Software and Performance
As always these days the software for the soundcore Sleep A10s plays a big role in their overall performance so let’s check that out before getting into their performance. They use the soundcore app which is the same software that other soundcore products like the Bluetooth speakers I took a look at last year and their Space lineup as well. Once you have the app installed and you are signed in which uses the same login information across all Anker apps btw. It will check for firmware updates which the Sleep A10s did have. The update description was a little better here with at least one thing that lets you know what is going on, but the “we fixed some bugs” is still there as well which I always hate. Right after the firmware update the software will upload its music to the earbuds so you will need to wait for that as well before getting started.
Below is what the landing page for the Sleep A10s looks like. You have the model name up top then a main selector between sleep and music modes. Below that is a picture of the earbuds which also has the battery status of both. Being the music page you can change the built-in music, get to the equalizer, and controls. Then down at the bottom, there are other pages as well. The music page has a long list of preloaded files split up between focus, rest, and sleep. They are all white noise or similar and there are a lot of weird noises in there as you can see like hugging sounds, clean the jacket with a brush, and so on. Basically a bunch of ASMR noises.
For the equalizer when you select that option you can pick from a list of default soundcore signature profiles or make your own custom profile. The soundcore profiles opens up a page with 18 different profiles and then up at the top the option to add a bass kick to any of them.
The controls page is simple because the Sleep A10s just have a basic double-tap button in each ear, not full touch controls. You can turn the double taps on or off and pick what each side does. By default, the left one will switch modes and the right one is play and pause but you can change them to handle volume, next, and previous as well.
The sleep mode page is similar to the music mode only you don’t have the equalizer button and they have added a few things. The built-in music for the sleep mode is different for one. You can also set the playback duration and the music volume here. That is the only place you can change that volume setting as well. Below that, you have smart volume control that adjusts your volume after it detects you sleeping according to the outside noise level. But with the Sleep A10’s not having a microphone I’m curious if that means the app is using your phone's microphone to detect the outside noise, Anker doesn’t say much about this on the product website so I’m not really sure. The sleep page also has the controls button the EQ button has been changed to open your sleep data. You can get to the sleep data from the music page as well but it is down at the bottom.
This is the sleep data page and similar to how a smartwatch tracks your sleep this will show you how long it thinks you slept each day. That includes showing deep and light sleep modes and you waking up. They also graph out and compare how long it takes you to go to sleep against others as well.
The settings gear up in the top corner on most pages opens up a page where you can see the current firmware. This page has links to the quick start guide and the user manual as well. But the real gem is the add alarm option which lets you add alarms to wake you up. Being Bluetooth earbuds you can use your phone's alarms but where this setting is different is if the earbuds disconnect from your phone this alarm will still go off because it is uploaded to the earbuds the same way the night music and sounds are.
Moving on to the experience and performance of the soundcore Sleep A10s there are a few aspects we need to check out. Comfort is the biggest one, audio performance, battery life, wireless range and performance, charging and the case, and another big one is how well the unique sleep audio works. Comfort was the biggest concern for me because even some of the most comfortable earbuds are only comfortable for me for 3-4 hours at most and sleeping overnight I would need to have them in longer than that as a side sleeper, I would also be pushing on them often as well. Thankfully soundcore’s design was extremely small so the pressure wasn’t a concern for me. The A10s were small enough to fit inside my ears so any pressure on them was the same pressure on my ears themselves. Having multiple eartip options was helpful as well. For my wife, the smallest size was best and the recommended size felt good on my initial fit but I decided to go down a size after the first night of using them. Once dialed in on the size the Sleep A10s fit my ears well and wouldn’t fall out. The double-layer eartips also did a surprisingly good job cutting out noise, even with no music on at one point my wife was talking to me from the other room and I had no idea. Long-term comfort was still a bit of a concern, not from the shape however, just from heat which can be an issue for me even without the earbuds but sealing up my ear just added to the trouble with sweat and earwax and gave me some concerns that long term use could give me ear infections if I wasn’t careful as well. This might not be a concern for some people, but if you get ear infections often or if your ears sweat a lot it can be a concern.
For audio performance, the compact size is going to play an overall role in audio performance but when streaming music from my phone I was happy with the performance. Larger and more expensive earbuds will have more bass and more range but the A10s don’t sound bad. Having the extra flexibility with the equalizer profiles helped but the A10s aren’t designed for high-end audio so don’t go in expecting it.
So the listed battery life is 10 hours in sleep mode, 6 hours for music, or 8 hours in combined mode. For me, I was hoping to be able to utilize the combined mode to listen to some music then fall asleep and have it play white noise through the night. Diving into the details on the soundcore website their expected life for the combined mode is a half hour of music and then 7.5 hours of sleep which is pushing the limit, especially for anyone who is planning on getting 8 hours of sleep. In that situation, you have to go with sleep mode only. You also need to make sure they are completely topped off at all times, thankfully the case does that. Volume levels play a role in those times and for me, I did kill my pair a few times in the 8-hour range even when just running in sleep mode. Using the A10s for a long night's sleep and also getting some music in beforehand wasn’t possible. More importantly though with long nights pushing to the edge of what I could get with sleep mode only, the alarm mode was concerning. The alarm is only good if you can trust that it will always work, but if your battery dies you no longer have an alarm. The extra battery life from the case was nice and keeping it charged wasn’t a problem with it having a Type-C connection. As far as charging speed when I did check it with the meter it charged at 2 watts which isn’t fast but is normal for earbuds.
Another big concern for me was how well the Bluetooth would perform. With standard earbuds or if you are using the A10s outside of sleeping it isn’t going to be an issue. But once you start laying on your side and the wireless has to go through your head/ear/pillow the range is going to get short quick and that did happen with the A10s. I was hoping I could connect to our Nvidia ShieldTV to listen to what was on TV and that did work. But once on my side things were hit and miss. The only setup that worked was thankfully how I often keep my phone anyhow which is up next to me or under my pillow, in short keeping the pillow lower than your head to help keep the signal going through your pillow is your best bet but is going to be something you fight with. This is why the Sleep A10s have the built-in sleep white noise, to eliminate that as an issue and that did work well. I did still run into issues with one earbud disconnecting randomly a few nights which is a surprisingly big pain in the butt. You have to get back on your phone and get them back into the case and start over essentially.
So how did the sleep-specific features work out? I liked the sleep mode white noise which eliminated the random noises around the house, storm noise, and with my wife working third shift and our sleep schedules being all over the place it was nice for times when she was up making noise.
