Noble FoKus Apollo Pro Wireless ANC Headphones Review – Burgundy Coat Of Music Bloom
Noble FoKus Apollo PRO is a $699 USD high-end pair of over-the-ear headphones with the ultimate ANC implementation I’ve heard, a 40mm dynamic driver combined with a 14.5mm planar magnetic driver at their core, boom microphone available, 3.5mm line cable as well as completely new tuning. Today we will review the new Apollo Pro and also compare it with other similarly priced headphones including Noble FoKus Apollo (649 USD), Ecoute TH1 (850 USD) and HIFIMAN Ananda-BT R2R (799 USD).
Introduction
By now I believe it is fair to note that Noble has a house signature, which fluctuates between basshead and strongly V-Shaped, most headphones and IEMs the company makes are tuned this way, which is a total win for me because I love their tuning usually. Noble has multiple headphones in their arsenal for music enjoyment, and FoKUs Apollo Pro is currently the best pair of headphones they have designed with ANC and Bluetooth, although we did not manage to hear Artemis before it ran out. You can purchase Noble products from their own website, Amazon as well as multiple hifi sale channels.
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Product Link
Amazon – https://amzn.to/4xJal7p
Build Quality – Design
Noble designed the new FoKus Apollo PRO as an update to the original Apollo, which we did review and like a lot. Biggest upgrades are focused on meaningful refinement, comfort, usability and user experience while Apollo Pro still uses the same popular hybrid driver combo that we loved with the original Apollo.
This means that Apollo Pro is built around the 40mm Dynamic Driver paired with the 14.5mm dynamic driver combo. This being said, Noble now uses improved leather earpads with premium velvet cushioning, and an upgraded detachable 3.5mm cable and a boom microphone for taking phone calls.
Furthermore, Noble upgraded the tuning for a better listening experience and you can even use voice prompts, although you might guess that I am not a big fan of talking with your headphones, as I already have too many pairs and if I started talking with them my wife might think I went full bonkers. Battery life is still insanely big, in fact, I noted a better one with 80 hours of promised battery life with the new Apollo Pro. Noble designed a smaller and more compact transport case, and a new Wizard sound tuning for a more refined listening experience, technically Noble FokUs Apollo Pro offering Bluetooth 5.3 via QCC3084, with support for SBC, AAC, aptX, aptX HD and LDAC. It takes around 3 hours to fully charge the Pro and it offers a battery life of up to 80 hours with ANC off and a huge 60 hours of battery life with ANC on.
Battery life is insane, and after around 5 hours of listening, S24 Ultra still reports the Apollo Pro with 100% battery life and I was not able to fully deplete them even with a high volume playing and after 50 hours which is just insane. LDAC reported quality is 32 Bit / 96 kHz.
Subjective Usage
It feels more like the new Pro is a refinement over the original rather than a completely new pair of headphones, as for my head the comfort is fairly similar, but that’s most likely because I found the FoKus Apollo to also be enjoyable. Both have big enough earpads for me, both have a good enough cushioning on the headband, but I do feel like the new one looks quite a bit better and feels more premium with a more delightful design. The texture material on the outer headband and earcups give it a premium feeling.
Wearing comfort is good for me, they are not too heavy, although to achieve maximum comfort I have the Apollo Pro at the maximum size possible. It is funny, but lately I need all headphones to be at max size, yet they all look as big as they did years ago, and my weight has not been going up, so what is happening here? Is just my head getting bigger? I digress, the comfort is plenty, largest size is big enough for me, and they will fit well with most people.
There is no hotspot at the headband level or ar the earcup level, and the contact area is very good. Even with a temp of 28 degrees Celsius in my room, Apollo Pro does not feel hot during usage, they sit nicvely on my head, but clamping force is medium, so they are not made for running or jogging. Passive noise cancelation is around 20 dB, while active is around 35 to 40 dB. I had a neighbor who was having a party, full on music and bass, my room vibrating and I started working on the Apollo Pro review, and without any music playing on the Apollo pro, I could not hear anything from that party, with the windows open. This is insanely good for ANC performance and I like how good they are.
I could also feel no driver flex, but the only downside to the comfort would be that the whole seal is good, yet it does feel a bit like they suck my ears a bit. I don’t know exactly why this happens, and it seems to be more accentuated if you’re using ANC, but it always just feels a bit like my ears get sucked a bit inside the earcups. Sound Leakage is extremely low as Apollo Pro does not really leak anything and my wife cannot hear what I’m listening to even if she is in the same room as me.
