The Soundcore Sleep A20 have ticked a key
box that's rarely ticked when I review sleep headphones. All too often, when I test headphones
in bed, I end up removing them after an hour or two because they're uncomfortable. But I've had
no problem wearing the A20s all night long on the many nights I've used them in the last month.
Before I dive into the review, I think it's important to clarify one of the main reasons
they're so comfortable, and that's because their very small size is largely possible because
they don't have active noise cancellation. The good news is that they make up for the lack of ANC
with a ton of white noise and ambient and nature sounds on the app, which you can use to mask
noise. You can also play your own audio if you prefer. Later in the video, I'll be talking about
some tests I did to see how well they block out snoring and music, as well as how they compared
to some other headphones. But before I do, let's take a closer look at the earbuds.
They arrived in a small and smart-looking box. The earbuds are housed in a round-shaped
case, which has a beige color and a smooth feel. It takes a while to get used to opening the
case as the top slides open rather than flips, and the arrow symbol is very small. The earbuds
are remarkably small with interchangeable wings and tips so you can get a good fit. The tips
have a double layer to improve noise isolation, though they aren't as effective as earplugs if
you don't play audio in my experience. I like the wing shape, which helps them sit flush in your ear
without falling out. The material feels like very soft silicone, and they do feel much softer in
your ears than earbuds with solid plastic shells. They come with three different wing sizes as well
as seven different sizes and styles of tips. Some supposedly increase airflow while others block
more noise, but I haven't noticed much difference between them, to be honest. It's great that there
are so many sizes though, and both my partner and I have managed to get a really good fit with them.
Changing the wings and tips is a bit fiddly, but it's worth experimenting with the different sizes
to get the most comfortable and effective seal. There's also a very short USB-C to USB charging
cable and an easy-to-understand instruction manual. All in all, they look good out of
the box, with enough options to customize them for your ears. One big plus with the A20s
is the really long battery life. I found that as long as you don't use them extensively
during the daytime as well, you just don't need to worry about them dying during the night.
When fully charged, the earbuds will apparently last up to 14 hours in sleep mode or 10 hours
in Bluetooth mode at moderate volume levels, and you get up to 80 hours total time with the
additional charge in the case, which is great. You can also see the battery life of each earbud
in the app, which is very useful. I streamed continuous music from Spotify on my phone at 50%
volume during the day and got just over 9 hours from one charge. The battery life for the case
is so long that I don't particularly worry about this though. As long as I remember to charge it
once a week, the earbuds never seem to die on me. Okay, let's talk about the Soundcore app now,
which is great in many ways because it has so many useful features but can be a little bit
frustrating to use at times. The main thing to understand is that there are two main modes:
Bluetooth mode and sleep mode. In Bluetooth mode, you can play any audio you like through your
device, so it's great that you can use other relaxation apps, YouTube, or Spotify, for example.
In Bluetooth mode, you can also browse and select which sleep sounds you want in sleep mode. You can
see that my library here only has three sounds, with a maximum of four that you can currently
send to your earbuds to use in sleep mode. And in the sounds, there's a range of presets and custom
options to build your own. You can combine three of them, such as rain, river, and crickets, and
I found this helps make the short loops on less constant sounds less noticeable. You can also
adjust the volume of all three independently and then use the tune sounds feature, which I really
like. And actually, it makes a huge difference to the way they sound - it's not a subtle change
at all. This feature comes up later in my noise masking tests because I found 'soft' makes the
sounds bassier and therefore better at blocking snoring. Once you've chosen your sounds, you
can transfer them to your earbuds, and then when you go into sleep mode, you can listen to
them and even turn your phone off if you like. There are a couple of other key features to note
here. Firstly, you can stream your own audio and use Smart Switch to change to the sleep sounds
when you fall asleep, but since I don't trust the sleep tracking, I don't bother with that.
You also have Smart Volume, which adjusts the volume automatically as the earbuds' microphone
picks up changes in the bedroom audio, but again, I don't use that because I prefer a more constant
volume. So the app has some great features, but it does take a bit of getting used to, and I
think it's a shame that one of the best features, the equalizer, is hidden behind several button
presses. I experimented with all the sleep sounds and various weird combinations like the cat
drinking, singing bowls, and keyboard. In the end, the one I've used most nights is just the
spaceship. It's kind of like a distant fan sound in a cave, and I just really like the sound.
