I tried the world’s first smart earplugs — here's what they're like

Hush smart earplugs
Hush

I moved into a new apartment two months ago.

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At first, it was difficult to sleep in the new place. One of the biggest problems was noise. My new apartment is directly above a major highway that flows through Brooklyn, and late-night traffic and honking can be annoying to deal with while trying to sleep.

Thankfully, I got a well-timed email from Daniel Lee, one of the creators and the mechanical engineer behind Hush, which claims to have made the world’s first smart earplugs. Lee offered me a pair to try, since they can help you sleep through noise, but also let certain sounds in (like music, or your morning alarms). Useful stuff!

I’ve had the chance to try Hush for several weeks now. Here’s what it’s like.

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The Hush smart earplugs come in a sleek and beautiful pocket-sized charge case.

Hush smart earplugs
Hush

The case has magnets so the earplugs easily lock into place for charging. It’s one of my favorite aspects of Hush.

Hush smart earplugs
Hush
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Since each Hush earplug works wirelessly, you’ll get a solid eight hours of life from each charge. When you need to recharge, just put them back in their case in the morning. (You recharge the case with USB.)

Hush smart earplugs
Hush

The Hush earplugs come with a variety of different tips in different sizes. Some were too big for me, but I found smaller earplugs that fit just fine.

Hush smart earplugs
Hush
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Now here’s what makes Hush’s earplugs “smart.” Thanks to the free Hush app, you can use your earplugs to play soothing sounds to fall asleep, or morning alarms that won’t disturb your partner.

Hush smart earplugs
Hush

Overall, I enjoy using Hush, but I haven’t used them consistently. They’re helpful for falling asleep, but they always manage to fall out of my ears during the night — I wonder if I’m unconsciously swiping at my ears while I sleep because I feel a foreign object in there.

Hush smart earplugs
Hush
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My other issue with Hush is its ability to play sounds. Hush provides an excellent variety of soothing sounds, from waterfalls to brooks to different types of rain sounds and more. But for some reason, you have to download each sound before you can play it — which sometimes takes more than a few minutes — and you can only download and keep one sound at a time.

Hush smart earplugs
Hush/Tech Insider

If you want another sound, you have to download it, and you lose the download of the other sounds you’ve previously played. It’s pretty annoying.

Aside from those quibbles though, the Hush works as advertised. If you have issues dealing with noise, either at night or even during a commute, you should consider buying these. I don’t often wear earplugs at all, but if I did, these would be pretty decent, aside from a few software issues.

Hush smart earplugs
Hush
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The Hush smart earplugs cost $150 — you can buy them <a href="https://hush.technology/product/hush-earplugs/"target="_blank">here</a>. Check out this video to see it in action.

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