OPPO launched the Enco Air5, the company’s latest Enco series earbuds, after the Enco Air3, a half-in-ear design earbuds, which was launched back in 2023. The new Enco Air5 brings features such as up to 52 dB ANC and promises up to 54 h of total playback on a single charge.
So, are these the best true wireless earbuds with ANC for under Rs. 3,500? Let us dive into the review to find out.
Box contents
- OPPO Enco Air5 earbuds in Lavender Purple color
- OPPO Enco Air5 charging case
- User guide
- Silicon ear tips (S and L; M pre-installed)
- User Guide & Safety and Warranty card
Design and Build Quality
Starting with the design, the headset comes in a round, pebble-shaped charging case compared to an oval case in the predecessor, and it is compact. It has a matte finish, so it doesn’t attract fingerprints easily.
You can see the OPPO logo, and there is an LED on the front. The charging case weighs 43.5 grams. There is a tiny LED indicator on the front that glows in white, green, and red colors.
In addition to Lavender Purple, it also comes in Midnight Black color. The USB Type-C port is present in the back, along with the setup button.
The headset has a plastic build with a glossy finish so it can attract fingerprints easily. There are three microphones on each headset: the front, the back, and the bottom. This uses touch controls, the same as the old Enco series buds with touch controls.
The earbuds weigh about 4.3 grams and feature an in-ear design. The earbuds come with medium-sized ear tips pre-installed, but you can change to bundled large– or small-sized ear tips if you wish. There is an optical sensor for wear detection so that it can automatically pause the audio when you remove it from your ears and play when you put it back.
Overall, the headset has good build quality, is compact, and fits your ears perfectly so that they don’t fall off your ears easily, even during outdoor activities like running or cycling. The earphones have IP55 ratings for dust and water resistance, so they can withstand splashes or light rain, but you can’t use them when swimming. There are no IP ratings for the case.
Connectivity, Pairing, and Controls
The OPPO Enco Air5 supports Bluetooth 6.1 with AAC / SBC codecs, which is common in the headsets in this price range. The pairing process is very easy for OPPO devices. Just enable Bluetooth on the OPPO phone, open the charging case of the buds, place the charging case close to the phone, and follow the prompts.
To connect to a non-OPPO phone or other Bluetooth device, place the Enco Air5 into the charging case with the cover opened. Press and hold the setup button in the case for 2 seconds to enter Bluetooth settings. Then, select OPPO Enco Air5.
There is a fast pair option that works on the latest Android phones. We tested it on the Google Pixel 10, OPPO Reno 16, and MacBook Pro and never faced any pairing or disconnection issues. It also comes with Microsoft Swift Pair. Since the phone pairs with the case and not the headset, you will need the case if you want to reconnect it or even turn on the headset if it’s disconnected from the phone.
You can enable the dual connection option that lets you connect to two devices at the same time and switch the audio playback between them.
| Function | Left earphone (L) | Right earphone (R) |
| Play / Pause | Single tap | |
| Play next track or Answer call / Hang calls | Double Tap | |
| Play previous track | Triple Tap | |
| Enable noise cancellation or switch between noise cancellation modes | Press and hold for 1s | |
| Volume control | Press and Hold | |
You can customize the controls from the settings if you have an OPPO phone or even from OnePlus or realme phones. Others can use the Hey Melody app on Android and iOS.
You can’t edit the single press for play/pause but can change a double press for the next track to the previous track or to launch the voice assistant for either the left earbud or the right earbud or both earbuds. The triple tap function can also be customized. You can use long touch and hold to control the volume, which comes in handy. However, there is no slide volume control that was present in the OPPO Enco Air5 Pro.
You can also choose at least two from noise cancellation, transparency, and noise cancellation off when you press and hold either earbud.
You can also customize the controls with Spotify Tap and even tap a bud to start their chosen AI assistant. You can also choose at least two from noise cancellation, transparency, and noise cancellation off when you press and hold either earbud. The autoplay / pause option when you remove the earbud can be disabled. The sound space can play ambient sound to help you sleep or stay calm.
