Entry-level true wireless earphones are improving at a meteoric rate. Just a few years ago, no one could have imagined a sub 2K earphone sporting features such as touch control, low latency gaming mode and day-long battery life. These features are usually found in much more premium TWS earbuds and entry-levels are usually plagued by poor sound quality and wireless connectivity. Times are really changing. Today we are reviewing one of the latest entrants in the sub 2K price segment of real wireless earphones – Oppo Enco Buds. The Enco Buds are the successor to the well-chosen Oppo Enco W11 and have some improvements over its predecessors such as longer battery life, latest Bluetooth 5.2 connectivity, HeyMelody app support and 80ms less latency game mode. These earbuds compete with the likes of Realme Buds Q2 Neo and Noise Air Buds. See how they rent our reviews.

Construction and comfort

With a pill-shaped charging case, the Oppo Enco Buds have a pretty basic look. There is nothing really different about design. The top of the charging case has a glossy texture with the Oppo logo smeared on it. The buds only come in white, so there is no variation in this price range like some of your buds.

The rectangular charging case has a small footprint but still comes out a bit out of the pocket. The front has an LED battery indicator and the rear has a Type-C charging port. The case is very difficult to open with one hand and the grip of the case does not seem very tight. After opening the case, there are convenient right and left pointers to let you know where the earbud goes. The magnets that hold the buds inside are not very strong and the buds can break easily if the case falls.

The earbuds also have a spherical shape and look quite plain There are no eye-catching improvements, just the simple stemless TWS earbuds that won’t make you dizzy too much. The back of the earbud is a touch-sensitive area for music playback and call control. Touch controls are responsive, accurate and work well for the most part. There are occasional accidental readings, but not too many.

As a fit, each of these lightweight earbuds weighs just 4gs and is extremely comfortable to wear. The fit is also secure and does not move too much when you are walking, jogging or working around your home. You get a total of 3 pairs of silicone ear tips, so you should be able to find a good fit for yourself.

Features

The Oppo Enco Buds are priced below Rs 2,000 and come with a fair number of features at this cheap price point. First, earbuds can use the HeyMelody app to check battery levels, perform firmware updates, turn on game mode, and customize earbud controls. Users can customize single-tap, double-tap, triple-tap and tap and hold functions through the app. The default control does not have a voice assistant function, but it can be mapped to the triple tap command in both earbuds.

Controls can be used to pause or play music, search for tracks, control volume levels, turn on game mode, answer calls, and call a voice assistant. Oppo phone users with ColorOS 11.0 or higher can customize their earbuds in the device’s Bluetooth settings without having to download the app. Also, when connecting Enco Buds with a few Oppo phones, you’ll find a quick pairing option via a pop-up window.

Other features include IP54 dust and water resistance, which means the buds can withstand light splash and sweat making it a good option for fitness enthusiasts; We also have 80ms less latency game mode as mentioned above.

You also have Type-C charging, touch control and single earbud use. They aren’t as feature-rich as the Realme Buds Q2, which is priced at Rs 2,500, however, since these buds are priced below 2K, the feature-set is not very eye-catching. However, you still get the basic features and some extras like customizable touch controls, game mode and IP54 rating.

Performance

The Oppo Enco Buds have an 8mm dynamic driver, so it doesn’t change much in that direction compared to the Oppo Enco W11 which was equipped with an 8mm driver. The buds support SBC and AAC audio codecs and come with a Bluetooth v5.2 wireless connection, an improvement over Enco W11’s Bluetooth 5.0. The buds also support binocular transmission, which, in common parlance, simply means that the infection occurs simultaneously on both earbuds, allowing you to use a single earbud independently of the other. Now, coming to Sound Quality, Oppo Enco Buds has come up with a warm, base-boosted sound that many will enjoy.

To objectively test the sound signature of the earbud, we used a measuring microphone from iSEMcon with an SLS audio adapter designed to test the earphones. We used Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 as the audio interface. All of this is integrated into a PC running SMAART-Di v2 software that creates frequency graphs for earphones.

Raw Frequency Response Graph for Oppo Enco Buds (Red) vs. Flat Response (Blue)

The generated frequency graph shows that the Oppo Enco Buds increased the low-up to 200 Hz. The peak of the trench reaction is quite significant, the trench is loud and piercing. While it sounds good in some genres like pop, hip hop and EDM, earbuds do not perform well in genres like rock and classical because the lows take the middle and the highs due to myths masking. Auditory masking is an event where a loud sound envelops the description of a soft word.

Here, the exaggerated alloy covers the soft middle and height transparency. As a result, the buds can make a slightly buzzing and dark sound, which we are not very fond of. Additionally, the frequency graph also shows that the mid-range is slightly below the ideal range, which means that the balance of sound is even greater with the boosted bus and undemposed mids throws. Still, we’re really nitpicking here, the truth is, the term is pretty decent for TWS below 2K. Realme Buds Q2 Neo sounds a bit better than these earphones though and they are in the same price range, so keep in mind.

These buds do not come with active noise cancellation, but they do have quite impressive passive isolation. The tight seal worked well to subdue some ambient noise. For microphones, Enco Buds boasts an AI algorithm that tries to exclude external sounds and only delivers your voice when making phone calls. The quality of the microphone is quite decent for the price. The voice sounds a bit vague and we’ve noticed that outside noises were also frequently picked up, but it’s acceptable in this price range and you won’t have too much trouble calling inside the house.

As mentioned above, Oppo Enco Buds supports the new Bluetooth 5.2 standard, an improvement over the Oppo Enco W11 that supports Bluetooth 5.0. There were very few problems with the wireless connection. For the most part, the connection was tight during the test. There was occasional lag and stuttering in the sound, but it rarely happened.

The Bluetooth connection process is also very simple, just open the charging case, find Oppo Enco Buds in your Bluetooth settings and pair! That’s it. After initial pairing, the buds will be attached to your device as soon as you open the case. For delays, there is very little noticeable latency when playing videos and playing games even when the game mode is off, which is impressive. With the introduction of game mode, the company claims a low latency of 80 milliseconds.

Battery life

Wireless playback time of Oppo Enco Buds is rated 24 hours total, earbud and charging case combined. According to Oppo, the playback time of buds on a single charge is 6 hours. In our experiment, earbuds were cooled for 5 hours and 5 minutes at 60 percent volume Your mileage will obviously vary depending on the volume level you choose. The charging case provides 3 additional charges, which is decent. Battery life is better than the 20-hour play time of Realme Buds Q2 Neo and Noise Air Buds. So, Oppo knocked it out of the park.

Earbuds also provide one hour of play time with a 15 minute charge Not the fastest we’ve seen in this segment, the Realme Buds Q2 Neo offers 2 hours of play time on just 10 minutes of charging. However, the Oppo Enco Buds still have great battery life which is hardly a competitor at this price.

Judgment

Priced below Rs 2,000, Oppo Enco Buds is a good option for those who want to buy a TWS without breaking the bank. At this entry-level price point, you’ll find some interesting features like HeyMelody app support, customizable controls, great battery life, IP54 rating and low latency game mode.

Sound quality is a bit too biased for our tastes but it is acceptable for the price and bass lovers will really enjoy the sound signature. The design of the earbuds is nothing like writing at home, but the fit is quite impressive, so these are great buds to use when exercising. Another good option in this price range is the Realme Buds Q2 Neo, which sounds a bit better than the Enco Buds. However, if you can expand your budget to 2.5K, you can take Realme Buds Q2 with lots of features and good sound quality.