I've started wearing sleep ear plugs at night to muffle noise, and these Soundcore earbuds do not block noise nearly as well as those. Instead, they are best for piping in sounds to help you sleep, whether it's music or something from their library of relaxing sounds. When you use sounds/music, that's what blocks out exterior noise. I used to have Bose Sleep Buds before they stopped charging, and these Anker Soundcore ones are better, mostly because I can stream music into them instead of relying just on built-in calming sound loops. As a side sleeper, I appreciate how well these fit in my ears.You do need the Soundcore app to use these. Usually, once you've connected via Bluetooth to your phone, you don't have to open the app to get the earbuds working -- at least, not in sleep mode. Music mode is trickier since you need to insert the earbuds and start up your music manually -- or else a double-tap on the right bud will simply start at the beginning of your music library. A double tap on the left bud changes the mode from music to sleep or vice versa. If you want to adjust the volume, you must do it from your phone/device or via the app. For people who want to use these only to fall asleep, none of that will likely be a problem; however, for people like me who wake up in the middle of the night and need these to get back asleep, all the fiddling can be counterproductive.You can do a lot of adjustments via the app, and it mostly remembers those settings. For instance, the duration of the playback can be determined. If I need more time, I just double-tap the right ear to resume.I love the compact charging case that comes with these. The connections to the earbuds are magnetic, so it's easy to insert them correctly into charging position. On a single charge, the earbuds last about 14 hours, and the case gives them at least two more full charges.These Soundcore earbuds are good, but they could be better. I wish they blocked more noise when not in use, and I wish they remembered the last music playback. Other than that, these are pretty good. I use them in conjuction with regular earplugs -- I start out with truly noise-blocking earplugs and switch to these if I wake up in the middle of the night and can't get back to sleep.-- Debbie Lee Wesselmann