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Dustin loves the Soundcore Sleep A20 sleepbuds - are the new Sleep A30 sleepbuds with Active Noise Canceling even better? | Purchase the Soundcore Sleep A30s here: https://www.anrdoezrs.net/click-101378093-17141792
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Table of Contents:
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0:00 - Intro and Concept
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0:00
[Music]
0:08
[Music]
0:10
Hi, I'm Dustin Abbott. My wife wanted me
0:14
to build her this hanging bed a year or
0:16
two ago and so I did and discovered that
0:19
one of my favorite things to do when I
0:21
am worn out is to come out here and take
0:24
a little nap on this bed. Now, my
0:25
process is is that I like to listen to a
0:29
podcast or an audiobook for a few
0:31
minutes to clear my mind and then I'll
0:33
drift off to sleep. So, I always have a
0:36
pair of headphones with me when I'm out
0:38
here. I've been using the original A20
0:43
uh Sleep A20 earbuds from Soundcore for
0:46
several years now since they came out.
0:48
But ever since the new Sleep A30s came
0:50
out, I have been testing those and using
0:52
them all the time because the one thing
0:54
that you all said in the comments after
0:57
my A20 review is that they're not active
1:00
noise cancelling. And no, they weren't,
1:01
but the A30s, they are. And so now we
1:04
have a very similar form factor. It's
1:07
all this soft touch material, fits
1:09
nicely into your ear canal and passively
1:12
block sound, but now you also have very
1:14
effective active noise cancellation as
1:16
well. And these babies have been a nice
1:19
addition to my nap routine. So today
1:21
we're going to dive into whether or not
1:23
the Sleep A30s are a clear upgrade over
1:26
the Sleep A20s and whether or not you
1:28
should consider adding these to your own
1:31
sleep routine. Let's dive in. Let's take
1:33
a nap. I mean, take a look. So here we
1:36
have the A20 and then the A30. And so
1:39
you can see that the shape of the case
1:41
is a little bit different here. actually
1:43
like the aesthetic of the A20 a little
1:46
bit better, but out of necessity, this
1:47
new case is a little bit thicker. And
1:50
part of that is because this is playing
1:52
a different function. Whereas this was
1:54
just the charging case with a basic
1:56
function. On the A30, the case is
1:59
actually part of the whole process. And
2:01
so it is monitoring sound but not
2:05
recording or transmitting anything but
2:07
monitoring sound for the snoring to help
2:09
to inform the actual patterns that will
2:12
be used to block the and mask the
2:14
snoring sounds. And so there's a little
2:17
bit more going on in here uh rather than
2:20
just the basic function served here. Now
2:22
one kind of core improvement that I do
2:24
appreciate just on a practical level is
2:26
that there is as you can see here there
2:29
is now a light inside here. So,
2:31
particularly since these are designed to
2:32
be used at night, if you're trying to
2:34
maybe want to take them off in the night
2:35
and put them in the case, to actually
2:37
have a light to guide you home and to
2:39
confirm when you have properly seated
2:41
them is useful. Something that was
2:43
missing on that. And there certainly
2:45
have been lots of nights with the A20
2:46
that I was fumbling around trying to
2:48
find where to put it and sometimes just
2:50
leaving it out on the nightstand because
2:52
I didn't want to deal with trying to get
2:53
it into the case itself. And so, anyway,
2:56
uh functional there. It is there is
2:58
magnetic function. And so while it's not
3:01
the easiest that I've ever used to seat,
3:03
it is easy to get those in and to make
3:05
sure that they have a proper connection.
3:07
Now, when it comes to the actual
3:10
earbuds themselves, you can see that
3:12
size-wise they are very similar. The
3:14
shape again is not identical, but it's
3:16
actually pretty impressive how small
3:18
they've been able to keep these while uh
3:21
actually adding on the active noise
3:22
cancellation into the earbud itself.
3:26
They've actually dropped the weight by a
3:29
fraction of a gram. These are only 3 g
3:31
each and so very very lightweight and
3:34
like the A20s, they fit very very nicely
3:37
into your ear with a really tight seal.
