Dyson says its 'snorkel' headphones will protect you…

Dyson says its 'snorkel' headphones will protect you from air pollution

At first glance, it looks like you're wearing the headphone band over your mouth instead the top of your head.

But in fact, Dyson's new headphones come with a visor that covers your mouth and the tip of your nose, and contains a built-in air filter.

The British firm says the Dyson Zone air-purifying headphones are designed to scrub inner-city air pollution.

But Dyson also has an additional mask attachment that sits between the visor and face, including an FFP2 filter, developed in response to the masking requirements of the Covid-19 pandemic (FFP2 is an equivalent standard to N95) - although the firm says its headphones are not designed to replace a mask.

The overnight launch had media grasping for the right metaphor to describe the headphones.

The BBC said they come with a "vacuum for your mouth".

Tech Crunch offered: "The basic form factor most closely resembles a football helmet."

And on social media, there were unflattering comparisons to Anthony Hopkins' mouthpiece in The Silence of the Lambs, among many other memes.

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The visor attaches to the headphones magnetically, so it can be easily detached.

The headphones themselves offer noise-cancelling audio - which Dyson bills as a "noise pollution" countermeasure - and Bluetooth wireless.

Gadget site Pocket Lint, which tried out a pre-release pair, said the Dyson Zone delivers "high quality" audio.

The Dyson Zone features an electrostatic filter that captures 99 per cent of particle pollution as small as 0.1 microns, such as dust, pollen and bacteria, the company says, while a carbon filter captures various types of urban pollutants.

The air then goes into a compressor, which Dyson says is powered by the tiniest motors it's ever created. The motors will last four hours in a "low filtration" mode before requiring a recharge via a USB-C cable.

"Originally a snorkel-like clean air mouthpiece paired with a backpack to hold the motor and inner workings, the Dyson Zone air-purifying headphones evolved dramatically over its six years in development. More than 500 prototypes saw one motor initially placed at the nape become two compressors, one in each ear-cup and the evolution of the snorkel mouthpiece into an effective, contact-free visor that delivers clean air without full-face
contact – a brand-new clean air delivery mechanism," Dyson said at its overnight launch.

Dyson says the headphones won't be available for several months, and pricing has yet to be announced.