Review: Focal Listen Wireless

That's it—I've had it with boring black headphones. After sporting Focal's Listen over-ear headphones for a few weeks, there's no way I'm going back to a normal, dowdy pair of cans.

I used to lean toward subdued, conservative styling, but Focal’s all-in coloring is just so fun. It’s not just the band or earcups that are purple, blue, or green. Every component is smartly hued and color coordinated, right down to the fabric inside the leathery ear cushions.

These Listen headphones aren't just about the color; they feel robustly constructed, too. The design centers around the smooth horseshoe arc of the headband, which has a rubbery padding on its underside. I’ve twisted it to try and test its durability, but haven’t seen any signs of cracking or stress lines yet. The plastic bounces right back into place.

Focal

The earcups can adjust up and down for fit and you can jiggle them all four directions a little. They don’t have a full 90-degree twist to rest flat on your shoulders, which means they’ll tightly hug your neck instead. The sides do fold in for packing or pocketing (if you have a large coat pocket), which isn't ideal, but it's something.

The memory foam earcups are soft and create a nice seal around your ears. Focal says the Listen Wireless are noise isolating, which means they muffle the world out naturally. They don’t have any active (electronic) noise cancellation—I really wish they did—but the cups did block out a lot of the harshest sounds of a subway commute.

It’s ungodly cold for April here in the northeast, so I can confidently say these also work remarkably well as an expensive pair of earmuffs. And though they’re warm, they don’t seem to overheat in normal temperatures, either. For larger over-ear headphones, they’re quite wearable for long periods of time no matter where you happen to hang.

Compared to some headphones, the controls here are easy enough to learn, but they’re not perfect. Everything is lined up on the front and back of the right earcup, along a soft matte rubber-like strip. The last track/rewind, next track/fast forward, and play/pause/answer call controls are on the front. They’re hard to differentiate, but the pause button is slightly raised, helps when you’re trying to fiddle with it blind. The easiest control is the power toggle, which just clicks off and on with clarity and ease.

A Bluetooth button lights up under the power button to let you know you’re connected and you can pair to a new device by holding it down for five seconds, which is a lot easier than the weirdly unintuitive way many headphones pair (e.g. holding the power button during startup). The Listen Wireless can connect to two devices at once and remember up to eight devices.

I was sad to see that one edge of my unit’s Bluetooth button was thin enough to let a bit of blue light bleed through. It’s an easy blemish to ignore, but for a set of headphones with otherwise good attention to detail, it was odd to see.

With around 20 hours of battery life, they can hold a charge for at least a week of daily use, and I’ve had no connection issues yet. If you do have a battery crisis, Focal includes an optional 3.5mm audio cord, allowing you to listen corded and battery-free.

The Focal Listen Wireless sound as vibrant as they look. They do a good job smoothing out harsh sounds, but they’re also a brighter set of headphones than some. Lately, I’ve been listening to a lot of “12,” a new album by Sloan, a Canadian band that I adore. Sloan has a poppy sound, filled with midtones, pianos and guitars, and the Listen Wireless headphones enhanced my favorite songs.

Focal

As much as they help a pop album... pop, upon closer listen I did notice a subtle lack of detail compared to other similarly-priced headphones. You may not notice those treble troubles, but the weak bass will bother some folks. Tracks like Haim’s “The Wire” and Jack White’s new “Connected by Love” don’t have the bassy warmth that I wish they had. You can hear some bass, but you won’t feel it much.

I’ve really enjoyed listening to the Focal Listen Wireless headphones. Their light, smooth sound matches their approachable look. Whether you buy them in black for $299 now or pick up the upcoming colored variants, these are headphones to consider. If you’re all about the bass, check out our Best Wireless Headphones for more suggestions that might fit your tastes better.

Plus, wearing purple headphones around town is something you need to try once in your life. Were passersby looking for the Focal logo? I'll never know, but the extra attention didn't go unnoticed.