Dyson OnTrac review

Straight up, the OnTrac almost invites you to pick them up and have a closer inspection. Equal parts industrial and playful, especially in the chrome yellow ear cushions our review pair came shod with. Dyson’s experience in precision CNC machining shows and the aluminium endcaps offset the fun with the serious. These are large cans and even the ear cushions can engulf smaller ears, so their plush microfibre filling helps in upping the comfort factor.

They aren’t the lightest wireless cans by a mile, weighing in at a plump 450g and that’s where the Dyson engineering prowess comes into play. The clever headband design has three chunky oval pads that not only strengthen the overall frame but perfectly manage the weight across the head. Batteries are located in these pads on either side of the headband while the central pad is soft microfibre to offer grip and support on the top of the head. Once you wear them, it’s impossible to “feel” how heavy they are and in fact, the cossetting ear cushions are the only thing that remind you of how big they really are. They do provide a superb seal around the ears but that also means they keep a lot of heat trapped in and on a humid day in Mumbai, we couldn’t keep them on our ears for longer than 30 minutes before keeping up for air.

The decision to have hybrid controls might be a good one. On paper. A physical power and pairing button is fine, as is the joystick control for track changes and volume levels although it takes a bit of getting used to. However, the touch controls on the endcaps are rather clumsy and take more than a gentle “tap” to switch between ANC and Transparency modes.

One of the biggest differentiators here is the ability to mix and match the endcaps and earpads with 2000 possible combinations! Four base colours for the headband itself and seven options each for the endcaps and the ear cushions mean you will never run out of choice. Whether you’re into Prince or Pavarotti, you’ll find something that’s ostentatious or subtle to match your musical moods. A simple twist and lock mechanism lets you swap out these parts and you can have an all-new look in 30 seconds. Pretty cool. Still, we would’ve liked magnetic attachments to make the experience even more frictionless. The quality of the interchangeable parts is of a very high order, but so is the price. Each seat of ear cushions costs Rs. 4900 so setting yourself up for a couple of different looks is a Rs. 10,000 styling job. Gulp!

Big on noise cancellation claims, the headlines are its 8 mics capable of monitoring sound 3,84,000 times a second to determine what’s music and what’s noise. Up to 40dB of attenuation is promised and it delivers in spades. Switching between transparency and ANC modes reveals a world of difference, eliminating ambient noise and reducing traffic noise to a mere abstract in the background. It does so without making ANC mode sound like you’re in underwater or outer space, so naturalness is what Dyson sonic wizards were going after here.

Featuring 40mm custom-built neodymium drivers tilted at an angle, Dyson promises an extended frequency range that goes down to 6Hz, instead of the usual 20Hz. The accompanying app called MyDyson links all the brand’s devices, from air purifiers to its lighting products and works well to give you a birds-eye view of the OnTrac. The three basic uses will be to switch between ANC, transparency or normal modes, change the EQ presets from Neutral, Enhanced or Bass Boost and monitor the Sound Exposure Levels that give insights into both, in-ear levels and external noise levels. What works brilliantly every time and instantly is the head detection feature, so whether you have it on or off your head, it plays and pauses the music on cue. Leave them unattended and they also switch off after 30 minutes to conserve battery.

There is no customisable EQ or Bluetooth 5.3 for multi-point switching. Charging is done with a USB-C cable and a 1.2m braided cable is included in the box, as is the slim carry case. It offers a snug fit for the OnTrac but little in terms of protection since it’s open from the top and bottom! AirPods Max inspired?

Plush is the word that describes the Dyson OnTrac best. From its fit and feel to its sonic characteristics too. Boz Scaggs’ Thanks to You is reproduced with all the smoothness of a smoky jazz bar, the horns and bass blended in perfect measure to create an intoxicating presentation. Enhanced is the most balanced of the three EQ curves that keep the sound entertaining without the blandness of Neutral or the heavy-handedness of Bass Boost modes. John Mayer’s Carry Me Away is a clean recording with lots of microdetail and lush production, which comes through with all its emotional intimacy on the OnTrac.

On more dynamic music like a classical or opera, they tend to neutralise the power of the crescendos, making them sound less energetic than the AirPods Max in that regard. But if your listening preferences are more mellow, relaxed and long-term, they fit the bill perfectly with a finely judged preset EQ curve that doesn’t compromise on nuances for musicality. In fact, at lower volumes, they fare better than the AirPods Max in digging out details from Be Your Sport by Cub Sport. Even on commercial Bollywood recordings, it tends to tame the sizzling top end and whether it’s good or not will depend on how you like your music served, but they certainly aren’t “monitor” level accurate.

Calls were handled as expected and the listener could hear us loud and clear, but on our end, voices do tend to sound a bit distant and “out of the head” which can be disorienting and we kept checking if the voice was indeed coming from the phone speaker. But that doesn’t detract from its ability to drench you in great-quality audio for music, even though the only supported formats are SBC and AAC. There isn’t any Spatial Audio support either, but Dolby Atmos on headphones is like owning a Ferrari in Mumbai. You’re never really going to exploit its full potential anyway. So it isn’t a deal breaker at all. What was a revelation though was the huge improvement in overall sound output (SPL) and transient response when we paired them to a Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold from an iPhone. Indicating that they may be optimised for Android devices, the OnTrac should ideally be bought by Android users if you really want to experience them at their best.

Significantly undercutting the AirPods Max, the Dyson OnTrac is meant for the evolved listener who has milder listening tastes and hate to spend time charging devices. Their huge 55 hour battery life claim hasn’t been put to the test by us yet, but in the five days of reviewing, we have only managed to drop the battery down to 62%. It could also be due to the fact that we couldn’t wear them for long periods at a stretch due to their tendency to warm up the ears. And that is the biggest chink in its otherwise solid armour. Well that and not owning up to BT 5.3. For the Dyson fans out there or anyone who likes music served on a silver platter, the OnTrac succeeds as a fine piece of ANC audio engineering.