Sometimes, you need to be the adult in the room. Yes, alright, you spend all your spare time pretending to be samurai, alien soldiers or perhaps Spider-Man, but that doesn’t mean you’re immature, it just means you still have a somewhat active imagination. Japanese audio specialist Final seem to know that being a gamer doesn’t necessarily mean having the same taste in decor and fashion as an eleven-year-old, and their latest over-ear headset, the Final VR3000 EX, is a reflection of that, with some of the most grown-up vibes I’ve ever seen in a gaming headset.
First up is its timeless all-black colour scheme. Black earpieces, black headband, black wiring. Heck, even the logos are a different shade of black. There’s some shared design language with the Razer BlackShark, but without even a hint of neon green, leaving us with an understated, smart and serious-looking headset. By that virtue, it stands out, whether it’s against similarly sensible headsets that still flash a bit of chrome, or the RGB-heavy and gamer-centric designs from other peripheral makers.
The VR3000 EX feels very sturdy in your hands as well, though I did notice a little creaking when I initially took it out of the box. One of my favourite things was the quality of the headband materials, with a mesh fabric housing a significant layer of memory foam to keep things comfortable.
Comfort levels are furthered by the leatherette ear cushions, which are soft and pliable. They, and the earpieces themselves, provide a decent level of passive noise cancellation, but there is a downside to their sound-isolating qualities. The VR3000 EX are amongst the warmest headphones I’ve tested recently, and you’ll definitely notice the rush of cool air against your ears when you remove them.
The fold-up microphone is of the short and stubby variety, but it still picked up my voice clearly, despite not being all that close to my mouth. You can angle it ever so slightly towards you, but if you like an adaptable mic location, you will want to look elsewhere. Still, it’s extremely easy to tuck out of the way, and it moulds well enough into its slot that you can’t really tell it’s there if you were planning to use these headphones outside of the house.
The VR 3000 EX can easily leave the house with you too, as they connect via both Bluetooth 5.3 and a 2.4Ghz USB-A wireless transmitter. That means they’ll play nice with your Switch 2, your phone or tablet, as well as PS5, PS4 and PC. My only complaint was that the USB-A transmitter doesn’t work with Switch 2, meaning you’re stuck with a higher latency, lower-quality Bluetooth connection, rather than the pristine low-latency vibes afforded to Sony gamers.
Fortunately, the audio sounds very good whichever connection method you’re using. Final have made a lot about the wide soundstage, which allows further immersion and definition to 3D audio spaces, and for a closed back headset, it’s got a great amount of natural spacing that really helps to immerse you in whatever content you’re consuming.
I’ve been playing a heck of a lot of Final Fantasy Remake Integrade on the Switch 2, on our way to review, and the VR 3000 EX provided the perfect audio partner for Cloud’s journey from grouchy merc to slightly-less grouchy merc.
The orchestral soundtrack of Final Fantasy Remake does a lot of heavy lifting in terms of emotion and drama, and the VR 3000 EX sounds pretty spectacular, with a clean, detailed delivery that ensures you’re getting every single aspect of the game, from soundtrack through to the effects and expansive amount of dialogue. Out of the box, there’s a pleasant dose of bass and depth, though you can then tune this right up with the 10-band custom equaliser available in the mobile app.
The quality of the EQ makes the VR3000 EX a perfect partner for listening to music too, giving my regular mix of synthwave and metalcore a suitable platform to blast my ears off. It’s a shame that we’re stuck with plain old AAC and SBC Bluetooth codecs, missing out on the lossless audio that’s available elsewhere, but music still sounded fantastic.
Listening to Starset’s newest song – it’s the soundtrack to the new Arknights: Endfield launch trailer – the sci-fi tones of the opening and the soaring vocal chants cut through perfectly above the blasts of distorted guitar and the thump of Adam Gilbert’s drumming. It’s an excellent result, and whatever you’re listening to, it’s safe to say that the Final VR 3000 EX sound awesome.
There’s lots of incremental steps to the volume dial here, which is great in terms of getting things just right, but does mean you find yourself making multiple rotations at times to turn it significantly up or down. Besides that, the other controls all appear on the left-hand earcup, with the FPS-focused Footstep Clarity available via the C button, while MODE button switches between Bluetooth and the wireless dongle, with a long hold to enter pairing. It’s pretty straightforward once you’re clear on the headset’s options.
That said, Final are trying their best to confuse me with the way they’re doing mobile apps. Previously, the Final Connect app controlled a bunch of their earbuds, including the very similarly named VR3000 earbuds, but their two most recent headsets have their own, single headset app. Now, for most people, that probably won’t cause any issues, but for me, it’s just a weird bit of needless phone bloat.
The app is a fairly no-frills affair, but the equaliser is responsive and offers enough variability that you’ll definitely be able to tune the audio to exactly where you want it to be. Besides that, you can activate the Footstep mode here, update the firmware, or read the manual, and that’s pretty much your lot. It’s as straightforward and unassuming as the headset itself, doing exactly what you need, without any hassle or complication.
Currently available for £89.99, the VR3000 EX is great value, especially given its dual connection options and demure looks. It’s right in the same wheelhouse as the latest Turtle Beach Stealth 500, which is definitely lighter and less warm, but lacks the solidity and build quality of the VR3000 EX. The quality of the audio and the wider soundstage of the Final headset take you that step further in terms of immersion too, but the Stealth 500 edges it in overall comfort.
