Loop Dream Review

Sleep isn’t for the weak. It’s essential to have enough energy to enjoy trips and hard-earned vacations. However, for some, sleep is very elusive, especially while traveling. Whether that’s because of a crying infant, a snoring passenger, or obnoxious engine noise, these are all distractions we’re all too familiar with. Fortunately, a good set of earplugs can really help send you off to dreamland or even just relax.

The Loop Dream is one such set of earplugs. These wireless earphone-looking buds are tuned to give you the peace and quiet you’d want when you’re trying to catch some Z’s. Are they up to the task, though? Let’s find out.

The Rundown

First things first: the Loop Dream earplugs are not a set of earphones, nor are they powered in any way. There’s some confusion since they look a lot like wireless earphones, so we thought we’d get that out of the way first. They’re simply earplugs that passively block noises. There’s no fancy active noise cancellation here, but at least you don’t have to worry about keeping them charged.

Out of the box, they come in a white-colored plastic case. It’s round and has a translucent top cover. It is a bit puzzling why they went with a white casing for the black colorway we chose. Aesthetic concerns aside, it is big enough to fit both the earplugs and the included ear tips. This way, you can swap out if you feel like it, even while traveling.

On that note, the Loop Dream comes with four different ear tip sizes from which you can choose. Swapping out the ear tips is as easy as pulling them off and pressing the new ones into the stem. The stem is flexible, so it’s tricky to get the tips onto it, kind of like pushing a gummy worm through a straw, but it is doable.

The ear tips themselves are made of foam with a silicone cover. Having two separate materials like these is presumably for noise reduction and cleanliness (foam blocks noises while silicone is easier to clean). So, how effective are they?

They’re rated to block out up to 27 dB of noise. While they won’t block out all the noise you might encounter, they will dampen a significant amount. In our experience, they reduce consistent types of noises like snoring and jet engines a lot. They don’t quite reach AirPods Pro 2 levels of noise reduction, but it’s close enough if you don’t fancy actively powered solutions like those.

Where the Loop Dream really shines is with sleep comfort. See those flat ends? They rest in your ear flush at a very low profile, and that’s very beneficial if you’re a side sleeper. To be clear, you can still feel them press inside once you’re at your side. However, compared to earbuds like the AirPods Pro 2 or the Loop Quiet earplugs, the Loop Dream is an upgrade for side-sleeping comfort.

Drawbacks? Well, some users say they have a hard time taking these out since the tabs sit so flush to the ear. Meanwhile, some say the silicone can separate from the foam when removing the plugs from the ear. We never encountered these issues, though they are something to consider.

Packability

The case is small and notably flatter compared to Loop Quiet’s case. Needless to say, it’s very easy to find the space to throw this in, even in a tightly packed sling or travel backpack. However, this case is designed with your nightstand in mind.

The base is grippy enough to stay on a flat surface better than purely plastic cases. With that in mind, we dig that there are some considerations for both home and travel use and not simply one or the other.

Quick Comparison

Compared with the Loop Dream, we find the Loop Quiet’s smaller case more travel-friendly., It even has a loop so you can attach it to your keyring. However, it doesn’t have the room to carry the other ear tips, so you can swap for different sizes as conveniently as with the Loop Dream.

Side sleeping comfort is much better with the Loop Dream versus the Loop Quiet since the latter’s tabs are more prominent. That said, at the time of writing, the Quiet 2 is about $25 (the successor to the Quiet with a similar design), half the price of the Dream, which sits at around $50. Both have very comparable noise-blocking capabilities with debatedly similar packability. So, given the huge price difference, it’ll be up to your use case to justify that large gap.