Oppo as a brand is primarily associated with smartphones, but the company has also been making headwinds lately in the audio department. Its Enco series has established itself firmly in the market, and I’ve almost come to associate that name with reliability. The latest addition to that series is now the Enco Air3, succeeding 2022’s Enco Air2, which we had absolutely loved. This year sees a Rs 500 price hike, so if you are wondering if they’re still worth it, this review has got you covered. Design The Oppo Enco Air3, like its predecessor, sports a minimalistic design laced with some transparent elements that make it stand out from the crowd. It isn’t over the top like the Nothing Ear 1, so you won’t catch a glimpse into the innards. But it does add a certain character which I really dig. The oval-shaped charging case (whose front reminds me of Guy-Manuel’s Daft Punk helmet) has a see-through cap through which you can spot the earbuds resting graciously inside. The cap has a frosted finish so if it gets scratched, I doubt the damage will be very visible. The case is surprisingly compact and when pocketed, you’ll almost forget it’s there. Pluck the earbuds out and you’ll notice the transparent aesthetics here too. The bottom of the earbuds' stem has a transparent finish, which Oppo says resembles a “dewdrop stem inspired by jewels.” Flip the buds over to the side that faces your ear and you’ll immediately be reminded of the AirPods. Overall, the entire package looks and feels premium, although the case’s cap can feel flimsy. Fit Let me clear up one thing before I talk about the fit – my ears do not hold earbuds without silicon ear tips very well. The Enco Air3 lacked those, so they kept falling off whenever I got up and walked around for a bit. That’s probably a me problem, though, because I forced a couple of friends to wear them and jog around and they had no complaints whatsoever. Connection Pairing the Oppo Enco Air3 is a simple process. All you need to do is pop open the charging case and you’ll see the earbuds on your Bluetooth devices list in a couple of seconds. Tap pair, and boom, you’re ready to rock. Connection is stable and I did not encounter any random cut-offs even when listening for hours, so extra points for that. Audio quality Same as last year, the Enco Air3 features large 13.4mm drivers, which Oppo claims delivers “strong bass.” In my tests, though, I did not find the bass to be particularly powerful on the default profile, just the way I like it. The earbuds seem to have more of a flattish audio signature, with slightly emphasised bass and treble. I really liked the configuration and felt no need to download an equaliser app to “fix” the audio, which is something I do fairly often with audio devices. Still, the audio will also resonate with bassheads because the “Enco Master EQ” can be tuned to Bass boost mode, upping the thump levels significantly. Call quality is pretty good and the other side hears you just fine even when it’s windy. Software and gestures I was surprised when I learned that the Enco Air3 features dual connection, and even more so when I realised that it requires no special gestures on your part to switch between devices. I was able to keep the earbuds connected both to my laptop and the Reno 8T 5G at the same. Playing something on either device got the audio to fire from the earbuds expectedly, with the earbuds smartly switching between the two devices seamlessly. Since I used the Enco Air3 with the Reno 8T 5G, I did not need the HeyMelody app to play around with the earbuds’ settings. In fact, when I did download the app, it was inaccessible – the app kept redirecting me to the phone’s built-in settings for the earbuds. Touch controls work perfectly fine, although I had to turn off volume gestures since whenever I adjusted the fit of my earbuds (remember, they don’t fit me well), it kept messing with the volume levels. Gestures can be configured between a variety of actions for each earbud. Verdict At Rs 2,999, there isn’t a lot to complain about here except for the lack of silicon ear tips. If such earbuds don’t usually fit you, then the Enco Air3 wouldn’t fit you either. But if silicon ear tip-less earbuds are your type, then you’re in for a treat. The earbuds sound excellent for the price and the dual connection feature is a cherry on top.
