Product test

These sleep headphones consist of 30 francs worth of e-scrap and a piece of fleece

8/5/2023

Translation: Katherine Martin

Auvisio’s Sleep HS.BT has an outdated connectivity standard, zero ergonomics and lousy sound. In other words, all the ingredients of an unforgettable audio experience.

My wife listens to audiobooks to fall asleep. It’s always the same ones – Harry Potter. Once she finishes the series, she starts all over again. It’s what she needs in order to switch off. Sure, I think the stories about the young wizard are okay. But not when you’ve heard them a hundred thousand times. Which is why my wife wears headphones; a cheap set, which came with her smartphone. Our children had a good go of them recently, so, naturally, they’ve vanished without a trace. Hence my wife is currently trying out Auvisio’s sleep headphones. They’re produced by PEARL Schweiz CH, which I consider to be the epitome of the word trash. As a result, my expectations are non-existent.

Headphones

Auvisio Sleep Headset

6 h, Wireless

A fiddly affair

The idea behind the sleep headphones is simple. The headband contains the earpiece and the receiver, which also serves as the control element. All you have to do is align them inside the band. Doing this, however, is anything but straightforward. Not only that, but once you’ve got everything in position, they soon slip back again. You also need to take the electronic parts out of the headband to charge them, which is a real faff. The band only has one small slit to allow the components to be taken out. What’s more, you can only manage to do it if you pull on the cable – never a good thing when it comes to electronics.

My better half’s verdict? «Super tedious. I hope I’ll never have to use it again.» So that’s the product already in our bad books.

Taking the electronics out of the headband can only be done with great difficulty.
Source: Kevin Hofer

Once the electronics are out, I feel as if I’ve been transported back to the nineties. All it needs is a clip for the walkman vibe to be complete. The cables and control element also remind me of the technology of my youth. The cheap Interdiscount passive speakers I had back then for my Discman looked a little bit similar.

The best way to describe the design of the control element is «retro».
Source: Kevin Hofer

Standards from another era

The Sleep HS.BT is charged via micro USB. An equally outdated feature is the Bluetooth 4.0 connection standard. To be fair, including a newer version of the standard wouldn’t make much sense in a set of sleep headphones. After all, you don’t sleep more than five metres away from your smartphone.

Why, oh why must it have a micro USB? This sort of thing should be banned.
Source: Kevin Hofer

The battery takes about an hour to charge, and lasts for about six hours. Considering how much effort is required to remove the electronics from the headband, this isn’t enough. My wife isn’t a fan of wireless headphones anyway. However, due to obvious safety concerns (strangulation hazard), regular headphones aren’t suitable for use when you’re asleep.

«Because the headband is made of fleece, it’s very soft,» my wife tells me. In the same breath, however, she says she couldn’t wear the headphones in the summer: «It gets way too hot under the band.»

Pitiful operation

It’s not just the earpieces that slip inside the band – the slightest movement knocks the headband out of place. You can lie on your side, but the headphones dig into you after a while.

Operating the headphones is also hard work. There are three buttons on the control: play, plus and minus. Although the controls work, it’s difficult to hit the right button under the fleece.

Where’s the play button again? The operation is simply dire. In case you’re wondering why it’s me – and not my wife, the tester-in-chief – who’s in the photo, it’s because she didn’t want to be snapped.
Source: Kevin Hofer

Sound? What sound?

My wife isn’t bothered about sound quality. And just as well, because if you ask me, the headphones sound atrocious. For test purposes, I listen to the cover of Head of the Table by Styzmask. Usually, when I listen to this song, my body can’t help but move to the music. Hearing it via the Sleep HS.BT, however, doesn’t cause the slightest stir. This is technically a good thing – they are sleep headphones at the end of the day. Even so, the sound really should be better.

Verdict: no, no, and no again!

Despite having no expectations, I was still disappointed. The Sleep BS.HT is just junk. My wife’s final verdict? «At least I can still use the headband (and only the headband) for jogging in the winter.» The search for sleep headphones continues. And until it’s successful, I’ll be stuck listening to Harry Potter.

42 people like this article

Kevin Hofer

Senior Editor

kevin.hofer@digitecgalaxus.ch

From big data to big brother, Cyborgs to Sci-Fi. All aspects of technology and society fascinate me.

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