Gadgets: Open-ear buds

Open-ear true wireless earbuds have made quite an impression since their recent arrival—and I'm officially a fan. For the latest pair I received for testing, the OpenRock S2 open-ear air conduction sport earbuds, I brought in a friend who had never tried open-ear buds before. Here are some of his thoughts.

These earbuds could be a welcome addition -- or complement -- to your collection of music/talk devices. As the name implies, they are both truly wireless, sync via Bluetooth 6.0, and feature an open-ear style.

Open ear means what it says: You will clearly hear both what you've selected to play and the sounds around you. Users new to this style will soon learn that neither interferes with the other -- the sound keeps playing as traffic, dogs, etc. pass by.

They are feather-light (7 grams), an essential feature for the sports angle. Once correctly installed, they use a hook clip that slides effortlessly over and then behind your ear. The clip keeps the buds in place and centers the speakers inside your ear for the best reception.

Enhancing the sports aspect are design features intended for the active user: They're made of irritant-free silicone, triple sweat-proof and IPX5-rated waterproof. The 4-microphone has AI noise cancellation. During testing, multiple conversations in gusty winds were clear with no drops on both ends.

Once you're comfortable with the basics, or before, download the OpenRock app. There, you'll find an extensive menu to customize your experience. There are four basic modes: boom, rock, relax and custom. There's more: you can select spatial sound, balance, multi-point connection (two devices) and even find my buds through the app.

The sound is crisp, boosted at the bottom by BassDirect chambers, which also keep out perspiration and moisture. Once properly fit and adjusted, the sound was as good as many more expensive products.

If you want, you can choose the over-time reminder, which will prompt you to "Take a Rest."

Through the pebble-style storage/charging case, users can charge the earbuds for 8 hours of use on a single charge, and up to 32 additional hours from the fully charged case. Fast charging (5 minutes) earns you an hour of usage to finish your workout.

https://www.openrock.com/products/openrock-s2-open-ear-air-conduction-sport-earbuds $69.99 available in moonlight white and obsidian black

The Soundcore Sleep A30 earbuds are so good, they did exactly what they were designed to do — they put me to sleep.

Earbuds designed for sleeping can have the best sound in the world with endless features, but if they aren't comfortable, they won't work. With the A30, the functionality is outstanding. But what sold me right out of the box, before they were even turned on, was the fit with their small form factor. As a side sleeper (and a bad one), I've never found earbuds that fit perfectly while I'm trying to fall asleep. That is, until I tried these.

True to their description, they have an ultra-comfortable ergonomic design and offer users all-night peace from noisy environments. With their slim profile, they do not protrude outside of your ear and are of no distraction on either side. For my whole week of testing, they stayed in place and were in my ears when the sun rose.

The sound and built-in technology of the A30s are a perfect match for comfort. Leading the way is active noise cancellation. If ANC was ever necessary, it's when you want to sleep, and the A30s have Smart ANC.

Now, outside noise, such as traffic, a neighbor's car door, a dishwasher, and even your spouse snoring right next to you, is almost entirely blocked out. The Smart ANC will block out up to 30dB of external noise according to Soundcore and will also adjust masking audio in real-time. A double-tap on the right earbuds turns the Smart ANC on or off.

The A30's Adaptive Snore Masking technology detects snoring and its accompanying sawing wood sounds by analyzing ambient noise in real time. They then produce noise-masking audio to help block out distractions. They are designed to recognize over 500 snoring patterns through AI algorithms.

The audio library within the Soundcore app for the C30 has category choices of brainwave audio, snore masking and white noise.

These have features that go far beyond what typical earbuds do, especially while trying to fall asleep. But the feature I loved was the ability to shut the audio off when the A30s detected I had fallen asleep. Settings give you the choice of shutting the auto off or switching to local audio; I chose white noise.

Apps are commonplace for audio accessories, but they're not often used. In this case, with the A30s and their companion app, it's a must-have and easy to navigate. The audio library offers several options for white noise and other sounds, so you'll want to choose what works best for you.

The app (Android and iOS) features sleep position, duration tracking and sleep monitoring, along with notifications and other features to help you get a restful night of sleep.

One charge of the A30s will yield 9 hours of playback with ANC on, and up to 45 hours with the storage/charging case. Another interesting feature I've found helpful is that if the earbuds are taken out in your sleep or fall out and get mixed up in the sheets, fall on the floor, etc., the Sleep A30s uses the Find My Earbud feature by playing an audible alert through the Soundcore app.

With the fitting being critical, you get three pairs of memory foam ear tips, four pairs of silicone ear tips, and three pairs of ear wings to ensure the right fit for sleeping.

https://www.soundcore.com/products/d1301-sleep-a30-smart-anc-earbuds-for-sleeping $229.99, available in moonlit white or mist green