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!