The £30 headphone options are dense and confusing. Every shop, catalogue and online store has a vast selection of options and it’s tough to arrive at a sensible conclusion without sitting down and testing them out. I have been rocking the final VR500 on my gaming devices for some time and I feel it is about time I … finally put together my thoughts for these budget buds.
These are pretty eye catching, however inside the uninspiring box we are greeted with four optional silicone tips, with another pair in place on the buds. The tips are colored to distinguish each tip with two red, two pink, two light grey and two a darker grey. The tips already on the earphones worked for me, creating a lovely, comfortable fit. I haven’t felt the need to swap them out for another, nor have I investigated the others if there is more than just a size difference in the other tips.
The packaging contains a QR code for the user manual and an app, however, the English version of the app has not yet been released.
The headphones are a fairly bland dark grey colour with very little in the way of highlights or artist flourish. The ends of the earphone have the final logo and aside from saying final and VR500 on either side of the barrel this is the only ink on the units. There is a rubbery plastic 1.2m cable housing the oxygen-free copper wires with some reinforcements on the three pole plug and either end of the one-button with mic on the inline controller. The cable is not anti-tangle and might frustrate some. The microphone functions quite well for ingame smack talk and phone conversations, you won’t be podcasting from it, but it operates a little better than you might expect.
On paper the final VR500 look good. Rocking some 6.4mm dynamic drivers. These layer in a three-dimensional sound stage and whilst for music and day to day listening things are unremarkably decent, with crisp sounding vocals and some not overly intrusive bass. I would not say you are going to be blown away by the audio reproduction here, although these are only £30 and you will find the lows and mids superior to many of the rivals in this price bracket.
However, it’s gaming and VR were the final’s reveal their super powers, spatial awareness. You can hear every surrounding sound and able to account for distances in game. Playing on PS5, Nintendo Switch and (admittedly only 5 minutes of) Meta the VR500 were a terrific set up from your typical in ear buds and make your gaming experience a whole lot more immersive.
Picking up a pair of final VR500 earbuds will provide a very decent pair of headphones that are brilliant value. Certainly, there are a couple of build quirks, but final have focused on the job at hand and produced some of the best gaming results for a pair of headphones for £30. If you are looking to spend a little more then the VR2000 (podcast review link) and VR3000 are there and they eliminate the budget constraints of the VR500. I’m chuffed with the VR500 and they are going to stay in the case with the Nintendo Switch and they will be used pretty much every time I fancy a bit of Switch gaming.
The final VR500 earphones are on sale at the time of writing for £24 and come heartily recommended for the gamer!
