Oppo Enco Air is another truly wireless headphone that, in terms of appearance, as well as the possibilities offered, try to imitate Apple AirPods. Does this tactic make sense in combination with a much lower price? How does Enco Air perform in everyday use?
A simplified version of the excellent Enco X, the Oppo Enco W51 offers a smooth dive into active noise reduction on True Wireless headphones.Â
| Oppo Enco Air | Oppo Enco W51 |
| Lightweight and comfortable | Good quality microphones |
| Good battery life | Good ANC |
| No ANC | IP54 rated |
| Very basic controls | Very basic controls |
General
| Oppo Enco Air | Oppo Enco W51 | |
| Brand | Oppo | Oppo |
| Type | In-Ear | In-Ear |
| Colours | Misty White, Black, Blue | Floral White, Starry Blue, Aqua Blue |
| Battery life | Up to 24 hours | Up to 24 hours |
| Weight | 40.4g | 55.5g |
| Connectivity | Bluetooth | Bluetooth |
Design
| Type | In-Ear | In-Ear |
| Wireless | Yes | Yes |
| Noise Cancelling | No | Yes |
| Weight | 40.4g | 55.5 grams |
| Foldable Design | No | No |
Oppo Enco Air- These are typical wireless headphones consisting of one element. We are dealing with white, shiny plastic, so characteristic of this type of construction. There is no place for any silicone inserts here because the headphones are not in-ear but only in-ear.
Oppo Enco Air, despite its universal design, is very comfortable. The manufacturer made sure they were also light, so we forgot that we had them in our ears after a while. A 3- or 4-hour music session with this equipment is pure pleasure.
The headphones are controlled via touch panels. Touch detection, however, leaves a lot to be desired, and we often activate the wrong thing. For example, the software sometimes detects only two instead of three taps and switches the number to the next one.
Fortunately, the manufacturer gave up the one-tap gesture, so accidentally activating the function while tweaking the handset is out of the question. However, the control itself is far from ideal, although it is good that the application can adjust the operation of individual gestures.
The headphone charging case is standard size, which means it fits in a trouser pocket. So you can take them with you almost anywhere. Unfortunately, the design of the box itself leaves something to be desired. The top flap is made of a slightly transparent, milky plastic, so we can see the headphones inserted inside. The problem is that it looks very cheap.
In addition, the case cannot be faulted – it just works. The headphones stay in place well. There is also a diode indicating work and a USB-C slot for charging the battery.
Oppo Enco W51- It’s hard to fall in love with the Oppo Enco W51 by their design alone. It must be admitted, they resemble, from a distance, several Chinese headphones released more or less in the wake of the Airpods (even if the design is far from it). A not very inspired product, going to something simple: stem and the main body in the shape of a small bean, in-ear with a slightly inclined cannula. We could extend this observation to the load box, of somewhat arbitrary shape and tones, compactness as a bonus.
In contrast, Oppo is doing quite well in terms of manufacturing. The plastic is relatively light but well-assembled, not too cheap, shiny (except the inner side, matt), but not too messy. An entry / mid-range that is not up to the benchmark like the Creative Outlier Air or the Cambridge Melomania does not do less well than the Huawei Freebuds 3i. A bit of the same observation with the charging box, correct, nothing more. The hinge doesn’t leave too much play, but the hood feels light.
The comfort and placement of the headphones (in the ears and the box) are as classic as it is effective. Like most rod models, the ear balance is done automatically; there is almost no need to screw on the mouthpiece. Quite close to semi-intra comfort, due to the very short cannula, the headphones hold in place without having to sink deeply. In addition, the slightly oval shape of the tip/cannula pair seems to slightly reinforce (as on the Enco X) the symbiosis between hold and comfort. Four sizes of silicone ear tips come with the Enco W51, which brews a vast range of human ears. Once the right size is found, the outfit is frankly excellent, almost sufficient for actual sports use.
Features
| USB | USB-C | USB-C |
| Microphone | Yes | Yes |
| Music Controls | Yes | Yes |
| Quick Charge | Yes | Yes |
| IPX Rating | IPX4 | IP54 |
| Driver | 12mm | 7mm |
| Frequency range | 20Hz-20,000Hz | 20Hz ~ 20kHz |
| Stereo speakers | Yes | No |
Oppo Enco Air connects to a phone or other device thanks to Bluetooth version 5.2. Pairing is quick and hassle-free. After removing the headphones from the case, the phone is automatically recognized. It is worth noting that each earpiece connects to the phone separately, which is an additional advantage. Music was played even at a distance of two thick walls from the sound source.
The Enco X, admittedly more expensive, Oppo seems to take great pleasure in limiting the ergonomics of the headphones as much as possible. Apart from using very reactive optical sensors (but not deactivate) for the pause / automatic play, the Enco W51 does not exploit their touch surface’s possibilities and the dedicated HeyMelody application.
The touch surface works with small taps, so it is not possible to slide your finger for a possible volume adjustment on the fly. But above all, only double, and triple taps exist, so two functions per earphone. Forget about simple taps and long presses.