Sound Quality
Pairings – There is a line input for connecting Noble FoKus Apollo Pro to a standard DAP or portable DAC AMP, but they have the DAC and AMP combo inside which is exactly matched with the drivers, so for most of my tests I have been using them via Bluetooth connected to either Khadas Mind 1, FiiO Air Link, or my Samsung S24 Ultra Smartphone. For the wired connection, I have connected Apollo Pro to the latest DAC AMPs I reviewed, including FiiO K17, Argon Audio SA-2 Amplifier Driven by FiiO Warmer R2R, Acer Nitro 18 AI Laptop (with 3.5mm adapters), iBasso Kunlun, FiiO Snowsky Echo DAP, Orchard Audio Valencia driven by Musician Pegasus III and Luxsin X9.
The sound is fairly consistent if they are turned on because they likely do ADC – Processing – DAC – AMP conversion, quality is slightly higher if using the Type-C input or wireless input. You actually can do a bit more with the Apollo Pro, even if you want to go wired. Basically, you can use them with the DAC and AMP inside the headphones, by turning them on, and then plugging in the 3.5mm line input, or you can use them as passive headphones by turning them off or not turning them on before you plug in the 3.5mm line cable. If you turn them on, you can use ANC and Transparency mode even in wired mode which is excellent. Since the DAC and AMP inside do an excellent job, it is the main way Apollo Pro is intended to be used, so for all this review I either have used them wired, with the 3.5mm input but active, or wireless via Bluetooth. To keep things simple, the sound signature is the same if wired via type C USB DAC = Wired input via 3.5mm line input but active = bluetooth wireless but wired with them turned off has a slightly different sound. Using ANC or Transparency does not audibly change the sound either.
Overall Signature – Noble FoKus Apollo Pro sounds delightfully rich and warm, with a thick and full bass, a sharp and crisp treble, excellent resolution and a highly engaging, dynamic and punchy sound with strong contrast. It is incredibly good for rock, metal and active music, including EDM, Trancecore, old rock and even classical, being a versatile all-rounder for my ears. If anything, it is a bit warm and thick, full down-low, basshead per Noble’s house signature which I find just the sweet spot and the right amount of bassy to be enjoyable and bouncy. You will find their sound to immediately feel natural and it takes no time to get used to Apollo Pro as they sound perfect from the start.
Bass – At the deep end, Apollo Pro starts the bass at 20 Hz sharp, with a strong presence and bass quantity right from the start. This means that you can expect to hear a bloomy, lush and slightly thick bassline even for EDM and synthetic music, and the bass has an increased presence up to about 100 Hz, so even rock music has a thick and present bassline. This type of sound tends to work well for all music styles, but it does sound like Apollo Pro is warm and thick, as per Noble’s description on their website. I personally love it.
Midrange – Midrange is slightly recessed compared to the bass and the treble, but it is juicy, and emphasises equally well with male and female voices, sounding vivid and engaging with a strongly emotional and contrasty tone. Vocals are excellent for pop, edm, and rock, with all instruments being clearly audible, although subdued in presence compared to the thick and bouncy bassline and crisp treble cymbal crashes. For rock and metal it barely sounds natural and balanced, while for other styles it may feel a bit too strong in the low-end.
Treble – With a sharp and crisp top-end, Apollo Pro gives cymbal crashes and micro details a contrasty sound, strong resolution and excellent energy in the sound in general. This works well for rock and metal, treble energy starts at about 7 kHz, and ends at about 14 kHz, but it is toned in such a way that it never sounds metallic harsh or fatiguing, as it has a smooth texture and a unique presentation that makes it audible without feeling intrusive. This works really well for all music styles and it is a great choice if you want more air, more brilliance and energy in sound without making things fatiguing. It is more than present enough for pianos and guitar solos, but has a characteristic juicy, fluid tone to it that makes all those styles more vivid and engaging. It is most certainly not a laid back or relaxed presentation.
Dynamics And Textures – You can expect the texture to be more emphasized on wired connections, and slightly smoother, less detailed on bluetooth, which is a limitation of the bluetooth compression algorithms. I noted while writing this part that they do not use LDAC by default and you need to enable LDAC in most smartphones even if it is available, and after enabling it the resolution is vastly the same between wired and wireless, so make sure to engage it for the best sound. Texture is generally detailed, with a strong contrast between instruments, and dynamic range is natural, without a strong compression or a range that is too wide. Apollo Pro is great for all music styles from a PRaT an DR point of view, and with LDAC, they sound as good as they sound with any source, since the DAC and AMP inside do the heavy lifting anyway together with what I assume to be a DSP processor.
Loudness Saturation Gradient – I initially found the volume to be lower on the Bluetooth mode for some reason, but after connecting them a couple more times, in a couple different days, it has settled now to a very good 120 dB max volume on Bluetooth wireless using the DAC and AMP inside. This is a max volume with no audible distortion, excellent control, high resolution and all the quality there. Because Noble uses their own DAC and AMP, sound quality is consistent across all volume levels with excellent control and a very similar presentation at all volume levels, although the midrange gets a bit louder at max volume and the sound becomes slightly less U-Shaped and more balanced / natural at max volume. I use them close to max most of the time because that is where the sound is most engaging, bass the punchiest and treble most crisp.
