Dyson OnTrac
Dyson's over-ear headphones with the iconic air-pipe design, 55-hour battery, and a bafflingly high price.
The Dyson OnTrac is the headphone that exists because Dyson saw the AirPods Max and thought “we can make that weirder and more expensive.” It’s an over-ear ANC headphone with the brand’s signature air-pipe headband, swappable ear cushions and caps, 55-hour battery life, and a $499 price tag. The sound is good. The value proposition is not.
Design
The OnTrac’s defining feature is the headband: two anodized aluminum “pipes” that route air and house the structure, with a viscoelastic foam cushion. The earcups are aluminum with replaceable outer caps (you can swap colors, naturally for extra money) and replaceable ear cushions. Weight is 323g — lighter than AirPods Max (385g) but heavier than Sony XM6 (250g).
It looks like a piece of industrial design from a sci-fi film. Whether that’s good or bad is between you and your mirror. The aluminum feels premium; the plastics used elsewhere feel mid for the price.
Sound
40mm neodymium drivers, frequency response 6Hz–21kHz (a curiously low bass floor — marketing-friendly). Sound signature is warm, with emphasized bass and a smoothed treble. It’s an enjoyable, consumer-friendly tuning — not analytical, not fatiguing. The Dyson MyDyson app offers EQ presets and the ability to customize the sound. Lows are punchy and well-controlled; mids are slightly recessed; highs are present but never sharp.
It’s a good-sounding headphone. It is not a great-sounding headphone at $499 — the Sennheiser Momentum 5 and B&W Px8 both out-resolve it for less or similar money.
ANC and battery
ANC is competent but not class-leading. Sony XM6 and Bose QC Ultra both beat it on low-frequency attenuation. Transparency mode is natural but not as adaptive as Apple’s. The genuinely impressive number: 55 hours of battery life with ANC on. That’s nearly double the competition. USB-C charging; no 3.5mm wired option, which is inexcusable at this price.
The “smart” features
The OnTrac isn’t a health device (unlike the Zone with its air-purifying visor). It’s “just” a headphone — but the companion app tracks your listening habits, audio exposure, and offers “Enhanced ANC” profiles. This is marketing dressed as a feature.
What’s wrong
- $499 is Sony XM6 / Bose QC Ultra territory; the OnTrac loses on ANC and codec support (AAC/SBC only — no LDAC, no aptX Lossless).
- No 3.5mm aux input. For $499.
- The aluminum pipes conduct cold in winter.
- ANC is merely competent, not class-leading.
- The swappable caps are a $50-a-set upsell.
- The case is enormous and not included by default on all bundles.
- It’s heavy and the clamping force is on the tighter side.
The verdict
The Dyson OnTrac is a fashion object that happens to be a competent headphone. If you love the design and have $499 to express yourself, you’ll be happy with the 55-hour battery and warm sound. If you want the best headphone for $499, buy the Sony WH-1000XM6. Dyson built a headphone for people who want to be seen wearing a Dyson — and that’s a smaller market than they think.