More and more companies are making premium wireless headphones as of late, from established players such as Bowers & Wilkins and Focal (creators of the marvellous Bathys) to newer disruptors such as Noble Audio, the folks behind the Fokus Apollo set I have here. These are a £589/$649 set of wireless noise-cancelling headphones that marks the brand’s first move into over-ear designs, with an unusual hybrid approach that combines traditional dynamic drivers and more modern planar magnetic drivers.
As a quick refresher, dynamic drivers have been used in speakers and headphones for the best part of a century. Essentially, they’re a magnet with two wires connected, inside a paper cone diaphragm. Electrical current causes the paper to vibrate at specific frequencies, thereby reproducing sound. By comparison, planar magnetic headphones suspend the diaphragm material between magnetic fields. Dynamic drivers tend to handle low-end frequencies better, while planar magnetic drivers tend to offer more precise and well-rounded sound in the mid-range and treble.
The Fokus Apollo takes both of these pieces of tech and bundles them in one set of headphones, with a 14.5mm planar magnetic hybrid driver and a 40mm dynamic driver. The dynamic driver handles the low-end, while the smaller planar magnetic is there for the mids and highs, theoretically combining to give you the best of both worlds.
That fusion provides truly sublime results across the spectrum. The top end is crisp and gorgeous, with a wonderful sparkle and precision with the constant bell hits on Ralph MacDonald’s Calypso Breakdown and on the harsh cymbal work that goes throughout The Strokes’ Heart In A Cage. What’s more, the competing percussion in the intro to Steely Dan’s Do It Again remains luscious and detailed, where it can be a minefield for some headphones.
The Fokus Apollo’s mid-range is rich, with marvellous handling of vocals and a smooth presentation in everything from lighter tracks such as Caroline I See You From James Taylor and Jack Johnson’s Tape Deck, while even in busier songs such as Gloria Estefan’s 1-2-3 or Get On Your Feet, it kept them central to the mix with a good presentation. Acoustic guitar inflections and the Latin-infused percussion were also excellently handled.
It’s perhaps in the low-end where these cans are most impressive, with the hybrid approach being able to extract more detail and meatiness than other cans I’ve tested. This went for everything from the pounding synth bass in Earth, Wind & Fire’s Let’s Groove to the gritty breakdown in Rush’s YYZ and the Meanwhile section in Steven Wilson’s Objects Outlive Us. The latter especially came through well, before the song moves into lighter acoustic guitar and drum work, allowing the Fokus Apollo to stretch its legs in the mid-range.
The sense of width and depth with these cans is also pretty good, although not as wide and open-reaching as the open-back MM500, as a set of closed back cans. There is a great sense of placement with the sweeping drums in Rush’s YYZ, or the far-off guitar inflections in the Bee Gees’ Subway. A live version of Fish’s half hour Plague of Ghosts suite gave the Fokus Apollo quite a workout, leaning into my usual progressive rock tastes, with a song that wades through everything from heavy and gritty guitar work to electronic synth loops and prominent keyboard notes that these headphones handled with panache.
The good directionality, combined with that precise low end, also helps these cans to work well for mobile gaming, too. I tested these in conjunction with my Honor Magic V3 and a couple of mobile controllers in some streamed titles from Xbox Cloud Gaming, and was impressed with the intensity of explosions and such in some playthroughs in GTA Online, as well as the meatiness and rumble of engine notes in Forza Horizon 5. For gaming use, you are best connecting them by USB-C, as it explicitly is designed for low-latency use. Otherwise, the Fokus Apollo doesn’t have a wireless means for it, unlike some more affordable headphones such as the Cambridge Audio Melomania P100.
Beyond their excellent audio, the Fokus Apollo impresses with their excellent fit and finish, with plush, soft earpads and headband that are supportive and help these cans to be especially comfortable for extended periods. I had no trouble using them on some recent short-haul flights and train journeys, that’s for sure. They also come with lots of adjustment across the headband and earcup swivel to get an optimal fit, while the fact you’ve got proper physical controls for volume, ANC, power and a microphone mute slider. The large hard case they come with is excellent too, with a fabric finish and a useful handle for carrying around; inside, the Fokus Apollo lays flat, with cables stored in a slot in the middle.
In addition, these headphones can also work via Bluetooth, or wired over 3.5mm or USB-C, with the traditional headphone jack method not needing any active power, which is very handy. The Bluetooth 5.3 connection is also stable, and worked well whether I was on my own in a train carriage, or dealing with crowds of people at St Pancras on the platform where other headphones, including my Bathys, can be a little flaky at times.
They also support a wide range of wireless codecs for quality listening, including AAC, SBC, aptx, aptX HD and the rarer LDAC. There is app control with the dedicated Noble Fokus app, although control here is quite basic. It gives you access to turning the noise cancellation on or off, or enable the transparency mode, and you get a 10-band EQ for configuring the sound profile to your tastes.
The active noise cancellation here is arguably better than the Focal Bathys, doing a great job of blocking out most unwanted noise on those quite busy and loud flights and train journeys I’ve taken in the last few weeks. It’s only some higher-pitched noises that weren’t fully blocked out, such as children’s voices. The Fokus Apollo benefits from a more natural transparency mode than the Bathys too, so when you want to hear what’s going around you, it isn’t synthetic.
Battery life is also a strong point, with the Fokus lasting for up to 60 hours with the noise cancelling enabled or 80 hours with it off, making it one of the better pairs for endurance than key rivals. Both the Bathys and the Bowers & Wilkins Px8 will only last for up to 30 hours.
This leaves me mightily impressed with the Noble Audio Fokus Apollo as a sublime set of premium cans that seemingly have it all with good noise cancelling, strong battery life, a comfortable fit and some brilliant audio courtesy of the blend of dynamic and planar magnetic drivers. Some may not like how they look, but if you do, and you’ve got some spare cash to spend on some new noise-cancelling headphones, these should be towards the top of your list.
