Oppo Enco Air5s unboxing and ears-on

Now that we've unboxed the Oppo Enco Air5, it's time for the new Enco Air5s. Dubbed as Oppo's first semi-in-ear earbuds with ANC, the Air5s come in Lunar White, Midnight Black, and Starlight Purple.

Because the buds are open-ear, there are no silicone tips in the box.

Oppo Enco Air5s

The Enco Air5s share some of the core specs of the Air5 (and Air5 Pro), such as the 12mm dynamic driver. However, these buds have a smaller case (with the same 530mAh battery), and smaller in-bud batteries at 40.5mAh (vs 62mAh on the Air5). As a result, you're getting up to 48 hours on a charge compared to 52 hours on the Air5.

One thing the Enco Air5s has over the Air5 is support for sliding gestures for volume control in addition to tapping on the bud. It's a must-have for some users (this editor included).

Very light and compact case

The Enco Air5s are all about being comfortable to wear for long periods of time. It starts with the buds' design - these are open-ear (Oppo calls it semi-in-ear), meaning there are no silicone tips to dig into your ear canal.

On the other hand, the lack of eartips means the Air5s don't create a vacuum in your ear and have a far weaker passive isolation than typical in-ear buds.

Still, you get active noise cancellation, though Oppo doesn't list specific decibel numbers. ANC is nowhere near the level of the Air5. Like other open-ear buds we've tested, noise cancellation only barely takes the edge off your environment.

Sound quality seemingly matches that of the Air5 - there's plenty of volume and a very strong midrange with emphasis on treble. Because of the less-impressive passive isolation, you're getting less impressive bass, which wasn't that impressive on the Air5 out of the box to begin with.