Tech companies love to sell us expensive gadgets to solve all of life's little problems. Sleepbuds from Anker and Ozlo are a prime example: miniature marvels that let side-sleepers drift off to podcasts without annoying their partner. But why pay over $200 for specialized buds that need charging, lose Bluetooth, and die after a few years when you can spend a fraction of that on a product that does none of those things?

Enter the piercing pillow. Designed for people with freshly pierced ears, these pillows feature cutouts that suspend the ear to avoid pressure. They also work great with bulbous AirPods, Galaxy Buds, Pixel Buds, and any other modern earbuds. There are dozens of options; the author bought the $55 Ear Pillow from Blissbury, primarily for its two ear cutouts.

The author sleeps in two side positions: the "authoritarian cuddle" (arm extended, top arm strangling the other side) and the "unsprung fetal position." The Blissbury pillow accommodates both. The cutouts fall just below the centerline, aligning naturally with ears when the pillow is nestled against the shoulder, making them easy to locate in the dark. The memory foam is thick and firm, though not as firm as the $59.99 Ikea Klubbsporre it replaces. Thickness adjusts between 4 and 5 inches via a removable insert, and the outer cover is washable.

The pillow is 26 inches (66cm) long and 15 inches (38cm) wide - slightly narrower than a US Standard pillow, so a standard pillowcase sags a bit, which is good because extra fabric can be stuffed into the earholes. Blissbury ships foam fillers for the holes in case of demotion to guest pillow.

Sleepbuds might still win if your partner snores - the Soundcore Sleep A30's masking algorithms are effective against light to moderate snoring. But even the latest sleepbuds often require side-sleepers to adjust pillows to avoid pressure and muffled audio. The author used Anker's A30 sleepbuds for almost a year; firmware updates fixed early issues, but no software overcomes the limits of tiny drivers and batteries. After a week with the Blissbury pillow, the author feels silly for spending 4x the amount on earbuds inferior to the AirPods Pro already owned.

Consumer electronics makers want us to believe only they can smooth life's friction. But sometimes, all you need is an oddly shaped piece of foam.