Spiral Earplug Redesign Challenges Decades-Old Foam Standard
A Paris-designed soft silicone earplug that anchors in the outer ear's helix instead of the canal has been named France's Product of the Year 2026, with more than 120,000 customers and 14,000 units in stock ahead of international expansion.
A Paris studio has introduced a soft silicone earplug that abandons the half-century-old foam formula in favor of a retractable spiral that locks into the outer ear rather than pressing into the ear canal. The Ears 360 Silence, designed by Youcef Abdaoui, is certified to the EN 352-2:2020 hearing-protection standard and has already reached more than 120,000 customers through the company's direct store, a network of over 500 pharmacies, and business-to-business partners.
The product's central claim is structural. Instead of rolling foam down and inserting it into the canal, the Silence's spiral wraps laterally into the helix, the curved ridge that traces the outer rim of the ear, and holds there through geometry. According to the company, the design bears almost no canal pressure, which allows the plug to sit flat and flush against the head. The spiral body measures 18.44 millimeters by 15.49 millimeters, a profile slim enough that side sleepers have nothing significant pressing against a pillow — the scenario the company identifies as the main reason most people buy earplugs in the first place.
Attenuation figures place the Silence in the same range as conventional foam. The standard silicone tips, offered in three diameters of 9.9, 11.9, and 12.9 millimeters, deliver 24 dB SNR. A separate Swim & Work Kit adds triple-flange tips that raise attenuation to 29 dB, a level the company describes as entering worksite and industrial territory. Peak performance reaches 29.9 dB in the frequency range where snoring and human voices sit. The spiral body carries an IPX7 waterproof rating, making it pool-ready when paired with the kit's triple-flange seal.
Abdaoui began prototyping the Silence in 2024 near Paris, starting with a bent wire and putty to test whether a helix-anchoring spiral could hold in an ear. Dozens of iterations followed. The finished product was named Product of the Year 2026 in France, an award decided by consumer vote rather than a jury, a distinction the company presents as evidence of real-world performance. The design also draws on the ear's own anatomy: the outer rim is anatomically called the helix, and the cochlea deeper inside is itself a spiral chamber. Nature, the company notes, returns to the spiral repeatedly because it distributes force without concentration points.
The Silence is positioned against the loop-style reusable earplugs that have become popular in recent years. Those designs make a virtue of visibility, with a circular protrusion sitting outside the canal as an aesthetic statement. That works at a concert, but the company argues it becomes a pressure point the moment a user rolls onto their side in bed. The Silence's flat profile is intended to eliminate that problem, and Abdaoui has said the earplugs perform well at concerts too. User satisfaction data from Ears 360 puts concert approval at 91 percent and commute approval at 97 percent.
Pricing starts at 24 euros, roughly 28 dollars, for a single unit with a carry case and all three tip sizes. A bundle pairing the Silence with the Swim & Work Kit is priced at 27 euros, and a Duo Pack of two units at 39 euros. Current colorways are Black and Pink, with Green planned as a future addition. Delivery is scheduled for November 2026. The product page does not state a specific warranty period, though the replaceable-tip architecture is presented as a way for buyers to act on longevity rather than simply trust a claim.
The environmental pitch rests on disposability. One Silence is designed to replace hundreds of disposable foam earplugs. The body is built to last for years, the silicone tips are replaceable rather than requiring the whole product to be discarded, and the packaging is compact enough that each shipment travels as a slim letter rather than a parcel. The company frames this as a design outcome rather than a separate carbon-offset claim. More than 14,000 units are already in stock, and the product is mass-produced rather than a prototype.
The earplug market has been dominated by foam since the 1970s, a period during which the basic form — roll it down, insert it, hope it expands to a seal — has remained functionally unchanged. The Silence's arrival suggests that the category's long design stagnation may be ending, with a structural approach that trades canal pressure for outer-ear geometry and disposable foam for a reusable, replaceable-tip system.
