How We Research
We compare products from their published specs and features; the verdicts below are our independent editorial opinions.
If you want open-ear awareness and all-day comfort while you run, ride or move through traffic, choose Purity Air Open Ear; if you need real active noise cancelling, thumping bass and a charging case that doubles as a phone stand, choose Anker Soundcore P30i.
• Purity Air Open Ear — biggest strength: True open-ear air conduction design with 15mm drivers, so your ears stay unblocked and you keep full awareness of your surroundings.
• Purity Air Open Ear — biggest trade-off: No active noise cancelling, no transparency mode to toggle, and 6 hours of battery life per charge with no charging case mentioned.
• Anker Soundcore P30i — biggest strength: Active noise cancelling that cuts up to 42dB, adaptive ANC, transparency mode, 10mm BassUp drivers and 45 total hours with the case.
• Anker Soundcore P30i — biggest trade-off: In-ear tips physically seal your ear canal, so you lose the natural environmental awareness that open-ear designs give you.
• Who Purity Air Open Ear is for: Runners, cyclists and outdoor athletes who want music and full situational awareness at the same time.
• Who Anker Soundcore P30i is for: Commuters, travellers and desk workers who want to shut the world out and get long playtime.
The Purity Air Open Ear is built around one idea: your ears stay open. Instead of plugging your canal, it uses air conduction to push sound toward your ear while leaving you fully aware of what's around you. That's the whole point of the design, and it's why Purity markets it as a fitness partner. With IPX5 water resistance, a neckband shape and a 2.8-ounce build, it's clearly aimed at movement — running, cycling, gym work, anything where hearing a car, a bike bell or a training partner actually matters.
The spec that stands out to me is the driver size. Purity fits two 15mm dynamic drivers into this thing, which is physically larger than what you typically find in earbuds, and the company claims it delivers more musical detail. You also get dual microphones with environmental noise cancellation to clean up your voice on calls, Bluetooth 5.3, and a 10-metre wireless range. Connectivity is standard: hold the power button for five seconds, pair to "P Air K7", done. Charging happens through a magnetic cable that snaps onto the right speaker.
Where it falls short is battery and isolation. Six hours per charge is the number in the spec sheet, and there's no charging case to top it up on the go. And because it's open-ear by design, it doesn't block noise at all — the noise control field is simply listed as none. If you want to disappear into a podcast on a plane, this isn't the tool. Buy it if you want awareness, comfort over long sessions and a secure fit while you sweat. Skip it if you want silence, deep bass isolation or multi-day battery life.
The Soundcore P30i is the opposite philosophy. These are in-ear earbuds with a rounded shape, silicone tips in S/L with M pre-installed, and a proper active noise cancelling system that Anker rates at up to 42dB of reduction. Better still, the ANC is adaptive — the earbuds detect external sound and automatically pick a cancellation level for your ears. There's also a transparency mode for when you need to hear the world without pulling them out.
Sound is handled by 10mm dynamic drivers boosted with Anker's BassUp technology, which is the brand's bass-forward tuning. Battery is where this pair pulls ahead hard: 10 hours on a single charge and 45 hours total with the case, plus a quick-charge trick that gives you 2 hours of playback from a 10-minute top-up. Bluetooth 5.4 is the newer standard here, and the case itself is a genuinely clever piece of design — a back panel flips open into a phone stand for hands-free viewing on a tray table or desk.
The trade-off is exactly what you'd expect from sealed in-ears. Once those tips are in, your ear canal is blocked, so situational awareness drops unless you switch to transparency mode. There's also a learning curve if you're used to physical buttons: the P30i uses touch controls for media and playback, which some people love and some people accidentally trigger. Buy it if you commute, fly, study or work in noise and want long battery with strong bass. Skip it if you need to keep one ear on the road.
• Best for outdoor safety and awareness → Purity Air Open Ear. Open-ear air conduction keeps traffic, voices and hazards audible.
• Best for noise blocking → Anker Soundcore P30i. Active noise cancelling rated up to 42dB with adaptive adjustment beats an open design outright.
• Best for battery life → Anker Soundcore P30i. 10 hours per charge and 45 hours with the case versus 6 hours and no case for Purity.
• Best for long wear comfort → Purity Air Open Ear. The lightweight neckband sits off your ear canal, which is easier on the ear over hours.
• Best for bass-heavy listening → Anker Soundcore P30i. 10mm drivers plus BassUp tuning are built for punchy low end.
• Best for workouts and sweat → Purity Air Open Ear. IPX5 water resistance and a secure fit are stated for sports use.
• Best for travel and video watching → Anker Soundcore P30i. The 2-in-1 case becomes a phone stand for hands-free viewing.
• Best for newer Bluetooth → Anker Soundcore P30i. Bluetooth 5.4 versus 5.3, with single-earbud use also supported.
In my opinion, the Anker Soundcore P30i is the better buy for most people. It gives you real active noise cancelling, a transparency mode for when you need awareness back, far longer battery life, newer Bluetooth and that clever case-turned-phone-stand — a lot of practical function in one package. I'd only steer you to the Purity Air Open Ear if open-ear awareness is non-negotiable for you. Runners, cyclists and anyone who needs to hear the world while training will genuinely prefer it, and the 15mm drivers plus IPX5 rating make it a sensible sports pick. Everyone else should take the P30i and just flip on transparency mode when they step into traffic.
FAQ
Yes, in my opinion. The open-ear design keeps you aware of cars and other people, the fit is stated as secure, and IPX5 water resistance covers sweat. The P30i is in-ear with ANC, which blocks exactly the sounds a runner may want to hear.
Yes. It has active noise cancelling rated to reduce noise by up to 42dB, with adaptive technology that adjusts the level automatically, plus a transparency mode when you want to hear your surroundings.
The Anker Soundcore P30i. It lists 10 hours per charge and 45 hours total with the charging case, while the Purity Air Open Ear is listed at 6 hours with no charging case.
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