My coworkers' snoring almost ruined every press trip, until I packed these tiny earbuds

There are a lot of challenges that come with being a tech journalist, but nobody warned me about one of the biggest occupational hazards of covering audio tradeshows: my coworkers. Now, I love the people I travel with, but over the past few years of traveling for press trips, launch events, and trade shows, I discovered that a couple of them (you know who you are) snore like idling freight trains. When you’re sharing a hotel room and have to be sharp for a 7 AM briefing, that’s not exactly ideal. I’ve definitely spent a handful of nights staring at the ceiling, burying my head in pillows, and downing liters of coffee to be functional the next day.

The thing that finally fixed it was the Soundcore Sleep A30, a pair of true wireless earbuds designed specifically for sleeping. Unlike regular earbuds, which can jam into your ear the moment your head hits a pillow because they stick out, the A30s are small and flat enough that I can sleep on my side without noticing them. That matters more than any spec sheet: sleep earbuds only work if they are comfortable, and these can easily last the night of rolling in the sheets.

But what really sets the A30 apart from other sleep buds or earplugs I’ve tried is its active noise cancellation (ANC). These are one of the few sleep earbuds with ANC, which is a little surprising, considering how important silence is for getting a good night’s sleep. Snoring is exactly the kind of low, droning rumble that foam earplugs struggle with, and it’s exactly what ANC handles best. Pair that with the A30’s snore masking feature, which plays adaptive white noise to cover whatever sounds do sneak through, and I can barely hear my roommate’s nightly log-sawing as I actually drift off. I usually layer in some rain or fire-cracking sounds from the Soundcore app, and it does the trick.

I only have two real complaints with the A30: the seven-hour battery life, which cut it close on longer nights, and the price. I should have waited to buy because both of those have since been addressed. Soundcore now only sells the Sleep A30 Special — an otherwise identical version with longer battery life and a $30 lower price of only $199.99 at Manufacturer site. Still not cheap, but I’d happily pay it again, because the alternative is showing up to a show floor running on four hours of broken sleep and caffeine.

If your travel schedule involves shared rooms, thin hotel walls, or a particularly loud colleague or friend you’re too polite to name and shame, these have earned a permanent spot in my carry-on. My coworkers may still snore; I can just ignore it now.