These Final earbuds cost less than $50… but they almost sound better than my Bose QuietComfort

Here at Tom’s Guide, we’ve tested many earbuds from Final, a brand known for its unique design methodology and engineering. Now, the Japanese manufacturer has set a new standard for budget earbuds with the launch of the Final ZE300. The ZE300s are the brand’s lightest earbuds yet, and they pack plenty of tech to deliver consistent, powerful sound across a range of genres.

I’ve been testing the ZE300 earbuds for a couple of weeks, and they’ve quickly become my favorite budget buds. Costing less than $50, they boast effective active noise cancelation, punchy bass and clear vocals, and premium build quality. Although they aren’t without their flaws, as best cheap wireless earbuds go, they’re up there with the finest.

For the complete breakdown, read my full Final ZE300 review.

Final ZE300 review: Specs

Final ZE300 review: Cheat sheet

• What is it? A pair of wireless earbuds with highly effective ANC and great sound
• Who is it for? Anyone looking for a pair of fantastic-sounding earbuds that doesn’t break the bank
• How much does it cost? $49 / £39
• What do we like? The comfortable fit, premium build quality, well-balanced sound profile across genres, effective ANC, and the fact that they’re very cheap
• What don’t we like? There’s no companion app or wireless charging, and battery life pales in comparison to the competition

Final ZE300 review: Price & availability

If you’re on the hunt for a pair of earbuds that sounds great and features excellent ANC, and doesn’t break the bank in the process, the Final ZE300s should be your port of call. Final’s latest (and lightest yet) earbuds retail for just $49 / £39 at Amazon. They’re available in two colors: black and greige (a combination of grey and beige).

The ZE300s are the cheapest wireless earbuds I’ve tested yet. They’re priced similarly to the JLab JBuds Mini ($49) but these buds don’t feature ANC. The ZE300s are cheaper than the JLab JBuds Pods ANC ($69), the EarFun Air 2 NC ($69) and the Soundpeats Air5 Pro ($79). I’d argue that they’re better than all three in a few aspects. The sound profile is well-balanced, and the earbuds themselves look premium.

Final ZE300 review: Design & comfort

• Pressure-relieving design for all-day comfort
• Final’s lightest earbuds yet
• Case feels great too

The Final ZE300s are extremely comfortable, perfect for all-day listening. Similar to their siblings, the Final ZE500 ASMRs ($74), the ZE300s feature tiny non-visible internal airflow ports designed in a way that they release the air pressure inside the ear canal. This design essentially reduces strain on the eardrum, enabling the wearer to use these earbuds for long periods of time.

Final notes that the ZE300s are the brand’s lightest earbuds yet, with each bud weighing just 0.14oz (4g). The ZE500 are lighter yet, weighing under 0.1oz (3g) but those earbuds are designed specifically for ASMR listening. As far as music listening buds go, the ZE300 are, in fact, Final’s least heavy ones. They’re much lighter than the JLab JBuds Pods ANC (0.76oz), the EarFun Air 2 NC (1.69oz) and the Soundpeats Air5 Pro (1.76oz).

Even though they’re lightweight, the ZE300s fit snugly in my ears with the default eartips — although there are three additional sizes in the box to suit all ear shapes. The earbuds didn’t fall out of my ears regardless of what I was doing, whether that was walking briskly or headbanging to my favorite tunes. I wore the ZE300s for five hours straight before they had to go back into their charging case.

The ZE300s are stylish-looking too, with each earbud sporting a matte finish and this applies to the case as well. They certainly look more expensive than they actually are. I much prefer the matte finish to the glossy finish of earbuds like the EarFun Air 2 NCs and the JLab JBuds Pro ANC.

Similar to the ZE500s, the ZE300s are IPX4-rated, which means they are resistant to water at a splash level, and they’re sweatproof as well, making them fit for the gym. The JLab JBuds Pods ANC are IP55-rated, in comparison, making them the better choice if you get caught in heavy rain, or are standing in the middle of a very dusty desert.

Final ZE300 review: Connectivity

• Bluetooth 5.2 with AAC, SBC and LDAC
• Google Fast Pair and multipoint connectivity
• No wear detection

The Final ZE300 buds utilize Bluetooth 5.2 with support for AAC, SBC and LDAC codecs. I wasn’t expecting LDAC support at such a low price point, so it’s a welcome surprise. Even the pricier JLab JBud Pods ANC don’t support it!

They also feature multipoint connectivity, so you can pair them with up to two smart devices simultaneously and swap between the audio sources as and when. This worked well with my MacBook Air M2 and my Google Pixel 10 Pro XL. Google Fast Pair is in the ZE300s’ arsenal too, and my Pixel was quick to recognize the earbuds as soon as I took them out of their case — within seconds, I was listening to music.

Unfortunately, the ZE300s don’t feature wear detection, so playback isn’t automatically paused when an earbud is taken out of your ear. This feature is also lacking in the JLab JBuds Pods ANC, the Soundpeats Air5 Pro and the EarFun Air 2 NC, so it isn’t commonplace in budget buds, and it doesn’t make the ZE300s feel like an anomaly.

Final ZE300 review: Controls & app

• Straightforward touch controls
• No companion app (yet)

Like most other wireless earbuds, the Final ZE300s don’t sport any physical buttons and all adjustment is done via a combination of touching and holding either earbud. You can switch between the three active noise cancelation modes, answer or reject calls, and play and pause playback. Though the earbuds are small, I had no issues using my fingertips to change settings.

One of my gripes with the ZE300s is the lack of a companion app, so you can’t adjust the equalizer or customize the touch controls. Other Final earbuds utilize the Final Connect app for customization, so it’s surprising that the app doesn’t support the ZE300s yet.

