Focal Bathys Wireless Headphones Review

The Focal Bathys look quite similar in design to other Focal headphones like the Focal Celestee. However, if you have trypophobia (or a fear of holes), you'll want to avoid looking too closely at them. They have aluminum ear cups with a circular cut-out design. In the middle of the ear cup is the manufacturer's logo, which has a white backlight when using the DAC mode. Our unit is the 'Black/Grey' model, and there's a 'Dune' variant that consists of paler shades of beige but has the same specifications.

The Focal Bathys are comfortable. They're not exactly lightweight, but they aren't as heavy as other Focal headphones like the Focal Clear Mg. They also have soft padding, which feels good against the skin and distributes the weight well. This ensures you can wear them for long periods without causing a lot of fatigue. They clamp tightly on your head, and if you wear glasses or have a larger head, you'll experience more pressure from the headphones.

The controls are good on the Focal Bathys. They have physical buttons on both ear cups that are easy to use. There are different chimes to let you know when you've registered a command, and there's also a tone when you reach max volume. However, you can't hear the max volume chime if you're already listening to music. That said, it's hard to tell the difference between chimes when switching between ANC modes. There are also no voice prompts when using the controls via USB-DAC mode. The Bathys don't have any way to disable noise cancelling altogether, either.

On the left ear cup:

• ANC/Transparency button: Cycles between 'Silent' (ANC on), 'Soft' (ANC at moderate strength), and 'Transparency' (transparency mode) when held for two seconds, so you can hear your surroundings without taking off your headphones.

On the right ear cup:

• '+' and '-' buttons: Adjusts the volume.
• Voice assistant button: Activates your device's voice assistant.
• Multi-function button:
• Single press: Plays and pauses audio.
• Double press: Skips to the next track.
• Triple press: Skips to the previous track.
• Press and hold: Enters Bluetooth pairing.
• Switch:
• Slide left or right: Moves between off, DAC (USB audio or only ANC), and on (analog or Bluetooth) modes.

The Focal Bathys have middling portability. Although the ear cups can swivel to lay flat, you can't fold them into a more compact form. The headphones come with a case, which makes them easier to stow in a bag or suitcase, but they're still chunky. Without cables to snag if you use Bluetooth, they can hang around your neck easily and fold flat when not in use.

They come with a great carrying case. It's smaller than other Focal cases, which makes them a bit more portable, although it doesn't feel as premium. The zippered case also feels sturdy and will protect the headphones from water and impact damage. Inside the case is a storage space and a mesh pocket to securely place the cables.

These headphones have great build quality. Although they look cheaper than other Focal headphones, like the Focal Clear Mg or Focal Celestee, due to their more plasticky ear cup housing, a few of their design choices reflect their premium build. What aligns them with their audiophile counterparts is that their aluminum-magnesium dynamic drivers are made in France, while the headphone frame is made in China. There's leather padding on the ear cups and on top of the headband. The headband is also reinforced with metal and has a soft fabric bottom that's well-padded. Although there have been user concerns regarding the build quality of other Focal headphones, like the headband cracking, we haven't experienced this with our unit. Each ear cup has a mesh vent and the Focal centerpiece lights up when connected via DAC.

These over-ears have decent stability. If you're casually listening to music, they won't move around much. That said, if you like to headbang to your favorite tunes, they can fall off if you're not careful.

• Focal Bathys headphones
• 1/8" to 1/8" TRS audio cable
• USB-C to USB-C cable
• Hard case
• Manuals

When using them via Bluetooth and with the Dynamic EQ preset (which is a close reference to the Harman target) added in firmware 1.5.7, the Focal Bathys have a balanced sound that follows our own target well. They deliver satisfying boom, punch, and warmth to mixes. Vocals and instruments are also clear, present, and natural-sounding but have some treble roll-off, veiling their details. Sibilants are also a little dull, leading to a sound with less emphasis on treble than lows. If you prefer a different sound, you can adjust the headphones to your liking using their companion app's graphic EQ, presets, and Sound Personalization feature. You can see a comparison of the EQ presets here.

You can also use these headphones wired via 'DAC' mode. Many users have reported that this connection results in the best audio quality. You can see a comparison between Bluetooth, DAC, and analog frequency responses here. Overall, the connection modes don't differ in measured frequency responses. However, one of the notable changes is in volume. The DAC connection delivers a higher volume than Bluetooth. Before firmware update 1.4.2, the headphones would automatically default to 100% volume on PCs when switching to DAC mode, which is very, very loud. It seems like this firmware update fixed the issue, but if you encounter it, please let us know in the forums. In addition, we also experienced a small rattling sound coming from the right driver when connected via analog. It's only audible when using this connection and with low to no audio content playing. This issue could be limited to our unit, though.

