These elite headphones mix planar magnetic and dynamic drivers for hi-res, noise-cancelling audio nirvana

There’s a lot of me-too hardware unveiled among the best wireless headphones, and that makes the genuinely new products all the more exciting – products such as the new Noble FoKus Apollo headphones, which have a world-first combination of dynamic and planar magnetic drivers. According to Noble, they’re “remarkable”, “powerful” and “precise”. 

Noble is well known for its high-end earbuds, and founder John Moulton has been expressing his frustration with the lack of high-quality drivers in the market for many years now. That’s presumably why it’s taken until now for Noble to make over-ear headphones, and to create its own innovative driver designs. According to Noble the combination “results in audio like no other wireless headphone that has come before, utilizing the accuracy and top-end clarity of planar with the power and body achieved by dynamic drivers.”

Noble FoKus Apollo ANC headphones: key features and pricing

The hybrid driver combines a patented 40mm dynamic driver with a 14.5mm planar magnetic driver. The combination should deliver the best of both worlds: the bass of dynamic drivers and the accuracy and clarity of planar magnetic drivers. The frequency response is 10Hz to 40kHz.

The headphones include hybrid active noise cancellation with transparency mode, powered by three microphones per side, reducing audio by up to 35dB according to Noble. That doesn’t sound like it’ll beat the best noise cancelling headphones for sheer blocking power, but as with many things, it can be about how you use it.