I am a huge headphone fan as my readers know and the same for earbuds applies to but just how huge can headphones get? The Dyson Zone would easily be the biggest pair of cans to test to date with with a premium build quality to boot so I did not really mind testing these out in the wild looking like something from a Marvel series and of course had people talking, even at home when first showing family and friends they were all like WTF are they and rightly so as they are not the usual type of headphones people see me with nor are they a common site on the streets today.
We wont go along with the “our testers” approach on this review and show you exactly how they work and what they look like for context like all our reviews and in the video review we go into that even more of this and an in depth look at the app that comes with them which gives you stats galore and most importantly what the air you breathe is like which for some today is a vital part of their daily life.
In the unboxing you will get a first glance at what is involved here and setting up after that is not a huge deal either apart from the ten minute software update I had to endure before getting them into action, you will be asked to insert the filters and mask first though then sit back and wait before you can get going, you will be asked for location however you can set it to a desired location but this will be inaccurate if you are travelling around and what the air condition is like. I suffer sometimes with asthma so for me it is an ideal product to have at my disposal.
Out of the box they are a tad heavy and cumbersome which I do not mind but once on the head they give great passive noise isolation and are comfortable, even the mask up front did not get in the way but it is not something I would sport all day long being honest but respect the purpose of it and why it is there and that works by the way with the fans keeping you cool which has different speed levels too.
OK so the purpose of these is not just for music it is to keep you filtered away from pollution and this works really well I felt better just using them and tested these in several locations around Ireland as I was travelling and you can really feel how clean the air is you breathe so to speak and it is something you need to experince for yourself to get what I mean and you can be confident about cleaner air.
There is a notification setting on the app should your filters need to be replaced too which is hand and these are simple to replace by simply twisting off the headphone cap and swapping them out and can be bought within the app itself these should last some time by the way unless you are one to be out daily using them.
The Dyson Zone solution
The Dyson Zone headphones are engineered to tackle the dual challenges of city noise and air pollution. Powered by advanced lithium-ion batteries and USB-C charging, the headphones offer 50 hours of audio-only run-time, or 4 hours of combined purification and audio run-time, charging to 100% in 3 hours.
The Dyson Zone headphones are born of Dyson’s 30 years of expertise in airflow, filtration and motors technologies and deep understanding of indoor and outdoor air quality. The compressors in each ear cup draw air through the dual-layer filters and project two streams of purified air to the wearer’s nose and mouth, channeled through the non-contact detachable visor. Electrostatic filters capture 99% of particle pollution as small as 0.1 microns², whilst K-Carbon, potassium-enriched carbon filters target prevalent acidic gases most associated with city pollution, including NO₂ and SO₂.
The App
Next up is the sound department which I am happy to report is superb as you can see above there is an app with EQ settings and this allows you customise them to and extent I would have like to see more in here however anyone that I let try them out in the family and friends circle where as impressed as I was here with how these sounded and from a person that does the most headphone and earphone reviews in Ireland these stood out with the clarity of the audio given here which is great considering the price on them, they are up there with the best in the game when it comes to the audio and hopefully their app gets better over time with new features.
Highs lows and mids all great nice bass and decently loud volume which is how I like it, no lag latency no distortion when maxed out on volume either and simply just great not missing a beat nor instrumentals and background noise in films and so on you will be happy with the audio experience trust me.
The controls are also great with a navi pad type option here which allows to to manage just about everything on them like skip and reverse tracks play and pause higher and lower the volume and access your voice assistant, you can also double tap the cup to change the noise cancelling effects and so on and this also worked well aside all the tech that is on the cup itself.
Overall then my conclusion is these will not be for everyone but this also should be kept in mind as the saying goes “do not knock it until you try it” as for the face visor it might put people off but it can be removed which then takes away the purpose of buying them as a whole they sound is fantastic and that is important as well as breathing in clean air on the go, they are a tad cumbersome but you can forgive it when you look a the package as a whole.
Features on sound·
Fly the world twice: The Dyson Zone™ noise-cancelling headphones provides users up to 50 hours¹ of ultra-low distortion audio, advanced noise cancellation and faithful, full-spectrum audio reproduction.
· Advanced noise cancelling: 11 microphones feature within the product. The ANC system uses eight to reduce the sound of the city up to 38 dB these microphones monitor surrounding sounds 384,000 times a second.
· Faithful, full-spectrum audio: The Dyson Zone™ goes beyond the audible to reproduce frequencies from 6Hz-21kHz, ensuring every note or word is heard.
· Ultra-low distortion: The speaker driver and electronics, mechanical system, materials, and acoustics have been carefully designed to minimise distortion. The driver output is further equalised by intelligent signal processing 48,000 times a second which combines with the noise cancellation to neutralise harmonic distortion to inaudible levels across the full frequency range (0.08% @ 94dB @1kHz).
· Scientifically tuned to hear more detail: A unique EQ setting optimises the frequency curve for clear, pure audio across the full audible frequency range.
· High-efficiency filtration to tackle pollution on-the-go: A detachable visor projects purified air to the wearer’s nose and mouth. Electrostatic filters capture 99% of particle pollution as small as 0.1 microns², whilst K-Carbon, potassium-enriched carbon filters target prevalent acidic gases most associated with city pollution.
· Immersive listening, engineered for comfort: Through testing on diverse head sizes and geometries the headphones achieve the same immersive, audio for all.
· Telephony: Dual microphone beamforming and noise suppression technology enable clear voice calls, voice recording and voice control.