Focal Bathys MG Review – Trusted Reviews

Introduction

Focal’s Bathys are a stellar pair of wireless headphones. Unique looks, effective noise-cancellation, great sound. Where do you go next? For Focal, the direction of travel is up, not down.

The Bathys MG carry a bigger price tag, luxury materials, as well as improvements to the sound with the introduction of Focal’s M-shaped domes – its Magnesium speaker drivers – to push forward in its pursuit of higher fidelity sound.

The £999 / $1299 price clearly indicates that this is in the realm of the luxury headphone market, even more so than the AirPods Max 2. Does the Focal Bathys not only warrant a high price tag, but deliver on expectations? Let’s delve in.

Design

• One finish available
• Real leather
• Physical controls

The Focal Bathys MG looks similar enough to the Bathys that you might assume it to be a redo of the less expensive model. The shape and size are basically the same, the weight (350g) carries over, and the button design features are the same. The obvious change is the colour, the Bathys MG trading the black, silver and ‘dune’ finishes for a warm chestnut look.

The bathysphere circular indentations make for a unique look (inspired by Focal’s Clear MG headphones), and the flame logo can light up which has, on occasion, brought some glances (and curious smiles) as I wore the headphones in public. The Bathys MG is a pair of headphones intent on being seen.

Like with the original Bathys, the headphones can’t be collapsed or folded; so if you want to keep them safe and free from blemishes, there’s a hard carry case for added security, and accessories include a USB-C and 3.5mm cables for wired listening, the former supports audio up to 24-bit/192kHz.

Comfort-wise, the Bathys MG are more comfortable to wear, though vegans can probably check out of this review now as the headphones use genuine leather for the headband. The earpads offer a nice plush feel when they meet the head while the Bathys’ earcups feel more stiffer. The clamping force initially feels tighter but keeps the headphones feeling secure on the head. That they weigh 350g and don’t feel onerous on the head is a good sign.

The earpads are replaceable – simply snap them out and press them back in again. The buttons are the same, which is a little disappointing. For a premium pair of headphones, the controls don’t feel too premium, and often I’m having to search for the playback button in between the volume buttons to pause and play.

Another slight annoyance is the USB-C cable, which, when plugging into my Lenovo laptop, requires a hard shove to snap into place, something I’ve not had to do with other USB-C cables.

Features

• aptX Bluetooth
• MFi certification
• Focal & Naim app support

There’s Bluetooth 5.2 connectivity, and honestly, I can’t recall any issues with connection drops in big cities. It’s performed as expected.

Bluetooth can stream SBC, AAC, aptX, and aptX Adaptive, or, with the built-in DAC, you can play audio via a USB-C connection. There’s Google Fast Pair for quickly connecting to an Android device, and there’s Bluetooth multipoint for connecting to two devices at once.

There’s no room this time for Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant (or Gemini), but the headphones can count on ‘Made for iPhone’ certification, so there’s the likelihood of Siri support.

The Focal / Naim app is a simple affair without many features. You can customise the sound with the choice of three presets (Home, Dynamic, Loudness) or the five-band EQ. With Mimi’s Hearing ID you can tailor a sound that’s fit for your hearing range once you’ve gone through its test.

There are three noise-cancelling modes to choose from in Silent, Soft and Transparent. You can change the intensity of the backlight from Off, Dim or Bright, and you can monitor battery life and which audio stream the headphones are playing in. Hidden away in the settings is Sidetone so you can hear more of your voice for calls.

Battery Life

• 30 hours of battery life
• Fast charging support

Focal quotes 30 hours for the Bathys MG, and like the Bathys, they are headphones that have more battery life than the Energiser bunny.

Five hours into a battery drain and they were still at 100%, at which point I decided I didn’t need to continue on and on. They’ll last for a while before they need a top-up, at least with that aptX Adaptive connection present.

And if the battery life does fall precipitously – well, there’s fast charging to the rescue, with 15 minutes offering another five hours (no different than before).

Noise Cancelling

• Adaptive ANC
• Three modes to choose from

You might think that more expensive headphones should offer a better noise-cancelling experience. After all, shouldn’t there be better tech than you would get even than, say, the Sony WH-1000XM6? Not quite.

If anything, the more expensive a headphone is, the more focus is paid to the tuning of the sound, and the presence of noise cancellation can affect the fidelity. More expensive headphones don’t always have better ANC.

And the same is true of the Focal Bathys MG, which puts in a respective effort, but not one that’s going to leave you in a bubble of silence. It puts a shift in and gets rid of sounds on planes, public transport and walking around cities. I can play music without having to resort to raising the volume level to hear it.

