Chinese smartphone maker Oppo recently launched its flagship true wireless in-ear headphones (TWH) Enco X. It is one of the many TWH to enter this ever saturated market.
SPECS
PRICE: $259 (available in Lazada and Shopee)
DRIVERS: 11mm dynamic driver, 6mm balanced membrane driver
CONNECTIVITY: Bluetooth 5.2
WEIGHT: 4.8g (earbud), 42.5g (charging case)
To differentiate itself with the rest, Oppo has teamed up with Danish audio brand Dynaudio to help tune the audio qualities of the Enco X. It is also powered by Oppo’s own Dynamic Balance Enhanced Engine 3.0 sound system consisting of a front magnetic balanced membrane driver for high frequencies and a triple-layer composite dynamic driver in the back for mid to low frequencies.
Equipped with a dual-core digital Bluetooth noise cancellation chip and dual microphone design, the Enco X offers active noise cancellation (ANC) in four settings – maximum, standard, transparency mode and off.
Also, it supports LHDC (Low-latency, high-definition audio codec) for high-fidelity audio wireless transmission.
DESIGN
The Enco X comes in glossy white and black (version reviewed). On first look, the Enco X looks very much like the Apple AirPods Pro from the charging case to the earbuds. But there are some differences.
Its charging case, which supports wireless charging, is a bit more curvy and has a pairing button on one side.
The earbuds have a more stoic stem that is touch sensitive and comes with silicone ear tips of three different sizes. Once you found the right ear tip, the Enco X is super comfortable. In fact, it is so lightweight that you probably forgot you are wearing them.
Not to mention, the black Enco X looks really cool and sleek. A colour I wish Apple have for the AirPods Pro.
FOR
+ Good sound quality
+ Solid ANC performance
+ Comfortable to wear
+ Great value for money
AGAINST
– Battery life can be better
PERFORMANCE
For this review, I paired the Enco X with Oppo’s latest Find X3 Pro smartphone. Pairing with such Oppo smartphones running on ColorOS 7.0 and above is a breeze.
Just open the charging case, a window will appear on the smartphone, tap on it and the pairing is done.
You can easily customise the touch gestures of each earbud in the Bluetooth settings of an Oppo smartphone. For example, you can choose double-tap to skip to next track on the right earbud or head to previous track on the left earbud.
It also has an earbuds fit test to analyse how well the earbuds sit in your ear canals. It will recommend changing your ear tips size if needed.
If you are using an Android smartphone, you can use the HeyMelody app to change settings like in an Oppo smartphone. But you will not get the seamless pairing. You have to press the side button of the charging case and wait for Enco X to show up on the Bluetooth menu of your smartphone for pairing.
And if you are using iPhone, you can only use whatever default settings the Enco X comes with.
In terms of audio quality, I find the Enco X to have a pretty balanced but detailed soundscape. The bass packs some punch but not too overpowering. Vocals and mids are clear and distinct, while the highs are sharp and not too piercing. It works well with most genre of music.
For ANC performance, I think the Enco X is as good as the AirPods Pro when set at maximum. For instance, I can’t hear my wife yelling me to lay the dinner table when I was typing this review with the earbuds’ ANC enabled.
But the transparency mode – which lets in some noise in situations when you need to hear the surroundings – is not as good and natural as the AirPods Pro. It seems to only let in a little environment sound.
BATTERY LIFE
Perhaps, the only downer about the Enco X is its average battery life. With ANC enabled and volume at 75 per cent, it lasted slightly less than 4 hours of music playback in my tests. Not bad but average at best. Some of its competitors can go up to 6 hours or more.
VERDICT
At only $259, the Oppo Enco X offers great value for money with its good sound quality, great ANC and high comfort level.
RATING
FEATURES: 8/10
DESIGN: 8/10
PERFORMANCE: 8/10
BATTERY LIFE: 7/10
VALUE FOR MONEY: 8.5/10
OVERALL: 8/10
