Final Audio ZE3000 Review

Connection Stability

The Final Audio ZE3000 utilizes Qualcomm’s popular QCC3040 Bluetooth 5.2 chipset. The 3040 is a widely used chipset in TWS earphones and it is critically acclaimed for its stability, range, and performance. The chipset supports TrueWireless Mirroring and aptX Adaptive. The AptX Adaptive codec controls the bitrate and it is automatically adjusted between 279kbps and 420kbps according to the communication environment to ensure connection stability. Moving on to the True Wireless Mirroring Technology, it is the successor of the Qualcomm TrueWireless Stereo Plus technology and with it, only one earbud maintains the Bluetooth connection with the smartphone, while the secondary bud mirrors the connected bud. It makes switching between left and right earbuds an effortless process. Just like the QC’s TWS+, it also swaps the connection between the earbuds and equalizes the battery usage between sides. The connection swap between the left and right earbuds is seamless with no stutters.

I spent around ten days with the ZE3000, listening to it almost non-stop both indoors and outdoors. The connection stability was excellent during my time with it. I had no drop-outs, no stutters, or any inconvenience with the ZE3000. I tested the headset mostly using the AptX Adaptive codec, but I also used the SBC codec for a while. Regardless of the codec type, the ZE3000 delivered satisfactory performance as expected from the QC3040. The range is also good, the ZE3000 does not lose connection through 4 concrete walls, which is superb.

Let’s take a look at the signal latency. The QCC3040 is a good chipset when it comes to signal delay and it usually performs great. I wanted to see if that’s the case with ZE3000 as well so I went ahead and tried YouTube, Amazon Prime, Netflix & VLC. I used my Android 12 phone as a test bench and the results were quite good. Media streaming services were totally okay, latency-wise, including YouTube. VLC had a really minor delay but it’s not a problem unless you pay maximum attention. This may also be app and platform-related as well so take this section with a grain of salt. As usual, the delay, unfortunately, can be felt during gaming and I do not recommend playing competitive titles with this TWS, or any TWS.

Final Audio ZE3000

Controls & Layout

The Final Audio ZE3000 has a touch sensor on the faceplates and it is quite sensitive to touch. I accidentally stopped playback or skipped the song completely when I had to momentarily take off the earphones or try to correct their fit. It took me a while to get used to the controls but once did, I found them easy and fast to use. There is also a LED on each faceplate of the earphones, giving you information about the battery, charging, and signal status. Final managed to hide a microphone in the small hole where the led is located. I was concerned about the performance of the microphone when considering the acoustic aspect of this design decision, which I will address in the next paragraph.

As for the case, there is a single LED on the front side and it changes color according to the case’s battery level. However, I do not like its color code range. Let me explain, the green color means it’s fully charged and the battery is 100% full. Yellow light means the battery is between 10%-99%, which is a huge range and not very informative. Red light means that there is less than 10% juice left in the battery. Additionally, there is no reset button or any button present on the case. The minimalistic approach works great for Final, in my opinion, but there should have been an extra color for the 11%-%50 range.

Let’s talk about the abilities of the touch sensor. As I mentioned earlier, it is quite sensitive and registers the touches instantly. You can start and stop the playback, skip to the previous or next track, increase or decrease volume, accept or refuse calls and you can also end an active call. If you have an Android phone, the buds can summon Google Assistant or if you’re an Apple user, iPhone’s Siri, too.

Call Quality

Let’s talk about the microphones of the product and the performance they offer. As I mentioned before, the microphones of the Final Audio ZE3000 are located next to the small LEDs on the faceplates. Like any outward-facing microphone solution, the ZE3000’s performance is somewhat less than that of solutions with rods. I usually conduct my call quality tests with certain friends, because they are used to the situation, I can get results quickly and they do not hesitate to express their objective opinions because I do not give any information about the products beforehand. Additionally, I use my phone’s recording app and sometimes the discord app.

The Final Audio ZE3000 offers adequate performance in environments such as home and quiet work environments. It should be noted that when heavy human noise is added to the equation, the sound quality suffers severely, especially in places where there is a lot of low-frequency clutter such as an airport or shopping malls. If the microphone is more important to you than design and sound quality, you may need to look for other alternatives.

Final Audio ZE3000

Battery Life

The tests I’ve done show that the factory battery data is consistent. The Final Audio ZE3000 can deliver approximately 6-6.5 hours of uninterrupted music. I should mention that I used the AptX Adaptive codec in my tests. With the battery case and headphones fully charged, I got a usage time of close to 30 hours. I assume you can see from the pictures in the review how small and portable the battery case is, considering this form and factor, I think the battery life is adequate. Before I forget, let’s also mention that the charging case and earphones are charged in about 1.5 hours.

 

The review continues on Page Three, after the click HERE or by using the jump below.

Page 1: Final Audio, ZE3000, Packaging & Accessories, Design, Fit & Build Quality

Page 2: Connection Stability, Controls & Layout, Call Quality, Battery Life

Page 3: Sound Signature, Low, Mid, High, Technical Performance, Comparisons, Berkhan’s Impressions, Conclusion

4.4/5 - (240 votes)
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Long time Tech Enthusiast, an ambitious petrol-head, Yagiz likes his gadgets and always finds new ways into the tinkerer's world. He tries to improve anything and everything he gets his hands onto. Loves an occasional shine on the rocks.

8 Comments

  • Reply March 8, 2022

    Jonathan

    It’s technically not their first foray into the true wireless world, they also had their collab with Evangelion.

  • Reply March 8, 2022

    Mason

    Thank you for the review, but I would’ve really liked to have seen a comparison with some more mainstream TWS earbuds such as the Galaxy Buds 2, which retail for the exact same price and also have good sound quality according to audiophiles and average users alike. I also would have liked to have seen more discussion about the available features, such as whether there’s ANC, a transparency mode, or an app for changing settings/tuning. I had to look at other reviews to find out that these do *not* have a transparency mode, which might be a dealbreaker for me.

    • Reply March 9, 2022

      Yagiz

      Mason, thanks for your comment. Companies like Samsung, Apple do not send products for review.
      About the available features, I didn’t talk about them because there are nothing to talk about. If there was an app, a hearthrough feature, or something similar, I’d talk about it. The ZE3000 is a product focused entirely on sound and performance. If features are important to you, you may need to look elsewhere.

      All the best out there.

  • Reply August 4, 2022

    kishore

    between Airpods pro and final ze 3000 which is better (only audio matters) for mostly streaming movies and series for ios devices????

    • Reply September 6, 2022

      HuKhakis

      I had two of them, if you want to use for most of situations, I would like to vote for Airpods pro

  • Reply August 12, 2022

    Kat

    Nice review. Do they support multipoint? The ux 3000 does.

  • Reply November 17, 2022

    John

    How do the ze3000 and Z7 compare to the Fokus Pro?

  • Reply October 10, 2023

    Octavius

    Thank you for your nice review. I am between Ze3000 and Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 3. Which is, in your opinion, best, in terms of sound performance?

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