Focal Bathys Review – Premium ANC Headphones with Luxurious Design

The premium and famous brand from France, Focal, comes at quite expensive. The Focal had been successful for several wired over-ear headphones whether Utopia, Clear, or Stellia. The first wireless active noise cancellation headphones of Focal, the Bathys. Even though cheaper than the Focal headphones that I mentioned above but the Focal Bathys wireless active noise-canceling headphones are still quite expensive as well. The release’s price at $799. But its sound is stunning and very outstanding. Okay before more introduction, go to the detail of the Focal Bathys review before.

Focal Bathys Review – Premium ANC Headphones with Luxurious Design

At first glance, wow! They look nice and so beautiful. A housing structure that blends perfectly between aluminum and magnesium makes the Focal Bathys headphones look luxurious and not too much weight. Of course, they are not lightweight, around 12.4 ounces or almost 350 grams. It is difficult to make these high-end headphones so lightweight. Because there are a lot of internal components to make these headphones deliver excellent sound quality and be most comfortable. The Focal Bathys has more weight than other high-end wireless ANC over-ear headphones like Sony WH-1000XM5 or Bose 700, which both are only 8.8 ounces or 250 grams, and even Beoplay H95 another high-end wireless ANC headphone has only 323 grams that have a bit less weight than Focal Bathys as well.

The earcups are covered with real leather that is thick and soft and provides soft and comfy ears. They can’t be collapsing inwards but the earcups are rotatable to 90 degrees or the earcups can be folded flat. The rear of the cups is designed to drill more than a hundred holes of different sizes. which makes it look outstanding and very eye-catching.

What’s even more smart and cool than regular Focal headphones is the logo placed on the rear of the earcups can glow to indicate that it’s working. Moreover; it can dim or turn off the light on the logo too, which helps to not disturb the eyesight at night.

The general features like an adjustable headband, which the Focal Bathys don’t miss too. So you don’t have to worry about it won’t fit your head size because the headband can stretch to fit head sizes and shapes.

Even with their weight and un-foldable design but don’t make the Focal Bathys over-ear headphones difficult for portability. personally, It wasn’t too heavy to put in the backpack and quite easy portability because the company provides a nice and strong protective case. But with the headphone’s weight and bulky size, the Focal Bathys is not ideal for those who have a small head, because it might feel heavy if worn for several hours. This is my thinking, but it may be a different idea for many people.

Personally, I think it’s more beautiful and detailed than many competing headphones. They are premium ANC headphones with luxurious designs.

Focal Bathys Wireless ANC Over-Ear – Extreme Comfortable

When it comes to comfortable while wearing, it is still as good as the high-end headphones of the Focals or HifiMAN. The earpads and headband are supremely soft and comfortable to wear even without using the best premium materials. The feeling of touch, these Focal Bathys wireless ANC headphones are still very good level. It feels splendid, expensive, and durable.

They give just the right amount of force pressure. It won’t feel hurt your ears even after wearing it for hours. But it might feel a little heavy for small people with small heads, as mentioned earlier.

Focal Bathys High-End Wireless Headphones – Battery or Playtime

As for the battery, I don’t want to mention much according to their specification, The Focal Bathys offer about 30 hours or more of playtime. Depending main factors are the volume level and turning ANC on. The fast charging feature is also great, just 5 minutes of charging can add up to approximately 5 hours of your time.

Simple Control & Connectivities

The control is physical buttons, not touch control. The buttons feel durable and they are positioned okay. All main functions are placed on the right earcup. There is play/pause music, skipping songs, answering calls, adjusting the volume, and connecting Bluetooth. Besides, the USB-C charging port and 3.5mm AUX port are also on the right side. The left earcup has only one button for switching between ANC and transparency mode. I’m quite confident that you will have to get used to it after using it for a while and will feel that it is so much easy to use.

Focal Bathyrs Wireless ANC Headphones Reviews – Key Features

Bluetooth 5.1 Connectivity

The Focal Bathys wireless ANC headphones utilized Bluetooth 5.1 same as the Bang & Olufsen Beoplay H95. Both support codecs like SBC, AAC, aptX Adaptive, and aptX. A bit pity that there is no LDAC codec in these lists (both Focal Bathys and Beoplay H95). While the Sony WH-1000XM5 is much cheaper but also supports LDAC.

