TWS true wireless earphones - under $100
4.5 STARS - Impressive sound, solid ANC noise cancelling, and excellent call quality. The Oppo Enco W51 is a solid pair of wireless earbuds for everyday use, even though controls could be better.
Oppo Enco W51 specs:
Bluetooth 5.0
IPX45 waterproof rating (light rain and sweat resistant)
4 hours listening on a full charge
Charging case can charge earpieces fully 4 times
Comes with 4 sizes ear tips and USB-C cable
$60 on AliExpress or Amazon Germany or other Amazon Stores- check current price!
Below this Oppo W51 review, you will find comparisons between the Oppo Enco W51 vs Fiil T1 Pro, Edifier TWS NB2 and Tronsmart Apollo Bold.
Update March 2021: Added notes on the free app support of the HeyMelody app on Android, therefore changed the control section and the app and included a comparison for the Oppo W51 vs Soundcore Liberty Air 2 Pro.
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Design, comfort and battery life
Square with rounded corners, flat, in dark blue with a logo that can be silver or gold, dependent on the light. The charging case of the Oppo W51 looks like a small jewelry box, not much bigger than an AirPods case. It can recharge the earbuds four times fully before needing new power via USB-C itself. A LED-light on the inside of the case shows the battery status, but its color signals aren't really clear. Red means it needs recharging - that's obvious.
The earbuds itself have a slight jewelry-vibe as well. Their dark blue stems and silver (or sometimes even gold) shining top-part have a more outspoken look than most wireless earbuds reviewed on Scarbir.com. Plus - you don't see fingerprints on them.
The part that goes into your ears is shaped like an oval and delightfully compact. It is made from soft plastic and combined with the oval rubber ear-tips (which come in four sizes), the Oppo Enco W51 manages a comfortable yet tight fit. The stems don't brush your cheeks and smiling broadly or shaking your head doesn't alter the fit. These are the most comfortable affordable wireless earbuds with ANC so far.
Its compactness costs battery life. The Oppo W51 earbuds have around 4 hours playtime with ANC active noise cancelling activated. That's less than most competitors, and only half of the Edifier TWS NB2. If you're only using the ANC function and don't play music on them, however, you may reach up to 5 hours on them.
By the way - it's also available in white.
Connectivity and controls
The Oppo Enco W51 has touch controls, which activate when you're tapping the stems' upper part. Unfortunately, they don't always pick up your commands properly, and the control scheme could be better as well.
By three taps on either of the buds, you activate the voice assistant on your phone.
On the left bud, tap twice to switch between ANC active noise cancelling on and off.
On the right bud, a double-tap can have two functions. Before you're playing any music, a double-tap initiates music playback. When you're playing music, however, a double-tap will skip to the next song.
There is no way to pause music playback with the controls. The only option is to take one of the earbuds of your ears. However, when you put it back in, it automatically resumes playing music again. This ear-detection works great, but a pause-button is really missing here. It's also impossible to return a song or change the volume with the controls on the earbuds. You'll have to use controls on your phone often.
As of the beginning of 2021, the Oppo W51 supports the free HeyMelody app for Android - which allows you to manually activate play/ pause from the controls as well. Therefore, this score is now raised from 2 to 3.5.
The connectivity on the Oppo W51 is good. The earbuds pair and connect quickly, and a soft 'blub' like sound affirms the connection. You can also continue to the right earbud if you put the left one in the case to charge, but not the other way around.
Calling and watching movies
Apart from great ANC, the Oppo Enco W51 has another killer feature: its call quality. It's very convenient to take a phone or video call with these, both inside and outdoors.
A part of the call test of Scarbir.com is always performed at the same crowded intersection, with scooters, cyclists, chatting people, and trains passing by. The Oppo W51 puts them all in the background when you're calling. Surrounding noise is reduced wonderfully, to the point of being inaudible. Wind noise is always challenging for phone calls with wireless earphones, but on the W51, even wind is filtered out okay. Both indoor and outside, your voice sounds loud, clear, and fuller than on most competitors.
On top of that, the Oppo W51 also handles video calls well - like Zoom meetings, Microsoft Teams, and Google Meet. Your voice is loud enough and the connection is remains stable to ensure good video call quality.
