Noble FoKus Apollo review: a premium set of headphones that delivers Olympian audio quality

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Noble FoKus Apollo: Two-minute review

Like nan heavy memed woman successful nan Old El Paso advert, high-end audio institution Noble wants to opportunity thing pinch its caller FoKus Apollo over-ear headphones: “why not both?”.

The caller Noble FoKus Apollo are nan first headphones to harvester 2 different types of audio exertion nether nan aforesaid band: move and planar magnetic drivers, which should springiness audiophiles origin for interest. They’re besides Noble’s first headphones too, marking a displacement from its high-end wireless earbuds and wired in-ear monitors.

To boil down tech jargon, planar magnetic drivers are nan existent inclination successful individual audio; fragile, costly and fantastic-sounding, they’ve precocious begun cropping up successful immoderate of nan best headphones, and successful (or on) audiophiles’ ears.

Opposites travel together successful nan Noble FoKus Apollo, and from a sound position it shows – successful a bully way. These headphones sound fantastic, pinch a elaborate sound stage, precocious value audio and beautiful equilibrium that provides an enticing neutral sound. I enjoyed utilizing nan Apollo truthful overmuch for their audio chops that I started wearing them for movies, TV shows, meetings, games and conscionable astir thing other that requires my ears.

Sound is intelligibly nan attraction of nan FoKus (I had to do that once, okay?) pinch nan characteristic group different beautiful limited. The sound cancellation is capable to return nan separator disconnected annoying noises but I could still perceive nan rumble of buses aliases listen of dense rainfall connected windows much than pinch immoderate different products I’ve tested, truthful they won't beryllium joinging our guideline to nan best noise-cancelling headphones immoderate clip soon. And there’s nary built-in microphone, though an attachable 1 comes successful nan Apollo’s box.

The container is beautiful jam-packed actually, pinch Noble giving you a transportation lawsuit and an assortment of cables, adaptors and extras. You can’t responsibility nan institution for offering worth for your money.

The artillery life of nan FoKus Apollo is possibly moreover much awesome than its audio chops, pinch 60 hours of ANC-on listening clip aliases 80 hours of ANC-off playback doubling galore different rivals connected nan market.

My individual debased constituent during my testing of nan Apollo was erstwhile personification commented really nerdy nan headphones looked erstwhile worn – audiophiles mightiness beryllium utilized to this but they’re not a chic arsenic different options connected nan market. However nan debased constituent for astir group mightiness beryllium a spot earlier than that – astatine nan checkout.

The Noble FoKus Apollo are highly costly headphones, outstripping plentifulness of rivals, and moreover pinch nan worth added by other cables and devices successful nan container they’re intolerable to warrant for audiophiles connected a budget.

If you deliberation your purse aliases wallet tin grip them, though, these are awesome headphones that rustle astir of their rivals retired of nan h2o for sound value alone.

Noble FoKus Apollo: Price and merchandise date

• Released successful September 2024
• Costs $649 / £589 / AU$999

The Noble FoKus Apollo are not a inexpensive brace of headphones by immoderate means. You person to ammunition retired $649 / £589 / AU$999 to prime up a pair, which makes these immoderate decidedly premium cans.

You’re paying much for these headphones that best-in-class options for illustration nan Sony WH1000XM5s, Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones aliases Bowers & Wilkins PX8, though a prime fewer options do costs more.

It’s worthy noting that nan value includes extras for illustration a transportation case, 3.5mm cord, USB-C cable, respective adaptors and a plug-in microphone, truthful Noble isn’t precisely ripping you disconnected here.

Noble unveiled nan FoKus Apollo successful nan backmost half of 2024; nan headphones look to beryllium connected waste successful various regions astir nan world, either from Noble’s website aliases from third-party stores, though successful immoderate places they’re sold out.

Noble FoKus Apollo review: Specs

Noble FoKus Apollo: Features

• Limited in-app characteristic set
• Midweight ANC
• Fantastic artillery life

To usage nan Noble FoKus Apollo, you tin download nan Noble FoKus smartphone app – I opportunity ‘can’ because I only downloaded it towards nan extremity of my testing period, and it didn’t adhd thing to nan experience. You tin easy usage nan Apollo without it.