For me, the best point about the Soundcore Sleep A20 is that they manage to balance being
comfortable enough to use in bed with audio quality that's more than good enough for
bedtime listening, and actually, better than previous sleep headphones I've used. To give you
a better idea, here you can see them compared to the Philips sleep headphones with Kokoon, which
I'll refer to as Philips Kokoon in this video, the Quieton 3.1, which are no longer sold but
were also very small, and the Apple AirPods Pro 2. The AirPods Pro 2 are the only ones with
active noise cancellation and audio, and you can see the difference in size that the extra tech
creates. The Philips Kokoon were previously the most comfortable sleep earbuds I'd tried, so it's
interesting that the shape and interchangeable wings concept is so similar. And here you can
see them with my favorite foam earplugs, which themselves are on the smaller side. To compare the
comfort, I spent a week wearing each option and gave them a score out of 10 when lying on my back
or on my side and front with different pillows. You can see in this table that on my back, I gave
the A20, SleepPhones, Quieton, and foam earplugs a 9 out of 10. On my side with a soft feather
pillow, the A20, Philips Kokoon, SleepPhones, and earplugs all got a 9. On my side or front with
a firmer memory foam pillow, though, the earplugs, SleepPhones, A20, and Philips all got an 8 out
of 10. Overall, the foam earplugs, SleepPhones, and A20 came equal first with 26 out of 30
points, but earplugs obviously can't play music, so that just leaves the SleepPhones matching the
A20 for comfort as a like-for-like comparison. So despite my test, it's important to
remember that comfort is a subjective thing, and you might not have the same experience as
me. I have quite large ears and ear canals, and I find that the A20s fit quite snugly inside,
but even I have to make some small adjustments to the angle of my head sometimes when I lie on my
side, particularly if I'm using a firmer pillow. Compared to bulkier headphones, though, I think
it's very easy to find a comfortable position. But if you have very small or sensitive ears or
a very firm pillow and sleep a lot on your side, it's possible you'll find them less comfortable.
Okay, let's talk about the audio side of the A20s. Personally, I was really surprised by how good
they sound considering they were made specifically for sleep, but I do think it's relative to what
you're used to. For example, if you listen to high-end headphones or a speaker system during the
daytime and then you suddenly switch to the A20, you're going to notice a drop in overall quality.
For example, compared to my Sony WF-1000XM4, the bass isn't as punchy or rounded, and music
lacks a bit of warmth. However, if you're listening to more basic speakers or, you know,
normal headphones, not really high-end headphones, and then you suddenly switch to these at night,
then I think you're going to be pleasantly surprised by how good they sound. And perhaps
most importantly, the audio quality is better than any other sleep headphones I've tested. One
caveat is that I didn't test the discontinued Bose Sleepbuds 2 or the Ozlo, but they definitely sound
better than the SleepPhones, the Philips Kokoon, the Cozyphones, MaxRock, Dubslabs Bedphones,
and all the other budget sleep headbands I've tried. And by better, I mean more bass, richer
sound, clearer mids and highs, and more volume than all of those. I also did some different
tests to see how well they mask external noise without active noise cancellation, as well
as how well they compare to other headphones and foam earplugs. For the first test, I tried
different sleep sounds on the app as well as some brown noise from YouTube to try and mask moderate
snoring. I played a snoring track next to me in bed through the Soundcore Boom 2 Plus Bluetooth
speaker and set the volume so that it peaked at 55 decibels. You can see in this table that with
no audio at all they don't block much snoring, but I was able to completely block the snoring in
various different ways, shown as a 10 out of 10. I had the best results from combining multiple
sounds such as snoring mask 1 and 2 along with brown noise. I could also completely block
it using my own brown noise track on YouTube. For the second test, I turned the volume up to
a level that would be considered severe snoring, peaking at 65 decibels. This time it was
impossible to completely mask the snoring without playing audio at a volume that would be hard to
sleep with and probably bad for your hearing. The closest I got to a tolerable level was combining
the train and brown noise, tuning it to soft and turning the volume up to 80%, but even that was
hard to listen to for long. Unfortunately, the reality is that severe snoring right next to you
in bed is incredibly difficult to fully block out. In my third test, I played some electronic
music in the room next door quite loudly. This was easier to block out than the severe
snoring, and I was able to do so with various different app sound combinations and volume
levels. The brown noise and train tuned soft or double rain both worked well, for example.
In test 4, I played lighter snoring and tested multiple app sounds at a reasonable volume of
50%. Personally, I could listen to any of these at that volume level. Again, I found that combining
sounds such as the airplane and spaceship was the most effective way to block the snoring.
In my final test, I played some songs and a podcasts to see which would mask snoring
peaking at 60 decibels. At a tolerable volume level for me of 70%, none of them completely
blocked it, though a few songs got close such as "Saltwater" by Chicane. Interestingly, all the
songs but neither podcast completely blocked the snoring at maximum volume, but again it was too
loud to listen to. So I think the key takeaways from my audio test are that even without the
active noise cancellation, with the right audio choice, you can use the A20s to block out
light to moderate snoring and music from another room. For severe snoring, you might be able to
take the edge off but probably not block it out completely. And importantly, the bass was better
than other sleep headphones and so it did a better job of blocking out noise than those did.
