Dyson is ditching the mask. The British manufacturer known for its vacuum cleaners, sleek hair dryers and heating and cooling fans is continuing its foray into wearable technology with a new pair of headphones.
The OnTrac headphones are priced at $499 or $799 AU and are available to order now (not until August 28 in Australia). They look to have good hardware inside and out, with a 55-hour battery life, comfortable earcups, and a superior headband. Custom neodymium drivers deliver advanced, excellent sound. You'll also find active noise cancellation, which, paired with these features, is pretty standard for a nearly $500 pair of headphones.
The design is really interesting. For one, Dyson places the batteries for the promised long life in the headband for comfort and better weight distribution. Plus, they are suspended, so they don't press on your skull. After trying them briefly, I found them to be quite comfortable, but what impressed me most were the ear cushions.
Instead of opting for memory foam, Dyson uses open-cell polyurethane foam, which has some bounce to it, but it’s there primarily to reduce pressure. I suspect the foam won’t lose any of its strength anytime soon. The ear cushion packaging is one area where Dyson departs from headphone norms, as you can customize the ear cushions in a variety of shades, including vibrant or more neutral colors. It’s a lot of fun, and you’ll get seven styles of ear cushions.
Dyson is also giving the same treatment to the over-ear headphones, which can be screwed on and off to swap out various hues. Regardless of color, it’s either CNC aluminum with a glossy finish (like copper or silver) or matte, ceramic (like orange or blue). The extensive customization possibility reminds me a bit of the Moto X from many moons ago and, more recently, Nothing’s CMF. You could even say these are the Lego of headphones, with interchangeable parts.
In a sea of earbuds that are all the same or only come in a few colors, Dyson will let you mix and match — but there's a cost. Both a set of ear cushions and the outer earbud caps will cost $49.99.
When you order, you’ll have four styles to choose from: CNC Aluminum, which stands out with its silver/gray design and yellow ear cushions; CNC Copper, which is a Dyson purple with copper ear tips; Ceramic Cinnabar, which is a muted orange exterior and black interior; or CNC Black Nickel, which is a take on matte black all around with a hint of silver. You also get a carrying case that folds flat but flips up to let the OnTrac slide in, and a USB-C cable for recharging.
Audio-wise, Dyson is equipping the OnTracs with custom 40mm neodymium drivers that are angled towards the ear for a better listening experience. In a brief test, they sounded pretty good with a stronger bottom end, but again, it’s something we’ll have to test more formally. Through the MyDyson app for Android or iOS, you can switch between three presets – Bass Boost, Enhanced, or Natural – but there won’t be a custom EQ at launch.
And compared to the Zone, these headphones are much slimmer and have a rather streamlined profile. The whole set weighs 451 grams compared to 589 grams.
For noise cancellation, you’ll get passive work thanks to earbuds and an 8-microphone system, and an algorithm created by Dyson powers the active system, which promises to block out up to 40 decibels of noise. The microphones are split into four on the left earbud and four on the right, powered by three built-in processors. Dyson says it samples external noise 384,000 times per second. That same technology can also power the transparency mode, which lets a little bit of the world in.
You can tap either earcup to cycle through the different listening modes. The promised 55 hours of battery life is with active noise cancellation on. I imagine it will last quite a while when it's off, and we've reached out to Dyson for more information.
There is a joystick used to control playback. You can hold it down to activate a connected voice assistant. There are also two microphones dedicated to voice pickup.
Finally, in terms of technical specifications, the OnTrac headphones will automatically detect and play or pause content when you take them off or put them on. Much like Dyson Zone air quality alerts, you can keep track of sound levels within the companion app. Dyson's OnTrac headphones do not support Bluetooth multipoint and are compliant with the Bluetooth 5.0 standard.
The TechRadar team will be testing the OnTracs again soon and will report back once we’ve fully tested them. But at $499 (UK) or $799 (AU$799), they’re certainly competing in the upper echelon of earbuds and have some stiff competition from the likes of the AirPods Max and Sony WH-1000XM5. If they do suit you, though, you can check them out on Dyson here and yes, they’ll be on par with the $699.99 (AU$999) Dyson Zone.
