition to this, while we found classical music really nice to listen to, we noticed that the vocal track was significantly quieter than the audio track. This meant any songs we tried to listen to with lyrics offered a less than stellar listening experience.
SleepPhones is certainly on the right track in re-thinking how headphones should be customized for different uses, but it's not perfect just yet. Perhaps the next-generation of SleepPhones should be Bluetooth-capable to eliminate the problem with cord all together.
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frye mortsmi7So what's the milky white stuff on her face and chest in the picture?Reply
Music notes, lol -
fuzzion mortsmi7So what's the milky white stuff on her face and chest in the picture?Reply
CSI evidence -
JOSHSKORN mortsmi7So what's the milky white stuff on her face and chest in the picture?She wasn't awake when he finished. Now that's how effective these Sleepphones are!Reply
I was looking for an all-in-one solution for sleep, came across something called Hibermate. Heard through reviews it was junk. One YouTube review in particular (username: trollsneedhugs), had another video, posted March 2012, and talked about these Sleepphones (amongst other products). That said, they aren't too new. I ordered a set and it arrived in a couple days. I will try sleeping with them on my ears tonight. Hopefully I don't end up with white milky stuff across my face and chest. That would be odd. I don't roll like that, but hey, to each his (or her) own in that respect. -
chocostain mortsmi7So what's the milky white stuff on her face and chest in the picture?Reply
This is the reason why SleepPhones are very handy. Since it's cotton based, you can use it to wipe the white stuff off after.. you know..
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gtvr Bluetooth would need batteries, probably not comfortable.Reply
Should have a clip for the cord to clip say on your shirt shoulder & sleeve to keep it away from your neck.