Watching videos with the Oppo Enco W51 is great as well. Audio-video synchronization is near-perfect on the YouTube-app on iPhone and performs flawlessly on other video apps and the whole of Android. There is a noticeable delay in sound effects when playing games, however, as is the case on almost all wireless earphones.
Hey Melody: App support for the Oppo Enco W51
As of the beginning of 2021, the Oppo Enco W51 now benefits from support from the free HeyMelody app for Android, which is initiated by the phone brands Oppo and OnePlus. There currently isn't an iPhone app.
The HeyMelody app is basic, and lets you update the firmware from the earbuds and see the battery status for both earbuds - although it's displayed very small.
The best thing? You can change the controls with the app. It's possible to select the functions for the double-tap left and right, and the triple-tap left and right.
Unfortunately, the options are limited. The only option you can do with the triple-tap… is to deactivate the voice assistant. That's it. You can change the double-tap commands to (de)activate noise cancelling, activate the voice assistant, skip or return a track. It's not possible to add volume controls to the earbuds.
Happily, however, it is possible to add a manual play-pause button to the earbuds - meaning you don't have to rely on taking one earbud out to pause music. That, in turn, also means it's now easier to use the great ANC noise cancelling without playing music!
How good is the ANC of the Oppo W51?
Functions and switching: Like the rest of the controls, it can be tricky to switch between the ANC functions on the Oppo W51. It supports ANC noise-canceling mode and lets you turn ANC off. Switching is done by double-tapping the left earbud. When you hear a Chinese voice prompt ending with 'khai', noise cancelling is activated. The prompt ending with 'quan' means it's deactivated.
There is no Ambient Mode - for letting through traffic sounds from your surroundings.
ANC quality: The Oppo Enco W51 has solid ANC active noise cancelling, which removes some brighter background sounds from your surroundings and also reduces the volume of darker tones. The Oppo can make distant traffic, wind brushing through trees, and people talking at a distance (all brighter sounds) disappear, even when you're not playing music.
Closeby voices and sound effects, like electronic humming or keyboard clacking, are still audible, but lose a few high tones. The Oppo's ANC isn't strong enough to silence nearby noise and voices, but it does feel natural and blocks out distant noise successfully. Especially outside or when you're working indoors with your windows open, the amount of noise taken away is impressive.
Wind noise reduction: You may hear some wind noise interfering with your music when you use ANC, but this is dependent on the wind direction. By switching ANC off, wind noise is properly left out of the sound, although you can still hear it around you.
Also read: The best wireless earbuds under $100
Sound quality of Oppo W51: Lovely warm
So far, sound quality on wireless earbuds with good noise cancellation, has been behind on other wireless earphones. Most of them sound overly bassy and lack detail. The Oppo Enco W51 ends this tradition.
The Oppo W51 has a good amount of presence in the mid-tones. Guitars, piano pieces, trumpets, and violins enjoy plenty of attention and detail. Mids sound clear, textured, and lifelike. They manage themselves easily without being overruled by darker tones.
That said, the Oppo still has an emphasis on the lower frequencies. Darker electronic tones, cellos, and drums are slightly boosted. The bass isn't the tightest but generates enough mid-bass thump to provide music with their energy. The sub-bass doesn't easily unlock its power but can show its teeth in songs demanding it, like Billy Eilish' Bad Guy. The W51 is more focused on easy listening than on raw bass power.
Vocals have warm underlining on the Oppo, but don't mistake that for being too smooth - they come with plenty of nuances. In the mid-focused rock-song This Town's A Drag by the Cordova's, the male singer tends towards the lows more than the highs, but his voice remains natural. More challenging voices? In Muse's Starlight, Matthew Bellamy's strikes are controlled well and don't become overbearing.
On louder volumes, the W51 can be a bit thin in the higher notes, however. They can also bear some sibilance, an emphasis on sss-sounds. In most genres and musical pieces, the warm underlining makes music sound pleasant and the earlier rolled-off highs aren't a problem, happily.
The Oppo Enco W51 has a decent soundstage, with music appearing around you instead of 'shouting' directly in your ears. Effects and instruments come from your left and right and are separated well from each other. Last but not least, the earphone can go loud enough on both Android and iPhone.
Speaking of these smartphones, take note! The Oppo has a big difference in sound quality between Android and iPhone. On Android, instrument separation and bass refinement is much better - whereas a song with much bass and lower-mids can sound muddy (!) on iPhone.
