Focal, if you haven't heard of them, is a high-end French audio company that's best known for its super high-fidelity loudspeakers. They're also super high-end, for that matter; they sell for $140,000 per speaker. But the brand also makes a variety of open-back and closed-back headphones for much more reasonable prices, ranging from a few hundred bucks to several thousand.
Released in late 2022, the Focal Bathys — pronounced "bat-ees," in your best French accent — is the company's first foray into the populated waters of wireless noise-cancelling headphones. What makes the Bathys different is their style, sound ... and of course, their price tag. At $699, the Bathys are one of the most expensive wireless noise-canceling headphones — but Focal has seemingly done a number of things to justify it.
The Bathys share the same 40mm M-shaped dome drivers as Focal's non-wireless open-back Elear ($750) and closed-back Celestee ($999) headphones. They're made out of premium materials like magnesium, aluminum and real leather. And they offer a few other hi-fi features that make them stand out from the other "luxury" noise-canceling headphones.
Focal Bathys: What We Think
Forget the price tag for a second, and the Focal Bathys are pretty exceptional wireless headphones. They sound great wirelessly, but they are also a bonafide option for hi-fi lovers, as they support lossless-quality audio (up to 24-bit/192kHz). And most importantly, they're comfortable to wear.
True, their active noise-cancellation isn't game changing compared to the Apple AirPods Max or Sony WH-1000MX5s of the world. That said, none of the other "luxury" headphone manufacturers, like Bowers & Wilkins and Master & Dynamic, can compete with them on that front either.
If you're looking for luxury wireless headphones that put sound quality ahead of everything else and and you like the honeycomb look of the Bathys, then they're easy headphones to recommend. Just don't expect them to be the best of the best when it comes to active noise-cancellation; you can get headphones with more powerful ANC for significantly less.
The Bathys sound great when playing music wirelessly
After testing the Bathys for the last several weeks, it's easy to say that sound quality is absolutely their standout feature — they sound immaculate. Focal has decked them out with high-end 40mm drivers and engineered the heck out of them; according to the company, they're able to emulate the sound of near-field speakers. The result is a warm and crisp sound with a robust soundstage. Honestly they've just been a joy to listen to.
I've been mostly streaming from Spotify and Apple Music — the Bathys have support for aptX HD and AAC, depending on the device you're streaming from. Lately I've been on a Lauren Daigle and Ed Sheeran kick; both their voices sound big in all the right ways and, when wirelessly streaming, the Bathys's sound is certainly on par with the likes of Apple's AirPods Max.
They're bona fide hi-fi wired headphones, too
The Bathys's ace up their sleeve is they make pretty phenomenal wired headphones as well. They have a special "DAC mode" — which you can quickly toggle on via a button on the right earcup — that utilizes a built-in DAC and headphone amp and allows the Bathys to play lossless audio (up to 24-bit/192kHz) when using the integrated USB-C-to-USB-C cable.
This is great news for anybody who subscribes to a lossless streaming service and wants to get the most out of it. As an Apple Music subscriber (which conveniently maxes out at 24-bit/192kHz), I was able to plug the headphones into my MacBook, toggle on DAC mode and listen to lossless audio files. It was easy. (You can do the same with your iPhone, although you will need a USB-C-to-Lightning adapter.)
The Bathys are surprisingly lightweight and comfortable.
For me, one of the nice surprises of the Focal Bathys was realizing just how comfortable they were. I was expecting them to feel heavy, since they're made mostly of metal instead of plastic, but they actually don't. They weigh 350 grams, which is lighter than AirPods Max's 385 grams — but the weight of the Bathys is spread out more through the headband so the actual earcups don't feel like they're weighing you down as much.
Additionally, the leather earcups of the Bathys are seriously thick and plush. They're like pillows for your ears — just super-comfortable. They are leather, of course, so they will wear out over time; however, you can pull them off and replace them.
Thank goodness for physical buttons
I've ranted about headphones lacking physical buttons before. So many headphones in this modern age opt for capacitive touch controls, like tapping and swiping on the actual earcups for adjusting things like volume and play/pause, and it frustrates me to no end — it makes touching or adjusting the fit of your headphones a perilous task. Thankfully, Focal has given the Bathys real click-y buttons. And they're great.
Pretty much all of the buttons are on the Bathy's right earcup. There's a button for power, a button for volume and pairing, and a button to initiate a voice assistant (either Siri or Alexa). On the left earcup there is a single button for switching between noise-cancellation and transparency modes.
Their active noise-cancellation isn't the standout feature
The active noise cancellation of the Focal Bathys won't blow you away; it's good-not-great. When ANC is turned on, it doesn't completely cut off the outside world when you're not playing music like many of today's more popular noise-canceling headphones (which are also significantly cheaper), such as the Sony WH-1000XM5 and the AirPods Max. In my experience it does a decent job, especially at cutting out high-frequencies and damping most everything else, but noise-cancellation shouldn't be the primary reason for getting the Bathys.
The other thing I will say: while switching between transparency and noise-canceling modes (as well as a "Soft" mode that's a hybrid between the two) is easily enough — just holding the on-earcup button — I found that it wasn't always that easy to tell what mode I was on. As far as I could tell, you don't have the ability to turn on a voice prompt that lets you know what setting the Bathys are in. There's simply a beeping noise that goes off when you switch between mode ... but that's not super-helpful if you can't tell what mode you're already in.
The app experience is actually ... nice
Most modern wireless headphones work with a companion app. and the experience of using them typically goes one of two ways: they're really complex and complicated; or they're bare-bones and mainly there for software updates. The Bathys's companion app (Focal & Naim) is actually a nice compromise.
In the companion app, there are really only three things you can do: you can use the built-in equalizer to adjust audio settings and create a new custom sound profile; you can toggle between noise-cancellation and transparency settings; and you can adjust the brightness of the LED light that's built into both earcups, turning it on (the default setting), dimming it or turning it off.
Focal Bathys: Alternatives
There's actually a good number of "luxury" noise-canceling wireless earbuds to choose from these days, all of which combine premium materials, high-quality sound and a pretty high price tag. I've tested the Bowers & Wilkins PX8 ($699) and the Master & Dynamic MW75 ($599), but of which are excellent yet pricey. And then there's the more popular and slightly more affordable options, like the Sony WH-1000XM5 ($399) and AirPods Max ($549), which deliver the best noise-cancellation of any ANC wireless headphones. If you're willing to spend the big bucks, a lot of it really comes to design — do you like the look of them? If you're paying a lot, you better.
