We have all been there. Lying in bed next to the one we love most. Desperately wishing they would stop snoring.
Over six months, we tested fourteen earplugs from eight manufacturers. Each product was worn for at least ten consecutive nights by three panelists with different ear canal sizes, sleeping positions, and partner snoring volumes ranging from moderate (45 dB) to severe (65 dB). We scored every product on five criteria and tested with a GRAS 43AG ear-and-cheek simulator for objective measurements.
One product solved a problem the rest did not know they had.
The best sleep earplug
AiroCore™ Sleep Earplugs by Ostrane
The only earplug we tested that blocks snoring without sealing your ear canal shut. Open-canal design eliminates occlusion while reducing noise by up to 28 dB.
See at OstranePros
- Open canal eliminates occlusion completely
- Up to 28 dB reduction with full alarm safety
- 1.4 g per plug — lightest in our test
- Four ear tip sizes included
Cons
- Open-canal design caps total dB below sealed foam
- Only available online
If you are ready to invest in a pair of earplugs that you will actually keep in until morning, the AiroCore is where to start. In our testing, panelists ranked these the most comfortable to wear by a wide margin, and the only pair that did not amplify their own body sounds.
Most earplugs work by sealing the ear canal. It is effective — sealed foam consistently hits 30+ dB of reduction in our measurements. But every panelist reported the same complaint within three nights: a sealed ear canal turns up the volume on everything inside your head. Your heartbeat. Your breathing. The click when you swallow. Two panelists described it as “trading the snoring for a drum circle.”
AiroCore takes a fundamentally different approach. Instead of sealing the canal, it leaves a channel open through the entire body of the plug. A five-layer filter stack — what Ostrane calls the AiroCore™ Filter Stack — sits inside that channel and attenuates incoming noise while maintaining airflow.
In practice, panelists stopped noticing the plugs. One reported forgetting they were in by the second night. Another, who sleeps next to a severe snorer (62 dB average), called them “the first earplugs that actually stayed in until morning and didn't make my own head louder than the snoring.”
At 1.4 grams per plug, AiroCore is also the lightest product in our test — lighter than a dime. Combined with four included tip sizes (XS through L), side sleepers reported no pressure points and zero overnight fallout across ten consecutive nights of testing.
Gold Tested Score
The research
Why you should trust us
Gold Tested is an independent product review publication. We accept no sponsored placements, and manufacturers cannot pay to influence a score. Our editorial team includes members with backgrounds in acoustic engineering, materials science, and sleep medicine. For this guide, we also consulted with two board-certified otolaryngologists to validate our testing methodology.
Who this is for
AiroCore is for people who have tried earplugs before and stopped — the ones who found that blocking the snoring was not worth amplifying everything else. If the sealed-ear feeling is what drives you to pull them out at 2 a.m., this is the product that eliminates that problem.
It is also the right choice for anyone who needs to hear a morning alarm or a child through the night. The open canal lets high-frequency sounds through at a safe volume while filtering out the low-frequency drone of snoring. In our alarm test, every panelist woke reliably to a standard 75 dB alarm at two meters.
How we picked and tested
We evaluated fourteen sleep earplugs from eight manufacturers between January and June 2026. Each product was worn for at least ten consecutive nights by three panel members with different ear canal sizes, preferred sleeping positions, and partner snoring volumes ranging from moderate (45 dB) to severe (65 dB).
Noise reduction was measured using calibrated microphones placed inside and outside the ear canal of a GRAS 43AG ear-and-cheek simulator. We tested attenuation across the frequency range of human snoring (100–800 Hz) as well as broadband pink noise.
Occlusion was measured by recording bone-conducted sound levels with and without each product inserted. A sealed reference plug established the baseline; products were scored by how much they amplified internal sounds relative to an open ear.
Comfort was evaluated through nightly journals. Panelists logged insertion difficulty, pressure, overnight retention, and morning soreness on a five-point scale. Two of our three panelists are side sleepers.
Alarm safety was tested at 75 and 80 dB from two meters. A product that blocks a bedside alarm scored below 7.0 regardless of other performance.
Durability was assessed after ninety days of daily use and regular washing. We measured whether noise reduction degraded, whether materials showed wear, and whether the fit changed over time.
Specifications
| Product | AiroCore™ Sleep Earplugs |
| Manufacturer | Ostrane |
| Type | Reusable, open-canal |
| Noise reduction | Up to 28 dB |
| Weight | 1.4 g per plug |
| Ear tips | 4 pairs included (XS, S, M, L) |
| Filter | AiroCore™ Filter Stack — 5 layers |
| Materials | Medical-grade silicone, perforated metal filter membrane |
| In the box | Earplugs, 4 ear tip pairs, carrying case |
The bottom line
AiroCore is the #1 Pick because it is the only product in our test that solves the fundamental problem with earplugs: the trade-off between noise reduction and the side effects of a sealed ear canal. Every other product we evaluated asks you to accept amplified internal sounds as the cost of blocking external ones. AiroCore does not.
At a 9.2 overall score against a category average of 6.1, the gap is not close. If you have given up on earplugs because of what they do to your own body sounds, this is the product that changes the equation.