OPPO ENCO W51

Great ANC with Affordability

The TWS market is thriving, and a lot of small brands and big smartphone brands are coming up with best of their products, and one of them is Oppo.

The Chinese smartphone brand has been focusing on wireless audio products a lot, they launched a good variety of product lineup in its first go that has the Enco W31, Enco Free, and Enco M31, the company get a lot praises and critcs about the products which is why we had really high hopes when the company came up with the Enco W51. Oppo offered active noise cancellation (ANC) to the masses at a very low price with W51. Prior to this, this technology was only in the expensive earphones.

The Oppo Enco W51 is priced around Rs 4,999. So, it is clearly setting a benchmark for its own. But is it worth it? does is it work as advertised? To find out, we reviewed the Enco W51, so let us find out if it can make the list or not!

Design and Built

The design and built of the Enco W51 is identical to the Enco W31, the buds have the same in-ear shape and dimensions and the only way you can differentiate the new ones from the older TWS earbuds is the finishing over the outer layer of the buds.

The Ecco W51 have a mirror finish on the outer layer of buds which look more subtle and make the overall design slightly more premium.

The Enco W51 comes in two different colors - Starry Blue and Floral White. The Enco W51 earbuds are half in-ear buds with soft silicone tips. The buds feel comfortable in ears and

offer a secure

fit. They stay at their place and do not fall off even while running or cycling. Importantly, these buds are IP54 rated for dust and water resistance. A secure fit with good durability standards makes the Enco W51 a great TWS pair for fitness enthusiasts. As far as the charging case is concerned, it is now smarter but the glossy finish makes it prone to scratches.

The case has a Type-c charging port at the back side along with an LED light indicator. The inside of the case also has a LED light indicator.

Setup and Touch Controls The Enco W51 comes with Bluetooth 5.0 version and can be paired with Bluetoothenabled smart devices within a second. We used these buds with a number of devices and none of them gave any kind of problem while connect. When you connect the buds for the first time you just need to open the case and long-press the tiny button just right next to the indicator light to start the connecting process. The green LED will turn into white indicating that the pairing process has started. It will flash green again the earbuds have been paired with a smart device, and that’s it, you are sorted.

Now the controls are also pretty easy, double-tapping the left earbud enables/disables the Active Noise Cancellation, which works wonders. You can double-tap on the right earbud to play the next song and can invoke the voice assistant by triple tapping on either side.

Unlike the Enco W31, the

Enco W51 has just one music mode. Importantly, there are no on-bud volume controls on the Enco W51. You have to use the source device to tweak the volume which affects the usability if you don’t have the connected device handy or mostly when you cannot access the device, especially while cycling or working out in the gym. It is also worth mentioning that you can customize the touch controls if you have paired the Enco W51 with an Oppo smartphone running the Color OS 7. This limitation is something the company must solve.

Audio and Performance

The Audio performance is up to the mark, you will not face any problem while you are on a call or giving instructions to your Voice assistant, and specially with the ANC. The Audio clarity while listening to music is great. However, There were some glitches that was faced while using it. If you are having lunch or eating anything light with the buds on it kind of double tap itself because of the movement of your ears, which was a little frustrating at times. It also cracks up in between, there is no latency, but it lacks attack and leaks in other frequencies creating a slightly unrefined listening experience.

However the Anc-powered earphones let you get into the audio details which is great, the environmental noise is cut to almost zero percent making the Enco W51 a good option for commuters who want budget Anc-powered earphones. Works well for casual listening.

Battery

The Enco W51 lasted for almost 4 hours with ANC on which is acceptable since the ANC consumes a fair amount of power. This is a trade-off that you have to make for cancelling the unwanted noise around you. Disabling the ANC can give you an additional 20-30 minute boost which means the Enco W51 can last for a little longer on one full charge. The charging case with a 480 mah battery can give three additional battery cycles depending upon your usage. The accounts to a total battery life of 12-13 hours which is decent but not impressive and you can easily find sub-5k earbuds with better overall battery life. But mind you, none of them come equipped with ANC so choose wisely.

Conclusion

The Oppo Enco W51 offers a great pair of TWS earbuds at a budget price-point. The Enco W51 is the only True Wireless Earbuds in the sub-5k that offers both ANC (Active Noise Cancellation) and Wireless Charging. The TWS earbuds offer excellent call quality, a secure fit and durable design. The audio performance isn’t the most immersive and refined which can be a dealbreaker. The battery life os all not that great but despite these shortcomings, the Enco W51 is worth considering as the true wireless earbuds deliver an enjoyable listening experience on a budget with ANC! ■

pahi@mymobile.co.in