Anker is revamping its sleep-focused true wireless earbuds with new ones Soundcore Sleep A20 model. It's announcing the earbuds today to coincide with what appears to be World Sleep Day but you won't be able to purchase a pair of the earbuds until the Kickstarter launches on April 16. Or, if you prefer to purchase it through more traditional means, it will be available via Amazon from May 20th. It will eventually retail for $149.99, but Kickstarter is pricing it at $89.99 for early birds.
As with previous A10 earbuds, there's no active noise cancellation here. Instead, the earbuds are equipped with what Anker calls “double-sealing eartips” that it claims can block three times as much noise as typical silicone eartips. The earbuds are also designed to play white noise from the “built-in sound library” in an effort to block out further external distractions. Anker claims that its compact design means it's comfortable even if you're someone who likes to sleep on its side.
Battery life is the A20's most noticeable improvement over its predecessor, with the earbuds now offering up to 14 rather than 10 hours of white noise playback in 'sleep mode', and up to 80 hours in total with their charging case. If you like to fall asleep to the sound of music streamed from your phone, battery life from the earbuds will drop to 10 hours, although this is still an improvement over the six hours offered by the A10s.
Other improvements to the first-generation sleep earbuds include a built-in alarm designed to wake you up without disturbing anyone sleeping next to you, and support for “automatic sleep monitoring through sleep position tracking.” And if you lose them, you can use the accompanying app to trigger an alert on your earbuds to help you get them out of your bed.
Finally, it's a reasonable set of upgrades for Anker's earbuds, launching on the heels of its main competitor Bose choosing to discontinue its rival Sleepbuds II earbuds. Three former Bose employees are now working on their own with Ozlo Sleepbuds, which are produced according to their requirements. Indiegogo page Ahead of the expected April shipping date.