Oppo Enco M31 wireless earphones review

pgangwani35

The Enco M31 are the latest pair of wireless earphones from Oppo. On paper, the Enco M31 seem fully featured, with LDAC, Hi-Res Wireless Audio certification, IPX5 certified water resistance, and Ai-powered noise cancellation for voice calls, all at a relatively affordable price.




The inclusion of LDAC alone should put a smile on a few faces, as support for this codec is largely absent in budget audio gear. And the Enco M31 is well and truly "budget"; I picked up this pair for INR 1999 from Amazon India, which is only about $26. So what's the catch and how do they perform? Let's find out.


Design


The Oppo Enco M31 are a neckband-style of wireless Bluetooth earphones. They also feature magnetized speakers so when not in use, the two speakers snap together keeping them together and also switching them off in the process.




The rubber neckband terminates in elongated modules on either side that includes all the electronics, batteries, and also the controls on the left unit. The cables emanate from each side leading to the compact earbuds at the other end.


The design of the Enco M31 has two issues — which aren't deal-breakers, certainly not at this price — but can still be a bit annoying.


First, there is no easy way to tell the left speaker from the right with just a glance before you put on the band around your neck. The earbuds are a bit small and not easy to identify. The band itself from outside looks quite similar regardless of how you hold it. The easiest way to tell if you're wearing it the right way is by running your fingers on the inside of the band to check for the buttons, which are only on the left side but have a design similar to that of the right side.


This might sound like a nitpick but after the dozenth time of putting them on the wrong way around and having to flip them over, it got tiring pretty quickly. Most other neckband style Bluetooth earphones have their controls placed on the cable rather than the neckband itself, which makes it easy to tell the left side from the right. The cables on the Enco M31, however, look identical.




This is brought on by Oppo having placed the controls on the inside of the left module on the neckband, which is also the second issue I have with the design. Other than making it difficult to tell the left speaker apart from the right one, the controls are also just difficult to use. Controls on cables can be used quite easily with your thumb but these require you to run your finger on the inside of your band till you find the buttons.


The layout of the buttons is also odd; the topmost button increases the volume, the middle button reduces the volume, and the lower button controls playback. The buttons are quite large but the odd layout makes it difficult to get used to them.


The earbuds at the end of the cables are some of the smallest I've used. The body of the earbuds is only slightly larger than the silicone ear tip attached to them. The whole thing fits completely flush within your outer ear and had it not been for the cables hanging out, you wouldn't even be able to see them from the front. This also means you can lie on your side while wearing them in bed.


The earbuds aren't completely discreet as they have a large silver surface on the outside, with a spun-metal finish underneath a clear plastic layer. The green model is even flashier, with a shiny gold pattern on the earbuds with matching gold cables and gold accents on the neckband. It does look quite striking but sadly wasn't in stock when I ordered our pair so I went with the more sober black version.




The overall build quality is decent. It doesn't seem particularly sturdy as the cables are quite thin but after a month of use, I haven't had any reason to doubt their durability. It's also impressive that Oppo managed to include IPX5 water-resistance at this price point, which should help protect these against water and sweat.


Comfort


No complaints here; the Oppo Enco M31 are a very lightweight and comfortable p

Source