As for the noise isolation, in case you're wondering, it's actually really good. I also asked
my partner to have a listen when I was playing different songs, and she said she couldn't hear
anything unless I had the volume turned right up, which I don't generally do in bed anyway. One
of my biggest criticisms of the Soundcore Sleep A20 is that the sleep tracking doesn't seem very
accurate. I think probably the biggest issue is that they only use an accelerometer to infer
your sleep stages and there's no heart rate monitor. And for me, they make the classic mistake
of thinking that you're asleep when you're just in bed lying still. For example, on this particular
night, if you compare the data of my Eight Sleep Pod 3 cover with the Soundcore Sleep A20, you can
see the A20 say I fell asleep at 10:54. The Eight Sleep correctly recorded that I was awake
in bed though and didn't fall asleep until 11:37. So if the sleep tracking is unreliable,
it means that the Smart Switch feature and the Audio Timer are going to be a bit hit or miss. So
personally, I don't use the Smart Switch feature, and for the Audio Timer, I either set it to
two hours or for the whole night, and that seems to more than make up for the fact that
it doesn't really know when I'm falling asleep. Other issues with the sleep tracking are that
there's only deep sleep recorded, no REM sleep, and there's no trends over time. But that makes
sense because if you take the earbuds out in the middle of the night, it only records two or three
hours sleep, for example. The only sleep tracking points I did like were the times you roll over
and the percentage spent in one position, but even those aren't particularly useful as I already know
I sleep on my right side and sometimes roll over in the night. So personally, I don't use the sleep
tracking. I wouldn't miss it if it wasn't there, and I'm just glad that you can fully enjoy the
audio without the sleep tracking. And there is part of me that wonders whether it would have
been better to completely ignore sleep tracking and just focus on the comfort and the audio,
which they do so well anyway. So yeah, maybe there would also be some extra space for some more
files in the sleep mode rather than just the four. Okay, let's run through a few other points to
note about the Soundcore Sleep A20. I think the alarm feature is very useful; it's always good to
have an alarm that doesn't wake your partner up, but it obviously relies on you wearing them
all night. I like how you can customize the controls and have a different control on each
earbud with a double or triple tap. However, I personally just have them set to turn the volume
up or down with a double tap because I find the triple tap too fiddly and it doesn't always work.
I really like how well they stay in your ear; mine haven't fallen out once during the month I've used
them. The Bluetooth connection seems very stable, and I've had no problems with it. I also like
how my sleep audio automatically plays when I take them out of the case at bedtime, and it's
great that you can turn your phone off if you want to and just listen to the sounds stored
on the earbuds. They seem relatively robust, and actually even though there's no waterproof
rating, I dropped my right earbud in a glass of water 2 weeks ago and after drying it with a
hair dryer and leaving it for a couple of days, it's been fine. Obviously, I don't know if it
will slowly degrade over time and just conk out one day, but for now, it seems to have
survived. The Find Device is a really useful feature. If they do fall out, you can make each
earbud beep independently to find them. I really like the custom EQ, which is great if you want
to boost the bass of your music, for example. You can also use it to try and mask external
noise that's disturbing you more effectively. As for the price, at the time of filming, they
cost £119.99 in the UK and $149.99 in the US, for example. While more expensive than some
standard headphones, they are more affordable than high-end headphones and also less than the Philips
Kokoon and similar to the SleepPhones Effortless. Okay, before I give you my final verdict, let's
have a quick look through the main pros and cons as I see them. Starting with the pros, they're
comfortable to wear all night in any sleep position. The audio quality is very good for sleep
headphones. They have excellent battery life. You can stream your own audio. The customizable white
noise and nature sounds mask external noise well. They have a stable Bluetooth connection or
an offline sleep mode with your phone off, and there are useful extra features like tap
controls and Find Device. As for the cons, there's no active noise cancellation. Changing the
wings and tips can be fiddly. The sleep tracking is unreliable, mistaking being still with asleep
sometimes. You can only store four audio files at a time in sleep mode and none of your own
audio, and the app is a bit confusing to use. My final verdict then is that the Soundcore Sleep
A20 strike a really good balance between comfort, audio quality, features, and value for money. I
think if comfort in different sleep positions is your main priority when choosing sleep headphones,
then these are as good as it gets at the moment, with the exception of maybe one or two of the
headband styles which are also comfortable to wear in bed. As I said at the beginning though,
for earbuds, it's very rare that I can wear them all night long considering I spend so much time
on my side or my front. Compared to other sleep headphones and many regular headphones, the audio
quality is surprisingly good. While they don't match high-end headphones, they deliver clear
sound and enough bass to enjoy a wide range of music genres, ambient sounds, and podcasts in
bed. As for the lack of active noise cancellation, if that's what it takes for them to
be this small with current technology, I'm okay with that. I found they're capable
of masking a lot of external noise with the customizable sleep sounds or your own audio
anyway, so I don't really miss the ANC in bed, but I can see why some people would prefer to
have ANC. So overall, if you're looking for headphones specifically to use in bed, I think the
Soundcore Sleep A20 are definitely worth a shot. And that's it for the review. I hope you found
it useful. If you did and you'd like to find out more or buy a pair, I'll put a link in the
description below. And please also subscribe to my YouTube channel to keep in touch and see
future videos. Thanks for watching, sleep well.