3:40
Now, to help with that, we do have some
3:42
options for both the ear wings, which
3:45
are part of the process of of gaining
3:46
that seal inside your ear, and then also
3:49
these silicone ear tips. But then as
3:51
we're also going to see there are some
3:53
memory foam options that you can switch
3:55
to if you need even a tighter seal. Now
3:58
the active noise cancellation or really
4:01
the sleep masking I should say it comes
4:04
in kind of three different stages and so
4:07
there is the monitoring from the case
4:09
monitoring the actual noise in the room
4:11
and what you will find is that through
4:13
the app it will actually recommend to
4:16
you the snore masking kind of sound
4:19
background that is going to most work
4:23
the best with masking out the type of
4:25
snoring that's going on in the room. And
4:26
you can see there are a variety of
4:28
different options there. Now, you can
4:29
just choose to use any of these.
4:31
However, you can store one of them as a
4:34
local audio. And so, it's going to
4:35
recommend whichever one it thinks is the
4:37
best for the local audio that you can
4:39
easily switch to just by tapping the
4:41
actual earbud itself without having to
4:43
get out your phone and go into the the
4:45
app. You also have options of just
4:48
putting together the combinations of
4:50
white noise and there are what they call
4:53
the brainwave audio which will use some
4:55
binaural beats to help you to go to
4:57
sleep and so some various options you
4:59
have there to help in that function
5:02
there. Then of course you have the
5:04
active noise cancellation function. And
5:06
so turning on the ANC is going to
5:09
actively block sound. And then of course
5:11
you on top of that you have the ability
5:13
to get a much tighter seal in the ear
5:16
canal than what you can get with most of
5:18
these earbuds. And so between those
5:21
three things of course these work pretty
5:23
well even with just the passive. But
5:25
when you add in the active noise
5:26
cancellation and the ability to actually
5:28
analyze the sound from the room, you
5:30
really again can get a very surprisingly
5:32
impressive ability to block out sound of
5:35
snoring or other noises that might be
5:37
disrupting your sleep. Now, the ANC in
5:40
here, it should be noted, is it's really
5:43
designed around snoring and so it's not
5:45
as effective. If you're trying to use
5:47
these for general purpose, don't expect
5:49
this to be as functional as the ANC on
5:52
other buds. For example, I use
5:54
Soundcor's Liberty 4s. The active noise
5:57
cancellation in those is more flexible.
5:59
This is really designed around sleep.
6:00
And so, don't buy these for general
6:02
purpose. It's not to mean you can't use
6:04
them, but don't buy them for that.
6:06
They're expensive if you're not getting
6:07
them for their actual purpose, which is
6:09
to help with sleep. Now, there is a
6:12
little bit of a compromise when it comes
6:13
to the run time of the the sound here on
6:17
the A Sleep A20s. They could go up to 14
6:20
hours of um actual run time when you're
6:24
using them in the uh the sleep mode,
6:27
which isn't necessarily playing audio,
6:29
but maybe doing something else. Whereas
6:31
here, we're down to 9 hours if you have
6:33
active noise cancellation on. And the
6:35
way that they're testing that is&c being
6:38
on for 9 hours and for Bluetooth audio
6:40
playing for an hour of that. So, if
6:42
you're playing constant Bluetooth audio,
6:45
you may not get that full 9 hours. But
6:46
in a sleep application because it has
6:48
the ability to detect when you fall
6:50
asleep, it will actually stop the
6:53
playback at that point and just switch
6:54
into the noise cancellation and so that
6:57
you'll get a full night's sleep out of
6:59
it. And so so far I've not had it run
7:01
out. I've not had any issue with that.
7:04
But again, your mileage may vary
7:05
depending on how long your sleep time
7:07
is. The case will recharge the two uh
7:11
earbuds uh up to five times. And so you
7:14
can get 9 hours times 5 or 45 hours. Now
7:18
another addition to this is that
7:20
somewhere on here maybe right there we
7:23
have the addition of a microphone which
7:26
we didn't have before. Now this is just
7:28
a single microphone so it's not going to
7:29
be as sophisticated as some of the best
7:31
earbuds. But again it does add just a
7:33
little layer of functionality that you
7:35
can actually receive calls on here but
7:37
if you're trying to sleep taking calls
7:39
is probably not a great idea but you do
7:42
have a little bit more flexibility. You
7:43
had no microphone on the A20s. On the
7:45
A30s, you do have the single microphone
7:47
and you can take calls. You can still
7:49
get the color that's more similar to
7:51
this. This is more of a mint green
7:53
color. Actually like this color a little
7:55
bit better. It's a little more flesh
7:56
colored. And so with these in your ears,
7:58
they almost disappear. Um you don't
8:00
really see them at all, but everything
8:02
here remains that really soft touch
8:04
material that is very comfortable even
8:06
if you're a side sleeper, which I start
8:08
off as a side sleeper. And so being able
8:10
to have that and be able to actually
8:11
sleep in them is really really helpful
8:14
and you don't wake up with your ears
8:16
sore from having had them in all night.
