The Oppo Enco Air5s semi-in-ear wireless earbuds have the most surprising Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) I’ve heard in a while. Not because it’s the most isolating, but because it’s shockingly effective, all despite the earbuds not sealing in your ears.
I reviewed the Samsung Galaxy Buds 4 Pro, and I’m totally addicted to the sound
I just wish it was available to more people
Effective and safe ANC
You’re not isolated
The Oppo Enco Air5s use a real-time adaptive ANC system with what Oppo calls its ‘tailored voice-cancelling system’ to minimize distracting conversational sounds around you, without entirely blocking off important real-world sounds.
To test it out, I wrote my hands-on piece about the Oppo Reno16 series in a busy Starbucks, surrounded by the usual sounds of conversation, air-conditioning, coffee machines, and ambient music.
I was shocked at just how well the ANC performed. Many semi-in-ear earbuds with ANC reduce the impact of the surrounding noise, but rarely come close to the performance of true in-ear earbuds and ANC.
The Enco Air5s really did take away the bustle of the café, almost completely removed the sound of the AC, and did a solid job of cutting back the sound of conversations taking place next to me.
Oppo claims the Enco Air5s’s real-time ANC, ‘intelligently adjusts noise reduction based on how the earbuds are worn, ear canal shape, and the surrounding noise, all in real time.’ You can actually hear it working, especially when the earbuds slightly shift in your ears, as it reacts to compensate.
Conversations weren’t removed, but the Tailored Voice-Cancelling system did tone them down enough where you could ignore them. The ANC wasn’t as good at removing the ambient background music though, which was still there with nothing playing through the Enco Air5s.
On the street, the sound of traffic was dulled but not removed, keeping you safe. The Enco Air5s let you navigate the world with less distraction, and stops very noisy environments feeling overwhelming, all while ensuring you’re not oblivious to what’s going on around you.
What about music?
Strong sound profile
Inside the Enco Air5s is a 12mm dynamic driver with a Copper-Clad Aluminum Wire coil, all hidden inside a specially designed acoustic cavity.
Oppo also uses an Adaptive Sound Enhancement system that apparently compensates for sound leakage, which is always an issue with semi-in-ear, or open earbuds.
I used YouTube Music on the Honor Magic V6 to stream music to the Enco Air5s. The earbuds are set to an Ultimate Sound profile by default in the HeyMelody app, and it’s bright and powerful, emphasizing vocals more than bass.
Switch to the optimistically named Thunderous Bass profile, and you feel more of a bass response at the expense of the vocals, but these are not earbuds for anyone who wants a strong, hard-hitting bassline.
There’s masses of volume available, which may be due to the Adaptive Sound Enhancement, and stereo separation is present and effective.
Combine the Enco Air5s’s impressive audio performance with the ANC, and the earbuds are surprisingly good for use in loud environments.
These over in-ear earbuds?
Fewer compromises
I tend to pick up in-ear earbuds when I head out. There are fewer compromises, and I can rely on the ANC to isolate me if I want to shut the world out, and also enjoy great sound quality.
The Oppo Enco Air5s are one of the few semi-in-ear earbuds that I would choose instead. They sound great, and the ANC effective enough to be useful, but not so strong that I have to use a transparency mode to still stay in touch with my surroundings.
Considering these are Oppo’s first semi-in-ear earbuds with ANC, it has done a great job of minimizing reasons not to buy and use them over full in-ear models, using clever features that actually seem to work.
Where to buy the Oppo Enco Air5s
Oppo doesn’t officially sell its mobile devices in the US, but it should be easier to buy the brand’s headphones using import services.
The company has not announced the price or official availability at the time of writing.
