More xMEMS solid-state driver earbuds have officially landed – and they’re hand-painted
You’ve probably seen before the technology that will change portable audio, xMEMS solid state drivers. It’s that little speaker you saw in the promo shots – the one you have to pinch to see if it sits nicely on your fingertip.
Now there is a newcomer who wants to use it. As we noted at CES 2024 in January, Creative Labs’ Aurvana Ace 2 surprised us because it was both affordable and And with this new groundbreaking new audio hardware. Sometimes, though, you want to see what a bigger budget (and bigger margins) can bring to a true wireless earbuds proposition, right?
That’s what you get with the new Noble FoKus Triumph, a hand-painted set of premium earbuds (not a ’70s car), which has finally hit shelves at a price that, while undeniably high, isn’t ridiculously high.
In case you’re not familiar with Noble (that’s fine, we’re all friends here), the IEMs specialist’s FoKus Triumph is the third product created in collaboration with xMEMS, following the Falcon Max and XM1 earbuds, which could be about about yours. $270 / £200 / AU$380 or $599 / £499 / AU$965 respectively.
FoKus Triumph is powered by a custom 6.5mm dynamic driver paired with Cowell, an all-silicon xMEMS speaker, instead of the company’s Montara, Montara Plus or Cypress options. To clarify that driver configuration, Noble tells us that its latest true wireless earbuds use that custom 6.5mm dynamic driver to handle the bass and mid frequencies, with xMEMS’ Cowell solid-state driver “serving as a tweeter.”
Pre-production units with this hybrid design were tested in January by visitors to xMEMS’s CES suite, including us. While we praised the sound, we assumed their Alcantara-covered charging case, ergonomic design and hand-painted faceplates would make their price point a bit rich for our blood. But we are pleasantly surprised…
Noble FoKus Triumph are expensive, yes, but not outrageous
Elsewhere, FoKus Triumph supports Bluetooth 5.3, LDAC, Snapdragon Sound and aptX Adaptive, so the high-resolution game is strong. The build quality also delivers with an Alcantara-covered charging case, ergonomic shells and hand-painted faceplates.
To top it all off, FoKus Triumph’s sound signature was professionally tuned by a respected acoustic designer from Noble Audio, known only as The Wizard, an individual with years of expertise (and some great hits in IEMs) to his name. You also get Qualcomm’s cVc noise cancellation technology for phone calls, multi-point connectivity, a hear-through mode, on-ear controls, wireless charging and Noble’s FoKus companion app.
And that pricing? They’re only available in black right now (although the inside of the case has a refreshing orange hue), for $369 / £339, which is around AU$655. At this price they are certainly in the premium sector, yes, but then again it is the same arena as Astell & Kern – and the Bowers & Wilkins Pi7 S2 are actually slightly more expensive.
Could they join our pick of the best wireless earbuds you can buy right now? Time will tell.