Soundstage – Staging is natural towards wide, with a natural instrument separation. Especially in wireless LDAC, you can expect a wide, holographic sound that expands beyond your head, but is controlled and not scattered. It is the perfect type of staging for rock, metal and modern music, although it will be small-ish for classical and orchestral. It will be more than big enough for most electronic and compressed, new music.
Comparisons
Noble FoKus Apollo Pro vs Ecoute TH1 (699 USD vs 850 USD) – TH1 is comfortable and big also, but it uses a more novel NuTube tech inside the headphones. This being said, the maximum volume achieved by Apollo Pro is higher than TH1, and I am eagerly expecting the new model from Ecoute because right now Apollo Pro has a higher control, higher resolution and more sonic impact than TH1. Both have LDAC, both sound great via Bluetooth, but for a basshead Apollo Pro is a bit better, it is lighter and more comfortable to use. In general, they do pursue a similar tuning, both going for a V-Shaped or U-Shaped tuning with a good resolution and strong contrast. The bass extension of the Apollo Pro is deeper and the treble extension is a bit higher.
Noble FoKus Apollo Pro vs Noble Fokus Apollo (Original) (699 USD vs 699 USD) – The original and the new Apollo Pro are very similar and besides the color differences, they outwardly look the same. While there are many minor improvements, I feel like if you have the original you’d really love the upgrade and would feel right at home with the new one. While I recommended the original for the bombastic, full and bouncy sound, the new Pro adds more treble crispness to the mix, makes the sound more detailed and resolving, it is more balanced and feels better as an all-rounder. Whether you’d upgrade or not will be up to you, the original holds value really well in the aftermarket if you want to get the new one, and it is currently one of the best closed-back if not exactly the best flagship closed-back bluetooth headphone you can get
Noble FoKus Apollo Pro vs HIFIMAN Ananda-BT R2R (699 USD vs 799 USD) – I am a huge fan of the Ananda-BT R2R, but it is pricier than Apollo Pro while offering a very different sonic approach being open-back. I feel like comfort is better on Ananda BT as it is much larger but not much heavier. This being said, it is a very important detail that Ananda R2R BT does not have ANC or even passive noise isolation and for a bluetooth headphone, Apollo Pro is far more versatile as with most portable headphones you want low leakage and a high isolation. Sonically, they reach a similar max loudness, both use LDAC, and both sound very good at max volumes. While resolution is a bit higher on AnandaBt, the tuning is so different, as Apollo Pro is balanced – bouncy – basshead and crisp, while ananda BT is W shaped, vocal, engaging for voices but has some bass rolloff, some treble rolloff in comparison, and has a much wider soundstage with a stronger instrument separation. I prefer Apollo Pro for rock, metal and EDM, while Ananda BT is a better choice for classical and acoustic music in general. I mostly listen ro rok, modern pop and edm, so for me Apollo Pro is more versatile for daily usage.
Value – Conclusion
I feel like the new Apollo Pro has the highest value of all the bluetooth headphones I have tested in the high end, and it is not the priciest either, it just is the most complete one and has the most engaging, bassiest sound with the highest maximum volume, best comfort and highest resolution, coming with a nice transport case and it is a top performer if you want to enjoy music on-the-go, either with a wired or wireless source and also has perfect ANC.
If you’re looking for bass, treble, for ANC and for a highly engaging sound with strong contrast and outstanding resolution, you will find Noble FoKus Apollo Pro to be perfect, one of the best performances money can buy, now being comfortable and looking excellent as well.
PROs
- ANC Performance is just phenomenal
- Very comfortable and beautiful with the new color scheme
- Reliable, superb Bluetooth stability with advanced codecs that can take advantage of it
- Wired performance just as good as the wireless performance, being able to use the internal DAC and AMP
- Can be used passive
- ANC works in wired mode
- Lots of bass, lots of treble, engaging U-Shaped tuning
- Bouncy bass that is fully and enjoyable for all music styles
- Bright and sharp treble with outstanding resolution
- Great balance of elements, making them a highly enjoyable pair of headphones
- Neat transport case included
- Line cable and line performance are of a very good quality
Cons
- Biggest size for the headband adjustment is just right for my head which I assume to be medium
Product Link
Amazon – https://amzn.to/4xJal7p
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Full Playlist used for this review
We listened to more songs than those named in this playlist, but those are excellent for identifying a sonic signature. I recommend trying most of the songs from this playlist, especially if you’re searching for new music! The playlists are different for Spotify, Tidal and Youtube, and based on the songs I enjoy and are available on each!
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_cjBXGmwSHSdGcwuc_bKbBDGHL4QvYBu
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5J3oloz8Riy9LxEGenOjQ0?si=979ba4f082414be7
https://tidal.com/browse/playlist/330fd544-8e5b-4839-bd35-676b2edbb3d5
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