OPPO Enco Air2 is one of the latest additions to the brand’s lineup of AIoT products. While it shares a lot of the same features as its predecessor, it does use a new 13.4mm driver, as well as a number of sound presets called Enco Live Sound Effects.
Apart from those, you get Bluetooth 5.2, Game Mode, touch controls, IPX4 water resistance, rapid pairing, and a translucent cover for its charging case. All of that for PhP3,499.
Design and Build Quality
The first thing you’ll probably notice on the OPPO Enco Air2 is its charging case – specifically, it’s translucent cover. The brand says that the idea is to make sure that both earbuds are safely tucked inside the case, without having to open it. They’ve kept things minimal here, as there’s only a charging indicator light, a USB-C port, and some branding at the back.
The Earbuds themselves are very light, each weighing only 3.5g. There’s a touch panel on the upper section of the stem to let you control playback, increase or decrease volume, activate your voice assistance, or enable/disable Game Mode. They’re not hard to find by feel.
Comfort and Isolation
For something that doesn’t have a silicon/rubber/foam tip, the earbuds are comfortable to use, even for hours of use. The flip side, however, is that these only offer at most, average passive isolation, and it doesn’t help that it falls short in terms of max volume. Getting a good-enough seal can be a bit tricky, but the earbuds do a good job of staying in place even with a bit of movement.
Sound Quality
According to OPPO, the Enco Air2 uses 13.4mm composite titanized diaphragm dynamic drivers to deliver good sound. These also feature a unique bass booster to supposedly add to the immersion. While it does use Bluetooth 5.2, which means larger chunks of information can be transferred with less power consumption, among other benefits, it only supports SBC and AAC codecs.
The companion app offers three presets for sound – Original Sound, Bass Boost, and Clear Voice. We’ll try to describe each to help you choose which one is best suited to your auditory senses.
Original Sound
Without any enhancements, the default signature leans on the warmer side, with the treble slightly recessed. The bass in this mode is evident enough, but nothing to write home about, while the vocals are slightly more forward. It’s hard to explain, but it’s like there’s a filter on the vocals that make it sound thin, like it has reduced body.
Bass Boost
Well, you can take that literally. The added low-end is evident, but I wouldn’t say bassheads will be happy. It just adds enough kick to give more emphasis. In fact, I feel like it’s not really a boost, but this should be the default sound signature. Fortunately, the bass doesn’t creep into the other frequencies. Vocals still exhibit smoothness, though I would’ve liked a bit less warmth.
Clear Voice
In this mode, it’s like the vocals have been pushed to the front, with the other frequencies more evidently in the background. The layering seems to vocals, then instruments right behind. This mode benefits slow pop and ballad songs the best.
As for loudness, well, let’s just say that if I’m you’re indoors, around 90%, then maxed out when I’m outside, and even to that extent, I feel like a bit more volume would be nice, especially with the weak passive isolation that this has.
Microphone Sample
In terms of audio sync in videos, I tried it on YouTube and there was no noticeable delay.
Software
The HeyMelody app shows the amount of battery left on the earbuds, lets you select an Enco Live sound effect, and enable or disable Game Mode which syncs audio with what’s happening in-game for a better experience. You can also use it to update the firmware and configure the touch controls on each earbud.
Battery Life
OPPO claims up to 4 hours of uptime in a single charge, and up to 24 hours total with the case. Playing music continuously at around 90% volume, I was able to get around 4.5 hours, which is better than what was claimed, but isn’t really great if you’re intending to use this apart from when you’re travelling (ex: staying at a coffee shop to work). At least, it doesn’t take long to recharge the earbuds, as zero to full only took less than an hour.
Verdict
If you’re looking for an affordable pair of TWS Earbuds with an Airpods-like design, the OPPO Enco Air2 is an okay choice. The sound quality is decent, it’s comfortable to use, and the app offers some nifty options to personalize the device.
On the flip side, the isolation isn’t too good, and the maximum volume needs a boost. The 4-hour battery life should also be enough for the usual city commute, or for a short flight, but not if you’re planning to stay in a cafe for the day.
Considering the price, I wouldn’t fault it for not having features like auto-off, or even a transparency mode. In short, it’s more or less a focused pair of TWS Earbuds.
Get the OPPO Enco Air2 via Lazada and Shopee.
Emman has been writing technical and feature articles since 2010. Prior to this, he became one of the instructors at Asia Pacific College in 2008, and eventually landed a job as Business Analyst and Technical Writer at Integrated Open Source Solutions for almost 3 years.
