OPPO Enco Buds3 Pro Review: Long Battery and Punchy Sound at Budget Price

The OPPO Enco Buds3 Pro are the latest offerings from OPPO, joining the budget true wireless earbuds (TWS) space in India. Priced at just ₹1,799, the earbuds offer long-lasting battery life, a premium design, and a bunch of smart features.

From sound quality and comfort to smart features and battery endurance, the Enco Buds3 Pro tries to pack it all in. Now, the question is whether these budget earbuds can truly deliver the performance you'd expect and stand out in a crowded budget TWS market. Let's dive into the details.

PROS

• No fatigue even after long use
• Punchy bass with clear sound
• Low-latency game mode
• Impressive battery life

CONS

• No Active Noise Cancellation (ANC)
• No charging cable included in the box
• Charging case lacks IP rating
• Placing earbuds in case isn’t always smooth

Design and Build Quality

The OPPO Enco Buds3 Pro comes in two colour options: Graphite Grey and Glaze White. Our review unit is the latter, which has a simple and sophisticated design-nothing flashy or over the top. The earbuds come in a rounded rectangular charging case that feels compact and easy to carry.

The earbuds feature silicone tips for a comfortable in-ear fit, and the box includes extra tips along with a user guide and warranty card. However, unlike most TWS earbuds, a charging cable is not included. You can charge the buds using any USB Type-C cable, and a charging indicator is placed on the outside of the case, just below the OPPO branding.

Moreover, each earbud weighs 4.3g, and together with the charging case, the total weight is 42.7g. While the charging case does not have an IP rating, the earbuds come with an IP54 rating, making them resistant to dust and splashes. So, you can easily use them for workouts, as they can handle sweat or light splashes with ease.

In my usage, the earbuds fit very comfortably and didn't cause any fatigue, even during long listening sessions. The earbuds also stay secure during walking, and you can easily swap the silicone tips for a better fit. At times, I barely even noticed I was wearing them. The only minor issue I faced was placing the earbuds back into the case-if you try to insert them straight from above, they tend to resist.

Audio Quality

The OPPO Enco Buds3 Pro features a 12.4mm extra-large titanium-coated driver that delivers a balanced yet enjoyable sound profile. This is one of the highlights of these earbuds. In my usage, I enjoyed listening to Bollywood tracks and EDM-the bass was punchy, and even at higher volumes, the sound remained clear without distortion.

As for call quality, I'm not someone who spends hours on calls, but during my daily conversations of 10-15 minutes, the voice came through clearly. However, in noisy environments, calls can be challenging since these earbuds lack ANC (active noise cancellation). However, the dual microphones per earbud do a decent job of maintaining clarity for regular calls.

So, if you're often travelling or working in a noisy office and need earbuds, these may not be the best choice. But for casual listening and everyday use, they perform well for their asking price. And with 'Pro' in the name, the lack of ANC feels disappointing, especially since even budget earbuds come with the ANC feature.

Touch Controls, Connectivity, and Smart Features

The OPPO Enco Buds3 Pro features Bluetooth 5.4 with dual-device connectivity, letting you stay connected to two devices simultaneously and switch between them with ease. They support AAC and SBC audio codecs, ensuring stable playback across both Androids and iPhones. For gamers, the 47ms low-latency game mode keeps audio and visuals almost perfectly in sync.

Moreover, you can double-tap the touch control area of the buds to take a photo; however, it is only available on phones running ColorOS 12.0 and later versions. Touch controls on the earbuds are responsive, and you can customize them using the HeyMelody app. Once configured, you can assign different gestures to either earbud for tasks like play/pause, skipping tracks, or enabling game mode.

Other smart features include Google Fast Pair for instant pairing, a Find My Earbuds option (accessible via the app) to help track down misplaced buds, and the Enco Master customisable equaliser. Within the app, you get three sound presets. OPPO phone users (running ColorOS 12.0 or later) can also unlock a personalised equaliser; however, it still feels limiting since not everyone uses a ColorOS device.

Overall, I didn't notice any lag with the touch controls. However, during the first pairing, you need to enable them through the app, and the EQ options feel a bit limited.

Battery Life

OPPO claims the Enco Buds3 Pro can deliver up to 54 hours of total playback with the charging case. In my usage, I typically listened for about 1-3 hours a day.

With that routine, the earbuds lasted over two weeks before I needed to top them up. Even after that, the charging case itself had enough backup to keep me going for another four days. When I finally plugged them in, it took around 1 hour 30 minutes to fully charge.

Final Verdicts

Overall, if you're looking for a budget pair of earbuds for everyday listening without breaking the bank, the OPPO Enco Buds3 Pro is definitely worth considering. For gamers, casual listeners, and budget-conscious buyers, however, the Enco Buds3 Pro could be a good pick.

Of course, there are a few drawbacks – most notably the lack of ANC, which means they're not ideal if you need strong noise isolation while commuting or travelling daily. In such cases, alternatives like the CMF Buds 2 or Vivo TWS 3e could be better options, though the CMF Buds 2 will cost you around ₹700 more.