Introduction

final is one of the more established audio brands in the world. It is the in-house brand of the Japanese company S'NEXT Co., Ltd. which itself is an offshoot of Japan Molex LLC (yes, that very Molex) with a rich history of electrical connectors and audio dating back to 1974. There have been several products over the years that final has been known for, and they have recently stepped deeper into the gaming world with the VR3000 gaming earphones we covered the launch of a few months ago. We are NOT taking a look at the VR3000 today. Instead, we have something outlandish enough to where it is a welcome change from the usual-looking TWS (true wireless) earphones out there. Enter the EVA2020 x final earphones, and thanks to final for sending TechPowerUp a review sample.


The EVA in the product name stands for Evangelion, the mecha units made famous by the Neon Genesis Evangelion franchise. The Netflix release of the anime from 1996 clearly got enough eyes on the franchise to where this collaboration bore fruit with three specific designs based on three popular Evangelion units, as well as a recent limited edition release that is not pictured above. My knowledge of the franchise is limited to the few hours of Google searches in preparation for this review, but I suppose I should also mention that I took the liberty of combining this review with a quick look at a second brand: SpinFit. The latter has become synonymous with good quality replacement silicone ear tips of various types to better fit your specific ears, and I have referenced them in a few reviews already. Strap in (to your mech) as we do a two-for-one review using the EVA2020 x final earphones as the base, and we begin with a look at the specifications for the same in the table below.

Specifications

Packaging and Accessories

I have the FI-EVATW (06) here, which means this is the EVA2020 x final in the Mark.06 version characterized by the blue and orange color scheme. The packaging is designed to match accordingly, although the structure and unboxing experience will be identical across all four versions. The box comes sealed in plastic with a hang tag up top for retail stores, and we see branding on the front of the blue box for both final and Evangelion alike, including the large "06" at the top to show where the marketing priorities clearly lie. The waveform pattern apparently signifies the synchronization rate in the story. Marketing features and tech specs are on the back, including two QR codes for the "My final" app and tracked serial number for this specific unit. The app is pretty much only in Japanese and doesn't do anything useful beyond acting as a company app, so feel free to ignore it completely at this time. A magnetic clasp on the side holds the box together, and you can pull it off to open it up like a book.


There is a note in Japanese, which will be a trend across the board by the way, and underneath it two compartments host the actual products. The top layer is a thick foam cutout to snugly fit the charging case that has the earphones inside, and in the bottom is a cardboard box to keep the accessories separately inside. Here, we find a detailed and quite handy user manual (online copy here) in multiple languages, and it goes over all the pre-programmed functions and customization options, of which there are several. The warranty card is inside said printed manual too, should you need it. There is also a separately packed set of ear tips, and a 30 cm long USB Type-A to Type-C cable in its own plastic wrap to charge the case itself.


The included ear tips are what final calls its proprietary Type E ear tips, of which we get a total of 5 sizes including those pre-installed on the buds. Coming in sizes SS (extra small, also referred to as XS in some regions), S, M, L, and LL (extra large/XL), the company says these were designed specifically for its TWS earphones only with a balanced mode in mind. These are silicone tips and should work fine for pretty much anyone, although memory foam tips would have been nice to see.


You know what else is nice to see? A retail set of two different SpinFit tips. The company launched in 2009 with a claim to fame with patented ergonomic concave SpinFit ear tip. This concave design is at the tip core, allowing the tips themselves to swivel with an extra degree of freedom inside the ear canal for a more secure and custom fit. The better the fit, the better the isolation, which in some cases can greatly affect the perceived sound signature. I have here the CP100 in size M (red) that has a 4 mm core inner diameter, as well as the CP145 in size M (orange) with a 4.5 mm core inner diameter. Both are better-suited for different applications, but I also suspect both will generally be better fits than the average stock tips. Each retail pack comes with two sets of tips and costs ~$10-11 from authorized resellers in the USA.