Dyson OnTrac review

Dyson OnTrac headphones: Introduction

• Type: On-ear headphones
• Charging: USB-C

Dyson won’t be the first company you think of when you think of headphones or audio. Instead, you’ll probably think of Sony, Bose, Sonos or even Apple these days given its success with AirPods and the sound performance of its HomePod speakers.

Dyson is better known for vacuum cleaners and haircare, but that doesn’t mean it can’t make a success of headphones. It did it with haircare after all.

The Dyson Zone was the company’s first step into the audio field in 2022, and it is fair to say it was a little niche.

The Dyson OnTrac headphones ditch the purification element though, and put a focus on customization, noise cancellation and battery life, along with offering a wider frequency response than competitors.

How do the Dyson OnTrac headphones perform though? I’ve been using them as my main headphones for the last week in the run up to their availability. Here’s my review.

Dyson OnTrac headphones: Design and build

• 451g, 200mm x 108mm x 210mm
• Four main colour options, with customization

If you’re looking for a pair of distinctive over-ear headphones, well, you don’t need to look any further than the Dyson OnTrac headphones.

Pretty much all of Dyson’s products adopt an industrial vibe when it comes to their designs and the OnTrac headphones follow suit, delivering a premium, chunky finish that will be sure to draw attention your way when you’re walking down the street.

It isn’t just the circular ear cups and the bulky headband that will catch wondering eyes though. The Dyson OnTrac headphones deliver some serious customization options, from the caps on the outside, to the ear cushions on the inside.

That isn’t something most over-ear headphones offer. Sure, you can get different colours in some, and some of those are nice and vibrant.

I have the Pink version of Apple’s AirPods Max and I love how much they stand out. If I’m going to walk around with aluminium ear cups on my head, then they might as well at least be colorful. But the Dyson OnTrac headphones take things to an entirely different level. 

I opted for the Ceramic Cinnabar colour for my review unit of the Dyson OnTrac, but there are three other main colour options (CNC Copper, CNC Aluminium, and CNC Black Nickel), seven sets of caps and seven sets of ear cushions you can buy separately to really turn these headphones into a statement on your head. Even if you don’t mess around with mixing and matching the different caps and cushions, the OnTrac headphones stand out though. 

They won’t be everyone’s cup of tea – they are certainly a divisive design – but I do love that you can create something different by switching things up.

The rounded ear cups are comfortable – they aren’t at Sonos Ace comfort levels in my opinion, but I do prefer the soft material of the Dyson OnTrac ear cups compared to the soft leather material of the Sonos Ace.

The headband adopts a harder foam and it is split into three sections. You adjust the size of the headband by pulling the two side sections away from the central section and there’s a good range too so they fit both my reasonably small head and my husband’s large head without an issue. 

What’s more interesting about the headband is that neither of the two side sections actually touch your head. It’s on purpose, with the OnTrac headphones adopting a sort of horse’s saddle approach, so if you’re wondering why there are gaps on the side of your head, don’t worry, it doesn’t mean the OnTrac headphones don’t fit your head properly.

It’s a little odd at first and it does mean you have to get used to the weight (of which there is rather a lot) being centred at the top of your head.

The Dyson OnTrac headphones feel heavy at first and I prefer the headbands of both the Sonos Ace or the Apple AirPods Max overall for comfort, but you do get used to the weight and the weight distribution. It is still a relief when you take them off though.

The last thing I will mention on design is the OnTrac case, because it is excellent. A true engineering feat and the kind of thing you expect from a company like Dyson.

Smooth on the inside with a soft-to-touch hard silicone shell on the outside, the case for the OnTrac headphones folds flat when it’s not protecting the headphones so it won’t take up space in your bag when the OnTrac headphones are on your head.

There’s no zip or anything, but it expands for the headphones to slide in with the headband then appearing at the top, and there is a small pocket for the charging cable inside.

It’s much better than Apple’s handbag-like case for the AirPods Max in terms of design (even though Dyson’s isn’t smart) and it’s much more premium and better designed (even if not as eco-friendly) than the Sonos Ace case too. 

