If you're looking for the best wireless earbuds on the market, there are a lot of options for you. And, of course, if you're looking for the best of the best, you'll have to be willing to pay a princely sum.
My top pick right now is the Bose QuietComfort Ultra earbuds. In my opinion, they offer the best all round option for most people. The best sounding pair I've heard are the Devialet Gemini II. But both of those will set you back a few hundred pounds.
If you're operating on a tighter budget, there are still options for you. Enter the Oppo Enco Air 3 Pro earbuds I've got on test today. Can they make their mark on the industry? Let's find out.
Oppo Enco Air 3 Pro review: Price and Release Date
The Oppo Enco Air 3 Pro earbuds retail for £79 in the UK. There is currently no listing for them in the USA.
These earbuds were launched on the 10th of July 2023, and we're marketed as having top specs for an affordable price.
Oppo Enco Air 3 Pro review: Features
One of the things which first attracted me to this model is the use of bamboo in the driver. According to Oppo, that offers "beautifully detailed high-frequency listening" with minimal distortion.
The material itself is 60% lighter, 56% more rigid and 63% more elastic which should all contribute to a nicer listening experience. We'll get onto that again later on, but it's certainly a novel material.
The brand also suggest some pretty stellar battery life figures. Users should be able to get seven hours out of the buds alone, with a total of 30 hours with the included charging case. Again, we'll talk more about my findings with this later on.
Elsewhere, you'll find IP55 water and dust resistance on the buds themselves. That should be more than enough to withstand the rigors of daily life, without causing concern for the user.
Multipoint connection is on offer, for use with multiple devices, while Bluetooth 5.3 connectivity ensures low latency for gaming. What's more, all of that happens across a 10Hz-40kHz frequency range. That's wider than the spectrum of human hearing, meaning you're also getting some of the ultra- and sub-sonic sounds for a more all-encompassing experience.
Oppo Enco Air 3 Pro review: Performance
Okay, so let's talk about how these work in practice. And let's start with the most important bit – the sound quality. As their primary function, this is the make or break point for most earbuds.
Fortunately, I was very pleasantly surprised by the quality on offer here. Overall audio performance is strong, with lots of high-end detail and a good degree of low-end punch. I can't say for certain that's all because of the bamboo driver, but it certainly seems to align with the claims made about it.
All in all, it's a fairly middle of the road sonic profile, but it does the job well. You'll be glad of that inoffensive nature, too, because there isn't really any scope to change it. The app you use with these – HeyMelody, if you were wondering – leaves quite a bit to be desired.
There's no custom EQ potential. Instead, users are just left with a handful of settings which are very subtle. Bass Boost and Natural Inspiration do just enough to tickle the low and high end frequencies into action, but don't expect grandiose changes.
My gripes with the app extend to other features, too. The Oppo Alive Sound, for example is a user configurable setting in the app. And yet, I cannot for the life of me fathom why you'd ever turn it off. The difference is night and day. In any case, it has stayed on permanently since I got hands on with these.
Still, there are some good bits. The layout for control of the noise cancellation and transparency modes is clean and concise, with the ability to switch between different levels of ANC, too.
Oh, and while were on the subject, that ANC is really strong. Using the 'high' mode took out a lot of peripheral sounds, including colleagues speaking around me in the office.
Then there's the touch controls on the buds. Again, I can't really fault this too much. It worked nicely, with only a minimal amount of accidental mis-clicks or double taps. That's a good thing, as using earbuds with ropier touch sensitivity can quickly become infuriating.
In terms of battery life, these are pretty great, too. I struggled to get the listed seven hours from the buds themselves – six hours is probably more accurate in my experience. As for the case? I have no idea. Suffice to say, it lasted long enough that I lost count, so it's unlikely to be a major issue.
Oppo Enco Air 3 Pro review: Verdict
The bottom line is, are these earbuds worth your cash? And the answer, put simply, is yes. For £79 you're getting a really good pair of earbuds from a top tech company.
Sure, I have gripes. The app is painfully dated, and I'd love more hands-on control of the EQ. But that won't matter to everyone. If you just care about top notch sound, these could scratch the itch nicely.
Oppo Enco Air 3 Pro review: Alternative picks
In reality, there's only one other pair of earbuds I'm recommending here. The Nothing Ear (2) has become my top pick for most people, thanks to a sound profile which punches way above its weight in terms of price.
At £129, they are a good chunk more costly than these Oppo earbuds. But I do think that difference is measured and justified, particularly if you crave control.
Elsewhere, the Sony WF-C700N earbuds are worth a mention, too. They have a killer app and great battery life, and are another great option if you're looking for more of a household name brand.
