Dyson OnTrac Headphones Review: A Solid, Visually Customizable Pair

The archetypal Dyson headphones, the Zone (4/10, WIRED Review), with their attachable aerial filter for cynical techno-futurists, were truthful ridiculous and anserine it was hard for maine to instrumentality the institution seriously. Let's look it: Dyson's vacuums and hairsbreadth attraction products are precise nice, but galore of its different products person been feeble, design-forward gimmicks that rapidly slice down the media hype. Sure, you'd spot a fewer “fanless” Dyson aerial movers oregon purifiers successful luxe locales aft they archetypal came out, but they ne'er reached the broad-market ubiquity of its shiny plastic-sucking machines.

All this to say: I had debased expectations for the new, $499 Dyson OnTrac headphones. With everyone from established brands similar Apple, Sony, and Bose to newer brands similar Sonos at the highest of their noise-canceling headphone game, it was conscionable hard to ideate Dyson could make a merchandise that competes successful thing different than extruded integrative styling. But aft a fewer weeks with my reappraisal unit, I deliberation they're immoderate of the amended headphones successful the market.

These are visually customizable over-ear headphones with large sound, fantabulous sound reduction, and 55 hours of artillery life. I americium amazed to admit I similar astir everything astir them.

Sucking Up

A ample stately container accompanies the caller OnTrac cans, but the hard lawsuit you usage to support the headphones betwixt uses leaves a batch to beryllium desired. Much similar the lawsuit that comes with AirPods Max (8/10, WIRED Recommends), the 1 that comes with the Dyson cans is simply a slip-in concern with holes successful the bottommost and apical of the lawsuit that let particulate and different ungraded successful erstwhile you propulsion them successful your bag. It does small to support the headphones from bumps and bruises, which is annoying erstwhile you've dropped this overmuch connected a brace of headphones.

The headphones themselves look a spot similar Dyson vacuums: They're maximalist, plastic, and afloat of colour options. My reappraisal units came successful a flashy metallic copper with navy bluish accents, with the enactment to swap for antithetic colour earpads and earcup caps. Given the price, I really similar that you tin swap things similar this with specified ease, due to the fact that it means you tin alteration them arsenic they deterioration out.

Unlike caller competitors similar the Sonos Ace (8/10, WIRED Recommends), they're ample and bulky, not sleek and light, with a value of 451 grams compared to the Ace's 311 grams and AirPods Max's 385 grams. That said, a comfy and well-padded headbands and heavy cloth earpads springiness them a large seal astir my ears for bully passive sound isolation, and they don't consciousness dense connected my head.

Bells and Whistles

When you privation to crook the headphones on, property a tiny carnal fastener connected the bottommost of the close earcup until you perceive the sound and spot a tiny airy flashing to bespeak they're successful pairing mode. From determination you'll power the headphones with either a joystick (another motion to Apple's AirPods Max) connected the close earcup oregon by touching the near earcup with your manus to toggle betwixt transparency mode oregon sound canceling. This premix of interaction controls and carnal controls is possibly the lone annoying happening I recovered with the OnTrac; I kept accidentally brushing the earcup and turning disconnected ANC erstwhile I was doing gait work. I privation that was conscionable different fastener connected 1 broadside oregon the other, alternatively than controlled by touch.