The Anker Soundcore Sleep A30 Smart ANC earbuds can help you sleep better by masking sleep noises.
Now I can sleep through a nuclear war, but my partner is overly sensitive to snoring and noise, especially sudden thunderclaps, whistling wind, and the occasional forceful beer and chilli expellearsus. She wears those foam earplugs, which can passively remove up to 30dB at frequencies between 4 and 8 kHz (low/mid-treble).
Now you would think that foam plugs block sound at all levels – 20-200Hz (Bass), 200Hz to 4000Hz (4kHz Mid), but they don’t have the passive noise reduction of over-the-ear headphones.
There are other issues with in-canal buds. They can be uncomfortable when sleeping on your side. Pulsatile tinnitus (occlusion effect), hay fever, and itchy ear sufferers should avoid firm-fitting ‘plugs’.
Enter Anker Soundcore Sleep A30 Smart ANC earbuds (D1301)-EN (Australian review)
Firmware V1.84 5/1/0/25
| Website | Product Page Manual |
| Price | $319.99 with free shipping, 30-day money-back guarantee. |
| Colours | Moonlit White Mist Green |
| From | From Soundcore or Amazon AU |
| Warranty | 18 months and a 30-day money-back |
| Made in | China |
| Company | Anker is a Chinese electronics company that produces computer and mobile peripherals, including phone chargers, power banks, earbuds, headphones, speakers, data hubs, charging cables, torches, screen protectors, security cameras, and more under multiple brands. |
| More | CyberShack Anker news and reviews |
Ratings
We use the following ratings for many of the items below. CyberShack regards 70/100 as a pass mark. You can click on most images to enlarge them.
- Fail (below expectations), and we will let you know if this affects its use.
- Pass(able) rating that is not as good as it should be.
- Pass (meets expectations).
- Pass ‘+’ rating to show it is good, but does not quite make it to Exceed
- Exceed (surpasses expectations or is the class leader).
First Impression – so much potential but still needs work
Let’s start with a caveat. This was a Kickstarter project that raised US$3 million (the goal was $30K). The Kickstarter buyers were the guinea pigs, and frankly, their expectations were not met. To a very large degree, those expectations were not reasonable and quite contrary to the design ethos.
The reality is that these are smart sleep buds with snore-focused ANC. They are designed to give up to 9 hours of battery life using what Soundcore calls ‘local’ mode. And that is where things went awry.
Buyers thought they were Bluetooth ANC buds with a sleep program – not the reverse reality. Complaints about battery life (3 to 6 hours), poor music quality (they only have tiny 4.6mm drivers), hands-free calls were hollow metallic (its mics are for ANC) and poor ANC (users were expecting traditional ANC, where this is about sleep noise) and so on.
It uses BT 5.4, and most smartphones will offer all the 5.4 features such as Spatial audio, HD audio, media audio, phone calls and access to contacts and call history. Most are not relevant, so leave them on the default.
The App is for Android and iOS, and the BT codecs are SBC and AAC.
Soundcore took all this on board and, where possible, has made several firmware and app changes, but you can’t exceed the hardware specs of this device.
So, if you read a review, especially early ones, remember the device is for sleep, not Hi-Fi. After a few weeks of use on the sleep front, they meet or exceed reasonable expectations.
What do they do?
They have a very low-profile design to fit inside the Pinna (outer ear) between the antihelix and gently sit in the concha (the outer part of the ear canal). That gentle touch of the ear tips is a very light seal designed for comfort, not wide frequency passive noise reduction (like over-the-ear headphones can). If the silicon tips are not providing enough passive, then use the memory foam ones. These can be hotter but block out a bit more noise.
If you are looking for traditional ANC – forget it. It is subtle and meant to work on sleep noises with the provided sound library.
The charge case is part of the 3-stage snore masking system. It hears the snore and sends adaptively generated masking to the buds. Interestingly, it detected the wearer’s snores as well.
It can play a gallery of AI Brainwave binaural beats to different frequencies to each ear. Interesting, but treat that as a bonus that may work for you.
It also has an alarm and a find device function.
Local mode
Many of the users did not realise that local mode is the default to provide maximum battery life. Essentially, when sleep is detected, the sound selected from the library ceases to play.
The sound library selected track is stored on the earbuds. You can download small repetitive clips, subject to storage space. If you want snore masking, it can affect the battery life.
Sleep tracking – work in progress
It is available in two modes.
- via BT and the app – the device does not generate a report. If you select Sleep With Audio. It consumes more battery.
- Automatic via the buds (does not include tie to sleep).
Comfort – Pass+
They are 3g each and come with a pair each of XS/S/M/L silicone ear tips (for comfort) and a set of S/M/L memory foam tips (for maximum noise reduction). It also has a set of S/M/L ear wings.
These are consumables, and you can buy replacement kits for about $25-30 (unfortunately, not single sizes).
In tests, my partner and I had no issues with heat or itchy ears and no issues with side sleeping on a standard firm Tontine side-sleeper gusseted pillows.
Tap Controls: Pass
You can tap the surface of the earbuds
- Switch between listening modes: Double-tap the left earbud to switch between Bluetooth and Local modes.
- Turn Active Noise Cancellation on or off: Double-tap the right earbud.
- Decrease volume: Triple-tap the left earbud.
- Increase volume: Triple-tap the right earbud.
Tap firmly. You can customise these controls in the Soundcore app.
Battery
Soundcore claims 9 hours (Local at 50%) and four extra charges in the case.
The internal battery in each bud is a scant 38mAh.
In local mode, we got between 7 and 8.5 hours with an average of 8.1 hours.
Using them as BT ANC buds, we got about 3 to 3.5 hours.
Charge time is about 1.5 hours, and the case has 800mAh.
The key to longer life is to switch to Local audio after you fall asleep: App > Device (IoT) > Sleep Detection > Local audio.
Alarm
With the caveat that the alarm only works if there is a battery, it works fine.
CyberShack’s view: Anker Soundcore Sleep A30 Smart ANC earbuds are not there yet
Having bought the Gen 1 Bose Sleepbuds for my partner in 2017, I have to say these were not good. They were unofficially recalled and swapped for Gen2, which were slightly better. In 2019, Bose discontinued the product, and I got a full refund.
Bose was a little cleverer than Soundcore, as they did not mention ANC, only sound masking when playing their library of sounds.
Soundcore have tried to ‘fix’ customers’ unrealistic expectations and in doing so may have lost a little focus.
So, as BT buds, they are OK. As sleep buds used the way they should be, then they are worth the effort. We don’t comment on cost, but Bose was around $400, so it is in the ballpark. I suspect we will see these heavily discounted.
Anker Soundcore Sleep A30 rating
We are not going to formally rate them. We may revisit this review in a few more weeks after my partner’s exclusive use.
Pro
- Chic design (both earphones and charging case)
- Slim & low-profile, making it very comfortable for side sleeping
- App is logical
- Adaptive snoring masking only works with local sounds
- Pleasant AI brainwave audios
- Three sleeping and 5 sound elements
- Sleep recording
- sleep reminder, alarm clock and timer function available
Con
- As a Bluetooth bud, the music is OK
- BT draws a lot of battery
- ANC is more for snores – little difference in daily use
- Touch controls are hit and miss
- Only stores one local profile
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