8:18
Obviously active noise cancellation was
8:20
the number one requested thing of those
8:23
of you that responded over the 16 17
8:26
months to the release of the sleep A20s.
8:29
And so I've had a lot of feedback and
8:31
the number one thing that people wanted
8:32
was active noise cancellation.
8:33
Obviously, Soundcore listened and the
8:36
fact that we have got these and they're
8:37
still very usable, very compact with
8:40
active noise cancellation is really,
8:42
really great. I also find that the
8:45
battery life still seems sufficient to
8:47
get me through the night. I will say
8:49
that as far as the effectiveness of its
8:52
primary purpose, which is blocking
8:54
snoring sounds from my wife in this
8:56
situation and helping me to be able to
8:59
remove distractions and so that I can
9:01
sleep better. These are definitely more
9:04
effective than what the A20s were. Now,
9:06
no, the active noise cancellation isn't
9:08
topnotch, but the combination of these
9:11
different features, the fact that they
9:12
fit so tightly into your ear canal,
9:15
that's both a blessing and a curse. By
9:17
the way, I will point out that once they
9:19
are seated in there, they really do
9:21
block like earplugs just in and of
9:23
themselves. And so, experiment with
9:25
those different uh tips and wings until
9:27
you get the proper fit because once they
9:29
are they fit properly. And by the way,
9:30
for me, I could use this the combination
9:32
that came out of the box. That worked
9:34
for me. But once they're in there nice
9:36
and tight, they do block a lot of sound
9:38
just in and of themselves. So much so
9:40
that I actually find it more difficult
9:42
if I'm already wearing them and my wife
9:44
talks to me, I can't hardly hear her at
9:46
all. And so they really do block sound
9:48
quite well. Then you add on the active
9:49
noise cancellation and you add on maybe
9:52
some kind of white noise or whatever
9:54
situation's going on where you're
9:55
helping to block that sound. They will
9:57
work quite effectively for that. Another
10:00
thing that has definitely improved both
10:03
over the A20 and in the time that I've
10:06
had the A30 due to firmware updates is
10:08
that the TAP is now a little bit more
10:11
responsive. Now, maybe out of necessity,
10:14
these are a little bit fidgety when it
10:16
comes to tap. Number one, it is only
10:18
double and triple tap. And so, just know
10:21
that you it's designed to where know
10:24
there's going to be no holding down and
10:25
no single tap. Why? because they're
10:27
designed that you might be sleeping on
10:29
them and you don't want to be that would
10:31
ruin their function if you know they
10:33
were inadvertently getting signals that
10:35
you don't want. However, I do find that
10:37
they are quite sensitive at where you
10:39
tap. You need to tap centered. So, the
10:41
thing is is that sometimes they do sit
10:43
in your ear. They're not sitting
10:44
completely flush and so you have to
10:46
really kind of alter the angle of your
10:48
tap to make sure that you're tapping in
10:50
the right place. That being said, they
10:53
have already improved over uh the way
10:55
that they started and they are more
10:57
responsive than what the A20s were. So,
11:00
movement in the right direction. These
11:02
remain extremely comfortable. I love all
11:04
these soft touch materials and I love
11:06
the fact that they are so low profile
11:08
that once they're there in your ear
11:10
canal, there's nothing sticking out. And
11:12
so, no, it's not as comfortable as
11:14
wearing nothing obviously, but it is of
11:17
any of the earbuds I've ever used, these
11:19
are far and away the most comfortable.
