OppO eNcOre free 2

Ear buds. Everywhere nowadays. Being an old fuddy duddy, it reminds me of being back in childhood when Walkmans were everywhere and everyone had headsets on. Exactly the same thing happening nowadays really but my-oh-my, haven’t things moved on!

The Encore Free 2 is wireless of course and connects via Bluetooth. Pretty standard these days. So, what have they done to make these stand out from the opposition? Well, the main thing is the noise reduction technology built in. The algorithm compensates the audio coming through for the sensitivity of your ears by running you through a series of beeps of various sound levels. You keep clicking if you can hear them until it finds the right level for you and it can cut out up to 42 dB’s of background noise (equivalent to a lawnmower or a vacuum cleaner so you can ease the monotony of chores at least!). Obviously, you’ll need to pair up with your phone to do this but the good news is, the buds automatically start looking for that Bluetooth connection as soon as you open the case.

As for comfort, they fit pretty snuggly and are also IP54 rated for dust and water resistance so you can use them with confidence if working out or doing DIY. Battery life is pretty good with 4 hours when the Noise Cancellation (NC) is switched on and 6.5 hours if you leave it off. If connected to the charging case, you can get up to 30 hours without NC, helping to keep your electricity consumption low. But my favourite feature is the fact that when you take the buds out of your ear, the music stops! Brilliant, I don’t even have to fiddle with my phone when I’m done, just put them back in the charging case and I’m all good to go for the next time.

£97.99

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