The final Audio ZE3000: One Year Later

final Audio has been on a three-year campaign to successfully replicate audiophile quality in their wireless earphones-- with the ZE3000, released a year-and-a-half back, being one of their first major forays into the wireless world.

I've been holding on to my unit of the ZE3000 for about a year now. Being a lifelong rabid lover of tokusatsu, a genre dominated by men and women in spandex and monster suits, I had been lucky enough to be able to snag the ULTRA GUARD Version of the ZE3000.

Which is the version I'll be talking about here. We're going to be looking at how the ZE3000 has held up for me in the past year.

User experience

The ZE3000 shares a similar shell to final's A-Series. I've never really had a problem with the A-Series deceptively threatening angular shell, as a matter of fact I quite enjoy the way it lets my earpieces sit flush against my ear. A far cry from the harder-to-wrangle SONY XM3.

The cradle is tiny and slips into bag and pants pockets so easily that I regularly lose track of them due to who I am as a person. While bluetooth earpiece cradles are small as a general rule, the ZE3000's seem to be streamlined in a particularly effective, ergonomic way.

I might fare much better with the ZE3000's default shibo finishing, which adds some much-needed texture to the surface of the cradle for better grip.

A close up shot of the ZE3000's shibo finishing, found on the ZE3000's standard cradle

While I've long forgotten the exact number of hours the ZE3000 cradle's battery is supposed to last (about 27 hours, upon a quick search). I've gotten away without charging it for what feels like weeks. A mildly annoying bug with the ZE3000 is its inability to disconnect from your phone when the cradle runs low on battery, and I've been using that as a cue to charge my earphones.

Sound

While I can and will nitpick at the sound of a pair of IEMs when I'm engaging in critical listening, my own standards for my everyday kit are a lot more relaxed. I love and use my E4000 on the regular and in the same vein, I really do feel like the ZE3000 serves as a perfectly passable pair of audiophile-grade wireless earphones.

Let's talk about what the ZE3000 does not have first. The ZE3000 does not have particularly airy or sparkly trebles. Perfect for those preferring a slightly more mid-centric, mid-forward sound. It's lusher than most bluetooth earphones and from the outset, and offers a good alternative to much of the treble-heavy bluetooth pickings out there.

One thing I enjoy immensely about the ZE3000 is the way It captures detail like a dream, breathy vocals, the hiss of guitar strings, ambient, atmospheric creaks and squeaks everything gets delivered from the track to your ears with the ZE3000 and it's something I really appreciate. Especially when I'm working on illustrative pieces with music in the background.

The ZE3000 has beautiful, deep bass that forms a sound foundation (haha) for every song, it resonates just enough to tickle your brain and keep you hooked. It's likely not enough for extreme bassheads, but I find it to be immensely enjoyable.

Conclusion

Is there better out there? Probably, is the ZE3000 amply decent? For sure.

In my ever-changing equipment roster the ZE3000 is here to stay. It's easy to use, decently detail oriented and Ultraman-Themed, all things I love and appreciate in my daily-carry bluetooth earphones. I'd easily recommend these bluetooth earphones to anyone in the market for a pair. Even if they don't have any Ultraman-Related motifs on them.