QuietOn 4 test: Finally quiet with snoring and night noise?

Quiet nights are rarely ruined by a sudden, deafening bang. Rather, it is the small, annoying, constant noises that rob us of sleep. The roar of the highway in the distance, the low whirring of a fan on hot summer nights or the constant, sonorous snoring of the person next to us. In the test, the QuietOn 4 therefore had to show whether its reduced concept really works in the bedroom. This is because it deliberately lacks a lot of things that modern technology usually brings with it: no Bluetooth, no app, no music.

The technical data at a glance

MODEL	QuietOn 4
Device class	Self-contained ANC earplugs
Functional principle	Active anti-noise plus passive sealing
Connectivity	No Bluetooth, stand-alone system
Audio playback	Not available, pure noise suppression
Plug battery life	Up to 28 hours at a time
Charging time	Plug approx. 2 hours, charging case approx. 3 hours
Attachments	Comply memory foam in four sizes
Activation	Automatically when removed from the case
Price (RRP)	259 €

Why special sleep headphones?

Anyone who regularly has problems falling asleep because the environment is simply not quiet enough knows the typical odyssey. First you try the cheap foam earplugs from the pharmacy or drugstore. Although they dampen the sound quite well, after a few hours they start to pinch your ears and often let the deep booming sounds through unhindered. Then, out of desperation, you might reach for your normal in-ear headphones, switch on the active noise canceling and go to bed. However, this only works until you turn on your side and the hard plastic presses uncomfortably into your ears. The next morning, not only is the battery empty, but in the worst case, you also have pressure points. The Finnish company QuietOn has developed its earplugs for precisely this dilemma. They are designed to combine the effective noise suppression of expensive headphones with the comfort of classic sleeping plugs.

Unpacking before the QuietOn 4 test

The manufacturer delivers the earplugs in an inconspicuous, small package that draws attention directly to the product. Anyone who has unpacked premium headphones before may miss the elaborate unboxing experience a little, but for a pure sleep product this is absolutely fine.

Scope of delivery at a glance:

• Two QuietOn 4 earbuds
• Compact charging case made from matt plastic
• One short USB-C charging cable
• Comply foam tips in XS, S, M and L
• Integrated wax guards as earwax protection
• Printed instructions for correct fit

The crux of the matter with the attachments and the perfect fit

It takes a little patience before you can enjoy your first quiet night with the QuietOn 4. The included memory foam from the Comply brand is the heart of the whole system. Many users make the mistake of simply pressing the earplugs into their ears like conventional silicone in-ears. This doesn’t work here and inevitably leads to a disappointing ANC result. As the QuietOn 4 do not play any music that could conceal the lack of tightness, a poor fit is immediately and mercilessly noticeable.

Before inserting, roll the foam tightly between your fingers until it is very thin. Then insert the earplug quickly into the ear canal and hold it there for a few seconds. The material gradually expands again due to body heat and seals the ear airtight. Only then can the electronics work properly. However, it took me several nights of testing and trying out three of the four sizes before the combination really worked for me. On the one hand, size M fitted better, on the other hand, size S was completely sufficient. This is exactly why you should take some time to try them out, otherwise you probably won’t be happy with the QuietOn 4.

Wearing comfort: How good are the QuietOn 4 in the side sleeper test?

The biggest problem with almost all technology gadgets for the bed is ergonomics. The QuietOn 4 are impressively small. When positioned correctly, the housing does not protrude beyond the auricle, but disappears into the inner recess. This is crucial, as this is the only way to avoid a leverage effect when you lay your head on the pillow.

The test showed that comfort depends massively on the choice of pillow. On a medium-firm neck support pillow, the hard plastic parts of the plugs were absolutely imperceptible. The ear lay flat and the pressure was optimally distributed. However, if you use an extremely soft down pillow, where the head sinks in deeply and the material closes around the ear from all sides, you can definitely feel the earplugs. It’s not a sharp pain like you would feel with normal headphones, but you do feel a slight pressure. You must not forget: You have a foreign body in your ear. You only get that completely free sleeping feeling without earplugs, but the QuietOn 4 come pretty close. After a short familiarization phase, I hardly noticed the earplugs.

Active noise canceling at night: what disappears, what remains?

