I tested Dyson’s new headphones and was wowed by the battery that beats Apple rival – it boasts a quirky feature too
DYSON and headphones may not be a pairing that comes to most people’s minds but the British company claims it’s well positioned for the audio world.
Why? Because it focuses on reducing excessive noise in vacuum cleaners and fans, products Dyson has led the way on for so long.
So Dyson‘s new headphones, called OnTrac, could be a good fit after all.
It’s certainly not the firm’s first foray into audio – last year Dyson released a huge pair called the Zone that doubled up as an air filter.
This time around, there’s less wacky and more music to your ears.
The Sun took the Dyson OnTrac headphones for a spin to see whether it’s a sweet symphony or a broken record.
Dyson OnTrac: Look and feel
The headphones ooze premium, stylish – and certainly turned a few heads as I wore them out and about.
Dyson has introduced a quirky customisation feature so you can opt for different colour earcups and earcaps – though you’ll have to pay extra for alternatives.
You can go bold with yellow or keep it slick and clean – as I have – with navy earcups and gold metallic earcaps.
At first, I struggled to rotate the earcaps off but eventually got the hang of it.
The headband is also navy, with a bouncy cushion at the top.
Dyson has loaded the batteries into the headband to balance the weight out, which seems to pay off as it doesn’t feel heavy at all at 451g.
The cushioned earcups are also soft and super comfy to wear, even after several hours.
There’s a power button over one ear and a controller on the other.
The controller is like a mini joystick you can flick left, right, up and down which I find a little too stuck sometimes so I have to give it a bit of an extra shove in the desired direction.
Dyson OnTrac: Sound
I’m instantly struck by just how good the noise-cancelling is on these.
Better still, I don’t even have to put the volume much beyond the half way point to drown out external sounds.
I’ve been using them on busy commuter trains, out for walks in the town and simply chilling at home – each time I could barely hear anything around me with active noise-cancelling on.
The ability to customise is a really simple but effective idea I like, it’s just a shame you can’t pick when you purchase, instead you have to pay extra to buy alternative earcups and earcaps after
I was transported into my own little world of big music bliss listening to Fred Again and The Blessed Madonna’s house track “Marea (We’ve Lost Dancing)”.
And playing back Celine Dion‘s powerful vocals of “Hymne A L’Amour” during the Paris Olympics Opening Ceremony absolutely resonated too.
There’s a transparency mode as well but disappointingly no spatial audio for extra sound magic.
OnTrac packs some pretty punchy base with Base Boost in the app – you can also opt for Enhanced and Neutral.
However, the tech on the inside is a little older using Bluetooth 5.0 – most others are at 5.3 and 5.4 now, even really cheap headphones.
This means there’s no multipoint Bluetooth which allows users to connect and maintain a connection to multiple devices.
Most people may not care or notice this but for the price we would expect it to have the very latest Bluetooth version around.
Dyson OnTrac headphones - key details
- Battery lasts up to 55 hours on a single charge
- Noise cancelled 384,000 times per second, reducing up to 40dB
- 8 microphones for active noise cancelling
- Over 2,000 customisable colour combinations for outer caps and ear cushions
- Head Detect: Capacitive sensors detect when earcups are removed from the ears, signalling to pause your audio
- Intuitive Joystick: Easily play, pause, skip, fast forward, and rewind tracks, or hold down for voice commands
- Real-time sound tracking: Continuously monitors in-ear and external volume, and indicates potentially harmful levels through live reports in the MyDyson App
Dyson OnTrac: Battery
Dyson claims OnTrac can last up to 55 hours with active noise-cancelling on which puts it higher than Apple’s AirPods Max which is 20 hours.
I’ve managed to listen for around three hours a day across six days, which is 18 hours – and the app is showing 70 per cent battery remaining, so that seems to add up.
The device also automatically detects when you take them off to pause and preserve even more power.
It supports USB-C, which Dyson claims can fast charge for 30 minutes to give you nine hours of use – though I’ve obviously not be able to put this to the test given that I’m still running on the first charge.
Dyson OnTrac: The verdict
Final thoughts from Jamie Harris, Assistant Technology and Science Editor at The Sun
Dyson has proven that it deserves a place at the top table of audio products.
OnTrac not only makes a bold statement aesthetically but it sounds and feels splendid.
Then there’s the killer battery which keeps all my low power worries at bay.
The ability to customise is a really simple but effective idea I like, it’s just a shame you can’t pick when you purchase, instead you have to pay extra to buy alternative earcups and earcaps after.
At £449.99 / $499.99 these absolutely do not come cheap – established rivals may price at this point but Dyson is still new to the audio scene, so we’ll have to see whether people are prepared to take the plunge.
The Dyson OnTrac headphones are available to buy now from Dyson’s website.
All prices in this article were correct at the time of writing, but may have since changed.
Always do your own research before making any purchase.