Dyson time revealed his Zone headphones In early 2022, the company combined its air filtration experience with noise-canceling headphones. Back then, COVID-19 was still a big part of our lives, but the Zone doesn’t protect you from the virus. Instead, it is intended to provide less polluted air you move through the day while battling things like urban toxins and seasonal allergens. However, extremely short battery life and a $949 price tag plagued the first model, so it wasn’t really a device available to the masses.
Now the company is back with its first “audio only” over-ear headphones, the Dyson OnTrac. There’s no mask or air filtration system like the Bane, just a Dyson design and a $500 set of noise-canceling headphones. Battery life is no longer an issue, and the company emphasizes both active noise cancellation (ANC) performance and sound quality in OnTrac. There are also over 2,000 customization combinations for the outer covers and ear cushions, so you can change the look as you see fit.
The design of the OnTrac headphones certainly looks like something from the same company that builds the V12 stick vacuum, Airstrait hair straightener and Cool air purifiers. Dyson combined high-quality materials with ergonomics to create a suitable seal for audio and ANC, while keeping everything comfortable. The company used aluminum, copper, nickel and ceramic for the outer covers of the earphones, and “ultra-soft microfiber” foam cushions for the ear cushions. There are also “multi-rotation gimbal arms” to increase comfort and reduce stress. Plus, Dyson moved the battery to the headband for better weight distribution.
Inside, the OnTrac has 40mm, 16-ohm neodymium speaker drivers that Dyson says can respond to a frequency of 6Hz to 21kHz. This covers more of the audio spectrum than the standard 20Hz to 20kHz range that most headphones offer. The company also angled the drivers 13 degrees towards your ears for better acoustic performance. All this combines to provide “deep sub-bass you can feel and clear highs at the top of the frequency range”. Dyson promises OnTrac will “reveal hidden details as well.”
The ANC configuration on the OnTrac consists of eight microphones that, as Dyson says, sample the outside sound 384,000 times per second. According to the company, they use a proprietary noise cancellation algorithm and “carefully designed internal geometry” to block 40dB of noise. Battery life won’t be an issue either, as far as Dyson’s claims come true. The company says the OnTrac can last up to 55 hours with ANC on, thanks to two high-capacity lithium-ion battery cells. A 10-minute charge will give you up to 2.5 hours of use, and a 30-minute charge will give you 9.5 hours (both with ANC enabled). During that listening session, on-board playback and volume control are controlled by a “joystick” on the back edge of the right earcup. You can double-tap the edge of either ear cup to turn ANC on or off.
For $500, the OnTrac headphones will be available from Dyson in aluminum/orange, copper/blue, black nickel, and ceramic red. Replacement hats and pillows will be available for $50 for two sets. Only a few colors will be available from other retailers, so you’ll have to buy most of the options directly from Dyson.