By default, a double-tap triggers the next track on the right earbud and toggles ANC mode on the left earbud. The triple tap is only used in both cases to call the default voice assistant of the smartphone. The precision is relatively reasonable but already far from perfect.
Unfortunately, the dedicated HeyMelody application is at the opposite extreme. It is entirely useless and useless. With its help, you can only view the charging status of the headphones and change the operation of the touch panels. There is no equalizer or even dedicated listening modes. And these headphones would be helpful.
Battery
| Battery Type | 440mAh Lithium-Ion | 480 mAh Lithium-Ion |
| Battery Life | Up to 24h | Up to 24h |
| Charging Port | USB Type-C | USB Type-C |
| Wireless | Qi Wireless Charging | Qi Wireless Charging |
Oppo Enco Air- The manufacturer also put a lot of effort into the battery. While the headphones themselves offer about 4 hours of listening to music on a single charge, with the case, we can recharge them up to 5 times so that the final operating time can oscillate around an impressive 24 hours.
The case supports fast charging, and when connected to the power for about 10 minutes, it can accumulate energy for about 8 hours of listening, which is a considerable advantage, especially if you are in a hurry and want to make music with you.
Oppo Enco W51- Oppo announces “only” 3 hours 30 minutes with ANC in a single charge, 4 hours without ANC, and between 20 and 24 hours including the charging case. The number of recharges via the box, which is very important given its size, suggests that the battery’s capacity integrated into the headphones is short.
Without reaching the approximately 2 hours 30 minutes of the Freebuds 3i, the Oppo Enco W51 barely got the 3 hours 10 minutes in practice (via ANC).
Audio Quality
How is Oppo Enco Air? When you put the headphones in your ears for the first time, it seems pleasant and balanced, with a slightly withdrawn bass that does not come to the fore.
Later, longer music sessions only confirm this impression. The headphones play more on the warm side. At lower volume settings, they are polite and downright enjoyable. However, listening to more energetic tracks louder reveals the first drawbacks of the set: the upper parts of the sound become much more dominant, the bass escapes somewhere, and the treble becomes squeaky and a bit irritating.
The headphones reproduce a pretty broad stage, which can successfully fit many instruments. They can be distinguished from each other. The sound also gives an excellent sense of spaciousness.
Then the bass pleasantly accompanies the upper tones and can even bring out something. With more robust sounds, however, it gets too flat for this price range. So these are not headphones for listening to even DNB, but they are much more suitable for calm house, pop or rap.
The sound became less flat, a bit deeper and even more pleasant. There is a potential in Oppo Enco Air, but you need to get it out because the factory settings are very average.
The headphones reproduce a pretty broad stage, which can successfully fit many instruments. They can be distinguished from each other. The sound also gives an excellent sense of spaciousness.
The built-in microphone also deserves praise, reducing noise using a dedicated artificial intelligence algorithm.Â
The Enco X are in the best sound in their price range, the Enco W51 are certainly less ambitious because carried by a single dynamic transducer of 7mm, but succeed already very well in their bet.
A good notch below their big brothers (equipped with a balanced armature transducer for this frequency) in the treble, the W51s are already quite comfortable in this sector, far from most of the competitors’ artificial rendering less than 120 USD. There is a slight spike in the treble, but without exaggeration, to bring a little more clarity to the listening.
Not aggressive, the W51 puts the bass slightly forward, sloping towards the mids, which gives a reasonably dynamic sound but is not sharp. A significant nuance is still there since this bass/midrange management is slightly different if the ANC is activated or deactivated. Off, the slope is smoother, the low-mids / mids hardly set back, resulting in a very balanced sound.
The low-mids / mids are a little more indented with ANC, resulting in a slightly more timid sound, although the difference is not huge. Still, if the ANC is not essential in a given situation, it is preferable to cut it for better sound quality.
There is more impact in this range, the Creative Outlier Air V2, for example, but the transducers used by Oppo are both quite technical and intelligently tuned (especially ANC off). The model has some similarities with the LG FN7 and FN6, offering a certain smoothness in the listening but allowing itself to be more dynamic and open.
Connectivity
| Bluetooth | Bluetooth 5.2 | Bluetooth 5.0 |
| Codecs | SBC, AAC | SBC, AAC |
| NFC | No | No |
| Wireless range | 10 meters | 10 meters |
| Multi-Device | No | No |
Conclusion!
Costing around 100 USD, Enco Air is a successful attempt to release simply good equipment. The headphones are very comfortable, have a durable battery and are solidly made (maybe apart from the cheap cover of the case).
In terms of sound, it is a bit worse, and we deal with too dominant treble, but playing in the external equalizer does the trick and restores a pleasant sound.
The Oppo Enco W51 is a complete and affordable headphone. A less ambitious and more affordable version of the Enco X. has already been a charming technical sound, efficient ANC technology, and excellent comfort for a complete experience.
A product that had everything to be perfect, but the very low autonomy and overly limited orders leave it at the gates of excellence.
