The Oppo Enco X Noise Cancelling Earbuds are mid-range earbuds that provide a decent sound. They’re cheaper than most of their competitors and are comfortable to wear. They don’t feel secure when worn during activity, though – which is a significant drawback.
Price
The Oppo Enco Xs are a great purchase for their price. They retail at NZ$349. That puts them right around the middle of the price range when compared to their competitors. They are roughly the same price as the Samsung Galaxy Buds and are cheaper than the Airpods Pro.
The difficulty is, they’re hard to find. A quick Google search will show that these aren’t being sold in standard tech stores.
Design
Physically, the Oppo Enco X look remarkably similar to the Apple Airpods. They have opted for the rounded frame and long stem design instead of the protruding rectangle style of other earbuds like the Bose Quietcomfort Earbuds.
For the most part, the design works well. The headphones fit comfortably into my ear, and I found it was easy to forget I had them in as they were so discreet.
I put this down to their weight. The Oppo Enco X only weighs 4.8g. To put this into perspective, the Airpods Pro weigh 5.4g. This may not sound like much, but when wearing wireless headphones for a long time, they can become relatively uncomfortable, and I found the Enco Xs to be some of the most comfortable earbuds I have used.
Where the design didn’t work so well, was when wearing them during workouts. The Oppos come with three different tip sizes, small, medium and large. Getting a nice comfortable fit was simple. However, when I was working out, they didn’t feel secure, and I was always cautious that they were going to fall out.
To resolve this issue, I would have to push the headphones into my ear as far as possible, which wasn’t ideal as it would distort my music’s sound.
To be fair, this could be because I have strangely-shaped ears. However, I have tried the Bose Quietcomfort Earbuds and they feel a lot more secure with their wingtip design. I also didn’t run into this issue when wearing the Apple AirPods which have a similar design. This is due to the fact that the Apple AirPods sit more deeply in my ear, creating a tighter fit than the Enco X does.
The earbuds come with a compact charging case that is USB-C compatible. The case is nicely shaped and is small enough to fit into even the tightest of pockets. It’s also sturdy. Dropping this case (from a reasonable height) will not harm the hardware in any way. It’s perfect for taking the earbuds on the go with you.
Battery
The battery in the Oppo Enco X headphones is good but not groundbreaking. With full noise cancellation turned on, the earbuds lasted around 5-hours and a couple more hours with noise cancellation turned off. The case holds four full charges so you could use the Enco Xs for about 20-hours before needing to recharge them.
You can charge the case with your standard USB-C cable, and it is compatible with Qi wireless charging.
Functionality
I didn’t have any issue connecting the headphones to my phone. The earbuds have inbuilt mics on both sides, which were very good for phone calls. They come with triple mic noise cancellation technology which has an adaptive filter and resists wind noise. When I made calls, the person I was speaking too was able to hear me clearly, and I could hear them clearly as well, even when standing outside.
Unfortunately for iOS users, there isn’t an app to pair them with the Enco Xs. For Android users, the HeyMelody app is simple and allows for a lot of customisation as to what the touch controls do. Oppo phone owners also get a level of customisation that is handy to have.
The touch controls were relatively responsive. You can slide your finger up the headphone to raise or lower the volume, and you can tap them to answer calls or skip songs. On numerous occasions, I had to give them quite a firm tap which in many cases would move the headphone, making it uncomfortable.
A 1-second press and hold on the stem of the earbud can turn the noise cancelling on or off. I found it hard to tell when it was on or not as the function generated a beep instead of a vocal audio cue, that may have said: “noise cancellation on.” This doesn’t sound like much of a problem, but knowing whether I am in the high usage, noise-cancelling mode, or low usage standard mode becomes important when battery usage is an issue.
Sound
Teaming up with the Danish HiFi brand; Dynaudio, the Oppo Enco X deliver what Oppo calls, True Wireless Noise Cancelling, and it’s excellent.
Using their brand new DBEE 3.0 sound system, Oppo has managed to squeeze a coaxial dual driver design into their headphones. This means that high frequency sounds come from the front of the pod, while middle to low frequency sounds come from the back. The result is impressive. The bass sounds powerful, and it doesn’t drown out other sounds. Hard-hitting songs sound clean and natural, and the noise cancellation is effective and able to cancel out incredibly close sounds.
Verdict
The Oppo Enco X earbuds are right in the middle for noise-cancelling earbuds. They provide excellent sound and are very comfortable to wear. But their design can be a bit of a nuisance, and they are not great when doing fitness. If you are looking for earbuds while commuting, these will do a great job, but if it’s for an active lifestyle, you may need to look elsewhere.
