ZE500 for ASMR Earbuds Review
Summary: An excellent, compact pair of earbuds, the ZE500 for ASMR is only let down by its relatively low battery life.
4
Compact!
For the longest time, I’ve been a die-hard, wired headphones user. Recently, though, I’ve been slowly edging my way towards the wireless side of things, mostly due to the manufacturers of more and more devices that I use deciding to forgo a headphone jack, in favour of Bluetooth or some other solution. I had the opportunity to check out a pair of Final ZE500 earbuds over the last few weeks, more specifically the model tuned for ASMR and speech.
Now, I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t have a huge amount of interest in ASMR beyond V12 engines, but that feels like it’s missing the point somewhat. I do, however, listen to a lot of podcasts and audiobooks, and the ZE500 for ASMR seemed to fit into this audio niche perfectly. I daily drove the ZE500s for a week or two, and here are my impressions of them.
Contained within the box are the earbuds themselves, a sleek and narrow carry case that doubles as a charger via USB-C, and method of pairing to a device, an additional set of rubber ear tips for a total of three different sizes (small, medium, and large) and finally a set of either additional dust filters that can be easily swapped out as necessary. No USB-C cable is included, which is unfortunate, but not the end of the world.
The case itself is compact and has a nice weighty feel to it, and measures around 4cm x 6cm x 1cm. It features a magnetic, hinged lid that snaps satisfyingly into place while requiring virtually no effort to open, somehow being sturdy enough to not accidentally be opened in a bag or pocket as it moves around. With that said, the hinge itself on my unit had a fair amount of lateral movement to it, which occasionally led to a faint rattling sound. This didn’t impact use in any way, but it was noticeable, nonetheless. The charging case is also compatible with wireless chargers, though I don’t have one myself to test.
Pairing them to my phone or other device was effortless and only took a few seconds.
Charging time is brief, with one and a half to two hours to charge both the case and the headphones themselves. Battery capacity is one of the ZE500’s shortcomings, though. On a full charge, you’re looking at around four to five hours for the earbuds and another 12 or so out of the case. I didn’t find this to be a huge issue while I was testing, but it is something to be aware of should a longer battery life be a key feature you’re interested in when considering earbuds.
Each of the ZE500s earbuds is remarkably small, coming in at way under 2cm in any given direction, so if you’re not a fan of the poles that some earbuds sport, and like the discreet look, then these absolutely fit the bill in that regard.
Generally, I found them to be comfortable to wear using the medium ear tips. They were perhaps a little too large for my ears, but the small tips were far too small and didn’t stay in place. Once I had gotten them seated comfortably on the first use, I found that I could use them for the duration of their battery life without any discomfort issues.
When it comes to the sound quality, I was pleasantly surprised. For general music listening, they’re more than adequate and don’t sound too thin or bass-heavy in any areas. Spoken word content is where the ZE500 shines, however. Voices are extremely crisp and clear, and there’s excellent definition between the left and right channels, which, with the right recordings, can create an amazing 3D soundscape.
The main downside to the ZE500 for ASMR that I found, aside from the limited battery life, is the complete absence of any EQ settings, be it presets or some kind of parametric EQ. Now, this may not be a big deal to many, but as someone who likes to go in and tweak things to get whatever I’m listening to sounding the absolute best it could be, it’s a little disappointing.
As with most earbuds, the controls on the ZE500 are tap sensors and allow for play/pause control as well as answering and hanging up a phone call. Both left and right have the same functionality in this regard.
Final Thoughts?
All in all, the ZE500 for ASMR is a great set of earbuds. Retailing at £69/$79, they’re reasonably priced given the quality that’s on offer, though for that money you’d perhaps expect a longer battery life. Aside from that, though, if you want a decent, compact set of earbuds that excel well in spoken word content, then the ZE500 for ASMR is an excellent option to go with.
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