AirPods Pro chips, but for a third of the price. Review of wireless headphones OPPO ENCO Free 2i

It is very easy to get lost in the range of TWS wireless earbuds these days. Each manufacturer produces different niches and will release similar headsets in different market segments.

We have already used available models COMMO, Redmi Buds 4 Pro And Headphones Realme Air 3.

Now let’s get acquainted with another annual model – OPPO ENKO Free 2i. You can buy a headset for 6899 rubles, if you have a few weeks, you can order headphones from AliExpress and save.

Appearance. It looks like AirPods, but with its own features

Any headset in white glossy color is immediately compared with AirPods. Here, too, a direct request cannot be avoided. It’s nice that OPPO engineers decided not to copy the design 100%, but applied their own interesting solutions.

The case is almost normal in width and thickness with a box AirPods Pro, and its height is several millimeters larger. Differs in form. Instead of a rectangular shape with rounded corners, the case OPPO ENKO Free 2i oval and more like a sea pebble.

Case weight 37 gramsthat noticed less than 50 grams AirPods Pro. At first, the device seems light, but then this feeling disappears. But each of the headphones weighs 4.3 grams (against 5.3 grams at AirPods Pro) and fits very well in the ear.

The case is glossy, easily soiled and quickly collects scratches. On the front end there is an indicator that shows the mode of operation and the approximate level of charge. On the side face is a button for switching the connection mode, Type-C for charging.

Beautiful design of the appeal of the case space. It uses a soft blue matte plastic that gives off a light that is not as pale as AirPods and products.

The hinge at the lid is plastic, it closes loudly, but does not play. There is a small protrusion on the lid, thanks to the convenient location of the case with one hand.

Headphones meet the average between the first needs AirPods and templates AirPods Pro. The stem here is slightly longer and more visible from the body. The fit is comfortable and comes with 3 pairs of ear pads.

The case is glossy with an insert of a slightly different shade at the end. There is also a touch surface. This is not a decorative overlay, it is quite a functional element.

The sound and autonomy are pleasantly pleasing

In terms of sound, this is an average device with codec support. AAS/SBC. Dynamic driver 10 mm. The sound quality is acceptable with well-defined mids.

Highs are not enough here when playing many genres, but here you can easily add an equalizer or player settings. If you do not find fault with the sound quality, then serious differences from the road are more than headsets in this indicator are not suitable.

The battery capacity of the case is 480 mAhin each of the headphones 41 mAh. The case allows you to recharge the headphones up to 4 times. A full charge takes about an hour and a half. Wireless charging is not provided here.

In reference mode at 50% volume and with headphone noise reduction turned off 6 hours and about 30 hours along with the case.

With a charge level of 60-65% on a single charge, the headphones will last almost 4 hours + 20 hours add charging case. Turning the volume closer to the maximum value, using the noise reduction and microphone, the sound power is approximately up to 2.5 hours.

The device is connected via Bluetooth 5.2 and it is assumed that the connection is kept with a couple of gadgets through several walls.

Noise canceling and mode of operation is, but not the best

At this price point, third-party players have long been paying for headsets with active noise cancellation. For 2-3 years the situation has changed a lot and it is quite possible to find headphones with decent noise reduction. Headset OPPO ENKO Free 2i both support popular modes, work quite well every time, but there are not enough stars from the sky.

Noise reduction statement sounds up to 42 dB, for which a separate three-core chip is responsible. If you activate the noise reduction and do not notice the gain, you will notice a good cutoff of medium and low frequencies, then the jamming is bad. I also noticed that the headset is well equipped with sounds coming from afar, while nearby noises often disappear.

While listening to music, noise cancellation problems are almost imperceptible. In public transport or while jogging, extra sounds do not interfere with listening. But the headset definitely can’t cope with the noise of the metro.

The mode of operation works both with one earphone and with a pair. In the first case, everything is natural and the headset is practically not felt in the ear, but in the second case there is a slight vacuum effect.

For its price, the effects are worked out perfectly. If you are committing to persistent memory AirPods Pro – will be a little upset.

Manage and set up your headset

App is used to set up. HeyMelody. Here you can look at charging the headphones and case, switch between noise reduction and increase modes, at the amount of ear cushion consumption and at the trouble of the equalizer.

Unfortunately, there is no custom frequency setting, there are three preset presets and a default setting to choose from. Most correspond to standard sound or low frequencies.

Personalized noise reduction – useless feature. For a month of activity, no results of her work were found.

And here Game Mode sometimes helps. The delay in transmitting sound to the headphones is minimal, but it is. You can only notice in game games and watch accelerated videos. Just for the latter, I often turn on the game mode. It’s good that it can be activated with a tap and hold.

