Premium hi-fi manufacturer Focal has announced the Focal Bathys, its first pair of wireless noise-cancelling headphones.

With a premium design inherited from the brands open- and closed-back headphones, the Focal Bathys offer up a real leather finish on the headband with aluminium and magnesium on the earcups. The flame logo at the centre of the distinctive Focal grilles can even light up, should you wish.

Despite the high-end materials, the Focal Bathys are designed to be lighter and more compact than some of the company’s high-end wired range, with a carry case to make them easy to take with you on the go too.

From a performance perspective, the headphones feature 40mm speaker drivers with an aluminium-magnesium M-shaped dome, and promise to deliver a detailed, precise and dynamic sound. 

Focal Bathys photo 2

Noise cancelling is served up in two modes – "silent", for environments with high background noise, and "soft" for the times you don’t need your ANC to be all guns blazing. There’s also transparency mode for when hearing some of your surroundings might be helpful.

Focal Bathys are compatible with all manner of audio codecs, including SBC, AAC, AptX and AptX Adaptive, plus can be used wired (via USB-C) for 24 bit/192kHz high-res music support, with a high-quality 24-bit USB DAC built in. There is also support for 3.5mm jack, and both cables come in the box.

Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant voice assistants are on board, with easily accessible control buttons on the earcup and an adjustable EQ for customising the sound to your tastes. This can be accessed and tweaked in Focal’s new dedicated app, for Android and iOS. There’s also Clear Voice Capture microphone technology for crystal clear telephone calls.

When used wireless, the Focal Bathys will offer 30 hours of battery life, with fast charging serving up five extra listening hours with just 15 minutes of charge.

The Focal Bathys are available now and cost a not inconsiderable £699/$799/€799. We’ll be giving them a full review very soon. 

Focal Bathys