In brief: British manufacturer Dyson might be best known for making household appliances such as vacuum cleaners and bladeless fans, but it has experimented in other areas. The fairly gimmicky noise-canceling headphones that double as an air-purifying device from last year didn’t do very well. Nevertheless, the company is back with another pair of ANC cans, priced at $500, and reviews say they’re worth the money.
The $950 Dyson Zone air-purifying headphones weren’t what you’d call successful. Their Cyberpunk 2077-like appearance was one of the reasons tech YouTuber Marques Brownlee called it the “dumbest product I’ve ever reviewed.” It had plenty of issues, including the fact it was a particularly ineffective air filter, though the sound and ANC performance impressed some people, if not Brownlee. “No one should buy it, and no one probably will buy it,” the YouTube star said.
Dyson hasn’t given up on the audio market, though. The Dyson OnTrac over-ear headphones certainly look like a premium product. That $500 price gets you 40mm, 16-ohm custom neodymium speaker drivers with a frequency range of 6Hz to 21kHz, which is a wider range than most headphones offer.
The feature Dyson is really proud of is the headphones’ active noise-cancellation technology. The company says it samples outside noises 384,000 times per second using its eight microphones and is able to reduce unwanted noise by 40dB. External sound is tracked and reported in real-time via the MyDyson smartphone app.
The headphones have support for the SBC, AAC and LDAC audio codecs, but there’s no mention of Quacomm’s Snapdragon Sound or the aptX Lossless codecs.
Other features include the use of PU open-cell foam for the ear cushions, which come in a range of seven shades and are said to be very comfortable. You can buy extra sets of interchangeable cushions and ear cup caps for $55 per set to mix and match them for a preferred style. Dyson says there are up to 2,000 different color combinations.
Two built-in lithium-ion batteries, rated at 2,540mAh each, suspended in the headband provide 55 hours of playback with ANC enabled.
The $500 Dyson OnTrac headphones are available now from Dyson’s US website in CNC Aluminium, Ceramic Cinnabar, Copper, and Nickel color options. Glowing reviews like these from Russh and Tom’s Guide say they’re worth the money.
