Combined with the passive noise isolation from the plush ear pads, and in this respect the Zones are up there with the very best.Īs standalone headphones, they’re good. Double-tap either earcup and you hear a whooomp sound as a huge amount of background noise is instantly eliminated. I can feel the weight of them bounce a little as I walk, but it isn’t so noticeable as to distract from the quality of the noise canceling, which is-and there's no other word for it-phenomenal. They’re big, yet extremely comfortable, and undeniably heavy. To prove my point, I just reached for my pair of AirPods Max, and, despite not having used them for weeks, they powered on instantly.Īs a first step into the Zone, I start by wearing the headphones out and about without the clip-on mouthpiece. This is a common feature on premium wireless headphones, and it's a real minus not to have it here. I even asked Dyson about this, and they suggested turning them off completely to conserve battery. A double tap on either ear controls the ANC.īattery life is rated at 50 hours (just four if using audio and air purifying, though), but be warned, despite Dyson having a sleep mode when not in use, I found it to be irritatingly unreliable, and while the music stops when you remove them, they often remained connected, or powered on, so the battery drained quickly. There’s a single button on the left ear for adjusting the speed of the fans and powering on/off, and a neat toggle switch on the right with comprehensive audio controls. The laser-cut earcups are flawless, and, as with all Dyson products, every aspect has been carefully considered. Fitting the replaceable filters into the earcups took just a couple of seconds. I had no issues synching with my iPhone, and the onscreen instructions were comprehensive. The Apple AirPods Max were widely criticized for being too heavy, and they weigh just 384 grams-nearly half that of the Zones. On my scales, they weigh 648 grams (1.4 pounds), which, for wireless headphones, is astonishingly heavy. They’re significantly heavier than every other pair of headphones in my office, which include the stay-at-home Philips Fidelio X3, lavish Focal Utopia, Apple AirPods Max, and Bowers & Wilkins PX8. The case needs to be huge, however, because the Dyson Zones are enormous. Components are safely stored in velvet pouches, and the company has gone all-out with a huge designer binocular-style hard carry-case, complete with on-trend climbing rope shoulder strap. In addition to the Bluetooth 5.0 headphones, noise canceling, and air purifying, the Dyson app uses the onboard sensor to monitor real-time air quality (NO 2) and noise levels, and allows you to adjust noise cancellation, tweak EQ, and see all manner of data-rich graphs.ĭyson sent me the (even) more expensive Zone Absolute+, and I was duly impressed by just how luxurious everything was. They come with a 50-hour battery life for audio (it crashes to four hours if you’re wanting continuous clean air), have dual-microphone beamforming and noise-suppression tech for clear voice calls, and the specification sheet also points to ultra-low distortion from the neodymium electroacoustic drivers, with signal processing 48,000 times per second and a full frequency range (6 Hz to 21 kHz) EQ. Turning to the “headphones” part, the ANC employed uses 11 microphones, and Dyson says this can reduce external volume by up to 38 dB (the same volume as a decent dishwasher). The Zone has four air-purification settings, toggled by the small button on the left earcup, or you can leave it on Auto, which uses onboard accelerometers to judge how fast you need your clean air delivered. After that, it simply squirts a smooth stream of “clean” air across the wearer’s mouth and nose. The negatively charged electrostatic filters apparently capture 99 percent of particle pollution down to 0.1 microns, while a potassium-enriched carbon layer grabs gas pollutants like NO 2 and SO 2 . These two tiny ear-mounted, precision-engineered compressors draw air through dual-layer filters. It features miniaturized components similar in concept to those used on Dyson’s Cool and Hot range of home air purifiers. To anyone unfamiliar with the concept of the Dyson Zone, it is a head-mounted, fan-powered personal air purifier with headphones. The Zone's air visor attaches magnetically.
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