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Dyson is an air company — it makes vacuums, hair dryers, air purifiers, and the like. In a way, it’s not surprising that the brand ventured into the headphone market, because sound is just moving air in its most basic form. Dyson’s first pair of headphones was the Dyson Zone, an $800 system that featured large drivers and an attached air purification system. Now, we have the Dyson OnTrac, a more reasonable pair of $500 over-ear headphones with active noise-cancellation.

At that price point, the OnTrac are undoubtedly positioned to be an AirPods Max killer. I have to admit, as an AirPods Max (Lightning) owner disenfranchised by Apple’s lack of changes to the new USB-C version, I was rooting for the Dyson OnTrac. These headphones do beat my AirPods Max in a few key ways — battery life, comfort, and design, to name a few. However, the meager sound quality, weak active noise-cancellation, and Bluetooth connection problems I experienced make them a really tough sell for $500. Especially since other great wireless headphones exist.

Price, availability, and specs

Dyson seemingly put a ridiculous amount of research and development cash into making the Dyson Zone, those wild headphones with an air purifier. Well, everything Dyson learned through the failed Zone fueled the Dyson OnTrac, a more sensible pair of over-ear headphones with active noise-cancellation. They cost $500 and were released in August 2024. You can find them on Dyson’s website and at some major retailers, like Best Buy and Amazon.

To start, you can configure the OnTrac in four colorways: CNC-Copper, CNC-Black-Nickel, Ceramic-Cinnabar, or CNC-Aluminium. However, the outer caps and ear cushions can be easily swapped, and more colors and finishes are sold for $50 per set.

What’s good about the Dyson OnTrac?

A killer design, industry-leading battery life, and a comfortable form factor

The Dyson OnTrac have a striking design and look ginormous on your head. There’s an aluminum body and headband that meets circular ear cups, covered with removable and customizable end caps made from ceramic or aluminum. The ear cups are also removable, and feature thick microfiber padding. These are now the softest ear cushions I’ve ever used, ahead of the AirPods Max and Sonos Ace.

The headphones are a head-turner, and you might love them if you like standing out from the crowd. Surprisingly, the OnTrac won’t feel nearly as heavy as they look. They weigh 451 grams, which is a lot for a pair of over-ears, surpassing even the 385-gram AirPods Max. Dyson did something clever to distribute the OnTrac’s weight — it stashed the battery cells in the two lower pill-shaped protrusions on the headband. The top one is soft and cushioned, but the left and right ones cover the batteries with a soft-touch fabric.

If you plan to buy the Dyson OnTrac, you’re probably doing so because of the bulky and customizable style. The weight is a consequence of that design and character, but I’ll say that the OnTrac still feels more comfortable than the AirPods Max. However, the 312-gram Sonos Ace are still the most comfortable pair of headphones I’ve used of late.

I really do like the Sonos Ace’s design and find the aluminum caps and yellow cushions to be a unique combination. Aside from looks, the Dyson OnTrac have stellar battery life. The company says they’ll last 55 hours on a single charge with ANC on, and my firsthand experience corroborates that. These headphones not only lasted a full week of listening, but they passed what I consider to be the ultimate test: staying charged with ANC on nonstop during a full day or two of travel. When I have to charge my AirPods Max, which offer 20-hour battery life, the Dyson OnTrac aren’t even halfway dead yet.

For what it’s worth, the collapsible case that ships with the OnTrac is excellent. It has a hard outer shell, works great in a bag, and lets you grab your headphones quickly. I actually used this case, whereas the cases that came with my Sonos Ace and AirPods Max were quickly tossed aside.

What’s bad about the Dyson OnTrac?

Sound quality and ANC are fine, but fine isn’t good enough for $500 headphones

All that sounds pretty good, but things start to fall off when you begin listening to music with the Dyson OnTrac. You can set them up as a basic Bluetooth device, although you’ll want to use them with the MyDyson app. This requires creating an account and sharing your location with Dyson, which I’m not thrilled about. Oh, and these headphones are Bluetooth 5.0, which feels dated in 2024. I experienced somewhat regular connection stutters, which made me think I wasn’t getting a $500 experience.

Dyson came close to delivering a solid music-listening experience. There’s a multi-directional button that can be used for volume and playback control. It’s positioned a bit high on the back of the right earcup, which makes it hard to reach. On the opposite earcup, there’s a power and pairing button. Oddly, a few of the eight ANC microphones protrude from the earcups, and it’s easy to swipe them while reaching for a button and hear unwanted feedback.

More importantly, you must switch between ANC and transparency mode by tapping a finger twice on either earcup. This is an awful way to cycle between commonly-used modes. I haven’t found a way to reliably cycle ANC modes on the first try using these taps. It creates a situation where you’re furiously slamming your earcup frantically just so you can talk to the person across from you or block out your surroundings. That’s one reason you’ll want to use the MyDyson app — you can change ANC modes with a simple tap.

The app also lets you change equalizer presets. For some reason, the OnTrac use an Enhanced preset by default that doesn’t sound great. I noticed an overemphasis on bass and serious falloff at the high ends while listening to the OnTrac using the defaults. Well, when I checked the preset, the EQ graph showed exactly what I suspected. Switching to the Balanced preset did improve the consistency and neutrality of the sound for the better.

After making that tweak, the Dyson OnTrac sounded powerful and hit all the right notes, so it’s a shame that Balanced isn’t the default preset. Not everyone will experiment with their EQ settings to fix how their headphones sound. You can get a pair of Sony or Bose headphones, like the QuietComfort Ultra, with better out-of-the-box sound and way better noise cancellation for less money than the OnTrac.

Should you buy the Dyson OnTrac?

I’m not saying that no one should buy the Dyson OnTrac — they have outstanding battery life, solid sound quality (after EQ tweaks), and a creative design. However, the $500 you’d spend on the pair might be better spent on a cheaper pair from Sonos, Bose, or Sony headphones. There were enough annoyances and frustrations during my time with OnTrac that convinced me the experience didn’t match the price point.