In a move that’ll surprise many Dyson fans, the vacuum company has taken its first step into the world of audio with the announcement of Dyson Zone, a pair of over-ear headphones with a difference. Spending millions on R&D and taking six years to develop, Dyson has built its air purification technology into the headphones to lessen the rising air and noise pollution many of us are experiencing on a daily basis.
Intrigued? You should be. Here’s everything you need to know about the Dyson Zone air-purifying headphones, from release date and pricing to what the new hybrid headphones offer.
If you want a detailed breakdown of the experience on offer, take a look at our hands-on impressions of the Dyson Zone.
When will the Dyson Zone headphones be released?
While the Dyson Zone air-purifying headphones have been announced, we’re still a little while away from release.
Dyson originally committed to an Autumn 2022 (or Fall for those in the US) release at its initial reveal in March 2022, though the company confirmed in early December 2022 that the release had slipped to 2023.
More specifically, the Dyson Zone is set to make its debut in China in January 2023, followed by the US, UK and select other markets in March 2023.
Specific dates are yet to be confirmed, but we’ll update this section once we know more.
How much will the Dyson Zone headphones cost?
Dyson confirmed in December 2022 that the Dyson Zone headphones will start at $949 in the US and a slightly more palatable £749 in the UK.
That’s still comfortably higher than even premium headphones like Sony’s WH-1000XM5 and even Apple’s AirPods Max, but considering the impressive blend of audio performance and air purification tech on offer, it’s actually cheaper than some were expecting.
After all, Dyson’s air purifiers start at around $300/£300 and that’s not taking the high-end audio performance into consideration.
Lewis Painter / Foundry
Dyson Zone design & features
So, what is it that makes the Dyson Zone headphones so unique?
As we’ve alluded to, it’s the first pair of headphones to combine audio with air purification, with the bid to tackle air and noise pollution for those on-the-go, particularly those in cities where noise and pollution are constantly on the rise.
In terms of design, the cans themselves look fairly standard – though with Dyson design flare and a grille similar to that present on the Dyson Hot & Cool air purifying fan.
That’s because as well as housing all the headphone tech, each can features a mini air purifying system that sucks in up to 2.5L of air polluted air per second and ‘cleans’ it using electrostatic media that effectively pulls particulates as small as 0.1microns from the air. Dyson says it should also filter out Covid-19 particles in the air, tested with the near-identical H1N1 virus, which should give wearers added peace of mind.
It’ll also protect from gases including nitrogen dioxide, sulphur dioxide and ground-level ozone, not usually filtered by standard air purifying tech.
Tom William Chapman / Dyson
That cleaned air is then delivered directly to your nose and mouth via a visor that magnetically attaches to the headphones. It does look a little ‘Bane’ in use, but Dyson is confident that it won’t be a barrier to many as we’ve adjusted attitudes to face coverings in recent years as we deal with the pandemic.
The visor doesn’t make contact with your mouth or nose; instead, it gently blows a ‘plume’ of fresh air through a mesh grille that’s nicer on the nose and mouth than a direct jet of air. There are four settings available – low, medium, high and automatic – with the latter automatically adjusting suction power depending on the air quality and other metrics using built-in air quality sensors.
Air quality information, and more, is also available to browse via the My Dyson app where you’ll also be able to control other functions of the cans and adjust the audio equaliser too.
The visor isn’t permanently attached to the headphones. Instead, it snaps into place using magnets, and there’s an additional ‘conversation mode’ that allows you to pull the visor down to chat with people nearby. Once dropped, it’ll also disable the fans and enable a transparency mode that’ll let you clearly hear what’s going on.
Of course, they’re headphones as well as an air purifying system, and they’re high-end at that. The Zone cans sport 40mm drivers designed in-house by Dyson which deliver what it claims is “audio production-grade” quality.
Tom William Chapman / Dyson
There are 11 microphones housed on the headphones that monitor exterior, motor and interior noise and feed that through a system that’ll cancel out low-pitched noises, with top-notch passive attenuation focusing on cancelling high-pitched sounds. The result should be a noticeably quieter daily commute, with strong bass that doesn’t impact on the vocals.
Battery life isn’t quite as exciting, with between 1.5-4.5 hours of use depending on the level of air purification you opt for. Thankfully, things improve if you want to use them as a standard pair of headphones, managing 50 hours on a charge. The charge time isn’t quite as fast though, with a full charge taking around 3 hours according to Dyson.
We discussed the concept of Dyson Zone and Lewis’ hands-on thoughts during a recent episode of our weekly podcast Fast Charge, which you can watch below:
Dyson Zone specifications
- 200 x 210 x 240mm (with visor)
- 595g (no visor)
- 670g (with visor)
- 11 microphones for ANC and telephony
- ANC up to 38dB
- Transparency mode
- Auto Mode (with activity detection)
- Air quality sensors
- 6Hz – 21kHz frequency response
- 0.08% @ 94dB 1kHz distortion
- Bluetooth 5.0
- SBC, AAC & LHDC codec support
- 40mm neodymium drivers
- Filter efficiency is 99% at PM0.1
- Can capture NO2, SO2 and O3 gases
- Filters last up to 12 months
- 2,600mAh battery
- 50 hours of audio
- Low-flow up to 4 hours
- Mid-flow up to 2.5 hours
- High flow up to 1.5 hours
- USB-C charging
- 3-hour charge time
- 3.5mm via USB-C cable
- MyDyson app support
- Available in Satin Silver/Ultra Blue, Ultra Blue/Prussian Blue and Prussian Blue/Bright Copper
Will you be buying a pair of Dyson’s air-purifying headphones at release in 2023? Let us know on or .