Pros:- Excellent sound quality- Support for multiple codecs – Sturdy build, comfortable in-ear fit- IP54 dust and moisture resistance- Configurable controls and sound profiles- Volume control on the buds- Good call quality- Support for fast charging and wireless charging
Cons:- ANC could have been better- Average battery backup with ANC on
Price: Rs 10,990
Rating: 4.3/5
Right at the start of 2021, we got our hands on the Oppo Enco X and it was mighty impressive. It was so far ahead of the competition then, and even today it remains arguably the best pair of TWS earbuds under Rs 10,000. With the competition hardly managing to put a dent in its armour, Oppo took some extra time to release its successor. The Enco X set some really high standards, and to surpass those at a similar price point would be quite a task for its successor. Can the Oppo Enco X2 meet such lofty expectations? Let’s figure it out.
The controls on these earbuds are touch and pressure sensitive. You need to gently squeeze the stems once or twice for playback or call functions, which rules out any undesired outcomes due to accidental touch. The touch-enabled areas are on the side of the stems, and sliding your finger along the edge lets you increase or decrease the volume or jump to the previous or next track. We generally liked this combination better than the just touch. If anything, I would have preferred the slide zones at the back of the stems instead of on the sides as they tend to shift or dislodge the bud from the ear when using the slide gesture.
You can reconfigure the controls from the HeyMelody app. If you have Oppo, OnePlus or Realme phones, you do not need HeyMelody, as all the configuration options are built into the Bluetooth settings. This is a big improvement over their older earbuds. You get to assign functions for play/pause, track navigation, ANC modes toggle, voice assistant and more. Thus you get total control and saves you the trouble of going to the source device frequently.
As for ANC, the app lets you choose one out of four ANC modes (Mild, Moderate, Max and Smart) in addition to ANC off and Transparency mode to toggle between directly from the buds. Smart ANC automatically opts for one of the other three ANC modes depending on ambient noise. These are literally the most comprehensive set of features I have come across in TWS buds, and cannot think of anything important that the company has missed out on. They even surpass the Enco X in that regard, and that is no mean feat.
Oppo Enco X2 TWS Earphones: Performance (9/10)Pairing these earphones with the phone was a standard process. Just open the case, find them in the list of Bluetooth devices on the phone/tablet and connect. The connection stayed strong for over 10 metres with a clear line of sight, and more than half of that with a concrete wall in between. A word or two on ANC before we move on to the sound quality. It is probably the only department that hasn’t improved significantly since the Enco X.
As I mentioned earlier, Oppo Enco X2 offers four noise cancellation modes to reduce the ambient sounds up to 45 dB. The mild mode can be used in places like home or office where you may not need aggressive ANC. The other two modes are better suited for noisy outdoors. But frankly, my ears simply could not differentiate between the Moderate and Max ANC performance, so one might as well leave it on Moderate and save some battery.
The ANC here is perfectly functional but not category-defining like its sound quality. It is certainly not in the league of the Sony WF-1000XM4 that costs almost twice as much, but more like what you get with the OnePlus Buds Pro or Soundcore Liberty Air 2 Pro that sell for a thousand or two lower. Mind you, not many would complain about the ANC, but given that the X2 seemed on a mission to raise the bar in almost every department, we expected something special here too.
