Dyson unmasks its super customizable OnTrac headphones

Dyson is today announcing its second pair of headphones. The company’s weird-as-hell first effort, the Dyson Zone, focused on combining air purification and noise-canceling headphones into a single product. But this time, Dyson is nixing the Bane mask and betting everything on customization.

The new $499.99 OnTrac headphones have replaceable ear cushions and ear cups, letting you completely switch up their style far beyond what’s possible with products from other manufacturers. I’ve seen enough silicone covers and stickers on Apple’s AirPods Max to know that people are eager to put their own stamp on their headphones.

The foundation of the OnTrac — the headband, the pivoting gimbal arms, and the controls (with a joystick) — are quite similar to the Zone. The headband still has three lumps; the left and right contain battery cells, while the middle one is just regular soft cushioning for your head. It’s the outer caps where Dyson starts to mix things up.

The headphones come in four different colorways. Essentially, you’re choosing what color you want the headband to be — because practically everything else can be personalized later. “CNC Aluminum” has a gray finish with bright yellow ear cushions; “CNC Copper” features a purple headband and matching ear cushions with shiny copper ear cups; “Ceramic Cinnabar” has a light red (bordering on pink) headband, matte ear cups in the same color, and dark ear cushions. Then, there’s “CNC Black Nickel,” and as the name implies, this one has black everything and looks tame compared to the rest of the lineup.

From the ones I saw at a briefing in New York, I was most drawn to CNC Aluminum. The silver and yellow combo just gives off a fun audiophile vibe to me. The OnTrac ear cushions are foam, and Dyson will offer seven different colors of them in all, plus seven different styles of outer cups. The caps come off with a twisting motion that only took a couple tries to get down. There are both metallic and matte options to pick from, priced at $49.99 per pair. You’re free to mix colors as you see fit for some pretty zany combinations. Dyson says there are “over 2,000 customizable color combinations for outer caps and ear cushions.”

So, the name of the game here is a never-before-seen level of customization. But it takes more than just that to justify a $500 pair of headphones. To that end, Dyson claims that the OnTrac deliver “best-in-class” noise cancellation using an eight-microphone system, and as was the case with the Zone, you can monitor how much noise is around you using the companion smartphone app.

Lengthy battery life is another strength: these headphones can last for up to 55 hours of continuous listening on a charge. That easily blows away Apple, Bose, and Sony but falls a tad short of the 60-hour Sennheiser Momentum 4, which also provide active noise cancellation. There’s on-head detection, so the headphones will automatically pause music when you take them off.

The OnTracs feature 40-millimeter drivers that “reproduce frequencies from as low as 6Hz to as high as 21,000Hz, providing deep sub-bass that you can feel, and clear highs at the upper end of the frequency range.” And those speakers are tilted toward your ears for more direct audio delivery. You can plug in for wired listening with a 3.5mm-to-USB-C adapter, but there’s no standalone headphone jack. As for Bluetooth codecs, the OnTrac support SBC, AAC, and the lesser-known LDHC for higher-quality wireless audio. Unfortunately, the latter only works with select phones from Motorola, OnePlus, Nothing, and a few other brands. The Samsung and Google crowds are out of luck.

Dyson includes a collapsible carrying case with the OnTrac cans that offers limited protection; there’s plenty of room for water or dirt to get inside, so that’s something to keep in mind.

Dyson clearly isn’t ready to give up on the headphones market after its very unconventional first swing. I think the OnTrac headphones make a lot more sense for broader appeal. They have that same “I’ve never seen headphones like that” effect as the Zone — but without the “I’d never be seen in public wearing those” part. I’m very curious to discover how they fare once you factor out the unique style and focus on sound quality and ANC. Can they really hang with the heavyweight competition? I’ll share more on that soon.

For now, here are some more photos for those who would never entertain buying the OnTrac but still want a close look at ‘em.

Photography (except for lead image) by Chris Welch / The Verge