Final VR500 review: As close to perfect as wired earbuds can get

The Final VR500 is the cheapest entry in Final’s ‘VR’ lineup of earbuds, targeted specifically towards gaming. The VR500 specifically takes on a similar appearance to Final’s E series, but while those prioritize music, the VR series is all about gaming.

The VR500 earbuds provide some of the most immersive gaming audio available at this price, far outperforming their very modest price tag, utilizing 3D binaural audio to great effect in both games and multimedia. They’re also very comfortable thanks to a moving ear tip, while boasting a sleek design befitting a premium pair of buds.

Here’s the kicker — all of this can be yours for just $34. It sounds too good to be true, but it is. Despite being earbuds, the VR500 are up there with the best gaming headsets you can buy.

Find out more in my full Final VR500 earbuds review.

Final VR500 earbuds review: Cheat Sheet

• What is it? A pair of wired gaming earbuds
• Who is it for? Gamers of all platforms, especially those on a budget
• What does it cost? Just $34 / £28
• What do we like? The sound quality is seriously impressive, they’re comfortable and offer great noise isolation
• What don’t we like? It’s hard to find anything negative about them, although they’re wired, so might get tangled while using for VR

Final VR500 earbuds review: The ups

From the beautiful, minimalistic design and comfortable ear tips to the incredible sound performance in both games and multimedia, the VR500 are a fantastic pair of earbuds. When you consider you're paying less than a takeout for two, these buds are astonishing value for money.

Price

I was hooked instantly by the low price of the VR500 buds. Wired earbuds tend to be pretty cheap — some of our most recommended wired earbuds, the Panasonic RP-TCM125, come in at just $10. When you take into consideration the fact that the VR500 are promising to give you an experience close to that of a gaming headset, with 3D binaural audio, the still-inexpensive price tag of $35 starts to seem all the more tempting.

In terms of value for money, the VR500 brushes up against some of the best audiophile headsets around, providing a solid matchup for big names like the Audeze Maxwell ($299). The positional audio on the VR500 completely knocks the Superhuman Hearing feature on the Turtle Beach Atlas Air ($179) out of the park. You are saving big compared to the similar-quality headset, making these powerful earbuds all the more tempting.

The only small downside is that you might struggle to find the VR500s, as they aren’t sold by major retailers. They can be found at Amazon via a third-party seller and in the US can be found currently sold via Audio46, while in the UK you can buy your pair through Hifiheadphones. You can also see a full list of vendors on the Final website.

Design

The VR500 buds use the same general design as Final’s E-series, with a small cylindrical body housing the driver. The E-series are wired earbuds that range in price from the E500 ($24), all the way to the premium E5000 ($249), and the range of prices indicate the universal appeal of the design. The elegant simplicity of the housing helps keep the buds looking like a premium product. With this said, the rest of the VR bud range, like the VR3000 ($84), instead opt for a more futuristic, angular look — that makes them more identifiable as gaming buds, in my opinion.

I love the minimalistic appearance of the earbuds, emblazoned with the Final Hexcomb logo. If I were being picky, the model name inscribed on the side of each earbud lets the look down a little, but that’s a minor issue and you won’t see it while wearing them anyway. The most useful visual element is on the tips themselves — each of the five sets of earpieces have a color scheme to make the different sizes easily identifiable.

The earbuds also feature a single button on a unit situated on the cable, used to control music playback. This is tactile and clicky, and very easy to press. It's a great size too, unlike the fiddly controls of the Soundmagic E80D ($45) wired buds.

Comfort

As I mentioned, the VR500 comes with five pairs of different-sized tips, and I didn’t have any trouble picking the right size for me. This gives you a good range of options to ensure an adequate seal, which in turn helps with passive noise reduction. Most of all, though, the tips prove comfortable during even my longest sessions listening to music or gaming.

The VR500 features ‘swing tips’ which allow for the tips to move while maintaining their comfortable seal in your ear. These never feel like they’re about to come out of your ear, and complement the inherently comfortable tips.

In-game sound

The crowning achievement of the VR500 buds are their incredible audio delivery, especially for gaming. The buds feature dynamic drivers, providing a highly detailed and immersive 3D soundstage, making them a great choice for a wide variety of games.