The electronics in these tiny earplugs take a completely different approach to the algorithms used by Sony or Apple in their premium headphones. In the test, the QuietOn 4 are masterful at canceling out continuous low-frequency noise. In the test, I sat down next to a running washing machine on the spin cycle. The bright rattling of the buttons on the drum still came through the foam, but the abysmal roar of the motor had completely disappeared. It was a similar story in the bedroom. A humming pedestal fan is reduced to an absolute minimum, the distant noise of traffic when the window is tilted literally disappears into nothingness.

However, the most important question for many buyers is: What happens to the snoring of their partner? You have to be realistic here. Snoring is a very complex sound that covers frequencies across the entire spectrum. The QuietOn 4 does an excellent job of eliminating the low, vibrating sawing. It is precisely this low frequency that often keeps you awake because it penetrates through walls and pillows. Bright, rattling peaks or irregular noises, on the other hand, are not completely eliminated, but are instead greatly dampened by the foam.

The plugs calm the bedroom enormously and take the aggressiveness out of the noise, but they do not put you in a completely anechoic chamber. This is also important for safety reasons, as you should definitely still be able to hear the alarm clock or smoke alarm in an emergency.

The blessing of the missing app

In the early days, it almost felt wrong not to have to pair such a product with a smartphone first. But this approach turned out to be the biggest advantage in everyday life. You take the case off the bedside table, remove the earplugs and put them in your ears. After about five seconds, you hear a very soft hiss when the ANC starts up and the world becomes quieter. No Bluetooth that loses the connection at night and emits a beep. No app that demands a firmware update when all you really want to do is sleep.

The battery life is really strong thanks to the lack of wireless technology. The QuietOn 4 themselves actually lasted up to 28 hours in the test. This also worked well in everyday use: We didn’t have to charge them for four nights. As soon as the earplugs land in the case, they are recharged. The charging case only needs to be plugged in for around three hours when the small LEDs on the case indicate that the reserve is running low.

Comparison with the predecessor QuietOn 3.1

Anyone already using the previous generation will be wondering whether it is worth upgrading to the new QuietOn 4 version. Technically, the basic structure has not changed massively, but the ergonomics and maintenance have been optimized.

Differences	QuietOn 3.1	QuietOn 4
Shape of the housing	Rather roundish and cylindrical	Oval, flatter and more anatomical
Tuning of the ANC	Focus on general background noise	Even better filter for extremely deep bass
Quality of the tips	Standard polyurethane foam	Comply-Foam, reacts better to body heat
Hygiene factor	Simple protective grille	Integrated Wax-Guard against earwax

Changing from version 3.1 to the fourth generation is not a mandatory upgrade if the old earplugs fit well in your ears. However, the new shape fits noticeably more comfortably in the ear canal. What’s more, the problem with earwax on the microphone openings has also been solved much more elegantly thanks to the integrated wax guard.

What alternatives are there to the QuietOn 4 on the market?

The market for sleep headphones is now large, but the approaches differ significantly. The QuietOn 4 are not the only solution, but they occupy a fairly specialized niche.

Those who prefer to fall asleep with audio books, podcasts or the sounds of nature are better off with models such as the Soundcore Sleep A20 or A30. These rely on Bluetooth, an app and sound masking instead of pure background noise. This works well, but is usually a little clunkier and costs significantly more battery power when streaming continuously.

In the premium segment, there are also models such as the Ozlo Sleepbuds, which work with very comfortable attachments and stored sounds. They are designed for comfort, but require that you want to listen to something continuously at night.

At the very bottom of the price range are purely mechanical solutions such as Loop Quiet. They are comfortable, easy to clean and do not require electronics. However, they quickly reach their limits with deeper noises such as bass or heavy snoring. The QuietOn 4 are positioned exactly between these simple earplugs and the app-heavy Bluetooth models.

For whom are the QuietOn 4 worthwhile?

After testing the QuietOn 4, the conclusion is that the earplugs are an excellent but highly specialized tool. The purchase price is steep for a device that can neither play music nor take calls. Anyone who sees the product purely as a lifestyle gadget will be disappointed. However, anyone who has been suffering from a lack of sleep for months because their surroundings simply don’t allow them to rest will see the price in a different light. For the right target group, the quality of life gained through more peaceful nights of sleep can clearly justify the high price.

The greatest strength of the QuietOn 4 lies in its consistent reduction. No pairing hassle, no distracting apps. If you struggle with monotonous ambient noise, traffic or the typical bass snoring and are a side sleeper desperately looking for a solution that doesn’t pinch your ears, this is currently one of the best and most sophisticated options on the market. Those who prefer to listen to noises, music or nature sounds when falling asleep should turn to other products.