Two years after the launch of its first pair of headphones, Dyson announced its latest pair with OnTrac.
Although we haven’t reviewed the Dyson OnTrac yet, we reviewed the divisive Dyson Zone headphones and gave them a 3.5-star rating. With this in mind, we’ve compared the specs and features of both and highlighted the key differences between the two here.
Keep reading to learn more about the Dyson OnTrac and Zone headphones.
The Dyson OnTrac are cheaper
Perhaps unsurprisingly as they don’t include the visor attachment, the Dyson OnTrac headphones are cheaper with an RRP of £449.99 and will be available directly from Dyson’s website from the 1st August.
Alternatively the initial RRP of the Dyson Zone headphones were a very expensive £749.99, they are currently retailing for £549 from the Dyson website.
The Dyson Zone has a visor attachment
The biggest difference between the two pairs of headphones is that the Dyson Zone has a visor attachment. The visor, which magnetically attaches to the headphones and covers your mouth and jawline, has a two-stage filtration system to capture gases such as NO2, SO2 and Ozone and then deliver purified air to your mouth.
The visor’s motor starts as soon as it’s attached to the headphones and we found that the fans weren’t too loud either, especially as ANC is always enabled when the visor is connected. However, we did note that although fan noise is noticeable, you can control the flow rate of the purification to reduce its impact.
The visor attachment is divisive to say the least, wearing the visor attachment makes you look like Bane from The Dark Knight Rises. However, it can be removed whenever you’d prefer to keep a lower profile when out and about.
The Dyson OnTrac is customisable
Not only do the OnTrac headphones come in a choice of four colours but the ear cushions and outer caps are interchangeable and can be swapped to suit your style. Extra ear cushions and outer caps are sold separately and the latter are available for £49.99 a pop.
The Dyson Zone headphones are currently only available in a choice of two colours, Prussian Blue/Copper or Prussian Blue/Ultra Blue.
Both have Active Noise Cancellation
Although we haven’t tested the Dyson OnTrac headphones yet, if they’re anything like the Dyson Zone’s noise-cancelling, we’re hoping to be impressed. The Dyson Zone includes a whopping 11 microphones with eight responsible for noise cancelling, which is the same as the Dyson OnTrac. Both also sample external sound at 384,000 times a second to cancel out up to 40dB of noise when in ANC mode.
In his review of the Dyson Zone, TV and Audio editor Kob Monney wrote that the noise cancelling was impressive as “most sounds fade away with the headphones on, cutting down on engine noise from vehicles, while persistent sounds are pretty much eradicated and ambient noise is brought down to minimal levels.” The transparency mode was also deemed excellent as audio is “clear, natural-sounding as well as big and open.”
The Dyson OnTrac has a longer battery life
Dyson promises that the OnTrac will boast a whopping 55 hours of battery life, even with ANC turned on, with the charge stored in two high-capacity lithium ion cells which are suspended on either side of the headband for a more even weight distribution.
Although the Dyson Zones aren’t quite as long-lasting as the OnTrac, they still offer up to 50 hours of battery when ANC is enabled which is impressive. However, when you attach the visor then the battery life will deplete faster.
In his review, Kob was unable to determine the precise battery levels as the Dyson Zone is fitted with wear sensors which pause music when they’re taken off your head, which although is a useful feature, means a battery drain test is hard to complete.