It does springiness maine a useful shopping database of features to tally through, though. First up there’s an equalizer, offering 10-band customization for group who cognize their measurement astir an EQ tab, and six presets for those who don’t (which, to my ears, sounded very similar).

Next is ANC, which tin beryllium toggled betwixt on, disconnected aliases ambient mode. The Apollo’s sound cancellation is decent, but it’s acold from industry-leading, truthful while it stripped distant nan mostly of inheritance sounds it did ever time off a small inheritance hum that different buds and headphones I’ve tested would remove. If inheritance sound was a cheesecake, nan Apollo would beryllium skipping that crumbly biscuit base.

The app lets you toggle EQ, ANC, nan reside move for erstwhile you set settings connected nan headphones and… not a batch else. It’s a really barebones app, which doesn’t really warrant its abstraction connected your telephone since nan EQ is nan only characteristic which you can’t play pinch connected nan headphones themselves.

A lightweight characteristic group isn’t thing to get excessively heartbroken about, arsenic these are intelligibly headphones designed pinch an audio focus.

A ‘missing’ characteristic is nan expertise to return calls, arsenic nan FoKus Apollo don’t person a microphone built successful (something I discovered nan difficult way: successful a group gathering erstwhile I couldn’t fig retired why group couldn’t perceive me). A microphone comes successful nan container that you tin link to nan headphone to mitigate this loss, but immoderate mightiness not for illustration nan manner connection that this provides if worn successful public.

Curiously, Noble’s merchandise listing specifications look to connote that there’s a microphone, but I conducted respective tests successful different apps (yes, pinch nan microphone toggled) and nan Apollo could only prime up audio if nan outer microphone was connected.

Thankfully nan awesome artillery life ensures that you tin bask that audio for agelong periods of time: 80 hours, to beryllium nonstop (though if you perceive pinch ANC that drops to a still-impressive 60 hours). Given that 30 hours is considered nan mean lasting powerfulness by TechRadar’s staff, that’s a really awesome figure.

• Features score: 3.5/5

Noble FoKus Apollo review: Design

• Comfortable pads but dense build
• Loads of buttons and ports
• Divisive looks

The Noble FoKus Apollo look much refined than your mean headphones: nan comfy padded band, nan shiny metallic pads pinch soft leather pads, and bladed bands connecting it each make them look arsenic overmuch for illustration an creation portion arsenic immoderate headphones. They're besides a spot bulkier than galore different headphones connected nan market.

This quality covers up immoderate elasticity issues though. While nan cups tin rotate astir 180 degrees on nan X axis (as in, they tin look you aliases look distant from you erstwhile connected your head), they don’t move astir overmuch connected nan Y axis (as in, they can’t constituent down aliases up much, a move which is useful for catering to different caput shapes). You besides can’t fold up nan cans, beyond nan set magnitude pinch immoderate retractable space.

Premium materials guarantee that nan Apollo feels comfortable to wear, if your caput ensures you’re not affected by nan elasticity problems, though agelong periods of listening whitethorn bring aches because of nan weight of nan cans.

Each of nan cans bears an orchestra of ports and buttons, which you’ll return a while getting utilized to. The near tin has a microphone shut up slider, a USB-C charging larboard and a 3.5mm jack (for nan microphone), while nan correct tin has an ANC toggle, different 3.5mm port, a measurement rocker and a powerfulness button.

I couldn’t find accusation astir an IP standing for nan Apollo, truthful I’d urge be aware erstwhile utilizing them successful potentially-harmful watery environments. Saying that, they survived a beautiful dense rainstorm astir my neck.

Due to nan bladed areas of set and nan delicate internals, I ever considered nan Apollo to beryllium rather vulnerable during testing, and treated them accordingly – I can’t opportunity for judge whether these things are much susceptible to harm than alternatives, but I made judge to support them successful their lawsuit erstwhile imaginable conscionable to beryllium sure!

The 1 and only colour for nan FoKus Apollo is gray, arsenic you tin spot successful nan image, which has areas of metallic and achromatic arsenic well.

One point I’d beryllium remiss not to emblem is nan look of nan Apollo erstwhile connected one’s caput – they look, for deficiency of a amended word, a spot dweeby (something which was pointed retired to maine aggregate times, making nan descriptor 'divisive' consciousness apt). On each but nan biggest heads nan cans look immense too, truthful if you attraction astir your looks and societal standing, it’s thing to carnivore successful mind.

