Hands-On With Dyson's OnTrac Headphones

Dyson recently announced new OnTrac over-ear headphones with ANC, and at $500, OnTrac is a direct competitor for Apple's AirPods Max. Dyson smartly did away with the unpopular air purifying mask design that it used for its prior-generation headphones, and the new model boasts a more traditional look with exceptional battery life.


Dyson's OnTrac headphones come in four metallic colorways, including CNC Aluminium, Copper, Ceramic Cinnabar (with a ceramic-feel painted finish), and Black Nickel, plus there are interchangeable ear caps and cushions in a range of colors for customization.

The headphones have "high-grade foam cushions" covered in microsuede, and multi-pivot gimbal arms that are meant to relieve ear pressure. There's also a headband with a battery inside, which Dyson says evenly distributes weight. With the metal build and the multiple batteries that Dyson has included, the headphones weigh 451 grams, making them heavier than the ‌AirPods Max‌ (385 grams).

The ‌AirPods Max‌ are too heavy for some users, and weight has been a complaint. With the OnTrac, weight is indeed well distributed and not all in the ear cups like the ‌AirPods Max‌, but we found that they still get uncomfortable over time, so for many people, they likely won't be ideal for all-day use. For comparison, Sonos recently came out with the Ace headphones that weigh 312 grams, and they're more comfortable than both the ‌AirPods Max‌ and the OnTrac.

In terms of design, these are not subtle headphones, and you're going to stand out when wearing them. The OnTrac headphones are huge, but well-built and sturdy. The left ear cup has a power button and USB-C charging port, while the right ear cup has a joystick for music playback and Siri activation when used with an Apple device.

Dyson focused on battery life with the OnTrac. With Active Noise Cancellation turned on, the headphones last for up to 55 hours, more than double the battery life of the ‌AirPods Max‌ (20 hours with ANC). Dyson could have cut some weight with less battery capacity, but if you're off grid and need headphones that are going to last for a good three days with heavy listening, the OnTrac has you covered.

Dyson says the headphones have 40mm, 16-ohm neodymium speaker drivers and advanced audio signal processing with sub-bass you can feel. While the sound quality was good, the OnTrac is not notably better than the ‌AirPods Max‌ or the Sonos Ace. Active Noise Cancellation and transparency are both solid, and the OnTrac does a good job cutting out ambient noise. Dyson says they can reduce noise by up to 40 decibels.

You can adjust the ANC and sound through the app, so there is some customizability, but you are limited to three EQ levels, enhanced, bass boost, and neutral. On-ear detection is available for pausing music when removing the OnTrac, but these are Bluetooth headphones and don't work as seamlessly as the ‌AirPods Max‌ with Apple devices.

Dyson plans to start selling the OnTrac headphones on August 12, and they will be available from the Dyson website.

Tag: Dyson

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Top Rated Comments

Baritone_Guy Avatar
10 months ago
How is this “hands on” with no reference to sound quality even if it is just a first impression?

Hands on to me would imply you were able to use them.
Score: 30 Votes (Like | Disagree)
emmab2006 Avatar
10 months ago
I bet these ‘’ SUCK ‘’…. ?
Score: 23 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Azzamaurice Avatar
10 months ago
When did we start using “colorways” instead of just “colors”?
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Rob__Mac Avatar
10 months ago
oooof. who edited this segment. quite a few little cut errors, flash frames, repeated dialogue…
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
DavidMalcolm Avatar
10 months ago
This review is just plain bad.

"Dyson smartly did away with the unpopular air purifying mask design that it used for its prior-generation "

No... just no.

Dyson made a model that doesn't have the feature that was in their first headphone model which was the whole reason they made headphones! Why are you writing about a product when you don't understand where it comes from?

Dyson started out with vacuums. They came up with a great way to reliably remove debris from the sucked in air before it hits the filter resulting in you not having to buy replacement bags. As they went on they got more and more into air filtration and air-moving technology as they made newer vacuum models. That research resulted in them making new and innovative fans and air purifiers.

They also continued to make more complicated and well-designed electric motors which are basically in nearly all their products.

Dyson's headphone line started out as a portable air purifier. They figured out the best way to make a portable air purifier was to simply mount it on the head and avoid hoses etc. Then they were like hey, that'll be noisey. So they were like how do we get rid of the noise factor? Well, you could put music in people's ears and also use noise-cancelling tech to block out the hum from the motors/fans running on each ear.

That's how you get to the Dyson Zone headphones, which are fantastic and are beloved by people who use them. Why are they beloved? Because some of us can't breathe the same air that you take for granted. I get brutal migraines when expose to amounts of perfume that you can't even smell. I have four air purifiers in a one-bedroom apartment.

The Dyson Zone are INCREDIBLY POPULAR among people who aren't ableist twits! Just because you don't need the Dyson Zone doesn't mean that it isn't filling a niche. Now, is that niche big enough to sustain a product line for a company Dyson's size? I honestly don't know, but I do know from talking to other people with my condition online, for a lot of us this has given us our lives back and enabled us to go into public spaces like grocery stores or shopping malls safely in a manner that things like an N95 mask don't. (You can check out the documentary Stink on YouTube if you want to learn a bit more about why chemicals that destroy some people are allowed in almost any soap or cleaning product you buy. I will spoil it for you, the reason is rich douche bags and lax journalism.)

For anyone who cares about the sound, the OnTracs if they sound like the Zone (which I'm sure they do) will be quite good. You don't get the spacial audio effect of the AirPods Max, but if you want really good balanced sound, great noise cancellation and you don't want to get AirPods Max, I'd say feel free to give these a go. I will say that having these automatically connect to my iPhone was sometimes a pain, I'm not sure if that was the iPhone's fault or the Dyson's, but setting up a Siri shortcut to do it makes it work generally flawlessly which makes me think it's iOS's fault.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
jimimac71 Avatar
10 months ago

I bet these ‘’ SUCK ‘’…. ?
Wait ... I get that. HA!
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)