We've seen a lot of true wireless earbuds in 2020, everything from the AirPods to the AirPods Pro, and every product that tried to repeat Apple's success in the segment. But for 2021, Oppo seems to have cooked up a new recipe. So, how does it taste? Let's find out!
These are the Oppo Enco X True Wireless Noise Cancelling Earphones. The design isn't radical, and the earbuds look fairly well crafted. There're inter-changeable silicone ear tips on offer in small, medium and large sizes, underneath which lie the coaxial dual drivers. The earbuds have touch-sensitive stalks and respond to multiple inputs. There's also a sensor for in-ear detection, so playback is paused when you take off an earbud, and resumed when you pop it back in your ear.
The buds are housed in a charging case that's finished in gloss, and features an oval design, with a brushed metal ring etched with the Oppo logo. On the side there's a button for pairing the earbuds, on the bottom there's a USB Type-C charging port and the case also comes equipped with Qi-compatible wireless charging.
The active noise cancellation on these earbuds works as well as you'd expect--for office, cafe and outdoor locations, there's strong noise cancellation, and audio is well isolated. Whether it's music playback or podcasts, even at 60% volume, there's barely anything that gets in, save for sudden, high-frequency noises like a car horn or a door being slammed. There're four modes on offer: noise cancellation off, noise cancellation, transparency and max noise cancellation, with the last two being enabled by default. You can switch through them by simply long pressing on either earbud, and a sound will confirm that the mode has been changed. If you want to access the other modes, you'll either have to use an Oppo phone, or download the Hey Melody Android app. You can also customise the double-tap feature, that's set to play the next track by default on both buds, and the triple-tap feature, that's disabled by default, until you set it up. You can also long touch and hold the earbud for more than 3 seconds to switch between connected devices, but that function has to be setup via the partner app first.
The touch controls on the Enco X earbuds work really well, and apart from being able to switch between noise cancellation modes, they can also be set to change tracks, play or pause music and summon voice assistants. Another nifty trick is volume control—just slide your finger up and down on either stalk to increase or decrease your media volume.
Now I rarely used the earbuds with noise cancellation completely off, because the transparency mode is fairly good here. It lets in voices and irregular noises, but still provides enough audio isolation. Max noise cancellation is good for when you're in a crowded place like a noisy office floor or train station, but if you don't like the blocked-out effect that comes with it, the regular noise cancellation mode should serve you well.
Sound quality on the Enco X earbuds is quite good--bass is punchy enough, without being over-powering. Lyrics come through clearly, as do instruments, and the earbuds do get really loud at maximum volume. 75% volume with ANC on is more than enough to isolate your media playback, even in moderately loud environments. There's support for AAC, SBC and LHDC codecs, that ensure clear transmission. These earbuds also get the latest Bluetooth 5.2 and support for Bluetooth Low Latency, which means better synchronicity between audio and video.
At this point, it's worth mentioning that the Enco X have been created with the help of Danish hi-fi audio brand Dynaudio, that brings its tuning expertise, and that's why these earbuds sound great in spite of how much easier they are on the pocket compared to other products. In fact, these earbuds can even tell if they're sitting properly in your ears--just open the app and tap on Earbud fit test.
On the battery front, there's a 44 mAh unit in the buds, and the charging case holds 535 mAh. With max ANC on, the Enco X will last around 3-4 hours, and the case will offer somewhere between 4 and 5 charges from 0% to full. There's IP54 water and dust resistance too, so the Enco X can handle workouts without trouble.
Now all in all, the Enco X earbuds offer a great package--build quality is strong, audio performance is nearly fault-less, and the pricing is really smart, at ₹9,990. In an ever-expanding sea of options for true wireless earbuds, these are a great choice.
