(light upbeat music) - So you remember, like, a year ago, when Dyson came out with these things, the Dyson Headphones Combo Wearable Air Purifier nightmare gadget. I tested them, I reviewed them, I gave it a chance, it ended up still being the single dumbest product I've ever reviewed. Still is. So imagine my surprise when Dyson unveils a new product a year later, and it's just headphones. It's just like they removed the stupid air purifier part and left behind the giant metal pair of Dyson headphones that were kind of overshadowed last time. This is them, and they are $500. So yeah, of course I'm gonna give them a shot, because, you know, on the off chance that someone out there was turned off by the super spreader air filter thing, but was still intrigued by the idea of a pair of super high-end Dyson active noise canceling headphones. I'm dedicated to giving you a fair shake.

And the thing is, it might not seem to make much sense until you consider that AirPods Max also exist. In fact, the more you compare them, the more it feels like Dyson just saw AirPods Max just getting dusty sitting in the corner, no updates after four years, still has a lightning port, still super heavy, just unchanged and still getting sales at $550, and thought, Okay, well, surely that audience is looking for an alternative, right? And when you put them side by side, it becomes actually pretty clear to me that what Dyson seems to have done is aimed to basically one-up Apple's headphones in as many ways as they possibly could, while still being in the same exact category of huge heavy noise-canceling headphones. So like I said, these things retail at 500 bucks, but that is 50 bucks cheaper than Apple's. It has replaceable ear cups for 50 bucks a piece.

Believe it or not, that also undercuts Apple. The rated battery life is 55 hours, which is just dramatically better, more than doubles AirPods Max is 20 hours. Also, Dyson's headphones work the same on both iPhone and Android. And of course, these also have a real off button. So, yeah. But anyway, I think I have to start with the fact that these headphones are somehow heavier even than Apple's. These are the heaviest headphones I've ever tested. 451 grams, which is not great on paper. But the thing that they at least do well is they kind of, they distribute it well across your head. Now everything on these headphones is metal, like not just the ear cups but also the hinges, the top band, and then basically just this top cushion is super soft. The left and right ones actually aren't super soft, even though they look the same.

And that's because they've put batteries in here. So the weight now is actually higher off of the ear cups, which is how they managed to be, I'd say, just as comfortable as AirPods Max. They feel different, but, you know, not a high bar. They're still super heavy. It's just they're not super uncomfortable for sitting around and passively listening for a while. And honestly, there's actually a lot of interesting, sometimes clever design with these headphones. The main one really being these interchangeable back plates and ear cushions. I'll get to how they sound, don't worry. But these ear cups are a quarter twist and an unlock away from being totally replaceable. And then these back material is, it's just a cap that is also a quarter twist away from being totally replaceable as well. So they can both be replaced with different colors, and then you can mix and match different combos.

of ear cups and back plates. Now you don't actually get like a bunch of these with the headphones. Like I said, they're 50 bucks a pair. So basically when you go to their website, you choose between these four base color combos, and I'd say choose wisely, because then any extras you want, you gotta pay for. So you might've seen what people were doing a few years ago with like mixing and matching different ear cup colors with AirPods Max. Dyson basically, I think, saw this but took it to the next logical level and just said, All right, we'll build it right in as a feature and upsell you. And it's fine, it works. Is it a bit of a gimmick? Kinda. Yeah, sure. But you can also tell they put in real work with the lock-and-twist mechanisms, so they don't come off easily. But you can also always unlock and swap out a new cap.

which have lots of different finishes, by the way. There's the aluminum one, which is really shiny and metallic, but the colored ones have like a matte finish. They almost look like a ColorWear collab. Another clever little design thing, and this actually comes from the previous Tyson headphones, is this clever little joystick on the back, on the back right-hand side. This is almost all of the physical controls for these headphones, and it's great because it has a bunch of functionality. You can press in to play pause, you can go up or down for volume, left or right, moves you through tracks, and it sticks out, so it's easy to find blind, you don't even have to see it. Then the only other physical control is double-tapping the left ear cup to turn on and off noise cancellation or transparency mode. Unfortunately, this control is extremely finicky and only works like 50% of the time.

