I tested a pair of gaming earbuds that put my audiophile headset to shame — and they’re under $35
As a tech reviewer for Tom’s Guide, and an avid gamer, I’ve had my share of issues with headsets over the years. Whether I have to deal with headsets that can’t deliver on features like the Turtle Beach Atlas Air, or the huge prices of audiophile options like the Beyerdynamic MMX300.
While not exactly new, I fell in love with the Final VR500 earbuds while testing them this month — proving you don’t need to make any compromises for a quality pair of gaming headphones. When I picked them up for the first time, I did not expect for them to easily be one of the best gaming headsets I have ever used.
In fact, I awarded them my first ever five star score in my Final VR500 review. How could some wired earbuds be worthy of such high praise, you ask? Let me explain why you should join me in buying your own pair of the Final VR500 earbuds.
Sound all around
The standout feature of the VR500 earbuds is the 3D binaural sound. I talked about this a lot in my review, but I am still shaken by just how immersed I was by the sound in-game. I am a fan of military games, and have played a lot of Ace Combat in the last few months. I will never forget how exhilarating it was to fire my two heatseeking missiles into an enemy bomber, hearing the impact as my sleek F-15 flew on, the sound alone telling me everything I needed to know about hitting the target.
Enough of me recounting war stories, though. I think the most useful application of the 3D technology is in competitive settings. I’ve never had such an instantaneous advantage over my foes in Counter Strike 2 and Valorant than when I used these earbuds, with them feeling like a full 360 degrees of vision in terms of accurate sound. You might have heard that these tactical shooters are more about strategy and control than raw aim, especially at higher ranks, and the VR500 earbuds were truly the missing link in my competitive gaming setup.
Musings on music
The VR500 hasn’t made any sacrifices to quality, either. The buds are capable of extreme levels of detail, so much so that I picked up on far more sounds than I can even on my old Sennheiser HD560s headphones. For comparison, these are highly accurate studio headphones — I am in no doubt that for technical listening, these are far superior.
However, whenever you had diegetic, in-game music, like a bard performing in a tavern in Skyrim, or an accompanying orchestral score mixed with ambient sounds of the countryside in games like Baldur’s Gate 3, you just can’t beat how well the VR500 balances and mixes the different sound sources.
I wouldn’t go as far as saying these buds are only good for gaming. The fantastic sound quality is still the case when you’re listening to music, too.
I spent last year listening to a lot of lo-fi and noise rock, with production values that don’t always reflect well on studio-quality headphones — the songs are not really made with this tech in mind. With that said, the ability of the binaural audio in the VR500 to separate out the different instruments even in louder songs was downright impressive — what it lacked in raw punch, specifically for bassier songs, it made up for in superior detail that made me feel like I was at a live show myself.
I am not just talking about the buds being good for their price. The sound quality is genuinely superior to that of any other headphones I have tested up to at least the $120 point, and I wish I was exaggerating when I say I’ve switched to using them as my main pair of headphones, despite owning some powerful alternatives. The best way of convincing you is to encourage you to pick up a pair yourself, permitting that the wire doesn’t put you off…
Down to the wire
The main issue that you might encounter with the VR500 buds, or something that would prevent you from buying them in the first place, is the wire. I am of the belief that wired earbuds still have a place in the tech world, and I keep a pair on standby in my backpack if my wireless pair ever runs out of charge.
Like the namesake suggests, these are designed with VR headsets in mind — although with headsets (like the Meta Quest 3S) dropping the 3.5mm jack, wired options like the VR500 become slightly less appealing as an option. Add to this the 3ft wire causing unnecessary tangles and distraction from an otherwise VR experience, and the 3D audio just doesn’t make up for the loss in immersion.
I went out and bought a new 3.5mm to USB-C adapter as soon as I listened to a few tracks with these earbuds so I could take them with me on the go, but you might think that relying on the increasingly extinct headphone jack for on-the-go listening is too antiquated for 2025.
For gaming, the wire is more than long enough for gaming on my phone or Nintendo Switch, but struggled to reach the back aux port of my desktop PC, behind my desk. While the wire is much shorter than your average headset cable, the sound benefits I have outlined make up for any minor setup headaches in my mind.
Other in-demand wireless earbud features, such as ANC, aren’t present here. In this aspect though, the VR500 more than makes up for it — these earbuds have some of the best noise isolation I have ever experienced. Listening to music or playing a game at even moderate volumes will almost entirely block out interrupting noise, so much so that I couldn’t hear someone talking a couple of feet away while I was testing them.
Despite having a wire, these are far more comfortable than any wireless earbuds I have tested. The adjustable earpiece tips stayed in my ear without fail with a perfect seal. I could literally wear them all day without feeling any soreness, something that was incredibly impressive for the price.
I will still defend the earbuds for what they are. If the wire delivers this level of sound quality and also brings down the price to such a low amount, I honestly can’t fault the VR500 for it — I’m still going to proudly rock these buds for the foreseeable future.
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