You probably already know the uncomfortable feeling of trying to use earbuds or standard headphones in bed to listen to some music or even some nature sounds. This feeling is even worse for side sleepers. That’s when pillow speakers come in and solve all these problems.
Using a pillow speaker, you can easily transform your regular, old, boring pillow into a private, heavenly place with soft surround sound.
What are pillow speakers?
Pillow speakers are small, flat sound systems that are usually placed inside or under your pillow, which you then connect to an audio device with a cable. The fact that it’s flat means that there won’t be any odd objects prodding into your ears while you sleep.
Usually, they work either on batteries or a long cable with a 3.5mm jack to transfer audio from MP3 devices, CD players, smartphones, radios, and other wireless devices. They come with either a single or a dual speaker and have a volume control so that you can customize it and have a comfortable sound level. You can even program some of these pillow speakers with some natural sounds to experience sound therapy. This is a treatment that intends to positively influence and heal your broken emotions and rebalance your body’s energy.
Advantages and disadvantages
Background noise while you’re sleeping
If you’re having trouble falling asleep due to the surrounding loud noises, getting a pillow speaker can easily fix this. If your partner prefers something at a different volume than you, pillow speakers are great because the sound they produce is only loud enough that you’re able to hear it, and you won’t bother each other.
Tinnitus masker
Tinnitus is an audiological and neurological medical condition where people hear ringing, whooshing, clicking, whistling and other sounds when there is nothing there. If you suffer from this condition, getting a pillow speaker can help alleviate these annoying noises by replacing them with sounds you actually want to hear.
Sound therapy
Sound therapy has been used as a calming and hearing aid for thousands of years now. And you can get the same effect by connecting your pillow speaker to an audio device. Sound therapy is also helpful when you’re trying to relax and helps with anxiety, PTSD, depression, stress, sleep disorders and even chronic pain. An example would be Blisscoded sound.
It can break
Having the entire weight of your head placed on top of your pillow speaker over and over again for a long time can cause it to break if they’re not high quality. Particularly the connective cable, which can easily stop working if there’s too much dirt and oil around, or if you pull and twist on it often.
Sound quality
Another disadvantage of having to place your pillow speaker under or inside your pillow is the sound quality that you get afterwards. This is because the pillow will muffle the sound of the speaker, so the clarity and the volume can both be muffled.
That being said if you get the RIGHT pillow speaker, it’s great! It lets you listen to relaxing music and track your sleep without feeling sharp headphones poking into your eardrums. You can also use them for things like subliminal learning (again, Blisscoded sound) or binaural beats.
Best pillow speakers (list)
1: Conair Sound Therapy Pillow
This is an all-in-one product as it’s a pillow with built-in speakers. It’s queen sized and filled with polyester stuffing, but it has a soft cotton exterior. There’s a navigational display at the edge where you can control the sound system and it comes preprogrammed with 10 natural sounds for relaxation.
It also includes a volume control wheel and a built-in timer. You also get a cable to connect it with any audio device with a 3.5mm jack. Although the batteries are weak and the sound quality isn’t the best, it’s a great pillow with built-in speakers for your bedroom.
2: Sangean PS-300 Pillow Speaker
This is solely a flat speaker that you put inside or under your pillowcase. Its size makes it great for travel and has a very long cord so you can reach any audio device with a 3.5mm jack. This one also comes with an amplifier switch, so you can choose whether you’re the only one who will be listening to the sound, or if you’d like for others to hear it too. It has somewhat of a flimsy structure, but the quality of sound is good and clear.
3: C. Crane Co SSV SoftSpeaker-2 Pillow Speaker
This is a small speaker that’s enclosed in a padded foam round cover. It also has a long cord and a volume control wheel. Another perk is that it doesn’t run on batteries. You can remove and wash the outer cover and the cord is also very durable. Unfortunately, the sound is not loud or clear enough, but it’s a great choice when it comes to durability.
4: PillowSonic FM15
The Pillowsonic is a unit that has two side-by-side, flat micro-speakers that are covered in material which prevents it from sliding under your pillow. The material is both removable and washable, and some even come with a back pocket where you can place a small audio device and the cable. The design is made for the sound to go through any pillow, however, this depends on the thickness of the pillow.
5: Sound Oasis SP-101
The Sound Oasis device also comes with two speakers that are to be placed under your pillow. However, there are no covers, so it’s just the hard plastic which means that these speakers can move around a lot. There’s no need for batteries, however you may not be satisfied with the volume that the speakers produce.