Final ZE300 review: Sound quality

• Well-balanced across most genres
• Powerful bass for such tiny earbuds
• Slightly tinny at maximum volume (as expected)

I’ll be honest: I wasn’t expecting much in terms of sound quality from the Final ZE300s. After all, these earbuds cost just $49, so how good can they really sound? That’s what I thought to myself, but I was quickly proven wrong when I started listening to my testing playlist on Qobuz, one of the best music streaming services for hi-res audio.

As it isn’t possible to adjust or customize the EQ, you’re stuck with the ZE300s’ default sound profile, and honestly, you don’t really need to make any adjustments. The ZE300s sound consistent and well-balanced across a range of genres, unlike the JLab JBuds Pods ANC whose default profile sounds tinny and needs to be tweaked via the app. Admittedly, with the ZE300s, music sounds slightly tinny at maximum volume, but I don’t recommend listening at such high volume anyway, to save your hearing.

I started by listening to ‘Above the Neck’ by Sofia Isella to see how vocals sounded through the ZE300s. The song features plenty of spoken word so it was a great test for the earbuds — one that the ZE300s passed with flying colors. Each word Sofia spoke and sang — at varying pitches — was loud and clear with plenty of character. Even when words sounded like they were merging into one another towards the end of the track, I could still hear and understand them properly. The ZE300s’ ability to reproduce vocals accurately makes the earbuds fit for listening to audiobooks and podcasts too.

To test the bass, I listened to a couple of tracks, starting with ‘Cocoon’ by 070 Shake. The alternative R&B track features a Reese-style bass which sounds big and wobbly with plenty of low-end impact. The ZE300s did a fantastic job at making the bass sound powerful and loaded, but never overpowering or booming.

‘Cocoon’ also features electronic drum samples which serve as its backbone, and the ZE300s balanced each instrument against the other, providing a rounded listening experience. Each note plucked on the bass in Pink Floyd’s ‘Money’ also sounded warm and punchy, with just the right amount of distortion as Roger Waters intended.

Another thing I was taken aback by was the fact that, unlike the JLab JBuds Pods ANC, the ZE300s don’t get overwhelmed by tracks where there are multiple instruments involved. While listening to ‘Une vie à rêver’ from the Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 soundtrack, I was impressed by how well the earbuds handled the track when the orchestra kicked in halfway through. Even with violins, synths and other instruments playing powerfully, it still felt balanced, and Alice Duport-Percier’s high notes never sound shrill or piercing.

Overall, the ZE300s are downright awesome for listening to different genres. For a pair of budget earbuds, they’re not too shabby at all.

Listen along to my review with the Final ZE300 testing playlist:

Final ZE300 review: ANC

• ANC is great for the price
• Ambient mode works well

The Final ZE300s feature hybrid active noise cancelation (ANC) which works great — and at this price, it doesn’t give you much to complain about. Don’t expect the ANC to be as good as that you find on the likes of the Bose QuietComfort ($179) or the AirPods Pro 3 ($179) as these earbuds are far more expensive. For sub-$50 earbuds, the ZE300s do a good job of blocking out most sounds, indoors and outdoors.

I first tested the ZE300s indoors by listening to music and typing away on my loud 8BitDo Retro Mechanical keyboard, and I couldn’t hear any of the clickity clackity sounds. Very nice. It was a different story outdoors. Though I couldn’t hear the chatter of people who walked past me on my walk, I could still hear cars zooming past. This isn’t a major flaw, though, as these earbuds cost less than $50, so I wasn’t expecting them to magically eliminate all environmental sounds.

There’s an Ambient Sound mode too, which is basically a transparency mode where you can hear external sounds with some ANC still active. It works well, and enables you to be aware of your surroundings — a useful feature for runners in particular.

Final ZE300 review: Battery life

• Up to 21.5 hours with charging case
• Rivals last longer
• Case can’t be charged wirelessly

An area the Final ZE300s fall short in is battery life. Final says these earbuds can last 5.5 hours at a stretch, with ANC on, and that the case provides an additional 16 hours, giving you a total of 21.5 hours of playback time. Don’t get me wrong: this is decent, especially for budget earbuds, and they last longer than their stablemate, the Final ZE500 ASMR (4.5-hours). In my testing, the ZE300s needed to go back into their case just after 5 hours, lining up with the official figures.

If you want better battery life, I recommend spending a little more on the ZE300s’ rivals. The JLab JBuds Pods ANCs, in my testing, lasted 7 hours before needing to go back into their case, while the EarFun Air 2 NCs lasted just under 9 hours. These figures are with ANC switched on, and Final doesn’t specify battery figures for the ZE300s with ANC off.

Regardless, it’s worth spending $30 more on the aforementioned alternatives if you want longer battery life. Another drawback of the ZE300s is that the case can’t be charged wirelessly, which many of its competitors’ can. I wouldn’t say this is a major flaw, though, as the earbuds cost less than $50.

Final ZE300 review: Verdict

As budget earbuds go, the Final ZE300s are a triumph, offering premium performance for just $49. Despite their low price, they punch well above their weight with a well-balanced sound profile across many genres, powerful bass, crystal clear vocals, and their ability to handle multi-instrument tracks that may overwhelm most other cheap earbuds. Their pressure-relieving design delivers all-day comfort, while the effective ANC holds its own against pricier rivals from JLab, EarFun and Soundpeats.

But as these are sub-$50 earbuds, the ZE300s do have some flaws, namely the short battery life which pales in comparison to rivals, and the lack of a companion app. However, these are minor trade-offs, given just how cheap these buds are. If you’re looking for high-quality audio quality as well as premium build quality that doesn’t burn a hole in your pocket, the ZE300s are the new budget earbuds to beat.