It's safe to say Noble Audio has been busy recently. On Tuesday they released the Noble Osprey, a $200 earphone, and today they've announced the Fokus Artemis – a $899 wireless, over-ear headphone. And with its striking looks and spec sheet, it's a contender for our list of the best Bluetooth headphones for audiophiles.
Building on their previous Fokus Apollo headphones, which innovatively combined dynamic and planar drivers for a sound quality we described as “exceptionally enjoyable,” the Artemis goes a step further and adds a third driver type – a balanced armature driver. It’s also one of the first sets of cans we’ve seen with a user-replaceable battery (close on the heels of the new Sennheiser Momentum 5), and its water resistance status helps seal the deal. And the headphones. Because they’re water resistant, you see?!
Triple threat
Most over-ear headphones, even the highest and priciest, have a single, jack-of-all-trades driver that covers the bass, mid-range, and treble. The Apollo’s bold move was to borrow from the world of IEMs and make use of dynamic and planar drivers to cover the bass and transients. By separating these audio elements with specialised drivers, the sound becomes crisper and more lifelike.
With the Fokus Artemis, Noble Audio adds a third element: a balanced armature driver that covers the mid-range and delivers vocal clarity. Each cup contains three drivers, and a whole bunch of clever circuitry within the headphones channels the right sounds to the right places. The result, in theory at least, is a wide and detailed sound stage that doesn’t lose any detail.
Audio transmission is handled via Qualcomm’s QCC3095 platform with Bluetooth 5.4 connectivity, but a USB-C to 3.5mm cable is included for wired playback. Six mics positioned around the headphones transmit your voice and enable active noise cancellation, while a proximity sensor and connected app give the wearer further control.
Noble Audio has also partnered with Audiodo, a Swedish company whose tech maps sound to the wearer’s hearing.
“Rather than relying only on standard EQ presets, Audiodo’s technology is designed to create a more individual listening experience, helping users hear more detail, balance and clarity based on their own hearing profile,” Noble Audio explains.
Get rectangle
The Artemis’ design shifts away from the Apollo’s circles and into a more rectangular, AirPods Max style, which makes sense given the triple driver layout.
This is also one of the first sets of headphones we’ve seen with a user-replaceable battery, and the magnetic earpads can be detached and replaced, too.
The Artemis’ battery will give you up to 50 hours of playback time, or 30 with ANC turned on, which is hugely impressive, and they’re IP52 rated, giving them resistance against brief splashes and light drizzle.
A “near-final” Fokus Artemis prototype will be available to try out at High End Vienna this weekend, and they’ll start shipping at the end of July with a £799 /$899/€949 price tag.
