Soundcore's Sleep A30 earbuds set the bar for premium sleep earbuds

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Sleep earbuds have been on the market for a while, but even if you wanted to shell out, there weren't really pairs available with active noise cancellation — until now.

The Anker Soundcore Sleep A30 are one of the first pairs of sleep earbuds to come equipped with active noise cancellation (the now-defunct QuietOn sleep earbuds also offered ANC, to mixed reviews). The Sleep A30 is the successor to the Sleep A20 earbuds, which hold the throne among many (including Mashable) as some of the best sleep earbuds on the market.

So do the Sleep A30 earbuds deliver? I spent two months testing them out to find out.

How well does the ANC work?

First things first: Wearing regular active noise cancellation earbuds to sleep is not the move, especially if you're a side sleeper. I say this as someone who spent far too long wearing AirPods Pro to bed (only in one ear, so I could actually lie down comfortably). If you can somehow stomach wearing earbuds and side sleeping, chances are the battery life doesn't extend a full eight hours, meaning they're not ideal if you need a little more sleep.

The drawbacks of normal earbuds were why sleep earbuds found a market in the first place, but without any real ANC options, that market undeniably had a gap. Even more premium options, like the Ozlo Sleepbuds, came jam-packed with features designed to mask sounds and provide maximum comfort, but lacked any ANC.

With all that in mind, I think that Sleep A30 ANC provides solid, reliable ANC for a much-neglected consumer base. Is it the best noise cancellation I've encountered? No, but I don't expect it to be. My bedroom at night shouldn't be as loud as a coffee shop I'm trying to work in. Though I fortunately don't have particularly noisy neighbors or thin walls, I do have a moderately loud mini-split air conditioner, a partner who moves frequently in their sleep, and street noise from cars. The ANC noticeably diminishes all three — a few times during testing, my partner said something to me without realizing I put my earbuds in, and I couldn't hear him at all. Much like normal ANC earbuds, I don't think these ones are able to completely block out any sound you'll encounter, but I do think they provide you the best shot from what's available on the market.

Soundcore Sleep A30 specs

With the headline feature discussed, let's get into what to expect with the Soundcore Sleep A30 earbuds. The specs are as follows:

• Active noise cancellation

• 9 hours of battery life per charge, 6.5 with Bluetooth audio (45 hours in case)

• Seven total ear tip options (four sizes of silicone ear tips and three sizes of memory foam), plus three sizes of ear wings

• Slightly slimmer profile earbuds than the Sleep A20 earbuds

• Adaptive snore masking sounds powered by real-time detection microphones in case

• New, more customizable soundscapes

• Snooze feature with alarm

• New mint colorway

The biggest flaw of the Soundcore Sleep A30 earbuds

I have a lot more praise to heap on the Sleep A30 earbuds, but before I do, I want to talk about their biggest flaw: the sleep detection feature. As of Aug. 18, there is no way to toggle the sleep detection feature off, which means if you're streaming audio, it'll shut off once the earbuds sense you're sleeping. In my experience, this often meant shutting off audio while I was still awake (a problem I also experienced on the Sleep A20 earbuds, which did have an option to turn that feature off).

This complaint does come with a pretty major stipulation: Based on a notification from the Soundcore app, it appears that the next update on Aug. 20 will allow users to switch sleep detection off. With that in mind, I won't spend too long harping, but I will say the only workaround to reconnecting to Bluetooth audio was completely removing and reconnecting the earbuds. It's not ideal generally, but especially when my partner already fell asleep and I had to put the earbuds back in the case (which automatically lights up upon opening).

Their second biggest flaw (that I don't anticipate any changes to anytime soon) is their price. This also comes with a few caveats, but I do need to acknowledge that $229.99 is a lot to ask for earbuds used just for sleep. Granted, they're far cheaper than the $349 Ozlo Sleepbuds, and they do come with ANC — the price makes sense. However, it's still steep, and far from your only option for effective noise blocking. The Sleep A20 are still a great (more) affordable option at $179.99 — especially if you can grab them on sale. Or if you don't need to stream audio, the Loop Dream or Loop Quiet 2 earplugs are both great for sleeping as well, clocking in at $49.95 and $24.95, respectively.

The sound-blocking power

Sleep earbuds commonly feature white noise options to help block out sound, and the Sleep A30 don't abandon this tactic just because they have ANC. The app offers three main types of sound: AI-powered brainwave audio, snore masking sounds, and white noise.

Brainwave audio

The brainwave audio section of the app allows you to customize a series of binaural soundscapes that use AI to help create the most soothing sleep environment possible. I can't say that I noticed a huge difference between these soundscapes and the snore masking or white noise in terms of my sleep quality, but I did appreciate the level of customization. The app offers six different scenarios: starry sky, ocean, forest, inner peace, deep learning, and productivity boost. I found the latter two a bit too busy, but it did indicate Soundcore was trying to create some non-sleep use cases for these earbuds.

Within those scenarios, you can toggle spatial audio on, as well as adjust the audio density, space, and brightness. This reminded me of the custom equalizer on the Sleep A20 earbuds, but felt much more in line with the needs of a sleep earbud.

