I swapped out my favorite premium earbuds for this $89 pair, and I wasn't expecting to have such a good time
I am a snob. Generally, when it comes to the best headphones and earbuds, you'll find me daily driving something that costs anywhere between $300 and $500, whether that's over- or in-ear. For the last few months, it's either been the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds and the Bowers & Wilkins Pi8 — both options that set you back a fair chunk of your dollars.
It's also true that I'm a big fan of budget buds and headphones. And there's one company that makes some of my favorite low-cost audio products: Japanese firm Final. So when I recieved the Final ZE3000 SV in the mail, I was excited to give them a go.
I finally decided to take a look a couple of weeks ago. I placed my B&W buds into a drawer, and exclusively used the Final buds as my out-of-work heroes. I'll be honest, I wasn't expecting to be quite as impressed as I was.
Getting hold of a pair of Finals' latest budget buds might be tricky, but it's well worth it. They don't cost very much at all, but they'll wow you with a comfortable fit and the best sound (bar none) for the price.
I've tried out other buds that Final has made, and they've all got one thing in common — the fit. Final seems to know how to make a comfortable pair of earbuds with well-judged shapes, excellent silicone eartips, and light construction.
The ZE3000 SV are no different. They're super small, incredibly light, and their silicon tips come in enough shapes and sizes to fit just about anyone.
I took them on a trip to London, where I wore them for almost the entire day. Not only were there zero fitting issues, they didn't fall out and for the most part I forgot they were even there.
I don't think you can expect the most incredible noise canceling around out of something so cheap, but I was surprised by how much noise they managed to block out. Even during my walks through the busy London streets.
They're not as good as my Bose QuietComforts or the Bowers & Wilkins pair, but for something that costs so little the performance is incredibly impressive.
My trip on the train was quietened, silencing the noisy soccer fans at the other end of the carriage, and kept the noise of the train at bay. Engine noise was barely audible, and the rhythmic clacking of wheels on tracks was dampened.
In London itself the ANC continued to impress. The sounds of the streets were much quieter, as loud tire and engine noises where drowned out by a combination of ANC and my music. The chatter of passers-by was much more tolerable, and I was able to hear more of the actual music as a result.
If there's one thing that Final always gets very right, it's the sound quality. The ZE3000 SV are another feather in Final's cap, featuring the best sound quality I've heard for the price. There's top notch detail on offer out of the buds, making sure that you can hear even the most subtle elements of your tracks with great resolution.
The mids and the bass are good too. There's some lovely low end representation for bass guitars and other lower frequencies, Guitars and vocals are well recreated by the wide and spacious mids. I found myself very quickly forgetting that I wasn't using my favorite buds. In fact, in some ways, they sounded better than the Bose pair — especially when it comes to detail.
Circuit Bender from Intervals allowed the buds to show the full spectrum of the sound abilities. There's plenty of body for the heavy, distorted guitars, afforded a certain extra edge by the highs. Calmer parts are clear as crystal, while the all important guitar solos move across the frequency range smoothly. The drums are vibrate your jaw impactful, but there's still plenty of thump on offer from the rhythm section.
Mr Bungle's Squeeze Me Macaroni brings the madness in spades, and the ZE3000 relish the occasion. The shift in tone is well handled, and the mad-cap vocal part is well reconstructed. The acoustic guitar parts cut through the mix with accuracy, and then the louder and more intense sections are perfectly bonkers. Loads and loads of fun — and the Final buds have no problem keeping up.
The battery life is very solid, the app is competent, and multipoint connection is very useful. There's not a lot I would complain about when it comes to the buds, even when taking their price into consideration.