I first gave them a try in Rising Storm 2: Vietnam, which features one of the most immersive soundtracks of any game I’ve ever played. The soundscape was done justice, and even elevated by the VR500 earbuds: the cacophony of gunfire tearing through the sounds of teeming rainforests and bustling cities was just incredible. At one point, I genuinely ducked out of the way when a stray round hit the wall next to my character.

For less intense titles, the VR500 are also unparalleled. I could enjoy the gentle background sounds of Baldur’s Gate 3, or the noisy and vibrant cityscape of Cyberpunk 2077, and genuinely feel more immersed in these games than with any other headphones I have tested before.

The earbuds also helped my gaming performance: I found spatial audio extremely helpful in FPS games like Counter Strike 2. Footsteps and positional audio were very clear, helping me to gain a tactical advantage over my enemies. I could really get a sense for the direction of movement, allowing me to work out where other players were running to or from. By comparison, other headphones I have used for gaming, including my studio-quality Sennheiser HD560s headphones, only really provide a general direction of noise.

Music

The binaural audio works just as brilliantly for music, too. I listened to some game soundtracks to get a feel for the audio quality, and I was blown away listening to the Disco Elysium soundtrack. “Hope in Work and Joy in Leisure” is a great example of just how good the 3D audio is on the VR500 — each part of the song sounds like it's coming from a different direction, and the way the layers of droning background noise interact with the guitar track is very impressive. This is because of how the VR500 separates out different instruments and audiotracks to almost simulate a live performance. For more ethereal, ambient tracks like this one, it almost feels like an out-of-body experience to hear it.

The same is true for the atmospheric soundtracks in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. Combined with the beautiful ambiance of the mountains and valleys of Skyrim itself, it feels like a new way of experiencing the game’s audio. It all flows very seamlessly, again thanks to the binaural qualities of the earbuds.

I’m not exaggerating: for epic soundtracks, these earbuds again genuinely outperform audiophile headsets I’ve tested, like the Beyerdynamic MMX 300 Pro ($299).

For general music, the VR500 buds also excel. I listened to “Death and Romance” by Magdelena Bay, and I was blown away by the quality. I noticed a little weakness in the bass frequencies, which could’ve done with just a little more punch — but this is mostly to be expected with in-ears and their tiny drivers. The VR500s more than made up for it with clarity, though, as every aspect of the blaring chorus comes through cleanly — on lesser earbuds, the chorus often feels muddled.

Noise isolation

I was incredibly impressed with how well the earbuds blocked out background noise, especially considering the fact they do not feature active noise cancellation (ANC). Listening to music or a game at a moderate volume was enough to completely block out the sound of my keyboard and mouse, and any other noise from outside. They held up well outside, too, maintaining the same level of audio quality even while up against a busy street or noisy weather.

Final VR500 earbuds review: The downs

My only criticisms of the VR500 earbuds are down to personal preference — there are some weaknesses to the wired design, namely the cable length and jack.

Connectivity

During testing, I sometimes felt held back by the wired design of the VR500. The cable is of standard length for a pair of earbuds, but it can be a little restrictive in a gaming environment, especially when used to the versatility of wireless headsets: I wasn’t able to run the earbuds behind my desk to use the back audio port on my desktop PC, for example. The wired approach is also likely to become tangled, or at least annoying when using a wireless VR headset, too.

Sadly, today’s tech landscape is less than accommodating to those who want to use a 3.5mm jack— not that this is especially the VR500’s fault. I wanted to use them with my Google Pixel 7, but would’ve needed a USB-C adapter. This is also the case for a fair few modern VR headsets: the Meta Quest 3S does not support 3.5mm connections, for instance, so you will have to look for alternatives.

Final VR500 earbuds review: Verdict

I outright adore the Final VR500 earbuds. For a price so low that it feels like daylight robbery, they provide elite-tier gaming audio, with impressive 3D binaural sound, a comfortable fit and solid isolation to keep your focus on the game. It might be hard to believe for a $34 pair, but these earbuds outperform other headphones that are hundreds of dollars more expensive. They’re without a doubt the easiest of recommendations for anyone after a new pair of earbuds for gaming.

The only thing to consider before you buy is whether you’re set up for a wired connection, and if you are, it’s well worth seeking them out. Right after testing, I bought a second pair for myself. The Final VR500 are, as the brand name hints, the last set of gaming earbuds I will ever need.