With its warm underlining and an excellent representation of instruments and vocals, the Oppo Enco W51 is an enjoyable listen - especially if you have an Android phone.
Oppo Enco W51 comparisons
Oppo Enco W51 vs Fiil T1 Pro
The Fiil T1 Pro and Oppo W51 are both ANC wireless earbuds costing between 50 and 80 dollars and sound top of their category. The Oppo W51 has a warmer sound, with more emphasis on lower-mids. The Fiil T1 Pro has a more neutral tonality, but you could also call it a colder. The Fiil is a more technical performer, with better bass definition and instrument placement within its larger soundstage. The Fiil extends highs further than the Oppo, but sounds brighter as a result. The Oppo reduces highs more - making it sound a bit thin in the highest notes, but more often giving it a warm character that makes the Oppo a more pleasant listen than the Fiil.
While the Fiil T1 Pro has more extensive controls with the app, longer battery life, and sport-wings that makes them great for working out, the Oppo has better call quality and video playback. The Oppo's ANC strength completely overshadows that of the Fiil.
Oppo Enco W51 vs Tronsmart Apollo Bold
The Tronsmart Apollo Bold were the strongest noise cancelling earbuds on the market, but are now challenged by the Oppo, which reduces more traffic sounds, and does so with a less noticeable white noise. However, the Tronsmart has a solid Ambient Mode, putting through voices and traffic around you the moments you need it. With the free app, you can also customize the controls of the Tronsmart entirely and choose between different sound equalizers. Battery life is better as well - around twice as long.
The new Pop equalizer of the Apollo Bold tones down the heavy-hitting bass and livens up the mid-tones and highs, improving the sound. Yet, the Oppo still represents them better, with more detail and more accurate tonality - for example, in drums, guitars, and vocals. The Oppo soundstage is bigger; the Tronsmart bass is more pronounced.
Oppo Enco W51 vs Edifier TWS NB2
The Edifier TWS NB2 is an even more versatile pair of ANC wireless earbuds than the W51. It also has great call quality indoors and outside, and it even comes with a Gaming Mode speeding up sound effects when playing games. The Edifier battery life is up to twice as long as the Oppo, and controls are more extensive. The comfort on both models is great.
The Edifier emphasizes the lower frequencies more, with a boomier and easier rumbling bass, and darker sounding vocals. The Oppo extends highs further and delivers more detail in the (upper-)mids, presenting vocals and higher-pitched instruments with more nuances. The Oppo has warm underlining, the Edifier TWS NB2 colours all music warm.
Oppo Enco W51 vs Apple AirPods Pro
Do you need your earphones to connect to a MacBook and iPhone simultaneously? No? Great - it will save you $200. The Oppo Enco W51 is a worthy cheap alternative for the Apple AirPods Pro, apart from the multipoint connectivity the AirPods Pro has for other Apple devices. The W51 shows comparable strength in its ANC active noise cancelling department, and call quality is outstanding on both. While the Oppo has around 0,5 hours shorter battery life per charge, its sound quality is better. The Oppo has a tighter bass and a warmer yet more natural representation of mid-tones and vocals. Soundstage and instrument separation are better as well.
Oppo Enco W51 vs Soundcore Liberty Air 2 Pro
Added March 2021 - The Soundcore Liberty Air 2 Pro costs around $100 and is a more comprehensive product than the Oppo. It has stellar free app support brimming with different sound equalizers, active noise cancelling and even Ambient Mode options. Oppo's ANC has a softer white noise effect than the Soundcore, and it's even better in reducing background noise. The Soundcore blocks voices and the tv better, however. The Oppo is better at handling video calls. The Oppo has a warm sound with steady bass, upfront vocals, and well-represented mids - which makes it more open than the Soundcore, which in turn sounds fuller and smoother, and can be changed to your desire thanks to the 22 (!) built-in equalizers and the option to create your own.
Verdict
Impressive sound, solid ANC noise cancelling, and excellent call quality. The Oppo Enco W51 is a solid pair of wireless earbuds for everyday use.
4.5 stars - Great
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I bought the Oppo Enco W51 myself to test and review myself, after some reader recommendations. My reviews are 100% independent and non-commercial. I test and review all audio products equally honest - read about it here.
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