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Noble Audio FoKus Artemis review: Three is evidently the magic number
£799 / $899 / €949, nobleaudio.com
If you backpacked Thailand in the late noughties, there’s a chance you soundtracked your efforts to emulate The Beach with an early pair of Noble Audio in-ear monitors.
While working at the largest Thai hearing aid manufacturer, John Moulton, affectionately known as ‘The Wizard,’ would spend his spare time making finely crafted custom IEMs in hardwood that had online forums in a tizzy.
Having carved out a reputation, Moulton established Noble Audio in 2013 and spent the next decade producing some of the most sought-after buds in the business. Its secret? A hybrid system of dynamic and planar magnetic drivers, handing each frequency to whichever of the three drivers handle it best.
Not content with moulding monitors to musicians’ ears, Noble recently transferred the tech to commuters’ heads with its first stab at wireless ANC over-ears, the FoKus Apollo. Now it’s back with new flagship noise-cancellers, FoKus Artemis, which feature an unprecedented third driver type — a balanced-armature tweeter.
Noble’s theory is that if the 40mm dynamic driver lends low-end weight, the 14.5mm planar fires off speedy transients, leaving the balanced-armature tweeter to sprinkle top-end sparkle. Whether its in-ear-monitor magic survives the trip is the real acid test.
At £799, joining the triple-driver club isn’t cheap, but these headphones harbour ambitions beyond the Sonys and Boses of this world. Their sights are set on ANC high society alongside the Focal Bathys, Bowers & Wilkins Px8 S2, and Mark Levinson 5909. A Noble cause or ideas above its station?
FoKus Artemis: Dressed for the Mandarin Oriental
Noble has never been shy about its looks, and the Artemis headphones are handsome. A milled aluminium body carries a swirling, Damascus-inspired finish on the cups, softened by Ultrasuede surrounds. It’s enough to turn the right hotel lobby heads without craving attention.
At 324 grams, they’re not light in absolute terms, but do beat most metal-and-leather flagships, including Apple’s neck-testing AirPods Max. The fit is snug without pinching, and comfortable across long sessions.
For £799, longevity is important, so a user-replaceable battery and swappable magnetic cushions are an unexpected and welcome addition. You also get IP52 dust and water resistance, which is also rare on an over-ear.
FoKus Artemis relies solely on buttons rather than temperamental touch controls, and the user experience is all the better for it. The Noble FoKus app then picks up the slack with a 10-band EQ, an Audiosphere spatial mode, and a built-in hearing test provided by Audiodo Personal Sound technology. Meanwhile, wear detection is among the best I’ve tried.
FoKus Artemis: Serious connections
For anyone making music, Artemis makes its case, handling all hi-res codecs, from the aptX family to LDAC and aptX Lossless. That means CD-beating quality from most devices. Wired options comprise USB-C, turning them into a tidy laptop DAC, and 3.5mm, which works with the headphones switched off, bypassing onboard processing.
Shipping with Bluetooth 6.0 doesn’t enhance sound quality, but does buy you a steadier connection in places stuffed with wireless signals, headroom for newer tricks, and better battery efficiency. Playtime extends to 55 hours, or around 35 hours with ANC on, and refills in under 90 minutes. That’s solid innings, but inferior to the Apollo’s 80 and 60 hours respectively. Noble has fitted a smaller 600 mAh battery in place of its predecessor’s 1000 mAh cell, so the shortfall is capacity, not appetite. A curious call given that they weigh practically the same.
If Noble wants to nobble Sony and Bose, its noise-cancelling needs to be on point. In the real world, the six mics swallowed passing traffic and a stretch of roadworks with barely a murmur. I’d have no qualms with placing them in the leading pack.
FoKus Artemis: In the mix
Diving into a critical listening playlist, the first thing to strike you is the spaciousness of the FoKus Artemis soundstage. On Bonobo’s Kerala, they stop a multi-layered track turning into mush, affording each part its own spot with air around it. An open, spread-out sound is unusual for closed noise-cancellers, and you’ll dig it.
Bass has movement, as well as thump. The pitch-bending wobbles on James Blake’s Limit to Your Love might catch out weaker cans, but nothing feels woolly, and it is kept well clear of the hi-hats. Vocals from Billie Eilish sound natural rather than artificial, as does the acoustic ensemble on Snarky Puppy’s Lingus.
Switch off personalisation, plug in over USB-C, and everything is even and clean enough to trust for a rough mix. The top end stays smooth where brighter headphones would begin to hurt.
So where’s the catch? Well, perhaps a bit of character. Cue something built to hit hard, like Tame Impala’s Let It Happen, and although controlled, it’s oddly undramatic. It’s accuracy over flattery, and the cost of that control is punch and excitement. There’s also a slight hardness on some vocals. It’s not aggressive, but neither is it buttery smooth, which for studio work could be a strength.
Should you buy the Noble Audio FoKus Artemis?
If you’re the kind of person who prefers being wined and dined rather than swept off your feet, FoKus Artemis are a perfect match. Detailed, open-sounding and honest, the added wireless options make them a considerate music lover in almost any scenario.
Noble’s three-driver hand and in-ear-monitor know-how pay off, allowing FoKus Artemis to walk into a room of rivals with a puffed chest. Full codec support, Bluetooth 6.0, and real repairability break the ice, although they’re perhaps lacking a little license to thrill.
Will they replace your studio monitors for final decisions? No. As a wireless second opinion with a studio conscience, FoKus Artemis are a sharp flagship consideration.
Key features
- Triple drivers: 40mm dynamic, 14.5mm planar magnetic and balance armature tweeter (5mm x 2.7mm x 2mm)
- Codecs: LDAC, aptX Adaptive, aptX Lossless
- Frequency response: 10 Hz – 40 kHz
- 32 Ohms impedance; sensitivity 99 dB ±3dB @ 1 kHz.
- Bluetooth 6.0
- Wired via USB-C and 3.5 mm (USB-C-to-USB-C and USB-C-to-3.5 mm adaptors included)
- Adaptive noise cancelling and transparency with six microphones
- Audiodo Personal Sound hearing profiles
- Up to 55 hours battery (35 with ANC)
- Physical and app controls; wear detection; proximity sensor; multipoint
- IP52 water and dust resistance
- Weight: 324g
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