The earbuds fit test option plays music to ensure that your ear tips make a good seal with your ear canal for better noise-canceling. For OPPO phones running ColorOS 15.0.1 or later, there is AI translation that can translate between languages such as English, Hindi, Spanish, and French.
Audio Quality
The OPPO Enco Air5 packs a 12mm titanized dynamic driver. Audio from the earbuds is very loud and crisp, and as usual, the bass is on the higher side even without enabling the BassWave option, which further enhances the bass.
It features three equalizers—Ultimate Sound (default), Pure Vocals, and Thundering Bass — so that every song can be heard how it should. You can also create a custom EQ. There is OPPO Alive audio, which uses software to create spatial sound.
The audio quality is crisp with clear vocals and a good amount of bass. Highs are good, and the mid-range is average.
Noise Cancellation and Call Performance
Regarding the noise cancellation, the Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) blocks the ambient sound, which helps in most cases. You can feel the difference when you are listening outdoors. For the price, it does a good job.
It offers 52dB ANC, and it has a wide 5000Hz frequency range. There are high, moderate, and mild modes. This doesn’t use hybrid noise cancellation, so you will need to set it to high, and it will adjust it in real time accordingly.
This also has Transparency mode that allows you to listen to ambient sound so that you can recognize the surrounding situation and any potential risks. It can turn on the transparency mode automatically when you remove a single earbud. The low latency is 47ms. This is useful when gaming.
Coming to the call noise cancellation, it uses an AI-powered noise reduction algorithm and three ENC microphones to cut external noise. This does a good job in cutting down wind and traffic noise. During my use outdoors, wind noise was completely cut out to the receiver, but the traffic noise was faintly audible.
Battery Life
The earphones pack a 62mAh battery that promises about 13 hours of standalone battery life and 6.5 hours with noise cancellation enabled. During my use with noise cancellation on and off, I got about 9 hours of battery life at about 60% volume, so it is good. For calls, it lasts for less than 5 hours since it uses call noise cancellation tech.
With the 530mAh charging case, it promises up to 54 hours of total battery life without ANC and 27 hours of total battery life with noise cancellation enabled. The green light in the case indicates that the battery is high, and it turns red when it is low. You can also see the charge left in the case in the HeyMelody app when the earbuds are placed in the case.
It has TÜV Rheinland certification for battery durability, so it remains stable and reliable even after 1,000 charge cycles, said the company.
Charging the case fully with the earbuds takes about one and a half hours, and charging the earbuds fully takes about an hour. It also has fast charge, so that you get 11 hours (charging case + earbuds combined) of playback with 10 minutes of charging with ANC off.
Conclusion
The OPPO Enco Air5 stands out as a highly competitive contender in the sub-Rs. 3,500 segment, successfully building on the foundation of its predecessor. OPPO has managed to pack premium-tier features—like a staggering 52 dB of active noise cancellation and exceptional battery life—into a package that remains budget-friendly.
For bass-heads and daily commuters, these earbuds are an absolute treat. The 12mm drivers deliver an incredibly punchy low-end right out of the box, and the heavy-lifting ANC does a commendable job of silencing the chaos of outdoor traffic or office chatter. Couple that with a lightweight, comfortable in-ear fit and an outstanding 54-hour total battery runway, and it’s easy to overlook minor shortcomings like average mid-range performance and the fingerprint-prone glossy stems.
If you are looking for an all-around pair of true wireless earbuds that don’t compromise on noise cancellation or battery life, the OPPO Enco Air5 is incredibly easy to recommend at its price point.
Pricing and availability
Priced at Rs. 3,299, the OPPO Enco Air5 is now available from the OPPO India online store, Amazon.in, Flipkart, and leading mainline retail outlets. For a limited period, it will be available for Rs. 3,099 as a part of the launch offer.
Pros
- Strong audio quality with powerful bass
- Highly effective 52dB ANC for the price range
- Compact, matte-finish case
- IP55 ratings for the headset
- Good call quality with call noise cancellation
- Excellent battery life with fast charging
Cons
- Average mid-range frequency performance
- Glossy earbuds are fingerprint-prone