which sounds insane until you realize this is not a touch surface. It's just a cap on top of the headphones. So, I imagine it's some sort of like force sensor, so you really have to smack the headphones to change it. Yeah, that's not great. But a couple of other small observations: the chime that plays when you first put them on is super loud every time. I don't know why. Please turn that down. But then these headphones also only twist in one direction, so that way, that's how you get them to fold flat. Although, they don't actually totally fold at all. So, to bring them with you, you need this. This is the case. I mean, I guess you don't need this case, but this is the one it comes with. This is basically two flat boards of silicon connected by some elastic, and you kinda just push the headphones down right in there.

You do have to shrink them down a little bit. And there is one pocket near the top for any cables you wanna take with you. Sure, that's fine. These headphones also have on-head detection, so they can automatically play when you put them on and then automatically pause whatever you're listening to when you take 'em off. Pretty standard for high-end headphones. And they also have multi-point, multi-device connectivity. So I add these paired to both my iPhone and my Pixel at the same time. And the Dyson app is pretty solid. It lets you change and see modes, and it still does that real-time thing where it shows you like a graph of the last 30 seconds of how loud it is outside the headphones versus how loud it is inside the headphones. So you can see that delta when you have noise cancellation on. Fine. Cool. I guess it's not the most useful feature in the world, but it's still cool to look at once in a while.

But then, of course, how do they sound? They're headphones, after all; that's what people want to know. So, as your resident non-audiophile, but someone who has listened to a lot of headphones, these sound solid but not amazing. I actually did listen to a lot of back-to-back with the AirPods Max, 'cause that feels like the appropriate comparison here, and the AirPods sound better in basically every single genre, but by like 10 to 25%. And you can play with the EQ in the Dyson app, but there's only three presets: so there's neutral, that is the flattest, most honest representation. It is actually surprisingly neutral. Enhanced sounds closest to AirPods Max, and it's pretty good. That's my personal favorite for listening to music. There's a nice big range, deep sub-bass, and then still has crisp, detailed mids and highs. And then bass boost sounds horrible.

but it does what it says, if you're into that. I think the struggle really is mostly to create like an open, wide feeling sound stage. The inside of the ear cups actually is pretty shallow. It's legit touching my ear with the fabric. So, it's just not the widest sound stage, and there isn't as much instrument separation as I was hoping for. But in general, they sound like any other rock-solid B+ noise-canceling headphones would for around like a $300 price point. There are also eight microphones all the way around for active noise cancellation, and they are decently good at getting rid of some white noise, but they are not the strongest. Like Sonys, Bose, and AirPods all cancel way more background noise, and then the transparency mode is okay. The real strength of these headphones, if you must know, is definitely the battery life. What they've done with getting the battery cleverly on the band instead of resting on your ears.

made a surprisingly big difference. And it's a lot of battery. This battery life is amazing. Like I've only had to charge it once during this super heavy use of like week a half testing I've been doing. Yeah, like 50+ hours with a NC on is like world beating. So, great battery life. Plus, they actually have an off button, which they can't all say they do. But at the end of the day these are still Dyson headphones. Like why do these exist? That's the real question that I've been wondering this whole time testing 'em. And I think the obvious Business 101 answer is Dyson spent real R&D money making this stupid pair of headphones that have an air filter attached to them and figured they might as well get their money's worth and also ship something that might have a little bit of a larger addressable market, which is just headphones. So now there's headphones.

So if you aim these squarely at AirPods Max, which is what I did, I feel like that's the closest thing to them. Then they don't seem as ridiculous. I mean, they're built just as well. They have much more clever, interesting customization going on. They have decent sound. They also have like solid physical controls, and they're much better with batteries. So yeah, I guess since they're cheaper, they make sense. But however, if you compare them to basically any other high-end normal pair of noise-canceling headphones in the 350 range from any of the other majors, then yeah, these are overpriced, straight up. So that's the verdict. Now you know. At least the people from Dyson can say they shipped something. Thanks for watching. Get you guys the next one. Peace. (upbeat music)

Dyson is Back… Why Do These Exist?