So, it is 2020 and truly wireless earphones have taken over the market like never imagined. We have TWS earphones ranging from ₹999 till ₹30,000 and above. In this era of TWS earphones, Oppo has gone with budget-oriented earphones which they call the Oppo W11. So, let’s find out are they any good when compared to other manufacturers in the market. Oppo, a Chinese brand like Xiaomi has released budget-oriented, entry-level TWS earphones for a whooping price of ₹1999 on Flipkart. Now, these are the direct competitor to the Redmi Earbuds S from Xiaomi. So, are they worth the money you spend? Let’s find out.
Design & Specs
The Oppo W11 comes with an overall plastic build. They are oval-shaped to fit them right into your ear lobe. They come with three different sizes of silicone ear tips. The drivers are 8mm Dynamic drivers, with a sensitivity of 99dB @ 1kHz and with a frequency response of 20Hz to 20kHz. They come with Bluetooth 5.0 for better connectivity and less audio loss.
The Bluetooth range would be about 10mts depending on the environment. The battery situation on the charging case is 400mAh and the buds themselves is 40mAh.
The charging time is about 2 hours for the case and the buds, which I feel is a bit on the slower side. Speaking of durability, they come with an IP55 rating for dust and water resistance which means they can easily power through your daily gym sessions, a walk in the rain, or a daily commute. The weight of the earphones is pretty low because of the plastic build, which is 44gms with the earphones and the case. The buds themselves are about 4.5gms each. For charging they come with USB- Type C which is great, but do not offer quick charging.
Performance
These earphones come with 8mm dynamic drivers with Titanium coated diaphragm for enhanced bass and higher frequencies. This makes for a rich and thump filled music experience. It also supports AAC audio codec for lossless audio streaming provides the device you use supports AAC as well. In typical TWS earphones, the audio is routed from your phone to the master bud and from there to the secondary bud. But this is not the case for the Oppo. They have something called Binaural Audio transmission, which means the audio from your phone is transmitted through individual channels to the bud independently.
This makes for a seamless and lag-free transmission which makes a stable Bluetooth connection overall. To make all this possible, they offer Bluetooth 5.0 for a stable connection. Also, there is no dedicated Noise Cancellation feature on these buds and Noise-canceling is not offered on music playback, but passive cancellation is present.
The surface of the earbuds are touch-sensitive and not physical buttons. This makes for an intuitive touch experience. Play/pause your music with a single tap, and skip tracks with a double-tap. You can also activate your voice assistant by triple tap. And you can touch and hold to adjust the volume. Overall the product feels very light because of the plastic build and has a very small footprint. They also offer IP55 Dust and Water resistance just for the elements that get in your way. The only complaint being the microphone, these are okay from casual phone calls at a quite place but outdoors the microphone fails to eliminate the background noise.
Audio and Battery
The buds can provide up to 5hrs of playback time, and it depends on various factors like the volume and the Bluetooth range. The charging case has about 20hrs of battery life. Quick charging is present on the earbuds but not on the charging case. A 15-minute quick charge gives about an hour of playback. For the audio experience we had, they sound very punchy with emphasis on the bass as the majority of their consumers need more bass in their music. There are very few customers who look for a balanced sound signature and who are Audiophiles. The OPPO W11 offers a warm sound signature, with clear highs and deep lows for a more energetic sound experience.
This paired with support for AAC audio codec makes for an amazing music or movie watching experience, and yes you can watch movies wearing these earbuds because of the binaural audio transmission they offer.
Conclusion
The OPPO W11 offers better features than the Redmi Earbuds S in terms of the sound quality, and the features onboard. These are a better pair over the Redmi buds for a price difference of about ₹400 which is completely justified given the additional boost in the performance. The inclusion of an IP rating is a peace of mind as these earbuds can be comfortably used for workouts and in other sweaty conditions. The Oppo Enco W11 acts as a great pair of earbuds for the price and mostly tick all the right boxes.
Finally, if you’re really looking for a pair of Bluetooth earphones that sound good we’d strongly recommend you check out the OPPO Enco W31 and at the price of INR 2,499 you just can’t ask for more.
Pros:
- Comfortable Fit
- Noise Isolation
- Comprehensive Touch Controls
- IP55 Certification
- USB Type-C Port
- Impressive Pricing
Cons:
- No Low Latency Gaming Mode
- Microphone is mediocre
Disclaimer: This product was thoroughly tested by the editor, whose thoughts regarding the product are being portrayed in the article. The Author did not test the product himself, but, has been briefed regarding the experience of the Editor post usage.
