Soundcore P31i vs P30i: The P31i Is a Huge Upgrade

The Pros and Cons

Is the Soundcore P31i more comfortable than the P30i?

It is close on comfort, but I found the P31i slightly lighter in my ear. Its body is slimmer and a little more compact where it rests in the ear, and I think its ear tips are slightly higher quality.

The P31i includes four ear-tip sizes from extra small to large, while the P30i has small, medium and large. Its deeper driver nozzle also gave me a more secure fit. Fit is different for everyone, but both should work for most exercise if stem-style earbuds generally work for you.

The bigger difference for me was occlusion. Heavy breathing or running impact reverberated into my ear canals less with the P31i. The P30i is still usable, but the P31i is the obvious pick here.

What changes with the P31i case, battery and controls?

With noise cancelling on, the P31i is advertised for 8 hours in the buds and 40 hours total with the case. The P30i is advertised for 7 hours and 30 hours total. Put the P31i in its case for 10 minutes and it gives 3.5 hours of playback, compared with 2 hours for the P30i.

Neither case charges wirelessly, which is fair at this price. The P30i case is more compact, although both cases have equal thickness and are pocketable. The P31i has a lanyard attachment point, and its case light turns on as soon as I open the lid.

Controls are the same. Both use responsive touch controls with single, double and triple taps plus a long hold, and I could customize left and right functions with volume and voice-assistant options. Neither lets me put ambient sound control on a single tap. Both also save separate controls for one-earbud use, while the loud tap feedback can be disabled in the app.

Does the P31i have better connectivity and call quality?

The P31i has Bluetooth 6.0 and LDAC. Both earbuds support multipoint connection with takeover, so playback can switch between devices without pausing the first one. The switch was almost instant on the P31i, while the P30i took about 4 seconds for me.

The P30i does have one useful advantage: proper single-bud mono mode. With the right bud in its case, using the left P30i plays both left and right channels through that earbud. The P31i left bud plays only the left channel in that situation. Both have a low-latency gaming mode, although latency will differ by device.

Call quality is very close. Both gave me very decent results in quiet, crowd-noise and simulated windy-city conditions. I thought the P31i blocked background noise slightly better, but its mic pickup was a little louder on the P30i.

What extra app features does the P31i get?

Both models have ANC and transparency controls, an eight-band EQ, control customization, an ear-tip fit test, prompt-tone toggles, automatic power-off settings and a find-my-device feature that plays a tone through the earbuds. Neither has wearing detection, although brands such as CMF and Tozo offer it at this price.

The P31i adds adaptive ANC, which adjusts its strength based on ear-canal shape and fit. It also gets spatial audio with three modes, and I found it far better than the P30i's 3D surround sound. The P31i also has a hearing preference test that creates an EQ, a HearID sound test and safe-volume controls.

How much better are P31i noise cancelling and transparency?

The P31i has stronger noise cancelling across low, middle and high frequencies. I would put it at roughly 15% stronger, so it is noticeable rather than dramatic. I left mine at its strongest setting and kept real-time adaptive mode enabled.

Both earbuds have automatic wind reduction, which turns ANC off when the microphones detect wind. Once the wind stops, ANC returned after about 10 seconds on the P31i and around 15 seconds on the P30i. Wind pickup was also much louder on the P30i if I turned wind reduction off.

Transparency is another clear P31i win. It had less blocked-ear effect, clearer distant sounds and more natural voices. Both have a similar amount of white-noise hiss in a completely quiet place, but the P30i picked up more wind in transparency mode. The P31i also offers a vocal mode, which to my ears mostly boosts everything.

Does the P31i sound better than the P30i?

Both earbuds measured above 118 dB in my max-volume test. I found at least 114 dB completely fine, including for louder listening or a lower-mastered track.

The P30i's stock tuning is messy. Its bass is too over the top, bloated and boomy, and it drowns out the mids and highs. I could improve it with the eight-band EQ, but it was still hard to make the bass sound punchy. For the price, it is okay sound rather than amazing.

The P31i is much better. It is still bass boosted, but the bass reaches deep with more punch and without becoming as boomy or messy. Vocals are easier to hear and the treble is crisper. A small mid and treble lift in EQ added more vibrance and detail for me. It is not amazing sound, but it is pretty good for the price.

How does the P31i compare with CMF and Tozo alternatives?

The Tozo NC20 is very close to the P31i on overall quality and features, but its sound is the standout. It is the best sound I have heard at this price, richer and more engaging than the P31i. It also has wearing detection. Its major flaw is poor call quality in windy conditions, so if that does not matter to you, it may be worth choosing over the P31i.

The CMF Buds Pro 2 may be cheaper or slightly more expensive depending on where you live. They have wearing detection, a case dial for extra controls, slightly better call quality and, to my ears, slightly better sound with crisper treble. If their price is close to the P31i, I would recommend the CMF Buds Pro 2.

I put the CMF Buds 2A sound on par with the P31i, but I would still choose the P31i because it has slightly stronger noise cancelling and a clearer transparency mode.