This is because the Oppo Enco M31 focused mainly on audio quality; the M32 are more about great battery life and good call quality. The Enco M31 was all about play (playing audio); the Enco M32 have a definite work touch to them.
Designed for work
This “work touch” is evident from their appearance. In terms of design, the Oppo Enco M32 follow in the footsteps of the Enco M31 and are pretty similar to other Bluetooth earphones – a band connecting two cylinders, from which wires extend, ending in the buds which deliver sound. The cylinder on the right has the volume increase and decrease multi-function buttons and the USB Type C port. The left cylinder is totally plain. The band is flexible plastic, and the buds are plastic as well, with removable ear tips. The finish is matte, so smudges and stains will be few. The earphones have an IP55 dust and water resistance, so they are gym-friendly. They are flexible enough for you just to bunch them up and put them in your pocket, something you might find yourself often doing as there is no carrying case for them in the box. The buds themselves have circular rather than cylindrical backs (as seen on the M31) and come with tiny wings that Oppo claims will make them more steady in your ears. There are two additional pairs of ear tips in the box, allowing users to choose the one that fits them best. The M32 are lightweight at 28.5 grams, if very slightly heavier than the 22 gram M31 – it is not a difference that most people would notice. There are no glossy panels on the inside of the two cylinders as on the M31, and even the mesh on the buds is black, rather than the shiny steel color that we saw on the M31. Instead, the Oppo Enco M32 are clean, smart-looking earphones with a radiating function rather than flair. They fit snugly enough, are comfortable. They managed to stay in our ears even through some walking sessions and mild exercise.
Slightly more bass-y sound
Their performance is also more about function than flair. The Enco M32 come with 10 mm drivers, and these churn out a slightly bass-heavy sound at very impressive volumes. You will like these earphones if you love dance, pop, trance, and underground music. However, those spoiled by the Enco M31 might find the bass giving the earphones a slightly “thicker” sound and sometimes making it difficult to distinguish between different instruments, which some might call a slightly muddy sound. Those who like classic rock, country, jazz, and classical music might not like the M32 as much because, at times, the bass overwhelms vocals and other instruments. Also, unlike the Enco M31, which let you switch between a bass-heavy mode and a more balanced one, the Enco M32 come with just one mode, and as there is no companion app to adjust settings and emphasis, which is okay with us, but some equalizer fiddlers might think differently.
You might not get the sort of clarity and quality that you get from the Enco M31, but If you are a mainstream listener, who likes their music with a bit of thump and watches lots of action-oriented films and shows, you will have nothing to complain about. Games sound good, too, although a bit of lag between visuals and vocals does creep in from time to time. Significantly, the Enco M32 do not come with support for the high-quality LDAC support, which means they cannot stream high-resolution music as the M31 did, but we do not think that will make too much of a difference at their price point as most users will be listening to regular music formats like MP3 and AAC rather than high-resolution ones. As a result, they are not as close to audiophile quality as the Enco M31 were but sound good nevertheless.
Great battery life
If they lose out to their predecessors in terms of audio quality (and that is subjective – bass lovers might actually prefer them), the Enco M32 totally outdo the M31 in two crucial departments – battery life and calling. Call quality was better than on the M31, with environmental noise cancellation doing its bit to keep external noises out. But the biggest star of the Enco M32 show is its battery. Oppo claims the M32 can deliver 28 hours of audio on a single charge, and it certainly delivers that much. Even better is the fact that they recharge fully in anything from 35 minutes to an hour, depending on the charger you use. So a ten-minute charge can give you about 20 hours of music, which is again rather exceptional.
A familiar UI that works most of the time
The earphones come with Bluetooth 5.0, and connecting them is as simple as pressing the multi-function button and selecting the M31 from the Bluetooth settings of the device you are connecting them to. You can also switch between different devices, although this (still) involves the rather odd process of holding the volume up and volume down keys together at the same time. Connectivity is generally good over the advertised distance of ten meters, although we would recommend not letting a wall get between you and the music source. The volume buttons can also be used to move to the next track or skip back to a previous one, while the multi-function can be used to take and reject calls. All of this works smoothly enough.
The one thing we would really like to change is the buds’ magnetic backs. The sound stops when the buds get attached to each other, but as we stated in a previous review, the buds automatically connect to a device when they come apart. And that happens all too often, especially when we place them in our pockets or in a bag. Suddenly seeing your call gets transferred from your phone to buds that you are not wearing can be quite irritating. A simple power off button would have helped. Music also does not pause when you remove a single bud, and if you stop the music by attaching the buds to each other, it does not resume from where it stopped when you put them back in your ears. The multi-function button can be used to pause tracks, but it would have been nice for the automated process, as we see in many TWS. There’s also no dedicated app to let you play around with different settings – we did not miss it, but some folks might. So should you be going for the Oppo Enco M32? Well, at their price of Rs 1,799 (initially available at a special offer price of Rs 1,499), they are an excellent option for anyone who wants Bluetooth earphones with decent rather than exceptional audio and excellent battery life with fast charging.
They do face competition, though. Right in the front row of challengers are the Bullets Wireless Z which are slightly higher priced at Rs 1,999 but have a similar bass-accented sound and 20-hour battery life with fast charging too. For the more work-centric, there is also the Mi Neckband Pro, which delivers slightly more bass-heavy sound but has a 20-hour battery life and also some rather basic active noise cancellation (ANC). And of course, if you value pure audio quality, we would still nudge you towards the Enco M31, which remain our earphones of choice for aspiring audiophiles on a tight budget. The Oppo Enco M32 is a very different beast from its predecessor. It is more mainstream with a stronger “productivity” angle. It might be called the Enco M32, but it is the Enco M31 Pro in spirit. So if your audio needs are all about work, then hit “play” on these! Buy Oppo Enco M32