In the headset volume control, there is an adjustment, but a noticeable out of sync with the sound and video disappears. When watching videos at normal speed, in most cases, the loss of games and when listening to music cannot be detected.

Definitely pleased multipoint. I only take models with such a chip in stock in order to reliably switch between Mac and iPhone. In thousands of previous OnePlus Bullets Wireless Z, the treatment mode switch is in manual mode. The international economy would be chosen.

Everything works automatically here. Headphones remember the last two connected devices and themselves “jump” between them. Where the sound begins, they connect. Switching between gadgets takes 2-3 seconds. Dullness occurs when both devices start to sound at the same time, for example, when an incoming call is face time. Thanks to the chip of iOS 16 and macOS Ventura, you can quickly transfer the call to the desired gadget, and the headset is rebuilt in 2 seconds.

By gesture control and customization options I like these headphones more than the Apple headset.

For change: single, double And triple application, swipe touch panel and hold application. Can be used as right and left speaker separately.

I really liked the solution with a small sensor strip that can detect volume changes or track switching. Never noticed any false positives. It is also convenient that you can use a single application. This gesture is wildly annoying in other headsets, because it always works by accident if you adjust the headphones or during sports, the leg comes into contact with the ear.

Another example of holding can be not just switching noise reduction modes in a circle, but recording and turning off the selected mode.

What is the result: to take or not?

To begin with, I will summarize my impressions of listening and talk about the main pros and cons of the models.

Advantages:

▶ An affordable AirPods style headset. If you need a model similar to Apple headphones, it’s no longer worth buying money that copies the look, but lags far behind in terms of sound. A third-party increase in the number of rare models that are on the head of such copies, but at the same time they are shamelessly found and have several useful features.

There will be no problems for friends, but a quality item for its price will definitely be received.

▶ Good sound, for which you will not be ashamed. Music lovers and audiophiles pass right by, but AirPods in such cases are also not for them. Here you get good sound (albeit with a margin of volume) for calls, watching videos and listening to music without special requirements. You can fine-tune the equalizer in the application or use the system of additional tools.

▶ Excellent autonomy. When the headphones are used only for calls and infrequent video viewing, the headphones are loaded approximately once every 10 days. If you connect listening to music, the charge lasts for 5-6 days. Active music lovers will definitely have enough 30 hours for several days of listening without recharging.

▶ Noise canceling and noises that work. These chips are no longer a rarity in the price segment of 5-6 thousand rubles. Some manufacturers are better, others are a little worse. The level of AirPods is not worth waiting for here, but the chip for the sake of a tick is assigned to the language mode is not rotated. In some scenarios, these headset features will definitely come in handy.

▶ Convenient customizable gestures. And this is what I consider a serious advantage of this headset. Adjusting the sound, switching tracks, changing noise reduction / transparency modes is mega-convenient. In this case, you can use a single tap to avoid false attacks.

Flaws:

▶ Ear pads are too soft. On the one hand, this captures a more comfortable fit, but on the other hand, they often turn inside out when you take the headphones out of your ear. You have to adjust the nozzle before placing the device in the case.

▶ Headset charges are incorrectly displayed in the iOS widget. The device is not able to measure indicators from each “ear” and case separately. In the widget on the iPhone, you can see the charge that attracts attention (if one is used) and some average indicator between all users (when playing in pairs). To find out the charge of the case, you need to access the application.

▶ maximum volume from iPhone could be higher. When connected to an Android smartphone, I listen to music at about 60-65%, and with Apple technology I have to turn it up to 80-90%. There is practically no volume margin in a too noisy place. I observe a problem with many headsets from external manufacturers and do not consider this a too critical drawback.

When the volume drops a little, you just need to carefully clean the mesh of the sound guide.

Shouldn’t be taken OPPO ENKO Free 2i and other analogues of this price segment as a competitor AirPods. Under current conditions, this is a common consumable accessory that changes every 2-3 years.

My previous OnePlus Bullets Wireless Z headset, just in time for 2.5 years of use, sank heavily into planetary acoustics, took ENKO free 2i to replace. I use headphones most often for calls and listening to videos so as not to interfere with other sources of the family. Sometimes I take headphones for a run.

In this mode of operation, I see no reason to overpay for AirPodswhich will also hopelessly lose their charge capacity in 2-3 years, but at the same time cost 3-4 times more.

🛒 Buy OPPO ENKO Free 2i in Russia it is possible for 6899 rubles. Model with AliExpress will cost 4409 rubles.

The difference between the Chinese version and the global voice acting of noise reduction modes. The global revision notifies of this with a normal signal, and the Chinese one with a female voice. There are no other differences between the templates.