IFA 2026: Soundcore Sleep Earbuds 4 Pro track your body while you sleep

Sleep earbuds are getting more ambitious. Soundcore’s new Sleep Earbuds 4 Pro do not just try to block snoring and other night-time noise. They put a heart-rate sensor inside your ear and a small touchscreen on the charging case.

Unveiled at IFA 2026, the earbuds combine active noise cancellation, adaptive sound masking and overnight health tracking in a design made for side sleepers. They will cost $349.99 in the US and £299.99 in the UK when they arrive in November.

A heart-rate sensor inside your ear

A 100 Hz optical PPG sensor records pulse data throughout the night. Soundcore says it can use this to track heart rate, changes in HRV, sleep stages, sleep quality and breathing-related patterns.

That data is turned into a morning report containing a Sleep Score, sleep-stage information and something Soundcore calls Body Battery. None of this makes the earbuds a medical device, of course, and the accuracy will need proper testing. Even so, it removes the need to wear a smartwatch or smart ring simply to collect overnight data.

Soundcore is also experimenting with a feature called BioSync. It checks the wearer’s relaxation level roughly every five minutes and can adjust the tempo, soundscape and binaural beats playing through the earbuds.

The idea is that the audio responds to what your body is doing instead of playing the same track all night. It sounds interesting, although it is also the sort of feature that could be genuinely useful or something you barely notice.

The charging case does much more than charge

The SleepHub case has its own AMOLED touchscreen, processor and local storage. You can change modes, adjust the volume, select stored sounds, set an alarm and view the morning sleep report without reaching for your phone.

Audio can also be stored locally, allowing the earbuds to play soundscapes without an internet connection. That could make them easier to travel with and helps keep the phone out of the bedtime routine.

Noise reduction combines passive isolation, active noise cancellation and adaptive snore masking. When the sound of snoring changes, the system can adjust the frequency, volume and rhythm of the masking audio rather than continuing with one fixed sound.

Each earbud weighs around three grams, while the area touching the ear is 20% smaller than on the Sleep A30. That matters more than it might sound. With sleep earbuds, comfort can be more important than almost anything listed on the specification sheet, particularly if you sleep on your side.

Enough battery for a full night

Soundcore quotes eight hours of Bluetooth streaming with ANC enabled, rising to 11 hours with ANC switched off. Local audio playback extends that to 9.5 hours with ANC or as much as 14.5 hours without it. The case supports wireless charging, which should at least make topping it up less of a nuisance.

There is also a regular Sleep Earbuds 4 model arriving in October for $229.99 or £199.99. It drops the in-ear PPG sensor, detailed physiological sleep tracking and touchscreen case, but keeps the sleep-focused fit, noise reduction and adaptive snore masking.

Interestingly, the cheaper model has a couple of features the Pro does not. Its case can monitor bedroom noise and recognise selected sounds such as a baby crying or a fire alarm, lowering the masking audio when something important is detected.

At $349.99, the Sleep Earbuds 4 Pro are firmly at the expensive end of this category. They cost considerably more than SomniPods 3 and sit above the QuietOn 4 noise-cancelling earbuds I reviewed earlier this year.

The touchscreen case and in-ear health sensor make them one of the more complete sleep-earbud packages on paper. The real question is whether the tracking and adaptive audio improve sleep enough to justify paying $120 more than the regular model.