If you struggle to get to sleep at night you’ll know that listening to an audiobook, podcast or even the radio calms any racing thoughts and helps you drift of to the land of nod. But that often means you need to wear ear buds or headphones to bed that quickly become uncomfortable, or your partner has to put up with listening to your favourite show streaming from your mobile or radio as well.
Luckily, Amazon stocks a small and compact gadget that is perfect for late night listening, without the need for any earphones. The Roberts Pillow Talk Speaker is exactly that, a speaker that you place under your pillow that is just loud enough for you to hear, without waking up your partner.
The speaker costs £14.99 and is compatible with any phone or device with a 3.5mm headphone socket. If you have a newer phone, you may need to purchase a lightening to USB-C adaptor (£5.99) or a USB-C to 3.5cm adaptor (£3.99) for the gadget to work.
The Roberts Pillow Talk Speaker has racked up 840 five-star reviews on Amazon, with customers saying that the gadget is ‘sturdy’ and ‘great value for money’ and helps them fall asleep at night. One Amazon shopper said: “Excellent product. It has saved discomfort in ears, interrupted sleep and restored sleep harmony with my partner.”
A second wrote: “This is just what I needed. I play relaxing music to help me sleep from my iPhone. I adjust the volume to suit on my phone and then use the speaker’s three settings to get the right level of sound for me. Great value for money too in a sturdy design which is comfortable under the pillow.”
A third penned: “Excellent product. After recurring ear infections I decided that going to sleep listening to audiobooks via ear phones wasn’t helpful! This is excellent- I can hear clearly through my pillow and it doesn’t disturb my partner. Very easy to use, very long cable- much longer than I need. Just plugs into my phone and volume controlled through the phone, don’t need to have it on maximum. Definitely recommend.”
“Good value and highly useful,” mentioned another. “Tuck the small, elegant speaker under the pillow, apply your ear somewhere in the vicinity, and listen to your chosen radio programme without disturbing the resting/sleeping head on an adjacent pillow. So much better than sticking earphones in each ear. One looses the stereo effect, obviously, but stereo is important for classical music and little else. With the Roberts speaker, you are not going to suffer the loss of a left or right earpiece, nor will you tug off from your bedside table the radio when turning over.”
However, one person gave the tech gadget a three-star review hailing it as ‘sturdy’ but says it ‘lacks volume control’. They wrote: “I’ve had a few of the cheap ones and whilst they are good ultimately the cable snaps. This is far sturdier, however I find the sound very soft and slightly muted so I end up needing the volume higher to hear speech.”
But another gave the Pillow Talk Speaker a perfect five out of five stars, adding: “Does exactly what it says on the tin. I have a challenging sleep pattern, whilst my wife is totally bomb-proof. I usually awake about 4am. then doze for a few hours. I used to use ear buds….but if you fall asleep with your ear bud ear on the pillow, it can cause pain for days. This pillow speaker is perfect for my needs. You might need to move it around until you have it in just the right place but that isn’t a problem.”
“Fantastic solution to listening to the radio in bed,” agreed another happy Amazon customer. “I’ve used this for a number of years now (I previously owned one but it got eaten by the vacuum), and it’s never let me down. Great audio quality and really easy to use. I would say that it definitely depends on the type of pillow that you’re using. I sandwich it between a soft pillow below, and a firmer one above and I have no problems.”
The Roberts Pillow Talk Speaker is also available at John Lewis for £14.99, as is a number of radios from the brand. The Roberts Revival Bluetooth Portable Digital Radio comes in at £99.99 and is available in Sunburst Yellow, Pop Orange and Duck Egg Blue.
