Do you miss Bose Sleepbuds? The engineers who made them rescued the idea and turned it into Ozlo

If you've been losing sleep to a snoring partner, street noise or a brain that won't shut off, you've probably tried everything. White noise machines. Foam earplugs. Regular earbuds that dig into your ear the moment you roll over.

Bose Sleepbuds were one of the first products built from the ground up to solve this exact problem. They were tiny, comfortable enough for side sleeping and focused entirely on blocking nighttime noise. For a lot of people, they worked.

Then Bose stopped making them. The good news is that a startup called Ozlo, founded by former Bose engineers, has taken the concept further with its own line of sleep earbuds .

Why did Bose stop making Sleepbuds?

Bose introduced Sleepbuds in 2018 as compact earbuds that masked disruptive sounds instead of playing music. The original version was recalled in 2019 over battery defects. A second version arrived in 2020 with better hardware, but it still only played Bose's preloaded sound library. No streaming. No personal audio.

By March 2023, Bose ended the product line entirely. Spokesperson Joanne Berthiaumetold The Verge the product had a "passionate following" but fell short of the adoption numbers Bose needed.

What are Ozlo Sleepbuds?

Ozlo Sleepbuds are sleep earbuds created by three former Bose engineers: N.B. Patil, Brian Mulcaheyand Charles Taylor. The trio founded Ozlo in 2022 and secured a $10 million Series A from LifeArc Ventures and ARTIS Ventures before coming out of stealth in August 2023.

Rather than starting from scratch, Ozlo acquired and licensed proprietary Bose sleep technology, including the StayHear Plus ear-tip design. The result is a product rooted in Bose's original work but built to go well beyond it.

Can you stream music or podcasts with Ozlo Sleepbuds?

Yes. This was one of the biggest complaints about Bose Sleepbuds: no Bluetooth and no personal audio. Ozlo added full Bluetooth streaming so you can fall asleep listening to whatever helps you wind down, whether that's a podcast, an audiobook or a sleep playlist.

The earbuds also detect when you've drifted off and automatically switch from your audio to noise-masking sounds.

Do Ozlo Sleepbuds track your sleep?

They do. Ozlo built biometric sensors into the earbuds and added light, sound and temperature sensors to the charging case. Together they capture data about how you sleep and the conditions in your bedroom.

Patil has said the long-term vision goes beyond reporting. He wants to use this data to personalize how the earbuds respond over time, describing Ozlo's mission as building "an ecosystem of unparalleled sleep technologies that promote restorative sleep" in a press release .

What changed in Ozlo Sleepbuds 2?

Ozlo released Sleepbuds 2 in July 2026 as a direct upgrade to the original. Each earbud weighs just 1.6 grams and sits 11 mm tall with a low-profile shape built for side sleepers. Battery life jumped to up to 14 hours, up from roughly 10 in the first generation.

Other additions include stronger masking audio, five customizable sleep modes, phone-free case controls and improved Bluetooth connectivity.

"Sleepbuds 2 is the product our customers helped us build," Patil said at launch. "We listened carefully to what people loved about the original Sleepbuds and where they wanted us to improve."

Do Ozlo Sleepbuds use active noise cancellation?

No. Both generations use noise masking, not active noise cancellation. This is the same core approach Bose originally developed. Instead of electronically canceling external sounds, the earbuds layer calming audio over disruptive noise to help you stay asleep.

Are Ozlo Sleepbuds comfortable for side sleepers?

Side-sleeper comfort has been a priority from the start, and it's even more central to Sleepbuds 2. At 1.6 grams and 11 mm tall, the second generation was specifically shaped to reduce ear pressure when you sleep on your side.

How many people use Ozlo Sleepbuds?

Ozlo reported that more than 200,000 customers had used its products by the time Sleepbuds 2 went on sale in July 2026.

Are Ozlo Sleepbuds leading the sleep earbuds category?

Ozlo has become one of the most recognized names in a category that barely existed a few years ago. What started as a niche Bose experiment has grown into a competitive market where sleep earbuds now rival white noise machines and traditional earplugs as go-to solutions for nighttime noise.

The category today spans noise masking, Bluetooth streaming, side-sleeper comfort and sleep tracking. Ozlo's journey from Bose-derived technology to a second-generation product puts it at the front of that wave. The remaining question for anyone considering a pair is whether these features deliver noticeably better sleep .

This article was created by content specialists using various tools, including AI.