I've come to love the little guys, and while they might not perform like my current chosen buds from Bowers & Wilkins, they're a great way to get incredible sound for not a whole lot of money.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Business Wire
3 hours ago
- Business Wire
Comtech Rejoins iCERT, Deepening Commitment to Public Safety Innovation
CHANDLER, Ariz.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jun. 20, 2025-- Comtech Telecommunications Corp. (NASDAQ: CMTL) ('Comtech' or the 'Company'), a global communications technology leader, today announced that its Terrestrial & Wireless Networks ('T&W') business segment has rejoined the Industry Council for Emergency Response Technologies, Inc. ('iCERT'). Founded in 2005, iCERT is a commercial sector trade association that brings together leading technology companies to drive innovation, shape effective policy, and promote open standards that improve public safety and emergency response. This return to iCERT is part of a series of strategic moves by the T&W business segment, including the launch of Allerium Mira - a cloud-native call handling platform designed to simplify complexity and support evolving 9-1-1 needs. Together, these efforts reflect a renewed commitment to public safety and essential service providers, backed by the same trusted team, proven solutions, and industry-wide support. 'We're excited to collaborate with iCERT as it expands its focus on key issues and innovations in emergency communications,' said Susan Ornstein, Senior Director of Legal & Regulatory Affairs of Comtech T&W, who joined the association's board of directors earlier this month. 'Under its new leadership, iCERT is amplifying the voice of its members on public policy issues and engaging partner associations like NASNA, NENA, and APCO to advance shared priorities across the public safety community. Together with iCERT, Comtech is well positioned to address pressing public safety and regulatory matters, and advocate for federal funding, legislation, and FCC policy updates.' 'Few organizations have meant as much to me throughout my career as iCERT,' said Jeff Robertson, President of Comtech T&W. 'Twenty years ago, I worked alongside two industry visionaries to establish this organization with the shared goal of fostering collaboration between the public and private sectors. I was privileged to serve as iCERT's inaugural executive director and have remained a strong advocate of its mission throughout my career. Seeing our company rejoin the iCERT community is especially meaningful. Comtech is committed to delivering results that help communities become safer, more connected, and resilient, and iCERT is a vital partner in advancing that work.' 'iCERT stands committed to propelling public safety forward, facilitating collaboration among its member base and industry stakeholders, and creating an environment that fosters innovation and progress,' said Don Brittingham, Interim Executive Director of iCERT. 'Members like Comtech play a vital role in strengthening the organization's depth and breadth of experience across the full public safety call flow. I am excited to welcome Jeff Robertson and his team back to iCERT and look forward to empowering public safety together.' About Comtech Comtech Telecommunications Corp. is a leading provider of satellite and space communications technologies; terrestrial and wireless network solutions; Next Generation 9-1-1 (NG9-1-1) and emergency services; and cloud native capabilities to commercial and government customers around the world. Through its culture of innovation and employee empowerment, Comtech leverages its global presence and decades of technology leadership and experience to create some of the world's most innovative solutions for mission-critical communications. For more information, please visit About iCERT iCERT—The Industry Council for Emergency Response Technologies—is the only industry trade association focused exclusively on emergency response technologies and related equipment, systems, and services. iCERT is dedicated to improving public safety through innovation. For more information, please visit Forward-Looking Statements Certain information in this press release contains statements that are forward-looking in nature and involve certain significant risks and uncertainties. Actual results and performance could differ materially from such forward-looking information. The Company's Securities and Exchange Commission filings identify many such risks and uncertainties. Any forward-looking information in this press release is qualified in its entirety by the risks and uncertainties described in such Securities and Exchange Commission filings.
Business Wire
9 hours ago
- Business Wire
OKI and NTT Innovative Devices Establish Mass Production Technology for High-Power Terahertz Devices by Heterogeneous Material Bonding
TOKYO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--OKI (TOKYO: 6703) , in collaboration with NTT Innovative Devices Corporation (Headquarters: Kanagawa Prefecture; President & CEO: Hidehiro Tsukano; 'NTT Innovative Devices' hereinafter), has established mass production technology for high-power terahertz devices using crystal film bonding (CFB) (Note 1) technology for heterogeneous material bonding to bond indium phosphide (InP)-based uni-traveling carrier photodiodes (UTC-PD) (Note 2) onto silicon carbide (SiC) with excellent heat dissipation characteristics for improved bonding yields. Terahertz devices are anticipated to play a core technology role in supporting high-capacity low-latency communications for the next-generation 6G communication standard and high-precision non-destructive inspection for improved safety. Based on these results, both companies are working on product development, aiming to start mass production in FY2026. This co-creation work has established mass production technology for high-power terahertz devices and made real-world implementation a reality. Terahertz waves are electromagnetic waves in the range between radio waves and visible light, having both the penetrating characteristics of radio waves and the straight-line propagation of light. Due to their non-invasiveness (Note 3) to the living body, which is a problem with X-ray inspection technology, terahertz waves are anticipated to be developed for applications in fields including non-destructive inspection and security. In wireless communication applications, higher carrier frequencies contribute to increased communication capacity. On the other hand, terahertz waves have the drawback of being significantly attenuated in the atmosphere, creating the need for the development of high-power terahertz devices. Establishing mass production technologies is also essential to moving forward with real-world implementation. To address these challenges, NTT Innovative Devices has been working to improve the performances (output power, output spectrum and so on) of the UTC-photomixers (Note 4). Particularly in wireless communications, to propagate standard multilevel modulation signals (Note 5) over long distances, it is essential to achieve high output power at 1dB compression (Note 6). In order to achieve the high output power at 1dB compression, NTT Innovative Devices and a Japanese university team focused on the heat dissipation characteristics of the device and studied the technology of bonding InP-based UTC-PDs directly onto SiC with high heat dissipation