Dyson OnTrac, Reviewed on the Spec Sheet: What a $500 ANC Headphone Charges You For, and Why the Math Changed at $250

The short answer

The Dyson OnTrac keeps turning up in social media feeds for one reason: it does not look like any other pair of noise cancelling headphones. Copper, ceramic red, swappable caps, a headband that looks engineered rather than styled. The useful question behind the buzz is the one every $500 headphone raises. What, exactly, are you paying for?

On Dyson’s own specification sheet, the answer is three things: a 55-hour battery, a metal, customizable shell, and a set of Dyson-specific features. What you are not paying for is lightness. At 451 g, the OnTrac is by far the heaviest headphone in this comparison.

Here is what changed. At the time of writing (September 2026), Dyson’s US store listed the OnTrac at $249.99, marked down from $499.99. That flips the value math. At $500 you were paying a premium for battery life and looks. At $250 you are paying roughly $200 less than the launch prices of Sony’s and Bose’s flagships for the longest rated battery of the group, and accepting the weight as the trade.

• Buy it if you fly long-haul, listen for hours at a desk, hate charging, and like how it looks.
• Skip it if you walk, run errands or commute in your headphones, or if light weight on your head matters more than anything else.

Check Dyson OnTrac headphones on Amazon

The four flagships on paper

Prices are manufacturer launch or list prices; all four are frequently discounted, so check current listings.

Two numbers jump out. The OnTrac’s rated battery is about 83 percent longer than Sony’s and Bose’s 30 hours and 2.75 times AirPods Max 2’s 20 hours. And it is 197 g heavier than the Sony, which works out to roughly 78 percent more mass on your head.

What the $500 bought, line by line

The battery: the real differentiator

Dyson rates the OnTrac at up to 55 hours with noise cancelling on. The design choice behind that number is visible: the batteries are suspended in the headband instead of the ear cups. Dyson also lists quick charging at up to 2.5 hours of listening from 10 minutes, or up to 9 hours from 30 minutes, and a full charge in about three hours. Sensors in the ear cups pause playback when you take the headphones off, and they switch off after 30 minutes unused.

For most people, 30 hours is already enough to charge once a week. Fifty-five hours matters in specific lives: frequent long-haul travel, multi-day trips without reliable outlets, or all-day office listening where you would rather charge twice a month. If that is not you, do not pay extra for it.

The shell: the part that gets noticed

Dyson lists an aluminium body, outer caps in CNC ceramic or anodized aluminium, and microfiber ear cushions. Four colorways exist, two of them Dyson exclusives, and both caps and cushions are sold separately so you can mix your own combination. At Dyson’s US accessory store at the time of writing, caps ran from $49.99 to $149.99 a set and cushions from $49.99 to $59.99.

This is the honest translation of the visual appeal. None of the rivals here is designed around swapping its looks. If personalization is worth money to you, the OnTrac is the only one that sells it. If you would never swap the caps, that part of the original $500 was paying for materials you will simply wear.

Check Dyson OnTrac caps and cushions on Amazon

The noise cancelling: hard to compare on paper

Dyson says eight noise cancelling microphones sample outside sound 384,000 times a second and, combined with passive attenuation, cancel up to 40 dB, and it calls the result best-in-class. Sony describes the XM6 in terms of 12 microphones and a new processor; Bose and Apple describe improved algorithms. None of the others publishes a comparable decibel figure, so a spec-sheet comparison of noise cancelling is not possible.

Independent reviews offer a tendency rather than a verdict. The reviews we read generally place the OnTrac’s cancelling close to, but a step behind, Sony’s and Bose’s current flagships, doing best with steady low-frequency noise like cabin hum and less well with sudden sounds like nearby voices. If maximum quiet in a noisy open office is your top priority, the Sony or Bose is the safer bet.

The weight: the number to take seriously

Dyson lists the OnTrac at 0.451 kg. That is 197 g more than Sony’s WH-1000XM6, about 187 g more than the Bose, and about 65 g more than AirPods Max 2, whose 386.2 g already puts it at the heavy end of the class.

Dyson’s counterargument is distribution. It says moving the batteries into the headband takes 37 percent of the weight off the ears, and the OnTrac carries a comfort certification from US Ergonomics dated 2024. Weight in the headband presses on the crown instead of the sides of your head, which can feel better seated. It does not make the mass disappear when you move. Weight is a common complaint in user reviews, and it is the one thing no discount changes.

The small print

The flight adapter is extra. Dyson’s FAQ says the OnTrac connects to most airline entertainment systems through the Dyson In-flight adaptor, sold separately. Dyson’s store listed it at $59.99 at the time of writing. The adaptor only charges the headphones when the USB-C cable is also connected, and the headphones’ own audio controls do not work while it is plugged in.

The app does real work. You can pair over Bluetooth and listen without the MyDyson app, but Dyson says you will not have full functionality. The five-band equalizer, reduced noise-control modes and real-time sound tracking of in-ear and external volume all live in the app.

The Bluetooth radio is Bluetooth 5.0 with a stated range of up to 9 m (30 ft). Dyson’s US specification page does not list the high-resolution codecs that Sony names in its own announcement, so Android users who care about LDAC should look at the Sony.

Availability varies by colorway. At the time of writing, Dyson’s US page offered two color options, with CNC Copper out of stock and Ceramic Cinnabar in stock.

Three questions to answer before you buy

Where do you wear headphones, sitting or moving? Write down your last week of listening. If most of it happened at a desk, on a couch or in an airplane seat, the OnTrac’s weight is a smaller problem and its battery is a bigger advantage. If most of it happened on a sidewalk, a train platform or a treadmill, a headphone around 250 g will be kinder to your neck over months of use.

How often do you actually charge? A 30-hour headphone used two hours a day needs a charge about every two weeks. The OnTrac’s rated 55 hours stretches that to nearly four weeks. That is a real convenience for travelers, and close to irrelevant for someone who charges everything overnight anyway.

Would you pay for the look on its own? Strip out the battery and the Dyson premium is mostly materials and customization. If the copper or cinnabar finish is part of why you want these, that is a legitimate reason to buy them at $250. If it is not, compare the Sony and Bose on their own merits and let price decide.

Which headphone for which listener

• Long-haul flyer or all-day desk listener: Dyson OnTrac, especially at or near $250. Buy the in-flight adaptor with it.
• Lightest flagship, Android, or LDAC: Sony WH-1000XM6 at approximately 254 g, with up to 30 hours and a three-minute charge that Sony rates at three hours of playback.

Check Sony WH-1000XM6 on Amazon

• Wired lossless listening, movies and travel: Bose QuietComfort Ultra (2nd Gen), which adds lossless USB-C audio and Cinema Mode, and which Bose rates at up to 45 hours with noise cancelling turned off.
• iPhone and Mac household: AirPods Max 2, for the H2 features Apple lists, including Adaptive Audio and Live Translation, accepting 20 hours of rated battery.

Check Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones (2nd Gen) on Amazon

Bottom line

At its $499.99 list price, the Dyson OnTrac asked you to pay for a 55-hour battery and a customizable metal shell, and to carry 451 g for the privilege. At the $249.99 Dyson listed at the time of writing, the same trade looks very different: the longest rated battery in the class for about half the launch price of its rivals. Its noise cancelling cannot be proven superior on paper, its flight adapter costs extra, and nothing makes it light. If you listen seated, travel far, and like the look, it has become one of the better values in premium noise cancelling. If you listen on the move, buy the lighter Sony or Bose instead.