Overview
Best for damaged hair
Dyson Supersonic
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Best for the fastest dry times
Bio Ionic 10X Ultra Light Speed Dryer
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Best for volume
Harry Josh Pro Dryer 2000
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Best for frizzy hair
ghd Air
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Best for under $100
BaByliss Pro Nano Titanium Hair Dryer
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Table of Contents
UPDATE: Jul. 18, 2023, 5:00 a.m. EDT We updated this guide based on our latest product testing, reviews, and availability. Mashable writers hands-on tested all of the products featured below.
We promise: Once you start using a professional hair dryer, you'll never be able to go back. The next time you're forced to use a cheap hotel blow dryer, you'll feel like you're drying your hair in slow motion. So, if you want your hair to look its best — and we know you do — then we highly recommend investing in a hair care tool worthy of your hair.
A good blow dry is the foundation to a good hair day, after all. The fanciest hair straightener or curling wand in the world won't do you much good if your hair was singed with a crappy blow dryer beforehand.
It's common knowledge that pressing hair onto a sizzling hot flat iron or curling iron isn't great for it. We're quick to blame those tools for split ends and frizz, but less often, we consider that part of the problem may be the way the hair was dried in the first place. If your lifelong dream has been to give yourself the same glossy blowout that you get at the salon, your skills might not be totally to blame —your stylist's professional blow dryer is a lot better than your drugstore one.
To prove it, we put the best professional hair dryers to the test. Of course, that includes the famous Dyson Supersonic, widely considered the best hair dryer in the world (which we can confirm), as well as some popular Dyson Supersonic alternatives.
Are expensive professional hair dryers worth it?
Do you care about your hair looking great and being healthy? Then yes.
"Does it actually matter? Hot air is hot air, right?" Well, it's not that black and white. Beauty YouTube is a sucker for comparisons between high-end and budget-friendly dryers, but what's not being shown in that single demo is the effect of frying your hair with a cheap hair dryer on a daily basis.
However, that damage will make itself known as your hair becomes increasingly resistant to a silky blowout and when those flyaways refuse to lay flat.
Hair taking forever to blow dry is the number one red flag in the world of hair dryers. Most low-quality ones don't have adjustable heat settings, and if they do, both are too hot and are literally burning your hair dry. That extreme heat probably doesn't even speed up the process, as their motors usually aren't strong enough to create the velocity or targeted airflow necessary for a thorough job.
Speaking of cheap motors, affordable hair dryers don't really save money in the long run when they need to be replaced so often. Budget-friendly dryers aren't meant to withstand all-day use like a professional one, but this also means they have a tendency to blow out (no pun intended) after a few months of daily use. They're also super loud, have short cords that are prone to breaking when tugged (like a non-Apple iPhone charger), and have filters that are hard to clean. It takes guts to drop the cash on a professional model, but it'll last for years.
Related Video: Here's how to cut your hair at home
How do you blow dry your own hair professionally?
Pro tip: Dry before you dry.
If you can wring your hair out and see water droplets falling, it's too wet to blow dry. Moisture causes the keratin in hair to create weak hydrogen bonds that stretch when combed or blown around. The protective cuticles around the keratin stretch, too, and they don't bounce back to normal after drying. Instead, wet cuticles can crack or lift, making the hair inside more susceptible to damage. It's the same reason why you shouldn't go outside with wet hair in winter. Air dry or towel dry as much as possible.
Direction of airflow also matters. We asked stylists on Instagram, read tips from celebrity stylists, and watched review vlogs, and one unanimously-backed technique stood out: Keep that dryer pointed down, honey.
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Amy Loveland, a stylist at Platinum Salon in West Chester, Pennsylvania, finds that clients aren't getting the smoothness they want at home because they're blowing in the wrong direction.
"Instead of properly closing the cuticle, they blow the hair so that the cuticle stands up and their hair becomes fluffy rather than that fresh, blown-out look," she told us. "Blowing hair in the opposite direction while still keeping the airstream pointed down the hair shaft will give you the most volume while keeping smoothness."
The goal is to create a silky bounce in a single pass (aka using as little heat as possible). Zooming through your whole head with the dryer pointed all over is just asking for a puffy 'do — and not in the wind-blown, voluminous way that everyone wants. Blowing downward is also key in making those static-y ends lay flat.
Don't forget that heat protectant, y'all. Jonathan Van Ness suggests Oribe's Foundation Mist.
With these tips in mind, here are the best professional hair dryers of 2023 tested by Mashable:
MORE:
Best Dyson Airwrap Dupes Best Dyson Supersonic Dupes Best Hair Straighteners All Best Products
Our Pick
Best for damaged hair
No one does it like Dyson, and the Dyson Supersonic is famous for a reason. While we're less convinced these days that this dryer's $429 price tag is worth it for most people (there are some great dupes out there), there's no denying that if you have the budget, it's the best professional hair dryer in the wold.