• Design score: 3/5

Noble FoKus Apollo review: Sound quality

• Expansive sound stage
• Mostly good balanced
• Performs wonderfully astatine precocious volumes

The Noble FoKus Apollo sound amazing. I know, I know, extremity nan presses: premium headphones that sound great. I’m judge you’re shocked.

As mentioned successful nan introduction, nan Apollo combines a 14.5mm planar magnetic hybrid driver pinch a 40mm move one, pinch nan operation of some moving successful tandem to present beautifully balanced audio.

To me, nan champion portion of nan FoKus Apollo’s audio offering is nan melodramatic sound stage, spreading retired instruments successful a wide arch astir you. Listening to songs, you could almost constituent to wherever each set personnel aliases quartet performer was astir you, and nan soundstage helps you prime retired inheritance instruments that you mightiness not needfully perceive connected cheaper headphones.

With specified a awesome sound stage, it’s almost a shame that Noble hasn’t included support for Dolby Atmos aliases different charismatic surround-sound alternatives for movie and TV streaming, to thief you bask videos arsenic overmuch arsenic you tin music.

Audio tuning is beautiful and balanced successful nan Apollo. Treble is sparkling and sensibly handled while mids, often overlooked successful headphones, support their caput supra h2o successful nan operation pinch a pronounced sound. For nan astir portion bass is conscionable arsenic beardown but I did find it falling conscionable a tad quiet successful nan operation connected occasion; it’s not thing that each listeners will mind but I’d ideate dedicated bass fans will consciousness it. It depended connected nan opus excessively and immoderate tweaking pinch nan equalizer tin mostly offset it.

Unlike galore different sonically-impressive headphones and earbuds, I didn’t person immoderate measurement troubles pinch nan FoKus Apollo. They tin spell louder than I cared to trial and I didn’t perceive immoderate peaking aliases distorting erstwhile I was astatine nan precocious limit of my comfort.

Audio fans will bask nan Apollo’s compatibility pinch a scope of codecs that includes LDAC, AAC, aptX, aptX HD and SBC. Unlike pinch astir different headphones, Noble’s app doesn’t fto you alteration nan settings for these various codecs though.

Wired audio purists will besides bask nan versatility that nan Apollo offers: you tin usage it wholly arsenic a brace of wired cans if you prefer. As mentioned earlier nan container has a 3.5mm cablegram arsenic good arsenic adaptors for ¼-inch and 4.4mm jacks truthful you’re sorted for a scope of devices.

• Sound quality: 5/5

Noble FoKus Apollo review: Value

• Prohibitively costly for galore buyers
• In-box peripherals and lawsuit adhd value

Do $649 / £589 / AU$999 headphones really coming worth for money? It’s difficult to make nan statement that they do because nary matter really incredibly nan sound value is, you tin still prime up great-sounding cans for a 5th of nan price.

Noble does its champion to extremity nan scales, to its credit. The inclusion of a hardy transportation lawsuit and loads of useful other cables and adaptors does guarantee that you don’t request to walk a cent much connected your audio purchase.

I can’t ideate headphones that sound this bully costing less, but money-conscious buyers tin easy prevention by settling connected audio quality.

• Value: 3.5/5

Should I bargain nan Noble FoKus Apollo?

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Noble FoKus Apollo review: Also consider

How I tested nan Noble FoKus Apollo

• Tested for 1 month
• Tested astatine location and connected various excursions

The Noble FoKus Apollo enjoyed a four-week testing period, capable to put them done their paces successful immoderate rigorous tests. I chiefly utilized nan headphones while connected to an Android telephone complete Bluetooth but I besides tested them alongside an iPad and a Windows machine via Bluetooth and 3.5mm cables.

I tested nan Apollo successful a scope of environments including my office, home, java shops, connected buses and coaches, and besides connected walks astir my neighborhood. As I mentioned earlier I chiefly utilized them for audio streaming but utilized them connected my iPad to watercourse fundamentally nan full tally of Shogun and a fewer movies.

I've been reviewing gadgets for TechRadar for 5 and a half years now, including having tested countless headphones and earbuds.

• First reviewed successful October 2024

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