Final Audio’s UX series is quietly growing. The first release was the UX3000 that we reviewed back in February 2024. It is a wireless headphone, primarily aimed at gamers, but with good enough sound quality and ANC performance to offer something for most listeners and a price tag that makes it more accessible than most.
The UX3000 arrived on store shelves at $149 which for many would be considered a budget model, but for Final, there was room left below the UX3000 for a model priced under $100. Enter the Final Audio UX2000 Wireless ANC Headphones.
That price point might have you thinking that Final must have cut a lot of corners and whilst there are some things missing like a dedicated control app, and one is limited to black and cream white colorway options — there is a surprising amount of quality in these headphones that make them worthy of an audition if you do not have a big budget.
Build Quality
The construction quality is surprisingly good for the price and the decision to build these wireless headphones out of a polymer material helped to keep costs down and they did well in my daily testing as a commuter.
As mentioned, the build is primarily a polymer material, with a sheet metal headband wrapped in memory foam and protein leather and metal parts used in the hinges for durability.
Overall, the construction parallels the UX3000 but with a simple smooth finish rather than the Shibo finish of its larger sibling. Construction is robust and should help alleviate any durability concerns as these are intended as gaming headphones which sometimes lead a hard life.
Another upside is the polymer material helps keep weight down to roughly 360 grams so the headphones are more comfortable than some.
The hinged design allows the UX2000 to be folded for storage; it can be kept in the media pocket of a backpack or a pocketbook to help protect it when not in use.
Cup size is a bit smaller than the UX3000 and for me that meant that my ears touch the cups. There were not uncomfortable, but it should be noted that the ear cups are on the smaller side and those with larger ears may find the UX2000 to be part on-ear and part over-ear.
The cups feature 90° of rotation to the front and roughly 15° to the rear on the vertical axis and about the same 15° outward (at the top of the cup) on the horizontal.
As with most ANC headphones, the pads are designed to prevent sound leakage and clamping force is fairly high but the UX2000 remained comfortable enough for me.
The left cup has a single USB Type-C port at the bottom along with a pinhole mic port just slightly behind it, whilst the right cup sports a 3.5mm input jack, power, volume (+/-) and ANC controls along with two pinhole mic ports (one near the rear hinge and one in the same location as the left cup).
The cups are labeled ‘L’ and ‘R’ on the inside of the hinges but it can be difficult to tell with the letters molded into the polymer without any color distinction.
The braille left on the outside of the left gimbal is the quickest way to identify proper orientation.
Features
Internally, the UX200 uses a simple Bluetooth chip supporting AAC and SBC protocols. This is a step back from the UX3000 that provides Bluetooth aptX support.
Still, connectivity was solid as long as distances were kept to within 10 meters and multiple barriers were not introduced. We did find that interior walls did not defeat the signal, unless several layers of wall were introduced.
There is a new low-latency gaming mode added to the UX2000 so while not strictly a gaming headphone, the UX2000 can serve as both a daily listener and a gaming headphone if needed.
The UX2000 does have multi-point support as well so swapping between your phone and game console won’t require repairing the headphones repeatedly.
The DSP used is Final’s “Hybrid Active Noise Cancelling” which some will note is also used in the UX3000. This is an in-house developed system to reduce exterior noise without requiring heavy equalization to maintain sound quality.
The DSP also takes advantage of the new ENC Mic system to reduce ambient noise during gaming scenarios where one might be talking to other players and daily phone calls.
The battery is the same 700mAh unit found in the UX3000 but gains extra run-time by virtue of limited protocol support with Final claiming 45 hours. We ran our tests over multiple days and the average was closer to 40 hours which is quite acceptable for wireless headphones in this price bracket.
Charge time is roughly 2.5 hours from completely drained.
The transducers used are Final’s 40mm driver with its patented diaphragm material but like most other models in the wireless series, Final has not released any sensitivity or impedance specifications.
Sound Quality
The UX2000 were designed to be affordable and those looking for a much higher end pair of wireless headphones need to understand that whilst some compromises were made in the overall design, the finished product here is better than some of the other options in the same price range.
There is some sub bass presence, but a majority of the bass impact comes from mid bass with the range lifted around 200Hz and trailing off below that. We also noticed that the mid bass could be tighter and offer slightly better definition, but it still provides for a solid foundation for the rest of the music.
The lower midrange comes across as somewhat recessed sounding and without a companion app you’ll need a third party EQ in your source to adjust the sound; we found that adjusting the range from about 700Hz to about 1500Hz brought out a lot more of the midrange information and detail and made the UX2000 a bit better fit for classical and Jazz whilst rock tracks tended to be need less (if any) adjustment to sound natural.
There is some energy brought back into the upper midrange which helps female vocals stand out against the rest of the range and instrumentation in the mix.
Highs are a safe tuning as well and whilst the lower treble exhibits a mild lift, it is somewhat mitigated by the use of ANC. Percussion snap is a touch muted compared to the UX3000, but can be made sharper with a little EQ and the UX2000 does react well to the use of EQ.
The strong suit of the UX2000 is its soundstage performance which is both larger and better proportioned than expected in a closed back ANC headphone. Width and depth are about the same and whilst they might not offer a massive sounding soundstage compared to open-back models, neither feels cramped and there is enough height to let sounds move freely around the available space.
Imaging is good, although positions are not quite as tightly defined as something like the Sony Pulse Elite ($149) — but again, those come with a fifty percent increase in price compared to the UX2000.
Final Thoughts
The Final UX2000 enters the market as Final’s second wireless headphone and is currently available on Amazon for under $100, which makes it one of the more budget friendly options available for those looking for an all-around headphone that will work well with music, office calls, and gaming.
Those looking for a headphone with good sound that reacts well to EQ, and is durable enough for daily use will appreciate the Final UX2000.
Where to buy: $99 at Amazon