Features

• Isolation, Transparency, Off
• Enhanced, Bass Boost, Neutral sound profiles

When it comes to controls, I actually really like what Dyson has done with its OnTrac headphones. To move between active noise cancellation (ANC) – or Isolation as Dyson calls it – and Transparency mode, you double tap on the outside of the ear cup.

Typically you press a button, but the ability to just tap such a large surface area makes moving in and out of active noise cancellation lovely and simple. It’s not flawless in its execution – you have to tap it quite hard for it to register – but I do like the idea of it.

There’s also quite a nice sound to indicate the switch of modes and if you aren’t sure which mode you’re in, then the MyDyson app will tell you – more on that in a second but it’s the same app as you use for Dyson fans and its robot vacuum cleaner.

The other element of controlling the Dyson OnTrac headphones comes in the form of a little joystick on the right ear cup. I thought I wouldn’t like it when I first saw the OnTrac headphones in London before they launched, but I have been proved wrong. It’s easy to use, with a push up and down for volume and left or right for track control.

Pressing and holding will launch your phone’s assistant, like Siri if you’re connected to an iPhone for example. The joystick has a premium build quality too, more so than the Content Button on the Sonos Ace, but while I like it, the Digital Crown on AirPods Max is nicer to use overall.

It’s also positioned slightly high for me, I’d have preferred it a little lower on the ear cup, but that’s personal preference rather than a fault with these headphones.

When it comes to setup, I went through the MyDyson app to get the OnTrac headphones connected to my device. It takes a matter of minutes and using the MyDyson app does mean you get extra features, which I’ll talk about in a second.

You do need to make sure you follow the instructions properly though. There’s a section in the MyDyson app where you are prompted to “Set up audio”. This needs you to go to Bluetooth settings on your device and select ‘Audio OnTrac’ under ‘Other devices’.

You might see MyDyson OnTrac already in the connected devices, but don’t be fooled into thinking this means the headphones are connected because they aren’t – trust me, I made that mistake. That’s just for the app element. You have to connect to ‘Audio OnTrac’ to complete the setup.

In terms of features, the Dyson OnTrac controversially don’t include spatial audio so you won’t find that here. You also can’t connect to more than one device at a time, which is annoying.

Apple’s AirPods Max switch automatically between Apple devices meaning you can use them between iPhone and Mac seamlessly, while Sonos Ace also have a multi-point feature you can turn on in the Sonos app to allow for connection to two devices automatically. 

What you do get with the OnTrac headphones however, is information about your sound exposure both internally through the headphones, and externally, as well as the ability to choose between three equaliser settings.

The MyDyson app also allows you to see the battery percentage of the OnTrac headphones, and switch between Isolation, Transparency and Off for sound control. Within the settings, you can also turn Wear Detection on or off and set a volume limit. 

Sound exposure is quite interesting. If you tap on it from the Overview page of the OnTrac headphones in the MyDyson app, you get taken to a graph presenting the external sound and internal sound in decibels alongside each other.

I used a Sonos Roam 2 to play airplane engine noise (sadly I wasn’t going on holiday within the review period to test the OnTrac headphones ANC on a plane), and I can see in the graph where the external noise around me increases as I turn up the volume.

The graph will also show you when you’re within ‘OK’ sound levels, as well as when you hit ‘Loud’. It’s a very Dyson thing to do – the company shows you how much dust is in your home based on information from the Vis Nav 360, as well as on the screen of the Dyson Gen5detect, so it’s no surprise it’s pulling in the scientific data for its headphones too.

Sound quality, performance and battery 

• 55 hour battery life
• 6Hz – 21kHz frequency response

I mentioned the Dyson OnTrac headphones don’t include spatial audio or support for Dolby Atmos, but it’s actually not a huge issue in use.

I deliberately listened to a ‘Made for Spatial Audio’ playlist on Apple Music to test the OnTrac headphones against the AirPods Max and Sonos Ace, both of which sit at a similar price and both of which do have spatial audio support. 

