soundcore Sleep A20 by Anker Sleep Earbuds

I had a pair of Bose Sleepbuds (MKII) for 2 years and loved them for getting a good night sleep, and not getting disturbed by noise. When Bose discontinued them, and my first pair of Sleepbuds died (battery issues), I was gutted as I assumed I wouldn't be able to find a decent replacement.Then I discovered these, and I absolutely love them. They are WAY better than the Bose Sleepbuds in my opinion for an number of reasons:1. They will work as a normal blue tooth pair of earbuds, and they actually sound great! I often use them for workouts and the likes.2. The battery life is loads better than the Bose sleep buds for overnight use in sleep mode.3. The sleep sounds are much more customisable and you can layer different sounds on top of each other to create a custom sleep sound. The flexibility is fantastic.4. They cost less than half the price of what the Bose Sleepbuds were, but are a lot more feature rich.5. The carry/charging case isn't unnecessarily huge like the Bose Sleepbuds. It's also nice and light. In addition, the battery life of the case is also much better than the Bose and I can generally get 5-6 nights out of a single case charge before having to recharge the case. (That's with wearing the buds all night long each night)6. The way the buds go back into the charger case is a better design than the Bose, and I've never had the buds fail to make proper contact with the case (a issue I had regularly with the Bose).7. The passive noise cancellation (without masking) is much better than the Bose and even with no masking, they do a great job of blocking out the noise.8. They are more comfortable to wear at night than the Bose. I did get use to the Bose, but these, I forget are even in my ears, and I'm a side sleeper!The ONLY one negative I can report is the "wing" retention system just isn't quite as good as the Bose sleep buds, and sometimes they feel a little loose despite having the largest fitments installed. However I've never had one fall out overnight, it's more they sometimes unseat themselves and I need to reposition them for a better seal against my ear canal. However this is likely a product of my ear shape and the product design, and with all the other positives, I can definitely live with this and have found a position that minimises this problem.Apart from that one minor point, these are absolutely perfect. I love them and take them everywhere with me when I travel.If you're a post-Bose Sleepbud user like myself, I can highly recommend these as a replacement, or more to the point, an upgrade. Full marks to Anker for their engineering on these. They have done a stellar job!

I previously had Bose Sleepbuds 2 which failed and had to be returned for replacement. As I now cannot sleep without white noise to mask external sounds (not block, these are not ANC, but instead they mask sounds by playing white noise to stop your brain from being able focus on other noises) I had to find something to use whilst I waited for my replacement sleepbuds.I took the gamble with these at an offer price of £99 (the Bose sleepbuds are nearly 3x the price). I wasn’t expecting to be blown away by the quality or features, but couldn’t have been more wrong. The A20s are pretty much better than the Bose in almost every single way.The comfort is great. They are ever so slightly bigger than the Bose, but only by a tiny amount and still more than comfortable for side sleeping.Battery life is solid. I get 6-7 hours sleep and use in sleep mode only. In the morning I have at least 50% battery, so even when the battery starts to degrade, I’m still going to be able to get a full night sleep with them. Using in Bluetooth mode might not offer the same amount of battery life, but they offer an auto switch over mode so you can start in Bluetooth mode and then switch to sleep mode after a set amount of time or when they sense you’ve fallen to sleep.The Bluetooth mode is a standout feature compared to the Bose. You can listen to music, podcasts or anything you’d use normal earbuds for, with the added benefit of then having a full sleepbud feature for sleep time. The sound for music and media is not as rounded as a specific earbud, but that’s not what these are to be used for. It’s an added feature that adds versatility and value as to how you can use them.The app is fantastic and has sleep tracking features and reports, alarms and also a whole suite of noise masking sounds. The customisable sounds are also a massive selling point over the Bose sleepbuds. Bose give you their sounds and nothing can be tailored, so you’d better be happy with what you get with the Bose. The A20s allow you to layer up to three sounds, with different volume levels to create a sound that is perfectly customised to your own needs and preferences. I’ve used a couple of different rain sounds layered over a brown noise track that gives a complicated enough sound so my brain can’t focus son external sounds. I find that 40% volume is perfect for falling asleep to, anything else is much too loud, so reviews saying these aren’t loud enough I find very confusing as can’t see how you’d want them very loud.I eventually got the replacement sleepbuds back from Bose, but they have remained sealed in the box as I now can’t go back to them having found these to be a much more superior product in every way. If you’ve had sleepbuds that have failed and, like me, you can’t live without them, the A20s are a solid replacement at a much better price point. Anker have done an amazing job with these and have beaten the market leader at their own game.