Noble FoKus Rex5 ear buds review: £400 is a lot of cash but these buds amaze

Noble has released its latest set of ear buds and the price of the FoKus Rex5s will be enough to make your eyes water but they do deliver one of the best audio experiences available for folk seeking total immersion on-the-go

These ear buds are among the most expensive we’ve ever stuck in our lugholes and also among the best.

While £400+ is enough to make the eyes water, the sound these babies kicks out will fill your ears with pure joy.

Noble’s FoKus Rex5s certainly look the part when you unbox them for the first time.

The carry case is a smooth rectangular, cold metal to the touch and feels like it could take a bashing or two if dropped.

No flimsiness here.

Pop open the lid and the buds themselves are nestled neatly inside thanks to a magnetic click where they charge and blink lights in whites and blues as they instantly try to pair over bluetooth with a device.

There’s one button, a reset knob in case pairing goes wonky, and a simply USB-C slot on the back for charging. Simple.

Leave the lid open and you’ll find them straight away on your bluetooth options, and then it’s a simple click of a button to connect them up to a phone or tablet. Again, simple.

The box comes with 10 sets of eartips for the buds of all different sizes.

What that means in practice is that if the buds don’t fit nicely in your particular ear with the default tips, which mine didn’t, you’ll need to pop them off and try out the various sizes to get that spot-on comfort.

This is absolutely necessary if you want to get the most out of the Rex5s.

Because the tech inside these small but brilliant pieces needs that custom fit to really deliver on the sounds you’re paying a high price for.

Thus the huge amounts of tips to choose from.

Vivid colour, amazing sound

The Rex5s are metallic green in design across about half the bud body, split in the middle with a cool gold bezel that then leads into a pebble-effect black and green top end, facing outside from the ear.

They’re quite vivid looking and are adorned with a gold crown, the company design, on top, but not overly in-your-face.

Popped in, they fit lovely and are incredibly light in weight.

Now at this point I’d recommend downloading the free Noble Focus app, as it’s really where you’re going to make the most of these buds.

There you’ll be able to play with a 10-band EQ, complete with a series of presets, or - and here’s the real magical part of this tech - set up a personal EQ based on each ear’s ability.

Using Audiodo calibration software, you will be taken through a series of sound tests to create a unique personal profile EQ based on exactly what you can or can’t hear at different levels of the soundwave.

In layman’s terms it effectively maps each ear and boosts parts of the sound where you’re weak, reducing those parts that are strong to create a perfect mix specifically for you.

It’s impressive stuff and doesn’t take too long to complete.

The memory capability of a built-in computer chip stores this customised profile within the earbuds, making it accessible on any device - no app required - any time.

Once that’s done you’ll really notice when you fire up a song the different between the Rex5s and a cheaper pair of earbuds.

Detailed audio in a hybrid five-driver configuration

The sound feels richer, thick, all-encompassing and absolutely perfect. This is what I imagine the artist is try to get to your brain, not the flatter stuff on the radio.

It’s full, layered and really shows how far music making has come on in recent years thanks to technology.

The Rex5s are built with a hybrid five-driver configuration to double down on that depth you feel in the soundscape.

Each earbud combines a powerful 10mm dynamic driver, a precise 6mm planar driver and three balanced armature drivers to give that all-in noise that feels so spot-on.

Rich full bass, detailed mid-tones and crystal-clear highs across an extended frequency range of 20Hz to 40kHz.

It really is one for audiophiles and purists.

And shout out to the noise cancellation (ANC) tech here too, these buds really suck out the background noise when you want them too, delivering a you-and-the-music only experience if wanted, as well as a passthrough for commuters who want to know more about their surroundings.

The battery life is strong for long music sessions too.

The Rex5s allow for up to seven hours of playback without noise-cancellation and five hours with ANC activated.

The charging carry case then adds up to 40 hours of extra playtime so you can top-up on the go.

It also has a ‘fast charge’ capability which means that just 15 minutes of charge time equates to approximately two hours of playtime. That’s very handy.

The Verdict

The Noble FoKus Rex5 ear buds are incredibly expensive.

For many, just the thought of one falling out of the ear and onto the train tracks - which happened to me once - might be enough to stall a £420 purchase.

But if you are in the market for some of the best buds money can buy, and a audioscape that’s truly second-to-none when noise cancellation is activated, then you’ll struggle to find better.

These are outstanding ear buds.

VERDICT 5/5