Active Noise Cancellation

There are two modes of active noise cancellation, which are soft and silent. The soft setting will remove some outside low-frequency noise but still lets some high-frequency noise creep in. But the silent setting quells the outside treble better, while low-frequency noise is even more even quelled, but it feels some awkwardness. So, anyone who doesn’t like awkwardness should choose soft mode will better.

The silent mode is perfect for traveling on a flight or train.

The noise cancellation performance of the Focal Bathys, I think it’s in good criteria. Even though can’t win the Sony but not inferior to the obvious. The good thing is using ANC almost does not affect the sound performance, even switching the ANC mode does not reduce sound efficiency as well.

You can use the active noise-canceling on all modes (Bluetooth, DAC, and wired). But one not good thing is, you can’t turn ANC off at all. Just chose between complete ANC (silent) or some (soft). Another small defect is while switching between both ANC modes, there will be a slight delay, it is not switched immediately.

DAC and Wired Mode

Focal & Naim App

To perfect and be worth buying the Focal Bathys wireless ANC headphones, you should download the Focal & Naim app before use. The app will allow changing the ANC mode and also adjust the brightness of the Focal’s logo light on the rear of the earcups.

Moreover; via the app, you can adjust 5-band EQ, which you can adjust freely and also can use a preset. Although there are only 5 bands, this 5-band EQ is well done and also can be adjusted quite thoroughly too. The adjustment will move 0.5db per step no matter up or down and sensitive and fast response for adjusting for each step. It’s really great.

I almost forgot to tell you about voice assistants, the Focal Bathys wireless over-ear ANC headphones are supported and compatible with Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa as well.

Focal Bathys Review – The Sound Quality

This part is very difficult to describe. The sound quality is a feeling matter which it might be different for each. And I’m not an audiophile and there is no knowledge of sound engineering. So that’s why this topic is quite difficult for me. But I will try my best to explain. If some sentences or some paragraphs make you confused and hard to understand, I would like to apologize in advance. But I will try to do my best. Okay, let’s go.

The Focal Bathys utilized an ‘M-shaped’ dome driver, made of combine between aluminum and magnesium that deliver great sound quality. Although it may not be as good as Beryllium, it is cheaper than other models of Focal’s headphones that use Beryllium such as the Focal Utopia open-back headphones.

The driver diameter is standard, 40mm with 15Hz to 22kHz frequency response.

Sound Stage

I would like to say that the Focal Bathys is one of the best wireless headphones that provide a very good sound dimension. The width and transparency of the sound stage are very good. The placement of various musical instruments is clear and has an excellent stereo image when compared to other wireless headphones. As for the detailed sound, the Focal Bathys is fully delivered and quite perfect, at all.

Bass

Fun to listen to but not so big bass that they are annoying. The bass is quite deep and bass-detailed clear, not swollen, not blurred, and also easy to hear. The bass is not crowding the midrange as well.

Mids

The mids is clearly but a little warmth. I think Bathys’s mids are placed between crystal clear and dark midrange. Personally thinking, the Focal Bathys offer smooth mids and give feel comfy while listening to music as well as not annoying the ears too. The Focal Bathys headphones also give complete clarity and detail of the mids as well.

Highs

According to the specification of Focal Bathys, frequency response is 20Hz to 22khz, and their range is wider than general headphones. But the treble is not too height and not too sharp as well. The treble still has a character similar to the mids range, a little soft but the end of the sound is not blunt or dull. Personally, the highs are not too thin and not too sharp till to pierced the eardrum. Fun to listen to and well-detailed.

Compare Focal Bathys to Other High-End Headphones

Focal Bathys Review – Pros & Cons

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Focal Bathys Review – Final Verdicts

The Focal Bathys is undoubtedly at the top of high-end wireless headphones. Who the Focal Bathys is for? I think if you are a serious listener with sound quality and need wireless headphones for convenience use as well as without the budget issue, the Focal Bathys is perfect for you.

The Focal Bathys really give excellent sound quality. Moreover, they come with built-in DAC and wired mode, which both modes produce better sound quality than Bluetooth mode. Great sound and also have ANC/transparency modes. Furthermore, they are made of high-quality materials and durable design. The playtime is just moderate, for around 30 hours or over. The fast charging is quite well, just plug in for 15 minutes and get 5 extra hours. Are all of these worth exchanging for a high price? The answer depends on you.

Thank you for reading the Focal Bathys review until the end. I know this item is very expensive. You don’t need to buy it if you’re not ready. Just read about it and enjoy reading. I’m so glad at all, thank you very much.

Where to buy Focal Bathys

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• Focal Bathys – download product sheet