OPPO launched its Enco M322 as a successor to its Enco M31 Wireless neckband headset that was launched back in 2020. It is a minor upgrade since this comes with a bigger 10mm drivers, and promises up to 28h of battery life with support for fast charging. After using it for over a week, here is the review of the Bluetooth headset.
Box Contents
- OPPO Enco M32 in Green color
- Different set of ear tips (Small, Medium (Installed) and Large)
- USB Type-C cable
- User manual
Design and Build Quality
The headset has a 33g lightweight design. There is a small wire connecting earbuds and the neck band. The band that you wear around the neck is flexible, lightweight and has a smooth finish. The bottom housing also offers a smooth finish even though it is made of plastic.
The back of the earbuds is magnetic that snap together when not in use and also have auto connection or disconnection feature that is available only in few headsets in this price range. So, when you want to pause, you can snap the buds together, and to resume, just remove them.
There is a small ear fin that locks in your ear, so that the earbuds fit perfectly in your ears, and doesn’t fall out easily even when you are running.
On the right side, there is a USB Type-C charging port, which covered by a flap. On the same side there is are all the buttons that includes a power / multi-function button between the volume adjustment button. There is also a tiny LED indicator that glows in green and red colours. Since it comes with IP55 ratings, it can withstand sweat and light rain, but you can’t immerse it in water. It is also dust resistant.
You can also use the multi-function button to play or pause, answer, end or reject a call and change tracks.
Function | |
Play / Pause, Answer a call, End a call | Press Multi-function button once |
Next track | Long press volume up |
Previous track | Long press volume down |
Decline calls | Press and Hold for 2s |
Volume up | Press volume up button |
Volume down | Press volume down button |
Voice assistant | Press and Hold for 1s |
Switch device | Press volume up and down button together for 2 seconds |
There is no customization option for the earbuds via app, which is available in realme devices.
Connectivity and Pairing
The Bluetooth headset supports Bluetooth 5.0, so you can connect it to Android, iOS and others devices with Bluetooth support. It pairs to your phone quickly, just by pressing the multi-function button for 3 seconds to enter the pairing mode. You just have to select the OPPO Enco M32 to pair the headset. Since this has dual pairing, you can pair with two devices, and switch between them easily, but this doesn’t support multipoint, so you can’t maintain a connection with two devices at a time.
Audio Quality
Coming to the audio quality, these headphones offers fairly good audio quality with good amount of bass, thanks to 10mm Driver that is tuned for bass. Unlike the M31 that supports Sony’s LDAC Hi-Res audio codec for HD sound quality on supported devices, this only has AAC codec. Volume was good as well, and it is loud enough in 60% or 70% volume.
The earbuds offer a good amount of noise isolation, and the voice clarity during calls is fine, but there is considerable noise when you use it for calls outdoors. There is no low-latency gaming mode, so it does have some latency when playing games, but it is decent for watching videos.
Battery Life
With the 220mAh battery, the company promises about 28 hours of battery life. I got over 25 hours of battery life with AAC in 50 to 60% volume. The battery life might vary depending on the usage, calling and listening volume.
Charging the headset from 0 to 100% takes about 35 minutes using a 10W charger. There is also fast charging option that offers 20 hours of playback in 10 minutes of charging, which is impressive.
Conclusion
Overall, the Enco M32 is a decent neckband headset for the price of Rs. 1799, even though there is a huge competition from boAt and realme in the price range. Even though this offers impressive battery life and fast charging, wish the company had retained LDAC from the predecessor and added a low-latency mode.
Pricing and availability
The black version is already available from Amazon.in and OPPO India store priced at Rs. 1799. The green version will be available for purchase starting February 9, 2022, on Flipkart, OPPO India store and across all retail outlets.
Consumers purchasing the headset during the first sale period between February 9 and February 11th get a Rs. 300 discount, so they can get it for Rs. 1,499.
Pros
- Good audio quality
- IP55 ratings for dust and water resistance
- Dual-device paring is useful
- Long battery life with fast charging
Cons
- Drops LDAC codec support present in Enco M31
- No low-latency mode