The Focal Bathys' frequency response consistency is good. They're more consistent than the Bowers & Wilkins Px8 Wireless in the bass range, even if you're wearing glasses or have thick hair. However, they're still prone to deviations in the mids and treble delivery due to positioning and fit. Once you get a good fit, you'll achieve more consistent audio delivery.

The frequency response follows our target curve fantastically in the bass range. Throughout the region, the headphones output a neutral low end without significant exaggeration from our target. As a result, your music sounds as intended by the producer; these headphones are capable of full-bodied rumble, thump, boom, and punch when the music is mixed for that. These headphones reproduce the bass of all kinds of audio sources remarkably.

In the mid-range, their frequency response does an excellent job of following our target curve. The response is mostly flat across the range, resulting in a smooth mids. Vocals and instruments sound present and clear, though a slight dip in the mid-mid nudges vocals and instruments to the back of the mix.

In the treble range, the Focal Bathys follow our target curve decently well. That said, nearly the whole range is underemphasized compared to our target, veiling vocals and instrument harmonics, resulting in diminished detail. Sibilants like 'S' and 'T' sounds are also dull.

The peaks and dips performance via Bluetooth is decent on the Focal Bathys. These mostly control the bass range and struggle more in the upper mids and treble regions, where differences in consistency are more audible. Small deviations in the high-mid make vocals and instruments sound unevenly harsh and weak. Similarly, the low treble is uneven, but a large peak makes the upper harmonics of vocals and instruments harsh. There are also a few peaks in the mid-treble, so sibilants like hi-hats sound piercing.

If you switch to the USB-DAC mode, you can expect similar peaks and dips performance. However, there's a slight mismatch between the L/R drivers in the Bluetooth's high-mid, which shifts into the DAC's low-treble range and is a bit more noticeable. The right driver is more emphasized, making vocals and instruments harsher than the fairly neutral left driver. However, the rest of the DAC's peaks and dips response is largely the same as the Bluetooth response.

The Focal Bathys have great imaging via Bluetooth, which isn't surprising. Most of the products we've tested from Focal have well-matched drivers. Our unit is no exception, and the L/R drivers are matched in group delay, ensuring tight bass and transparent treble. They're also well-matched in phase, amplitude, and frequency response, which results in the accurate placement of objects like voices in the stereo image. Even if you switch to the USB-DAC mode, you can expect imaging to perform similarly compared to Bluetooth.

The passive soundstage performance via Bluetooth is poor. Since the Focal Bathys have a closed-back design, their soundstage doesn't feel very open or spacious. While it feels wide, it's also a bit unnatural. Sound seems like it's coming from inside your head rather than from speakers placed in the room around you, which doesn't create a very immersive audio experience.

Using the USB-DAC mode, the passive soundstage results are very similar. Their soundstage feels a bit less open and more like sound is coming from inside your head.

The weighted harmonic distortion performance via Bluetooth is very good. There's a small peak between the low- to mid-treble at normal volumes. However, it can be hard to hear in real-life content. The rest of the frequencies fall within good limits, resulting in fairly clear and pure audio reproduction.

Using the USB-DAC mode, you can expect a similar weighted harmonic distortion performance. Audio is reproduced fairly clearly, although there's still a minor peak in the low- to mid-treble range. This peak, like the one found in our Bluetooth results, is hard to hear with real-life content.

These are the settings used to test these headphones. Our results are only valid when used in this configuration.

Unlike most audiophile headphones, the Focal Bathys have an excellent full-range noise isolation thanks to their active noise cancelling system (ANC). They can block out bass-range noise like the rumbles of bus engines. They can also reduce mid-range sounds like ambient chatter and the high-pitched hum of computer fans. You can choose two ANC modes: 'Silent,' which is ANC on at full strength, and 'Soft,' for moderate noise cancelling. In addition to ANC, there's a Transparency mode.

You can also use ANC while in the DAC mode, and it performs similarly to ANC via Bluetooth. That said, you can see a comparison of all the modes here. Also, our 'ANC Off' measurements are conducted with the headphones turned off because you can't completely turn off ANC on these headphones.

These headphones have a noticeable noise floor (additional noise not present in the source audio that remains even when audio is paused) when the ANC is on. This unwanted noise can annoy some users, especially if you're already sensitive to this kind of sound.

These headphones do a very good job of isolating you from noise you'll likely encounter in your day-to-day life. Their ANC system can tackle the sounds of rumbly airplane cabins, busy streets, and high-paced offices well enough so that you can focus on your audio.

Wind interacts directly with the ANC's microphones, even though the sound doesn't reach your ears. As a result, the ANC creates unwanted noise as a response, which can be frustrating to hear, especially as it's quite loud. Unfortunately, these headphones also lack a wind reduction feature to help lessen the impact of wind noise on your listening experience.