The Sonos and the Apple options also have head tracking features, which enhance spatial audio tracks so you do feel like the sound is all around you as you move your head.

I didn’t feel like I lost a huge amount without the support when listening with the OnTrac headphones though. It’s missing a little in terms of immersive sound, but turn head tracking off and the difference wasn’t night and day.

The Dyson OnTrac headphones really deliver on the bass, bringing a healthy amount of controlled punch that makes low frequency tracks sound excellent.

There is clear and detailed treble too, while midrange frequencies are nicely represented with good balance across all the tracks I listened to. I thought Apple’s AirPods Max offered more detail when it came to hearing individual instruments, like the guitar pings at the beginning of Ed Sheeran’s Eyes Closed, and I thought vocals came through slightly clearer too, but the OnTrac headphones are impressive in terms of overall sound performance.

Of the three sound profiles available, my favourite was ‘Enhanced’ which focuses on higher frequencies for a crisp sound that prioritises treble and vocals, but if you want more bass, you can opt for Bass Boost to emphasise the low frequencies even more.

Neutral balances the frequencies for a more natural sound. All sound decent however, and it will come down to personal preference as to what is your favourite, as well as what you’re listening to of course. 

Overall performance was good from the OnTrac headphones. Every now and then, there would be a very slight pause in playback (usually less than a second). It normally happened when a notification came in, though not always, and the OnTrac headphones won’t read these notifications out or anything like AirPods Max do. I also mentioned you had to tap pretty firmly on the ear cap to switch between noise modes, the sensitivity of which could be improved. 

Noise cancellation was good though, and you don’t get the suction you get with some other ANC headphones – which you may or may not appreciate. I like to test ANC on planes to get the best sense for how good a pair of headphones are at drowning out engine noise and noisy passengers, and that wasn’t possible during the short review period. 

I did replicate some plane engine noise using a Sonos Roam 2 speaker though, as I mentioned, and I also tested these headphones during school holidays with two under 6-year olds in the house. The OnTrac headphones make for a very peaceful place when you’re talking about day-to-day noise, and on par with AirPods Max and Sonos Ace in my experience, both of which I rate for delivering good noise cancellation. 

Battery life is also impressive. Dyson claims 55 hours with active noise cancellation on. That’s almost three times what the Apple AirPods Max offer at 20 hours per charge, and nearly twice what Sonos Ace offers at 30 hours per charge.

After two hours continuous listening, the battery percentage had dropped by 10%, which would suggest I’d get 20 hours rather than 55 hours, but it’s a little unfair to judge a product within a few days of setup so this is something I will revisit when I have used the OnTrac headphones for longer.

Final thoughts

The Dyson OnTrac headphones are a far cry from the company’s first venture into over-ear headphones, and while they still won’t be everyone’s cup of tea, they are different and different is good. The customization options are cool, the sound quality is decent and the noise cancellation is good too. 

There’s no spatial audio on board, which feels like an odd omission at this price point, even if its a tick box exercise for some, and you can only connect to one device at a time which is pain. They are also heavy and chunky so if you’re after something lightweight and mega comfy, there are other options out there with a range of extra features. 

That said, the Dyson OnTrac headphones are easy to set up, there are a few good features in the MyDyson app and controls are good too. If you want a pair of customizable over-ear headphones that make a statement and offer good sound performance, the Dyson OnTrac are a great option. Just be prepared to dig deep in your wallet.

How we test

When we publish our reviews, you can rest assured that they are the result of “living with” long term tests. For headphones, we have access to a range of different options within the market, allowing us to directly compare one pair to another in the same environment.

Because we’re testing kit all day, everyday, we know what matters and how a particular pair of headphones compares to alternatives that you might also be considering.

Our reviews are comprehensive, objective and fair and, of course, we are never paid directly to review a device.

Read our review process to learn more.

FAQs

Dyson OnTrac headphones: Specifications