OPPO Enco X wireless earbuds review

The OPPO Enco X wireless earbuds are the company’s best true wireless headphones yet, boasting rich, detailed sound and active noise cancellation in a stylish, lightweight design that supports wireless charging. For OPPO smartphone users, it’s hard to beat the Enco X, but its iOS compatibility issues and higher price tag might be enough to put off non-Android users.

Given most of OPPO’s previous Enco wireless earbud models retailed for less than $250, the Enco X’s $349 price tag is a little on the steep side. To put it into perspective, their biggest competitor, the Apple AirPods Pro, retail for $399 (but can be easily found around the $300 mark).

That said, after a few weeks of testing, I do believe that the OPPO Enco X’s higher price is warranted (I’ll explain why next).

If you’re after a pair of these bad boys, currently, they’re only available through OPPO’s online store.

I wouldn’t necessarily consider myself a hardcore audiophile, but having tested and reviewed dozens of wireless earbuds, there are a few key things I look for in terms of audio quality. The OPPO Enco X ticks every box.

In creating the Enco X, OPPO collaborated with Danish speaker company Dynaudio to level up their ‘buds, and the second you put them in, it becomes clear just how much that collaboration paid off. Straight out of the box, they sound rich, bold and well-balanced. The Enco X earbuds use a coaxial dual-driver design to create, natural-sounding high-definition sound across a range of genres.

In a track like BADBADNOTGOOD’s “Time Moves Slow”, they highlight the depth and warmth of Samuel T. Herring’s vocals. Changing pace completely with the Majestic remix of “Rasputin” by Boney M (because why the hell not), the Enco X perfectly handled the heavy bass and that ripper violin riff.

As you’d expect at this price point, the Enco X feature ANC (active noise cancelling). While not quite on par with Sony’s market-leading efforts, they were perfectly good at blocking out the chatter and annoying construction noise coming from next door. You can switch it off completely, of course, which should save you some decent juice, but I stuck with Awareness Mode for most of my testing period to block out background noise but still be able to hear other people.

There’s no escaping the OPPO Enco X’s resemblance to the AirPods Pro with its rounded, short-stemmed buds, but hey, if it ain’t broke. They’re comfortable and light enough that you’d pretty much forget you’re wearing them if it weren’t for “ra-ra-Rasputin” blaring in your ear holes. They also come with a few different sizes of tips, so you can ensure they fit nice and snugly. Plus, with IP54 dust and water resistance, they should survive whatever sweaty workout or rainy day you expose them to.

The pebble-shaped charging case is compact and premium feeling, with an aluminium ring around the edges, glossy plastic body, magnetic hinge, indicator light and side button for pairing.

Touch controls aren’t my favourite, but the Enco X’s quite accurately recognised my taps, swipes and long-presses. OPPO, Realme and OnePlus smartphone users should be able to fiddle with what each gesture controls in the earbuds’ Bluetooth settings, but for everyone else, you’ll need to download the HeyMelody app on Android to do so.

Interestingly, though the HeyMelody app is available on iOS, it doesn’t support the Enco X despite supporting the two cheaper earbuds in OPPO’s lineup, the Enco Air and Enco Free2. For iOS users, you’re better off just grabbing the AirPods Pro, which cost around the same price (if not slightly cheaper) and offer better iPhone connectivity.

OPPO advertises the Enco X as having up to 25 hours of playtime on a single charge at 50% volume and with ANC switched off. Of course, if you’re buying ANC-enabled earbuds, it’s probably because you plan on actually using ANC. I alternated between Noise Cancellation and Awareness Mode for most of my testing period, and found 20 hours of use on a single charge to be more accurate. That translated to about four hours or so before needing to throw the earbuds into their charging case.

While I certainly wouldn’t say the battery life is bad, I was hoping for a bit more given the asking price.

When you run out of juice, it’ll take about 80 minutes to fully charge your buds in the case. And when the case runs out of juice, it’ll fully recharge via USB-C in just under two hours. The Enco X earbuds also support wireless charging and reverse charging from compatible devices.

Out of all the wireless earbuds I’ve tested with Android devices (especially OPPO phones), I reckon the Enco X are the ones to beat. They connect - and stay connected - flawlessly. They’re comfortable to wear, look sleek and stylish, and offer some of the best sound in this price range. If iOS didn’t exist, I’d consider giving them five stars. Still, iOS does exist, and iPhone users will want to look elsewhere, as the Enco X don’t even come close to measuring up to Apple’s own true wireless offerings in terms of connectivity.