This is an odd one coming from Dyson, a reputable company behind multiple fancy (yet overpriced) fan solutions (and other products) that change the way we blow air. Dyson seems to think that the world still needs masks with the direction things are headed. Not only that, but those masks should include a built-in air purifier and headphones. With that, you get the upcoming Dyson Zone.
If you were always looking to walk the streets looking like Bane from the Batman universe, look no further. Dyson is looking to make this product a reality and will actually be selling it next month in China (March 2023 for the US). So we will likely see it at CES 2023 next month as well as the company gets ready to promote it to the world.
The headphones themselves feature a number of interesting specs (as headphones). You have things like active noise cancellation and up to 50 hours of use (and that’s with ANC enabled). They will feature auto-off capabilities to preserve battery life, 40mm neodymium drivers, the ability go wired or wireless (Bluetooth 5.0), and they look kind of cool (the headphone portion).
Then you consider the air-purifier. This drops battery life to up to 4 hours when the purifier is in use, so you won’t have too many bragging rights if you spend a lot of time outside hiding from the local pollution. However, it is detachable so you can skip to using them as just headphones. They also come with a MyDyson app so you can track the air quality throughout the day (or, at least the 4 hours of use).
There isn’t much that can be said about them since we haven’t listened to a pair ourselves. Again, maybe we will run into this at CES next month. If so, we might discuss what we think about sound quality.
As for the price, it looks to be $949, which is enough to snap somebody into attention. At a price like this, the audio quality better climb into the audiophile range as the purifier isn’t that exciting (at least with that battery life). The filters last up to 12 months and it simply purifies the air in front of your mouth. It doesn’t actually act as a sealed mask or anything. So it can’t be used to protect against everything around you and won’t protect others if you cough or sneeze. So really, it is about pollution more than anything else.
Beyond that, it does remind us of a company we ran into at CES 2020 (AO Air) that had a similar wearable purifier. That model didn’t include any headphones built into the mix, but the design looks a bit similar. Dyson might have gone into business with AO Air. It doesn’t look like AO Air was acquired by them or anyone else, so the two companies may not have any relation at all. Just a coincidence. Maybe they helped in the design of the costumes used in the Marvel Ant-Man movies.
I do wonder who is going to want to wear this outside of during a walk down the runway of a very abstract designer series that never finds its way to store shelves. I could be wrong though. Maybe we will see a number of these walking down streets next year.
