Today’s announcement is just an initial revelation of the Zone headphones before the fall release date, and Dyson is not announcing specific details such as price or specifications (including headphone weight or battery life) at this time. The aim of the Zone is to make living in urban areas more comfortable by trying to reduce both air pollution and noise pollution. Half of the air purification zone does not rediscover the wheel for Dyson. Instead, it downplays the company’s existing air filtration technology in a unique way. The Belt draws air through each headset using a pair of tiny compressors. The air is then filtered and passed through the (slightly strange-looking) “mask” for the user to inhale – without most of the particles and pollutants. Despite what it looks like, the cornice does not come in contact with your face as a mask would. Instead, it sits in front of your face, creating a vacuum where a fresh air bubble can collect and inhale. face mask also.) The Dyson Zone on the company’s testing platform, Frank.Image: Dyson The cornice is fastened via a series of magnets, allowing it to be removed if you just want to use the headphones as headphones. It also has hinges that turn it down so you can talk to people normally without having to remove the entire device. The Zone filtration system also offers multiple settings for different levels of exercise. For example, if you are running up a flight of stairs or trying to catch a bus, you will be breathing heavier (and need more air) than if you were taking a leisurely walk. There is even an automated setting that uses accelerometers to automatically adjust the airflow. The mask is removed and turned down for the “chat” function. Dyson says the Zone can filter up to 99 percent of particulate matter – though the filters can not be reused and will need to be replaced after about a year. (The company says that the exact time will depend on how much air pollution you are experiencing and how actively you use the headphones.) The headphone part is a bit more traditional, even though it’s a new product line for Dyson. The company says its goal with Zone was to create “faithful” reproductions of a musician’s original tracks. Noise cancellation is provided through a combination of passive cancellation from the overall design and active cancellation of noise through a series of microphones. There are three different ways to cancel noise in the Zone. The isolation function has an active ANC when the visor is raised. Lowering the face automatically switches to chat mode, which turns off ANC so you can hear the person you are talking to. There is also a transparency feature, which filters out important sounds such as car horns and sirens. Charging is via USB-C and the headset connects to a Dyson Link app, which can provide more detailed information about the air quality around you. I was able to test a prototype of the Zone a few weeks ago and it certainly seems to be doing what the company claims. I could feel the jets of air pumping in front of my face – even though I was indoors, so it was hard to understand how much cleaner it was. The ANC also worked well (but, again, a quiet hotel room is not the best test scenario) and the sound quality for the music was good without particularly dramatic bass (which was undoubtedly the company’s goal). Despite Dyson’s efforts, the Zone headphones are big and heavy On the other hand, Zone headphones are also very large and noticeably heavy. Dyson has done an admirable job of squeezing all this technology into a pair of headphones, but they are still comparatively larger and bulkier than, say, a pair of Sony WH-1000XM4 headphones. In addition, the whirlwind of the compressors could still be heard slightly when the engines were running at higher speeds and I was not listening to music to drown it out, even despite the cancellation of noise. The Zone is definitely one of the most unique Dyson (or possibly any company) products we will see this year. There are still many critical details we do not know – including price and battery life. And while mask use has grown significantly over the past two years, we need to see if customers will be willing to embrace this extremely strange product.
