The Final E500 are the perfect partner for portable use and gaming, for a low price you get exceptionally smooth and refined sound quality backed up by a comfortable fit.
The E500 are certainly what I would call good value for money, they excel at spatial accuracy along with providing a smooth and fatigue free sound. Excellent for enjoying music, podcasts, YouTube videos and most of all they are superb for gaming and VR experiences. Final have pitched these perfectly, and for £19.99 you might as well give them a go.
PROS
- Refined sound quality
- Excellent comfort
- Excellent value for money
CONS
- Lacking a bit of energy
- Basic build quality
Fit and Comfort
The E500 body is slim and made of plastic, this means it is lightweight yet strong. The included tips are the Final Type-e ones which are excellent and once you find the right size you can wear these for hours. The cable is a little on the thin side, but it seems sturdy and also aids in providing a comfortable fit.
Compatibility
16Ohm impedance and 98dB Sensitivity mean that this earphone will be driven easily out of portable devices and you should get plenty of volume for on the go use. They are not picky with what you connect them to, be it a mobile phone or a games console the sound quality stays the same.
Sound Quality
Bass: The bass is quite linear and very well controlled on the E500, with good punch and extension but never sounding overblown or out of place. If you are looking for a bass heavy earphone, I would not recommend the E500, however they do have a smooth tonality overall which is easy to listen to. It doesn’t really matter what you throw at the E500, they handle it with grace and never become muddy or bloated.
Midrange: The sheer amount of detail present in the midrange surpasses what the £19.99 price would suggest, these are billed as VR and Gaming earphones but they are also great for watching ASMR content. This is due to their smooth and realistic portrayal of voices and sounds, along with excellent spatial accuracy allowing you to easily pinpoint where sounds are coming from. Vocal lovers will really enjoy the E500.
Treble: Again a smooth performance in the treble region but with enough extension and presence to keep things interesting and never dull. It tapers off over 10kHZ but offers enough air and space that really does help when it comes to the soundstage and stereo imaging of the E500. Overall the treble region is quite flat, devoid of nasty fatiguing spikes.
Gaming performance is a highlight of the E500, Final are aiming the E500 at VR and gaming enthusiasts and I will say they are right to do so. Usually a wearer of full-size open back headphones for gaming, I took the E500 for a spin playing Battlefield V on PC. I was not prepared for a £19.99 pair of earphones to provide such accurate spatial feedback, you can hear exactly where bullets are coming from, footsteps are pinpoint accurate and they give a very honest and detailed sound.
Conclusion
The E500 are certainly what I would call good value for money, they excel at spatial accuracy along with providing a smooth and fatigue free sound. Excellent for enjoying music, podcasts, YouTube videos and most of all they are superb for gaming and VR experiences. Final have pitched these perfectly, and for £19.99 you might as well give them a go.
Below we have the frequency response graph, as you can see the E500 is very smooth overall with very little in the way of dips and peaks. The slight slope down into the midrange is normal as this is where the human ear is most sensitive, and you can see there is little to no peaks in the treble contributing to their even and smooth sound signature.
