OPPO Enco Buds X2 Review: Good Sound But Even Better Noise Canceling Ability
May 25, 2022Type: Wireless
Wireless Charger: Qi wireless
Functionally: Bluetooth BT 5.2,
Colour: White & Black
Battery Capacity: 57 mAh (earphone) / 566 mAh (entire device)
Battery Life: less than 5h Talk-Time 20 (ANC ON) / 5.5h Talk-Time 22h (ANC OFF)
Active Noise Canceling: Yes
Water & Dust Resistance: IP54
Rating: 8.5/10
Weight: 4.7g Each Buds (56.4g case)
Price: RM799
There are many wireless earbuds on the market but what made the original Enco X a hit with us was its combination of sleek looks and decent audio quality. Now OPPO has followed that up with a new version that it calls the X2. It’s slightly more compact than its predecessor and brings with it a whole host of improvements.
Thankfully, OPPO has stuck with the same flat capsule design of the original. The dimensions make it extremely convenient to slip into a pocket or handbag without having it create an unsightly bulge. The earbuds themselves are perfectly weighted, which allow them to remain anchored on the ears without being inconvenient.
For a perfect fit, you’ll need to ensure that the silicone eartips form a good seal on the ear. This can be confirmed by running the test within OPPO’s Hey Melody app. It takes a few seconds to complete and lets you know whether the eartips are a perfect fit or not. It’s best that you use the right size eartips to experience the best that the X2 has to offer.
Its relevance is tied into that of active noise cancellation (ANC). They work hand and glove to isolate and cancel ambient noises from reaching your ears which could ruin your music listening experience. The app is essential to setting up the X2 to suit your preference. There are also options to toggle noise cancellation on/off and control its aggressiveness.
If need be, you can enable transparency mode for situations when you’d like to remain aware of what’s happening around you. It works really well, which is an improvement over the original Enco X. The same is true of the ANC function. When set to “Max” it completely cancels out the ambient noises around. The high frequency ones still make it though, but only just.
This is made possible by the high signal to noise ratio microphones and triple-core ANC chip, allowing the X2 to achieve an ANC frequency range of up to 4000Hz. But that isn’t all, there’s a voiceprint AI that works in the background to identify your voice and ensure that it is transmitted as coherently as possible to the listener on the other end of the phone call.
It’s effective to a certain degree. Don’t expect it to work wonders in extremely noisy environments such as construction sites. It works well against human voices or ambient noises in restaurants or cafes. This makes it an ideal companion for digital nomads who spend most of their “working” lives in such establishments.
The X2, which has been co-developed by Dynaudio, is made up of a Coaxial dual-driver give-magnet sound system. It’s an arrangement that is commonly used in high-end systems, but has been miniaturized to fit these earbuds. There’s also an ultrasonic base system, quad-magnet planar tweeter placed coaxially with the woofer to deliver a more balanced experience.
This equates to crisp audio throughout the frequency range. Raising the volume near maximum doesn’t hurt audio quality, which is a sign of good driver quality and construction. The Hey Melody app lets you choose between three EQ settings: Dynaudio Real, Dynaudio Simple & Clear or Dynaudio Punchy.
Dynaudio Simple & Clear is best suited to music that’s biased toward vocals. The only real difference between Real and Punchy is that the latter has a higher base volume that’s supported by a more prominent helping of bass. My suggestion is to leave it on Punchy as it produces the best results regardless of music genre.
In addition to this, OPPO has also included the Golden Sound feature. It adjusts the music output based on what you can hear. It does this by playing various tones in each individual ear. Select Yes or No if you hear said tone. The test moves on to the next tone after each response.
It’s important that you complete this test when sitting in a quiet room and ensure that you remain truthful in your responses. This will help tune the Enco X2 to suit your hearing abilities. After it has done so, the software lets you gauge the difference in music quality for the “before and after”. Golden Sound makes a substantial contribution to improving said quality.
Overall, the Enco X2 excels at the lows and mids, which makes them biased toward instrumental, soft rock and pop music genres. The highs are not as accurate as I’d like, which means it won’t do justice to R&B, rap, rock or heavy metal. Iron Man by Black Sabbath sounds good on the X2 but lacks the “oomph” factor that made it the hit back in the day.
It’s these characteristics that make the earbuds better suited for clarity where it can effectively produce a depthful soundscape. Here, they offer a good spatial audio experience, which allows you to truly enjoy the music coming from both the foreground and background. There’s a discernible difference between the two.
If you enjoy music that favors high frequencies, then the X2 earbuds aren’t for you. They are more of a Jack-Of-All-Trades, being able to do just about everything without being exceptional at any single thing. For RM799, I don’t think you can fault them for this.
OPPO has done away with the tapping method to play/pause and skip songs. Instead, you’ll need to squeeze either stem once twice or thrice to achieve the intended result. The Hey Melody app allows you to choose what each squeeze does. You don’t have to exert too much pressure to activate the sensor, it only asks that you be deliberate with your actions.
After each registered squeeze, you’ll hear a subtle beep that confirms your actions. Increasing or reducing the volume requires you to swipe up or down on the right side of each stem. The best way to achieve this is to pinch the stem with your thumb and index finger, then run them across the entire length of said stem.
Since the X2 supports LHDC 4.0, it’s possible to transmit high definition audio from a smartphone that supports said codec. This will ensure that you receive better quality music when possible. The OPPO Find X5 Pro is one such phone that supports LHDC 4.0.
Thanks to Bluetooth 5.2, the earbuds can be paired with two separate devices simultaneously. And they will automatically switch to the active one, once it’s detected. This is extremely convenient for people like me who use a single pair of earbuds for their smartphone and PC.
When used with the included case, the Enco X2 can last up to 40 hours. But on its own, you should average between 5-6 hours before they’d need to be returned to the case. In just 5 minutes the case can supply 2 hours worth of battery life to the X2, which is impressive by anyone’s standards.
Should You Buy One?
The Enco X2 are exceptionally good for what they are: decent sounding earbuds that cater to most music genres, offer best in class active noise canceling (ANC) and deliver impressive battery life. They aren’t meant for audiophiles or groups of people who enjoy heart thumping bass. But for listeners who want a Jack-Of-All-Trades, this is what you want.
