Having tried and tested most of the world’s most popular headphones, my current go-to music makers are the Sonos Ace. These excellent noise-cancelling cans continue to impress thanks to their incredibly comfortable fit, super lightweight design, long battery life and stunning sound. Wherever I travel, the Ace are in my bag, but I’ve been trying something different for the last month.

Dyson’s OnTrac headphones come hot on the heels of the UK firm’s whacky Zone headphones, which were created to play music while also filtering the air we all breathe, a Covid-era concern addressed via tech. The Zone were a pretty strange creation that never really took off, but everyone that used them – including Express.co.uk – all agreed they sounded very, very good.

Luckily, Dyson’s new OnTrac cans have ditched the weird air-filtering face mask and focused on that already-good audio instead. So, with the Sonos Ace tucked safely in my cupboard, how do the Dyson OnTrac stack up, and should you invest?

Having worn them on planes, trains, in the office and at home, I’ve been left pretty impressed. Considering Dyson is famed for vacuum cleaners, fans and hairdryers – not audio products – the team from Malmesbury have done a stellar job.

They sound mighty and are easily as good as alternatives from more established rivals such as Bose and Sony. I’ve had no issues enjoying all types of music, with everything sounding rich with detail and crystal clear along with offering just the right levels of bass. Dyson has packed custom-built 40mm neodymium drivers inside with things tilted at an angle of 13 degrees towards the ear and it all works incredibly well.

There’s also some excellent Active Noise Cancellation (ANC), which means you only hear the audio and not the hustle and bustle of the world around you.

A total of eight Active Noise Cancelling microphones are built into the OnTrac, which can sense outside sounds 384,000 times a second to fine-tune the effectiveness. Having tested them on packed London Underground trains, noisy cafes and even a long-haul flight to New York, I’ve been really impressed by how well the ANC works and how little you hear other than your playlists.

Battery life is also ridiculously good, with Dyson promising over 52 hours on a single charge. That’s no exaggeration, and during my time with them, I’ve never come close to running low on juice when travelling.

Of course, I can’t write about OnTrac without mentioning the unique design. Dyson created these cans to offer loads of customisation.

That means you can change the colour of the cups or switch out the plates that cover the sides of these headphones at point of purchase or by buying extra accessories.

It’s pretty easy to adapt things which means you can constantly change the style to suit your mood or outfit. The OnTrac are definitely not subtle, and the design will certainly polarise opinion, but it’s nice to see something a little different arrive on the market.

You can also design your look – including changing the colour of the headband – when buying them online which, if nothing else, is quite good fun.

The only thing to note is the price of the accessories. At £449 the OnTrac are already ludicrously expensive and adding extra cups or those colourful outer caps will cost you an extra £50 each – ouch!

So, if you buy the OnTrac and add a couple of extra cups and plates, you could end up with a bill of over £649.

Things get even more expensive if you want to plug them into a headphone port or plane entertainment system as the audio cable isn’t included and adds an extra £20 to the bill.

Other features I’ve enjoyed – aside from that cost – are the simple controls for adjusting volume, pausing tracks, and switching off the ANC.

The Dyson app offers plenty of sound settings, so you can adjust things to suit your tastes. The headphones switch off automatically when you remove them from your ears, fold flat for easy storage and will even warn you if things are too loud.

So yes, I’ve been left impressed by Dyson’s OnTrac but there are some issues that can’t be overlooked. Although they are comfortable to wear and sound great, they are pretty heavy and that weight won’t suit everyone.

The supplied travel case feels very cheap considering the high price of the cans, and they only connect to one device at a time, which means you can’t quickly switch from your phone to a tablet or laptop to a Bluetooth music player.

Multi-device support is something I’ve got used to on other headphones, such as the AirPods Pro 2 and Sonos Ace, and it’s a glaring omission from Dyson.

As we mentioned before, the £449 price is stupendously high, and the unique look might not be to everyone’s tastes.

So, will I return to my Sonos Ace, or will Dyson’s OnTrac take pride of place on my head? I’ve got to be honest; I was expecting to revert back to the Ace pretty quickly, but I’ve actually enjoyed using Dyson’s headphones.

They sound epic, have decent ANC, neat customisation options, and near-endless battery life.

It’s a solid effort from Dyson’s audio team, but I do have issues with the weight, price and lack of multi-device connectivity. The design is also much like Marmite, and the styling won’t suit everyone – these are anything but subtle.

My Sonos Ace aren’t going to be replaced by the OnTrac, but these headphones are way better than I was expecting and if you fancy something a little more unique that stands out from the crowd, they won’t disappoint.