Why You Can Trust CNET Focal Sphear review: An audiophile-grade in-ear headphone for less than $200
A smooth tonal balance and a comfy fit distinguish the Focal Sphear from the competition.
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After I shot my video for the Focal Sphear (embedded above), I got an email from the PR rep for the company telling me I'd made a small mistake -- a faux pas, if you will.
The Good
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"Great video," he wrote. "Just a heads up for the future -- the company name is pronounced 'Faux-cal' versus 'Focal' as you would say when referring to a focal point. Remember, they are French."
Yes, my bad. Not to make it a focal point or anything, but Focal is a French company. And aside from the fact that most people in the US, UK and Australia will probably not pronounce the company's name with a French accent, it makes good headphones. We particularly like its new in-ear Sphear, which retails for $179 in the US, £100 in the UK and AU$249 in Australia.
What you get in the box.
So, why do we like it? For starters it's lightweight, very comfortable to wear and it stays in your ears. It also seems sturdily built and comes with a thick main cord that terminates in an L-shaped plug. The mic on the cable is located high up on the left cord, close to your mouth for making calls, while the single-button remote is conveniently located farther down on the cable at the Y junction. That button acts as a call answer/end and pause/play button and skips tracks forward when you tap it twice and backwards when you tap it three times.
Call quality was good when making calls with the headphone and the Sphear works well as a headset.
In terms of accessories, you get two sets of small, medium and large tips -- one silicone set and one foam set -- and a small carrying case. The headphone features 10.8mm headphone drivers and impedance is rated at 16 ohms.
Close up of the buds.
Performance
While the Sphear is considered a noise-isolating headphone, it does let in a bit more ambient noise than your typical noise-isolating headphone. Even so, sound quality is excellent. The bass is ripe and full, treble is pleasantly crisp, detailed and clear and midrange presence and body are exceptional.
Steve says that those qualities made classical and acoustic music of all types come alive over the Sphears, and that's hardly a given with most similarly priced in-ear headphones.
Listening to the Kronos String Quartet the sound was never strident; string tone had just the right balance of body and detail. Vocals were also unusually well treated, so they sounded more natural than most in-ears do in this price range.
The one-button inline remote is at the Y-junction, separated from the integrated microphone.
A lot of richly balanced headphones sacrifice midrange and treble detailing, but the Sphear's clarity never faltered. Antonio Sanchez's hard-hitting drum solos from the "Birdman" soundtrack had plenty of impact and punch. Sanchez's mighty kick drum was cleanly defined.
We also compared the Sphear to the Bose SoundTrue Ultra , another in-ear we like a lot for its comfort and sound. The Sphear is a more revealing, exciting headphone, with more bass. Playing Michael Brecker's "Midnight Voyage" and Ryan Adams' glorious-sounding "Live at Carnegie Hall" it had more immediacy and presence than the Bose. On certain tracks, however, the Focal's added transparency magnified the flaws in poorly produced tracks or heavily compressed recordings like Keith Richards' new "Crosseyed Heart" and gave the music an edge that bordered on grating. Sonic accuracy can be a double-edged sword.
Conclusion
This a headphone you can wear for long stretches at a time without experiencing listening fatigue and it works well with a variety of music genres. It's well worth considering if you're looking for an audiophile-grade in-ear headphone for an affordable price.