Soundcore Sleep A30 Earbuds And The Evolution Of Sleep Technology

Soundcore Sleep A30 Earbuds And The Evolution of Sleep Technology

Many experts believe that we are going through a sleep crisis. While it has been an issue for a long time, many believe the problem has become significantly worse since the pandemic. In June 2024, the medical journal The Lancet described sleep as “a neglected public health issue and, drawing on a survey from The Sleep Charity, said that of 2,000 adults questioned, 90% reported current sleep problems. Then there’s this article from June 2025 that simply asks, “Why can’t Americans sleep?”

Aside from long-term issues caused by stress or mental health concerns, practical factors can mess with your sleep, whether it be your partner snoring, the bin men turning up too early, or a next-door neighbor’s gardener that comes to mow their grass and trim the hedges every single Tuesday morning all year round, whatever the weather, for years on end.. and OK, maybe that last one just impacts me.

Technology: The Problem and Yet, The Solution?

For many, technology is to blame, particularly your smartphone. Staying up late watching TV is one thing, but that small, addictive box of portable doomscrolling can all too easily stop you from getting a good night’s rest.

However, while technology is part of the problem, it can also be part of the solution.

Certainly, there’s a lot of sleep-related technology to choose from. Your smartphone has numerous sleep apps that can measure how well you sleep, or dedicated sensors that sit underneath your mattress, such as the Withings Sleep Analyzer, which can also analyze your heart rate and even claims to be able to detect potential sleep apnea, and the Apple Watch and some Samsung Galaxy Watch models can do the same.

SoundCore Sleep A30: Active Sleep Enhancers

However, while they will give you good data, these are all passive devices that won’t actively help you get a good night’s shuteye. This is where the Soundcore Sleep A30 earbuds come in, as they are specifically designed to aid your rest, not only by physically blocking out sounds but through playing music and calming audio, and now, also using active noise cancelling tech – and all without disturbing a partner.

Following along from the A10 and A20 models, Soundcore is really starting to build up expertise in this area. The A30s offer several improvements over the previous model. While the A20s are small, the A30s are 7% slimmer in the ear, making them even easier to use for side sleepers. With the A30s, Soundcore now offers memory foam ear and wing tips as well as silicon, the former optimized for comfort and the latter for sound isolation.

Smart ANC For Sleep

The A30s are also the first sleep earbuds to feature active noise cancellation (ANC), to block out low-frequency noise. Inevitably, this comes at the cost of some battery life, with Soundcore claiming nine hours from the earbuds, compared to 14 hours from the A20s. It’s a significant drop, but with an additional 45 hours in the case when fully charged, it’s still enough, and for most, it should be worth the trade-off.

Of course, you don’t want to then be woken up by a partner snoring, and it’s here that the A30 offers up its most interesting new feature, called “Adaptive Snore Masking”. This uses a microphone in the case to detect snoring sounds within a radius of 1.5 meters, which it then analyzes and gets the headphones to emit broad-spectrum masking audio, keeping you safely in the land of nod – and potentially saving your relationship.

(The press release accompanying the release says that it is so effective that it can even block out someone “sawing wood or chopping logs” on the other side of the bed, though I would say that if this were happening, you’ve got bigger problems — I’d recommend abandoning attempting to sleep and instead suggest running away as far away as possible).

Binaural AI Brainwave Boost

Another boost over the A20s is the ability to play binaural soundscapes that Soundcore describes as Artificial Intelligence (AI) brainwave audio. These sound immersive and peaceful, but for this, the earbuds must be connected to your phone through Bluetooth. This reduces battery life to only 6.5 hours, but again, it sounds good enough to be worth the trade.

As with the A20s, you can download one piece of audio directly to the device, which is great if you want to maximize battery life or if you want to leave your phone in another room, but it’s a shame that this onboard audio isn’t in binaural, as presumably, the processing for this needs to be done on the phone.

Alarm Snooze and Microphone Additions

A great feature of these sleep headphones is that you can set an alarm so you can wake up without disturbing a sleeping partner, and with the A30s, these can now be snoozed too.

Soundcore has now also added a microphone, so while you may want to block calls while sleeping it does make them more flexible for use during the day, as while the A30s aren’t going to replace more audio-focused headphones for listening to music, but for casual use, they are acceptable – and you might want to listen to the binaural beats for focus.

Aside from this, the A30s also include all the niceties of the A20s, such as sleep monitoring and a Find My Earbud feature, and the A30s also now come in two colors – white and mist green, which is good news if you and a partner both own a set.

On The Path to Perfection

With the A30s, Soundcore continues its path to perfecting its sleep headphones, but I can see room for further enhancements. I would welcome the case offering wireless Qi charging, so it can charge without a cable, and also support for Bluetooth Multipoint. This would enable them to be paired with more than one device and to automatically switch between them. I fell afoul of this feature not being present when I discovered that I’d previously connected them to my iPad, which was downstairs, leaving me with the choice of using the built-in audio or getting out of bed, hunting for said iPad, and then manually disconnecting it.

Of course, adding new features will add to the cost. Having been available for a reduced cost via Kickstarter since June, they are now widely available on Soundcore’s website and major retailers for £199.99/€249.99/$229.99. However, this is more than double what you can pick up a pair of the still impressive A20s for, but at least now you have the choice.

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