11:21
And so you can actually sleep on your
11:23
side and you can get away with it. They
11:25
are comfortable enough for that and
11:27
comfortable enough that you wear them
11:28
all night. You don't wake up with your
11:29
ear canal just sore from uh them having
11:32
been in it. I also note that they are
11:34
IPX4 rated. So that's not submersible,
11:37
but it means splashing from any
11:40
direction. And so that's nice in
11:41
something so compact that you know if
11:43
there's some situation where they're
11:45
getting a little bit wet that they
11:47
shouldn't immediately be affected by
11:49
that. that just gives you a little bit
11:50
of peace of mind. And then finally,
11:52
Soundcore,
11:54
part of their their kind of standing by
11:56
their customer, I think, is part of the
11:57
package and part of the pros here in
11:59
that they do respond to customer input.
12:02
And what's more, they are very proactive
12:04
with their firmware updates. And they
12:06
are continually working to make these
12:08
better. And so that in itself is
12:10
comforting. There are still some things
12:12
that I don't like. I've noted that tap
12:14
is improved here, but as I noted, you
12:16
really have to work it from the right
12:18
angle. And also there are some occasions
12:20
where I find that tap still it gets a
12:23
little bit confused. And what I mean by
12:25
that is that sometimes I very distinctly
12:27
have done just two taps and I get the
12:29
thing that I have assigned the three tap
12:32
response to in the app. And by the way
12:34
you can tweak the controls, you know,
12:36
assign different functions. It but you
12:38
have two options on each earbud. Double
12:40
tap, triple tap. So sometimes I've
12:42
triple tapped and got the double tap and
12:44
sometimes I've double tapped and got the
12:46
triple tap response. So, there's still
12:49
some work to do there on that point.
12:50
Soundcore, I've already noted that the
12:53
audio quality does not not match bigger
12:55
buds. And so, if you buy these expecting
12:57
them to have top-notch audio quality,
12:59
you might be disappointed by that. And
13:02
also, it feels like the price has crept
13:04
up since this generation. And that's
13:06
maybe in part just due to the the
13:08
pricing and tariffs uh in the North
13:10
American market generally, but certainly
13:13
even the A20s at this point are
13:16
retailing for about $180 bucks and these
13:18
at $230. Anything over $200, you're
13:21
definitely starting to feel like you're
13:22
in more premium territory. And so I
13:24
think that there are some people that
13:25
are going to be turned off by the price.
13:27
And so the creep up in price, maybe
13:29
that's beyond their control. I don't
13:31
know. But the creeping up in price
13:33
certainly is going to have a negative
13:35
impact on some potential buyers. So my
13:38
verdict is this. Having having used them
13:40
now for several weeks and slept with
13:42
them quite a bit at this point, I think
13:45
that this is a very interesting
13:46
evolution of a product that I already
13:48
really really liked and has worked well
13:50
for me in the past. And so I will say
13:52
that the Sleep A30s work better than
13:55
what the Sleep A20s do. And they're
13:57
they're more of a good thing. And I do
14:00
appreciate some of the subtle details,
14:01
even that little light up inside of
14:03
there. The fact that you're analyzing
14:05
and getting recommendations to actually
14:07
impact the sleep, the snoring or other
14:10
sounds that you're dealing with, I think
14:11
is useful. And so again, the addition of
14:14
ANC adds extra layers of effectiveness
14:16
that to me have made a positive
14:18
improvement. Now again, your mileage may
14:21
vary depending on your situation and how
14:23
light a sleeper you are, but I don't
14:25
know that there's a lot of products out
14:26
there that are doing a better job than
14:28
what the Sleep A30s are at this point.
14:31
Now, don't buy these expecting them to
14:34
have the auto quality or A&C of bigger
14:37
earbuds. They're not going to match
14:39
those things. These are really designed
14:41
for a specific purpose. At the same
14:43
time, however, particularly if you're a
14:45
side sleeper to wear other styles of
14:47
earbuds are just not going to work for
14:49
you. You can't lay there wearing
14:51
AirPods, for example, because you're a
14:53
side sleeper, then the Sleep A30s could
14:55
be a must for you. Uh, if you're in a
14:58
dorm room, if you're moved to a city
15:00
where it's a noisy environment, or if
15:02
your beloved has started to develop a
15:04
little more volume and they're snoring
15:06
than they used to, the Soundcore Sleep
15:09
A30s could be a godsend. Now, if you
15:12
look in the description down below,
15:13
there are links where you can purchase.
15:15
As always, thanks for watching. Have a
15:17
great day and let the light in.
15:20
[Music]