I was also able to add in "elements" to these soundscapes: rain sounds, bubble sounds, guqin, wooden fish, and singing bowl. You can add up to four out of five of these sounds at once — apparently, rain sounds and bubble sounds don't play well together.

Though these sounds were ultimately a bit too busy for my personal taste, I did appreciate that the toggles let me calm them down and gave more personalization than I'd seen on other sleep earbuds.

Snore masking sounds

While snoring isn't really an issue my partner or I experience (as far as I can tell), I found this batch of sounds to be my favorite. You get 14 soundscapes, including ones like urban breeze, rainy alley, and whistling winds. They were simple, relaxing, and genuinely drowned out more noise without being distracting in their own right.

As I didn't really have the conditions to test them in, I can't speak to how well the snore masking sounds automatically adjust, but I appreciated that the app does let you toggle off that adjustment (and the ability to recommend snore masking sounds, in case you don't want the case mics listening in). These sounds reminded me a lot of the Ozlo Sleepbuds soundscape, which I strongly favored over those found in the Sleep A20 earbuds.

White noise

Speaking of the Sleep A20 earbuds, the Sleep A30 app brings the return of the white noise feature. You can mix and match up to three sounds from a nice long list of white noise mainstays, but as I did with the Sleep A20, I found these to sound a bit busy, so I didn't really go for them beyond testing.

Customizability

I've been talking about it throughout this section, but it really can't be overstated how much customization the app allows for with the soundscapes. You can also set specific sounds for your "bedtime" and "fall asleep" sounds (to be played before and after sleep detection).

Select sounds can also be downloaded into your earbuds to play automatically upon putting your earbuds in — after initial setup, you never really need to use your phone to use the earbuds.

Sleep A30 comfort and design

Soundcore didn't do a drastic overhaul of these earbuds' design, but the small changes made across the board do add up.

For starters, the Sleep A30 earbuds come with memory foam in addition to silicone, for even more grip and noise-blocking. The trade-off is that they are a little firmer, so I stuck to the silicone mainly. But it bears repeating — it's nice to have the options, especially at this price point! (The only downside is that the memory foam ear tips don't come in an extra small size.)

They also rounded out the ear wing some, which feels ever-so-slightly more comfortable to me than the wing tip on the Sleep A20 buds. The softness of the silicone and design of the Sleep A30 buds in general was so good that I was actually able to stick to the default medium size tips and wings as a person who almost always has to swap out for the small or extra-small size on earbuds.

Though the Sleep A30 and A20s are the same in this regard, it's worth noting that the Ozlo Sleepbuds only offer four sizes of silicone tips, which are connected to the wing tips — so if you prefer the small wings and medium ear tips, you're out of luck.

Beyond the fit of the earbuds, the Sleep A30 case is slightly sleeker. It feels especially upgraded in the built-in interior lights and no-slip silicone base that keeps it more secure on a nightstand. Though not quite as luxe feeling as the metal exterior of the Ozlo Sleepbuds, it still felt like a case worthy of its price point.

On a less functional note, Soundcore also added a mint colorway, which is just a nice addition for folks who care about the aesthetics of their products (me).

App design

Confusing companion apps are never ideal, but they're especially egregious on earbuds designed for sleep. The literal last thing I want to do when I'm tired and ready for bed is try to figure out which button will let me adjust the most basic settings of my device.

Thankfully, Soundcore stepped it up from the Sleep A20. This app is clean, with the most important features at the top. They went the extra mile to make the atmosphere serene, and I was able to get to all the settings I needed to without a hitch. My only wish for this app would be to toggle which panels I want available on the home screen and in what order — then, it would be perfect.

Once within the panels themselves, it was easy to find the information I needed, whether it be sleep data (I now know I toss and turn around 34 times on average during the night) or alarm settings (the addition of a snooze feature was a nice touch).

The Sleep A20 vs. Sleep A30 earbuds

Are the Sleep A30 earbuds better than the Sleep A20 earbuds? It's a natural question to ask after any product gets a shiny new version. While the Sleep A30 earbuds do come with a nice suite of upgrades, they are $50 more — a gap that widens if the Sleep A20 earbuds drop their sale prices.

In my opinion, both earbuds have their place. I can't say that after using the active noise cancellation, I find it necessary for my particular sleeping situation. If I lived in my old apartment, where a neighbor in the building across from me liked to regularly sing loudly outside his window at 1 a.m. (the acoustics of a narrow alley did wonders for amplifying this, btw), I'd probably happily pay the extra $50 for the added power. In other words, I think one is an excellent budget-friendly option, while one is an excellent premium option.

Are the Soundcore Sleep A30 earbuds worth it?

Compared to the other major premium option on the market — the Ozlo Sleepbuds — the Soundcore Sleep A30 earbuds are absolutely worth it. For nearly $120 less, they bring the best of what I would expect from a premium sleep earbud — active noise cancellation, solid battery life, and plenty of optimization for sound in comfort. Even without the direct comparison, these earbuds feel worth it if you want a sleep earbud with the best features available on the market.

That's not to say they're perfect or the absolute best choice for everyone. The Sleep A20 are still a worthy non-ANC alternative if you're looking to save some money. But if you want to invest a little extra, the Sleep A30 earbuds are now the premium sleep earbuds to beat.