I take my sleep seriously. From monitoring my diet before bedtime to maintaining a consistent sleep schedule and exercising regularly, I’ve optimized every controllable factor. However, there’s one thing I can’t control: the noisy four-way intersection right outside my bedroom window.
The constant symphony of zooming cars has become my nightly nemesis, prompting me to explore sleep earbuds as a solution. When Soundcore released its third-generation sleep earbuds, the Soundcore Sleep A30, I knew I had to put them to the test.
What Makes a Good Sleep Earbud?
The requirements for effective sleep earbuds are straightforward yet challenging to achieve. They must stay securely in place throughout the night (particularly difficult for restless sleepers like myself), effectively mask disruptive ambient noise, and feel comfortable enough to practically disappear between your ear and pillow.
The Soundcore Sleep A30 attempts to address all these concerns with a thin, flat design featuring wingtips for secure placement. The earbuds come equipped with active noise cancellation (a new addition to this model) and two types of ear tips: silicone for comfort and foam for enhanced noise cancellation.
Impressive Features and Battery Life
Having both silicone and foam tips proves genuinely beneficial, as each serves different purposes. The silicone tips are notably more comfortable and less dense, making them perfect for already quiet environments. However, if you’re actively trying to reduce noise from a snoring partner or loud surroundings, the foam tips deliver better results.
The accompanying app offers an excellent selection of ambient soundscapes, including the soothing binaural beats I’ve grown to appreciate. Users can switch between local mode, which stores audio within the earbuds, or Bluetooth mode for streaming content. I recommend local mode for accessing the variety of sleep-inducing soundscapes, as Bluetooth mode significantly reduces battery life.
Outstanding Battery Performance
The A30 exceeded my expectations regarding battery life. The earbuds lasted four nights plus one afternoon nap on a single charge. Soundcore claims approximately 45 hours of total playtime in local mode, with nine hours of continuous playback. Bluetooth mode offers 6.5 hours in the earbuds and 35 hours total. My testing confirmed these figures are accurate.
Additional features include automatic sleep monitoring (which works reasonably well when the earbuds stay in place), a repeatable and snoozable alarm function, and a Find My Earbuds feature for when they inevitably slip out during the night.
Areas Needing Improvement
My primary wish for the previous generation was better noise cancellation rather than just noise-masking. Unfortunately, this generation presents the same limitation. I wasn’t impressed by the ANC performance in the A30. After testing them for several consecutive nights and bringing them to my office, I couldn’t discern a significant difference between ANC on or off in either environment.
The reality is you’ll probably still hear a snoring partner or singing neighbors with ANC enabled. In my case, traffic noise remained clearly audible. While Soundcore is responding to user feedback, the advertised ANC features still fall short of expectations.
Comfort Takes Adjustment
Regarding fit and comfort, the earbuds are mostly comfortable but lack the flexibility of competitors. During the first few nights, I removed them before falling asleep because they felt like a pebble between my ear and pillow.
Despite improvements in earbud design (including a 7% slimmer form factor than the A20), I initially experienced discomfort and difficulty keeping them in place. However, after several nights, they became significantly easier to sleep with, suggesting an adjustment period is necessary.
Final Verdict
If you need soundscapes to fall asleep in an already quiet bedroom, the Soundcore Sleep A30 is an ideal sleep earbud solution. The impressive battery life, comfortable design options, and variety of sleep sounds make them worthwhile.
However, if you’re attempting to reduce noise in a truly disruptive sleep environment, these earbuds may minimize some noise through audio masking, but they won’t effectively cancel that noise with strong ANC. The answer to whether sleep earbuds work is clear: it depends on your specific needs and environment.