It’s not as good as the original Bathys, perhaps because the noise-isolating earpads do a better job, but the level of suppression is slightly weaker. The Soft mode is less suppressive and acts as a go-between Silent and Transparent, but it’s still a mode where I’m not sure what function it’s meant to fulfil.

The Transparency mode has a tendency to amplify sounds. What’s around me is often raised to volumes louder than they are than what I’m hearing with the headphones off. If you want to catch an announcement or hear what someone is saying, then it’ll work, no problem.

Call quality is very good, better than the Bowers & Wilkins Px8 S2. The microphones are doing something to my voice but it still comes through clearly to the other end of the line. No noise was heard throughout the call, so it seems to be latching onto my voice and rejecting noise well.

Sound Quality

• Clear, detailed, and insightful
• Focal’s M-dome driver
• Built-in DAC

I went into the Bathys MG thinking that it’d be clear leaps and bounds over the Bathys. That isn’t quite the case, with the Bathys MG offering a more refined sound and a greater sense of control, but there are some differences in the makeup of the sound.

I’ll get to those differences a little later, but what the Focal Bathys MG does offer is a big, wide soundstage that’s both spacious and gentle sounding – it has an airiness to its presentation that’s engaging – but the volume needs to be pushed up a few levels because at default volume the soundstage can sound reined in and a little distant compared to the Bathys.

It’s not the biggest bass performance with GoGo Penguin’s Ascent, but balance and control seem to be the watchwords for the Bathys MG in the same way as they were with the Bathys.

If thump and obvious low-end prowess are what you’re after from a pair of headphones, the Bathys MG aren’t necessarily complicit in offering that type of sound. There’s weight to the lows, but not quite as much punch, power and extension to the bass that some may crave, in a similar way as the Sennheiser HDB 630 (at half the price).

It’s not the most energetic of sounds, but like many premium wireless headphones, there’s refined elegance and comfort to the sound that means you can keep listening for some time. The highs are bright and detailed, varied in tone, and the Bathys MG relays them with precision and clarity. There’s a slight warmth that makes the audio performance of these headphones go down like some hot cocoa (not my preference).

The headphones don’t raise background noise to obvious levels like the Px8 S2 can; the midrange is smooth, clear, and natural in tone. The Bathys MG is very good with vocals – whether it’s Natalia Imbruglia’s in Torn, Sufjan Stevens’ Chicago, Phoebe Bridgers’ Garden Song or Chris Cornell’s voice in Black Hole Sun. It strikes a pleasing and insightful tone with their inflexions that sounds ‘true’.

These headphones aren’t an energy monster compared to the Bowers & Wilkins Px8 S2. Dynamic swings sound smaller rather than larger; the headphones aren’t as aggressive at revealing every bit of detail in a track – they are more laid-back and lush in performance. Music is filtered through Focal’s tastes, rather than the headphones adapting to the music you’re playing.

Compared to the Bathys, the original pair are more energetic, especially at default volumes, which makes the Bathys MG sound quieter and more subdued. With Illit’s Magnetic, there’s more energy and thrust to the presentation on the older pair, but there are areas where the Bathys MG tightens and refines its performance.

Bass performance feels the same in terms of weight and extension but there’s an argument that a little clarity and separation from the mids is extracted from the Bathys MG. There’s a clarity across the frequency range, a couple of levels more insight and detail retrieved from tracks that makes the older model sound a little coarse in the midrange.

The biggest change is in the highs, which are brighter, clearer, more detailed, and more natural-sounding, thanks to the introduction of Focal’s M-shaped dome drivers. There’s more sparkle to the highs that makes the Bathys a little more dulled.

But where the Bathys MG put in their best performance is over a wired USB-C connection. Switch to its DAC mode, and what I felt was slightly lacking in the wireless performance is more than made up for over USB-C.

The warmth I heard over wireless connection is replaced by a more neutral tone that’s clearer, more detailed and packs a much stronger bass performance than listening over Bluetooth seems to muster.

The sub-bass that was lacking in Warren G’s Regulate is found here, with a better sense of bass depth and extension while maintaining the clarity and naturalism of the vocals. There’s more dynamism and inflexion with Phoebe Bridgers’ vocals in Garden Song; the sound is more upfront, bringing the detail in tracks closer to my ears.

There’s a brighter sense of brightness and clarity at the top end of the frequency range with GoGo Penguin’s Ascent, but no sense of any loss of control. Bass is weighty, and there’s more dynamism – this is the sound I was hoping for from the wireless performance from the off.

Compared to the 3.5mm option, the USB-C mode offers more energy and spice – the 3.5mm input is analogue and doesn’t use the built-in DAC. The USB mode presents music with more energy, a better sense of scale and is ‘louder’. This mode is the best way to hear what the Bathys MG has to offer.

Should you buy it?