White noise can mask background sounds and random noises with surprising effects. In addition to helping people sleep, studies have shown white noise can provide temporary relief from tinnitus and may improve concentration and cognition for some, in particular people with ADHD. If any of the potential white-noise benefits pique your interest, Sound Oasis‘ World’s Smallest White Noise Machine is small enough to carry wherever you go.
The World’s Smallest White Noise Machine includes the tiny device itself, a pair of wired earbuds, a USB charging cable, and a travel case. You can use your own headphones instead of the included earbuds if you choose.
The tiny device has a clip on the back to attach to a belt or clothing. One side has an on-off button and a second button to cycle through 10 different white-noise sound settings. The other side has a volume dial.
A standard stereo audio jack for the earbud cable and a Micro-USB charging cable port are on the bottom. Charging for two hours is rated for up to 25 hours of operation, which Digital Trends found about right in unmeasured trials during a three-week period.
After sampling the World’s Smallest White Noise Machine, we found it difficult to hear differences among the 10 sound selections, but that’s to be expected. Each selection is a different blend of masking noises that sound like slightly different varieties of rushing air. The trick is to find the blend that works best for you and then stick with it.
The earbuds are comfortable to wear. If you run the earbud wire inside a shirt we found the wire didn’t get in the way during the day or while sleeping. In three weeks use, we quickly adapted to the white noise sound from the machine.
As fortune would have it, your writer has both long-term moderate-level tinnitus and Adult ADHD. In admittedly subjective testing, I found the World’s Smallest White Sound Machine to be pretty good at canceling most of the tinnitus-related constant ringing as long as the machine’s volume was set high enough. I didn’t notice any change in the ability to concentrate while wearing the device although it did mute random environmental noises that are a frequent source of distraction.
On a 90-minute airplane flight, the white noise cut out the sound of the cabin’s rushing air but didn’t entirely block the frequent shrieks of a baby across the aisle.
Unlike external white-noise devices, other people don’t have to live with the Sound Oasis mobile device sound if they’d rather not have it in their own audible environment. Conversely, if multiple people want white noise, you could plug external speakers into the audio jack instead of earbuds or headphones. You can also run the white noise continuously by running it plugged into a USB power source.
If you can benefit from its features, the World’s Smallest White Noise Machine’s $50 price is a low barrier.