The Focal Bathys' leakage performance is alright. Leakage is spread across the frequency spectrum but is slightly worse from the mid to treble range. This means the audio bleed sounds somewhat thin. If you listen to audio in a quiet environment, others around you will hear it. However, it won't be too noticeable in a busier space like an office.

The mic has a passable recording quality via Bluetooth. Your voice is understandable, but it sounds thin and a bit unnatural, with an artificial nasal sound depending on how high or low your voice is. If you're using the DAC setting, your voice seems a little muffled and thin. It's still understandable, though. You can hear the recording speech file using this mode here.

While some users have said that sidetone performance has improved after firmware 1.5.7, we didn't test this feature during our original review process, so we aren't currently able to compare this feature's performance pre and post-firmware update.

The mic's noise handling performance via Bluetooth is satisfactory. The mic can capture speech, even in noisy environments like a busy street, and it does a better job in this regard than flagship competitors like the Sony WH-1000XM4 Wireless and Sennheiser MOMENTUM 4 Wireless. However, some vocal distortion is present.

When using the USB-DAC mode, the noise handling performance is somewhat similar. Your voice doesn't get completely lost in background noise, but it's a bit quieter and harder to hear than via Bluetooth. You can hear the pink noise audio sample here and the subway noise audio sample here.

The Focal Bathys have a very good battery performance. The manufacturer advertises them to last 30 hours continuously via Bluetooth, and we measured a similar battery life. While it's not quite as long as the Bang & Olufsen Beoplay H95 Wireless, it's still enough to get you through a few workdays without needing to recharge. While you can use them wired, they still need the battery to power their ANC system, which you can't turn off. When listening via the analog headphone jack connection, the battery lasts 35 hours, and over the USB-C DAC, the battery lasts 42 hours, but your experience may vary depending on variables like how high or low you set your volume.

Even though the headphones also seem like they can charge and play audio simultaneously since the LED indicator lights up and suggests that they're charging, the manufacturer notes that you're not supposed to listen to them while charging them. It takes two hours to recharge the headphones from zero charge.

The Focal & Naim app is good, and you can see a video of how it works here. The app offers a 5-band graphic EQ and presets to adjust the headphone's sound. You need to be playing audio to adjust the EQ, though. Adding to the flexibility of the headphones, Focal adds a Sound Personalization feature to the app version 6.5.1 to adjust the tuning for your unique hearing. In addition to sound customization, you can also check the battery life and audio format, adjust the noise cancelling modes, and update the firmware. You can even adjust the LED logo's brightness. Keep in mind that if you made changes in the app in Bluetooth mode, they'll apply in DAC mode, even though you can't use this connection with the app.

Unfortunately, some users have experienced issues when using the app to update their headphones. When updating to firmware 1.4.2, the app would freeze once the installation had reached 100%. After encountering this issue a couple of times, we uninstalled the app, restarted the phone, and installed the app again, which seemed to solve our issue. If you encounter this issue, please let us know in the forums, and we'll update our review.

The Focal Bathys come with a 1/8" to 1/8" TRS cable and a USB-C to USB-C cable. The USB cable supports audio passthrough but has perceptible latency, so your audio and visuals will be slightly out of sync. However, this won't be an issue if you're using the headphones to only listen to audio.

Using the analog connection results in slightly less latency, but it's still high enough to notice a slight delay. You can hear the recording here. This is because the headphones need to be turned on, even when using an analog connection. They're performing an analog-to-digital conversion, amplifying the source, and possibly adding any EQ customization onto the signal, which adds latency.

The Focal Bathys have a great Bluetooth performance. They support multi-device pairing, so you can connect them with up to two devices simultaneously, and they remember up to eight devices, making switching between sources simple. You'll need to pause content on your main device to switch to another one. We also noticed a slight delay when switching between devices. The process was smoother when switching from one phone to another compared to a PC to a phone, but it wasn't completely seamless. However, this is a minor inconvenience.

These over-ears support aptX Adaptive. This codec adjusts to the kind of audio content playing, whether that's streaming hi-res audio with better audio quality or lowering latency when watching videos. That said, they have high latency pretty much across the board when it comes to SBC, aptX, and aptX Adaptive (High Quality), and you'll notice lip sync issues with these codecs. On the other hand, aptX Adaptive (Low Latency) lives up to its name and keeps your audio and visuals more in sync with lower-quality audio. Latency varies as some apps compensate for it, though. While aptX Adaptive is backward compatible with aptX HD, these headphones don't support aptX HD.

You have three ways to connect to a PC with these over-ears. They can connect to PCs via Bluetooth with full audio and mic compatibility. You'll also get full audio and mic compatibility if you connect to a PC using wired USB-DAC. However, while they can connect to PCs via analog, they only support audio using this cable.

These headphones can only connect to your PlayStation console via analog 1/8" TRS, and you'll only receive audio. In other words, you can't talk with your teammates.

These headphones only support audio via analog, so you won't be able to talk with your team.