Quick Look: Final UX2000 Wireless Noise Canceling Headphones (2024)

Introduction

Japan-based final audio has been going strong for decades now, with its roots in consumer audio together with strong R&D work resulting in some of the more memorable products I have seen to date. While I have yet to actually review any of its wired headphones or IEMs, I do have good memories of the final UX3000 over-ear wireless ANC headphones that offered decent noise cancellation, good tuning—especially for the money—and an overall impressive sound presentation developed by final's experienced team. Let's also not forget that really cool Shibo coating on the plastic chassis which eventually made its way onto the Final ZE8000 TWS earphones too! Late last year, Final announced a new entry to its UX series of over-ear wireless headphones called the UX2000. While it may not have a dedicated product page on the brand's global website yet, for whatever reason, it was relevant enough to merit us covering the product.

The final UX2000 is less expensive than the UX3000, so right away we see some cuts have been made even before we get to the actual coverage. Gone is the Shibo coating on the chassis, with final opting for a simpler soft touch matte plastic finish in two colors—black and cream. The UX2000 is a closed-back set, which is good for passive isolation, and features active noise cancellation too, similar to the UX3000. Final is targeting a more mainstream audience here, including with the incorporation of a gaming mode to reduce latency, together with a finish designed with resistance to dust, fingerprints, and oils. It can even be folded into a more compact form for those who wish to take this along for the ride. Let's thank Hifiheadphones for providing a review sample to TechPowerUp and begin with a look at the product specifications in the table below.

Packaging and Accessories

The Final UX2000 ships in a white cardboard box with a hang tag on the top, indicating this is very much a retail packaging design. On the front is the brand logo and product name to go with salient features, together with a render of the headphones from the side specific to the color of the headphones, which itself is also indicated at the bottom. Product specifications are detailed on the back in multiple languages in addition to a list of the contents inside, and a note about the "My final" mobile app that has led to some confusion in the past as it is only used for account device registration and not a mobile app to monitor and customize the functionality of the UX2000. A seal on the top helps keep the contents in place during transit, which we see are inside a second, thicker white cardboard box which in turn has the headphones and accessories inside soft foam wrapping. A user's manual helps showcase the onboard controls on the UX2000, and we get two cables included in the form of a 3.5 mm to 3.5 mm TRS analog cable for wired connectivity to a compatible source, and a shorter USB Type-A to type-C cable to charge the headphones. There is no carry case or pouch included here which feels like a missed opportunity to really emphasize the portable optimized nature of these headphones.

Closer Look

I have the cream color version of the final UX2000 here and, honestly, you could mistake it for one of hundreds of similar looking wireless headphones on the market today if you don't look at the color. In fact, given this also comes in black, I'd be hard-pressed to say how much of the design is from the "Made in China" part and how much is from Japan-based final. Thankfully, while this is an inexpensive set of headphones, it does not feel cheap in the hands. All the plastic parts are molded with precision to allow for a solid feeling in the hands, including for the moving parts involved in making the UX2000 fold inward as seen above. The headband uses faux leather with soft foam padding and good stitching throughout—I do wish it was wider and more padded though. This is otherwise a clean and minimalist design with the final logo on the outside, as well as dots on one side to easily identify orientation if visually impaired. Everyone else will find the "L" or "R" marking below the "UX2000" on the inside handy since the ear cups are quite similar to each other outside of them being angled naturally to fit over the ears.

Headband sizing happens courtesy the inner steel band. Simply push it up and down from the ear cups as seen above. I wish there were markings to indicate the discrete steps, but final has integrated minor clicks to help identify them and balance both sides when sizing the UX3000 on your head. A minor issue I have is that anything other than the shortest, fully closed setting results in exposed steel, which negatively affects the aesthetics of these headphones in my opinion. Sizing options are aplenty, however, so these may be used with heads small and large alike. The articulating joints allow for plenty of horizontal ear cup swivel, especially combined with the vertical sizing and some rotating ear cup movement in the third axis—most end users should be able to fit the final UX2000 over their heads and ears, although whether their ears will touch the inside of the pads is a different matter altogether.

The ear cups and pads are on the smaller side of average, which may pose an issue for those blessed with larger ears. Notice the vents on the back and front that are channels for airflow through to the drivers and relieve any pressure build-up over your ears. Removing the ear pads is easy, but putting them back on is quite tough since they are held in place by the plastic support pressed into the tiny gap in the ear cup housing and several small bracket—you have to pull back and squeeze those in as you go around. This can hurt the longevity of the final UX2000 because of the lack of easily available replacement pads and this more involved mechanism. Removing one of the ear pads reveals an oval foam insert on the inside, which is what your ears may touch. A filter screen on the ear pad prevents dust from entering the drivers and is part of any acoustic damping final has incorporated here. As with the headband, these have a pleather surface with a memory foam filling, which is acceptable for sealing and comfort but won't win any awards. Removing the ear pads also gives us a closer look at the dynamic drivers, which final does not go into much detail about.

There are two subtle indicator LEDs on the ear cups; one handles battery status and charging (red while charging, green when fully charged) and the other a Bluetooth/ANC status (green when ANC is on, flashing green when pairing, and off otherwise). I was happy to see final continue to use physical buttons here as with the UX3000, and these are all placed on the underside of the ear cups. We get dedicated volume controls, a power button, and an ANC mode button. Alongside those are openings for the integrated microphones to pick up your voice and ambient noise, a 3.5 mm port for wired connectivity, and Type-C port for charging the battery. Note that these don't accept digital input for data—the Type-C cable is not for wired connectivity, just charging.