characteristics (Note 7). It paved the way to realize UTC-photomixers offering an approximately ten-fold performance increase (the output power at 1dB compression exceeding 1 mW) compared to conventional devices. In wafer bonding, due to the large bonding area, even a minute bonding defect at one location can cause a bonding failure over a large area. Therefore, more advanced bonding technology is required for mass production. For UTC-PD on SiC chip, material cost (effective use of materials) is also a demanding improvement item, because the required InP area is less than 10% of the area in the chip. OKI applied CFB technology to divide the InP-based crystal films on the InP-based epitaxial wafers at the device level, selectively picking up only the portions necessary for device operation before bonding them to the SiC wafers by heterogeneous material bonding. CFB technology, OKI's proprietary heterogeneous material bonding technology developed in the printer market and refined about 20 years of mass production, has already established high yields. The process also offers high efficiency, since InP-based crystal films divided at the device level are bonded all together at wafer-size scales. The results of evaluating the yield of devices bonded using CFB technology show dramatically higher yields in the bonding process, with the bonding yield improving from approximately 50% to nearly 100% compared to conventional processes. Additionally, dividing the crystal films at the device level and selectively bonding the devices has made it possible to make effective use of the crystal films that were previously discarded with conventional processes, helping to reduce costs and environmental impact by improving material utilization efficiency. NTT Innovative Devices developed chips by forming UTC-PDs in the device process on SiC wafers with crystal films bonded using CFB technology. The results of device evaluations following chip development showed an output power at 1dB compression exceeding 1 mW in a single device, demonstrating high output and excellent linearity. Compared to devices produced using conventional bonding processes, dark current (Note 8) was reduced to approximately one-third, confirming that the process using CFB technology is capable of bonding while effectively maintaining the characteristics of InP-based crystal films. This co-creation work has established mass production technology for high-power terahertz devices and made real-world implementation a reality. Moving forward, both companies will build on the results of this joint research to start mass production of terahertz devices in FY2026 and strengthen collaboration with industry and academia to focus on commercializing 6G communication technologies and the broad application of non-destructive sensing technologies. Both companies will also draw on the jointly developed technology to accelerate efforts to contribute to a next-generation society, communicating to the world advanced technologies for both Japanese and global markets. NTT Innovative Devices will exhibit this technology at Laser World of Photonics 2025 (Hall B2.331) to be held in Munich, Germany from June 24 to 27, 2025. [Terminology] Note 1: crystal film bonding (CFB) Acronym for crystal film bonding. OKI's proprietary heterogeneous material bonding technology involving lifting off crystal films and bonding them to substrates or wafers made of different materials. Heterogeneous material bonding is characterized by direct bonding without using adhesives. Note 2: Uni-traveling carrier photodiode (UTC-PD) The uni-traveling-carrier photodiode (UTC-PD) is a kind of pin junction photodiode that selectively uses electrons as active carriers. UTC-PD could operate faster and with much wider output linearity simply by excluding the hole transport contribution to the diode operation. Note 3: Invasiveness The degree of physical burden imposed on a patient's or subject's body during treatment or examination. Note 4: UTC-Photomixer UTC photomixer is the name of the module that applies UTC-PD to RF (THz) signal generation. 2λ laser (frequency difference: THz) are injected into the photomixer, and optical beat generate THz wave. Introduction of UTC structure allows significant THz output improvement and extension to higher frequencies. Note 5: Multilevel modulation signal A modulation method used in digital communications whereby, unlike conventional binary (0 and 1) signals, 4-, 8-, or 16-level signals are used, allowing to carry more information per modulation Note 6: Output power at 1dB compression In general, it is one of the parameters of amplifier characteristics. As the input level to the amplifier increases, the output becomes saturated and deviates from the linear relationship. The output signal level at 1 dB below the linear relationship is called the 1 dB compression point. In the same way, in an ideal photomixer, the THz output signal is proportional to the input light level, but in high light input operation, this linear relationship deviates. Note 7: NTT Innovative Devices and a Japanese university team This result was based in part on research conducted by The University of Osaka, Kyushu University, and The University of Tokyo under commission from the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT), Japan; Beyond 5G R&D Promotion Program (JPJ012368C-00901). Note 8: Dark current Small current generated by a light receiving element in the absence of light. Since this constitutes unwanted noise, a lower dark current means improved device sensitivity. About Oki Electric Industry (OKI) Founded in 1881, OKI is Japan's leading information and telecommunication manufacturer. Headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, OKI provides top-quality products, technologies, and solutions to customers through its Public Solutions, Enterprise Solutions, Component Products, and Electronics Manufacturing Services businesses. Its various business divisions function synergistically to bring to market exciting new products and technologies that meet a wide range of customer needs in various sectors. Visit OKI's global website at Notes: - Oki Electric Industry Co., Ltd. is referred to as "OKI" in this document. - The names of the companies and products mentioned in this document are the trademarks or registered trademarks of the respective companies and organizations.
Yahoo
10 hours ago
- Yahoo
SoftBank reportedly looking to launch a trillion-dollar AI and robotics industrial complex
SoftBank is going all in on AI. Just months after announcing its involvement in the $500 billion Stargate AI Infrastructure project, of which SoftBank is rumored to be fronting a cool $19 billion, the Japanese investing conglomerate is reportedly looking to launch its largest AI project yet. The company is looking to team up with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) to launch a trillion-dollar industrial complex in Arizona to build AI and robotics, according to reporting from Bloomberg, citing sources familiar with the project. The initiative, dubbed Project Crystal Land, appears to still be in its very early stages. Despite SoftBank's desire to work with TSMC on the project, it's unclear what TSMC's role would be, according to Bloomberg, or if it would be interested in joining forces with SoftBank at all — TSMC already has its own AI infrastructure projects in Arizona in the works. TechCrunch reached out to SoftBank for more information.
