is a deputy editor and Verge co-founder with a passion for human-centric cities, e-bikes, and life as a digital nomad. He’s been a tech journalist for 20 years.
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Anker’s latest Soundcore Sleep A30 sleep buds do what its A20 buds promised but couldn’t deliver: mask snoring. It accomplishes this with the inclusion of Active Noise Cancellation in the buds and a microphone inside the charging case that actively adjusts masking audio to cancel out the sound of sawing logs.
Of course I want that! said my monkey brain when I first saw those specs attached to slightly smaller earbuds, which should make them even more comfortable for side sleepers. But after testing them every night for the last month, I’ve come to a different conclusion. Then again, my bedtime buddy doesn’t usually snore.
First, I should explain how poorly I sleep. I listen to podcasts to quell my busy mind, and that means earbuds – Apple’s AirPods Pro, usually – to avoid disturbing my wife when falling asleep. To complicate matters, I wake up frequently each night, anywhere between one and about five times, requiring a podcast rewind and restart. And if I roll over I have to switch out earbuds since the AirPods are too big to sleep on. It sucks, but that’s my routine for years now.
Anker advertises 9 hours of battery life per charge with ANC enabled (extended to 45 hours with the case), but that’s only when you’re primarily listening to white noise or snore-masking sounds like rain, wind, and campfire crackles stored locally on the buds. If that works for you, then the A30 buds will easily make it through the night.
However, they last closer to 6.5 hours per charge if you’re primarily streaming audio over Bluetooth. At least twice a week, I’d wake before dawn and attempt to restart a podcast on dead earbuds, especially on nights when I got sucked into a doomscrolling session before falling asleep. I didn’t have that problem with the passive A20 sleep buds.
No wireless charging, these are USB-C only. The buds can emit a stream of beeps if lost. Next to my trusty AirPods Pro. The buds really are small making them good for side sleepers.
The smaller A30s are more comfortable than the A20s when sleeping on my side. I still have to adjust my pillow just so to make sure the pressure isn’t too acute and that the audio isn’t muffled. And so far, I haven’t woken up with any soreness. Side sleeping with AirPods or any other popular earbuds just isn’t a possibility, so this is a major win for Anker.
To test the adaptive snore masking, I took advantage of Alexa’s ability to play snoring sounds on my original Amazon Echo speaker placed about a meter from my head. With the Soundcore charging case nearby, I tested the A30 buds with ANC turned on, with local snore-masking audio, and with podcasts streamed over Bluetooth. I did the testing with the Echo at volume levels of 3 (akin to my wife after too many glasses of wine), 6 (time to seek relationship counseling), and 9 (divorce!).
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