As of the date I write this article, there is no available mobile app to help customize the UX2000's onboard controls or allow for first-party EQ/tuning profiles. I see some people mention a Japanese app is available locally, but I could not verify it. This puts the UX2000 at a handicap compared to competition from the likes of Edifier and others with a feature-rich app. Also, despite the Bluetooth SoC inside supporting BT 5.3, the UX2000 is mediocre in codec support with just AAC and SBC. At least we do get a battery level estimate when connected though, and there is multipoint connectivity with up to two simultaneous devices paired up to the UX2000. Also seen above is the connection status indicator light to give you an idea of the color and brightness.

Fit and Audio Performance

Seen above is the final UX2000 placed on a mannequin head to help show how these headphones would look on the human head. Note that the head is slightly under average sized, so account for the discrepancies accordingly. It's still hilarious that there is a large gap above the head here though, I didn't notice it as much given I have a larger head and hair compared to this mannequin, but it still shows the headband could be better designed. As with all headphones, getting a good fit and seal is crucial, so make sure to properly use the various pivot points, and the height adjustability of the headband and ear cups. This section is mostly a summary of the points expanded upon in more detail on the previous page, but I will point out that the UX2000 weighs ~270 g, making it easy to wear without any physical discomfort. Issues may arise if the ear pads don't fit your ears properly, in which case it can be something between an over-ear and on-ear set instead. The thin headband also doesn't help properly spread the weight across the top of your head, and you are left with an average clamp force to keep these on your ears. It's not the most comfortable or secure set necessarily, but those with average or smaller ears should not experience these issues despite the pads not being contoured. I will also mention that the lack of any information about the dynamic drivers used here is not doing final any favors in stopping people from claiming this is basically an OEM re-skin. On the plus side, battery life is quite good at ~52 hours without ANC (vs. 60 hours rated) and 28 hours with ANC (compared to 35 hours promised). The discrepancy is likely due to final rating these numbers at lower volume levels, which is not ideal since you will likely end up playing these at 100% or near about—these don't get very loud! Charging time is two to three hours depending on your USB source, and the microphones are alright in a pinch if you have nothing else to go with. I have certainly had better microphone quality even with some IEMs, so this is another cost-cutting measure.

Testing was done similar to all other wireless headphones, such as the final UX3000. Seen above is the measured frequency response for both channels of the final UX2000, which can be inspected further here if interested. Channel balance is decent on this randomly picked retail unit, especially considering the lower standards inexpensive wireless headphones tend to have, and I'll also mention there was no burn-in effect felt or measured here. The second graph above shows the measured average frequency response of both channels in the default ANC mode compared to turning it off, and in either case I'd say the overall tonality is heavily V-shaped, bordering on W-shaped depending on whether you can perceive the measured 10 kHz peak. Once again I will point out to the product page only being on the brand's domestic website, and even here there is no description about the tuning and sound of the UX2000. It's almost as if final doesn't want anyone to know about how these actually sound!

I will tell you the defining feature of the final UX2000 is bass, lots and lots of bass. Credit must be given to final since the UX2000 bucks the trend of wireless ANC headphones having poor bass extension, with the UX2000 going all the way to 20 Hz and below if the graphs were to go by. In practice, the sub-bass doesn't have the impact the graphs make it seem. There's certainly energy but it feels hazy and not focused. The mid-bass is a strong point here with decent detail retrieval and enough punch to get you headbanging as you listen to rock and metal music. The bass does feel boomy with kick drums to an extent, which is probably not helped with the mids being quite recessed as a result of the tonality. While male vocals still feel forward facing, a lot of instrument fundaments and harmonics come off faded and being heard through an obstruction. This impacts imaging and soundstage too, not that it is really a selling point for Bluetooth headphones in this price range, and the UX2000 also doesn't seem to handle layering well either. ANC being on is the way to go though; it has worse battery life but at least does not feel fatiguing in the upper mids and lower treble. Female vocals are hit or miss here depending on the seal and how deep the voice is. I'd say this is better with Kpop/Jpop compared to Western pop music, although it once again fails with the likes of jazz and classical music where you are not easily able to discern individual notes even in a string quartet. Second-order harmonics are a general weakness of the drivers, making it questionable to select the final UX2000 if you prefer detailed, complex instrumental pieces.

The tonality mishaps feel all the more relevant when you realize the final UX3000 isn't that much more expensive—at least compared to the black color version of the UX2000. It both looks and feels better in my opinion and certainly sounds better too, even with the two siblings sharing a lot in common. I would not be surprised if the drivers were the same, for example, and the ANC implementation is similar too. The UX2000 has worse codec support but makes up for this with a longer battery life, whereas the UX3000 comes with a drawstring pouch to help carry/store it. I see multiple music genres where the UX3000 is a valid contender with its more balanced tonality, whereas the UX2000 is clearly going one-note with its heavily bass-first sound, and the inclusion of a gaming mode also makes me feel final is trying to market this to someone who would rather go for a headset. Funnily enough, even a gaming headset such as the MSI GH50 Wireless feels more balanced out of the box and has software customization on top. Please note that I don't have any other wireless headphones in the price range this operates in, although the Edifer WH950NB has had a big price cut and comes close now. The final UX2000 costs $99 in the USA from the final Amazon store, which is a hard sell for what it ultimately offers. The good news is, at least for those in the UK, Hifiheadphones sells it for as low as £58.99 (inc. VAT) for the cream color version, with the black version going for £79.99 as of the date of this article. For £60, I do see a viable customer base who are interested in the more mainstream tonality, the decent ANC implementation for steady external noises, and the better fit/finish compared to the typical set you get at this price point. If it ends up closer to the $100/£100 price where you are, I'd suggest just going for the final UX3000 instead.