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Trouble sleeping? How I use this $19 wearable to fall asleep near instantly
ZDNET's key takeaways
- At $40 (and regularly on sale for half that price), the LC-Dolida sleep mask headphones combo put me into an instant slumber, and distanced the noises of sirens, beeps, and honks outside my busy Brooklyn bedroom window.
- The sleep mask headphones offer an impressive battery life and sound quality that distract you from outside noise and completely eliminate all light around you.
- They aren't perfect for side sleepers, but you can still rest easy with these on even if that's your preferred sleeping position.
If there is one thing I prize over all else, it's a silent night of good sleep. When I get a good night of uninterrupted sleep, I am the best version of myself. But an unobstructed slumber can feel unattainable where I live, in a Brooklyn apartment that overlooks a busy, sleepless street. Ever since moving in, I've fallen asleep to the background noise of honks, beeps, and the occasional argument between drivers and pedestrians outside my window.
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I used a cotton sleep mask and Loop's Quiet Ear Plugs to block out light from the streetlights and dim down the whooshes and whirs of sound, but I was in the market for a product that could do both.
Enter LC-Dolida's sleep mask and headphone combo. I researched the most popular option for a sleep mask and headphones duo on Amazon, and that led me to LC-Dolida. This sleep mask/headphones combo has over 20,000 reviews on Amazon with an average star rating of 4.2, and offers Bluetooth compatibility so you can listen to your favorite songs or calming noise to fall asleep.
The headphones have an original price of $40 on Amazon, but as of this writing they're on sale for $19. I wanted to test them out to see if they lived up to their high Amazon rating, so I spent a week sleeping with them on my head to find out.
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The sleep headphone mask comes with a battery that lasts for at least two nights and a charge time of one to two hours, offers up Bluetooth 5.2, and includes an adjustable Velcro head strap and ear cups over the eyes to prevent any light from coming in. There are two flat speakers in the mask, one on each ear, that stream music or sound into the mask. As far as looks go, the mask comes in 13 different colors.
The mask is comfortable to wear, and I like the smooth feel of the eye cups and the cushion that's built in. The eye cups make it nearly impossible for any light to come in while you're wearing the mask. Laying on my back and wearing the mask is very soothing, especially if I have a headache or need to decompress after a long day of work because of how it blocks out any visual stimuli. In the center of the mask are the touch controls for increasing, decreasing, and turning the Bluetooth on and off. Since they're located in the front of the mask instead of on the side, it's less likely that they get accidentally pressed while I move in my sleep. They're also easy to use as you wear the mask and not finicky whatsoever.
LC-Dolida advertises that the mask also works for side sleepers, but as a side sleeper myself, I did have to move my head slightly to feel like my ears weren't resting on top of a cushion-less and rigid flat speaker. If I lay my head right above the speaker it feels like my ear is resting on a hard and loud plate, so getting the head arrangement right takes some finagling. It surely is possible to wear these if you're a side sleeper, but be aware of the initial discomfort.
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The sound quality on the headphones is decent and can get loud enough to block out 90% of the sounds around me. Putting the headphones in immediately dulled the sounds of cars and beeping outside my window, and even decreased the noise of my roommates in the kitchen outside my bedroom. I still hear police sirens and the blares of fire trucks, but the headphones distance those clamoring noises. With the combination of the mask eliminating any and all light sources and the immersive brown noise I play through the mask, I fall asleep within minutes.
One downside of the LC-Dolida's is the fact that the headphones don't offer active noise cancellation, but I don't mind, because I still want to have some awareness while I sleep and not feel completely blocked out from my surroundings. They aren't the best headphones for listening to music, but that's not really the point of these. (If you are looking for the best music headphones, we have another list to help you out.) Lastly, there's a stray charging cord that dangles awkwardly near your temple if you forget to put it back or if it falls out of its little nook, so that can get irritating. But overall, these are incredibly pleasant to wear.
ZDNET's buying advice
If you sleep with a partner who snores, live next to a busy street, or have loud roommates, you will surely benefit from this headphone sleep mask. It's everything I want out of a sleep device: it's got a decent battery life, it's comfortable, and it immerses you in noise that dulls -- but doesn't fully eliminate -- distracting sounds around you. And even when the battery isn't fully charged, I still wear the mask for how well it blocks out all light and instantly puts me to sleep.
I'd recommend the LC-Dolida sleep mask headphones to anybody who wants to fall asleep quicker and not pay tons of money to do so. At less than $20 when on sale, the sleep mask headphones are 100% worth the price.