The Supersonic dries your hair quickly, but it doesn't rely on blasting your hair with heat. In fact, it tops out at 212 degrees Fahrenheit at the highest setting — during testing, we definitely noticed that this heat felt less intense than other dryers. It keeps your dry time down thanks to the sheer power of the air flow created by the digital V9 motor that sits in the handle. This unique design also makes holding the dryer for longer periods of time way more comfortable. The bladeless design also uses Air Multiplier technology, which focuses air on one area rather than blowing everywhere and creating tangles.
That power and precision work well with the Supersonic's customization abilities, too. Aside from three speed settings and four heat settings (more than most competing dryers offer), the Supersonic comes with five attachments: a styling concentrator, a gentle air attachment, a wide tooth comb, a flyaway attachment, and, wait for it, A DIFFUSER. They're magnetic, so you don't have to worry about them coming coming loose or getting stuck. We just wish Dyson included a case to make storage a bit easier, but the hair styling flexibility the attachments offer might just make it worth finding your own storage solution.
Check out our full review of the Dyson Supersonic.
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Best for the fastest dry times
If you can't put a price on faster dry times, then investing in the Bio Ionic 10X Ultra Light Speed Dryer is a no-brainer. True to its name, this dryer was by far the fastest we tested, delivering a fully dry head of hair in under 10 minutes. While it's not enough to knock the Dyson professional hair dryer off its throne, it's the best alternative we tested.
Similar to the Dyson Supersonic, it does this without relying on super high temps, instead using some heat combined with a powerful airflow to get your quick dry times. You will be more limited in what heats your actually using — the two heat settings are the warm air and the cool shot — but during our testing, the warm air never felt too hot. As a nice bonus, the cool shot button does lock in, so when switching to a lower temp, you don't have to hold you finger on the button the whole time. For the best most frizz-free results, we recommend using the concentrator nozzle.
The biggest draw of this dryer is by far the quick dry times, but it's also easy to appreciate how lightweight it is — like our former best lightweight pick, the Sam Villa Light Ionic Dryer, it clocks in at less than a pound. Bio Ionic also claims that this uses a moisturizing heat. While we haven't tested the dryer long enough to speak to how it could affect heat damage, and we're certainly wary of claiming any hot air tool is capable of adding moisture to hair, we will say that quick dry times without excessive heat are likely to help your hair stay as protected as possible from damage over time.
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Best for volume
The best hair dryers should be able to do more than offer you sleek, pin-straight hair. With its ion button, the Harry Josh Pro Dryer 2000 lets you easily switch between tousled volume and ultra-smooth straight styles.
Most hair dryers produce negative ions, which keep hair shafts closed and help to keep hair sleek during heat styling. But not all styles require such a straight texture. Harry Josh made the ions optional, so you can press it when you need to smooth or let it be when going for a more teased, tousled look. During our testing, we noticed that flipping the ion switch allowed us to more easily achieve volume, without any more effort the hitting the button.
The ions aren't the only reason to love this professional hair dryer. The signature matte mint green shade, the promise of quality that comes from an award-winning product, the quick dry times — this is a dryer that delivers. It was created by stylists for stylists (celebrity stylist Harry Josh, if that wasn't obvious), spun into a package that's user-friendly and small enough to take on the go. The arctic cool shot button seals waves so well that you won't need to pack your arsenal of hair products, either. For all these reasons, it's also one of our favorite travel hair dryers.
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Best for frizzy hair
It's probably not surprising that everyone's favorite flat iron brand also makes a bomb hair dryer. ghd's straightener is beloved for its ability to turn the frizziest strands into silky smooth locks in a single pass.
Non-believers in ionic technology might just change their mind when they see the frizz control power in this beauty tool. An industrial ion generator sits by the nozzle opening to ensure that every single section of air is smoothed evenly while locking in moisture. The difference is so big that some people say they're experiencing soft hair for the first time in their life.
This is one professional blow dryer that genuinely feels professional. That's good and bad. After years of going through crappy dryers, we loved the ghd's sturdiness and durability. However, the professional motor is so hefty that the dryer weighs noticeably more than competitors of the same size.
The heat and speed buttons are lined up on the back of the handle. This is great from a stylist's perspective, but awkward and easy to bump when styling on yourself. (Don't say we didn't warn you when you accidentally blow all of your hair products off the sink in front of you.) The included nozzle is also very sturdy. Attachments falling off in the middle of a client's appointment happens far too often in the salon, but some users have pointed out that it's literally too snug to take off.
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Related Stories
- Best hair dryers for every budget, according to the people who use them
- Dyson Airwrap vs. Shark FlexStyle: Here's which hot air tool is worth your money
- Is the Dyson Supersonic still worth it?
- The new Dyson Airstrait is finally available for purchase
- The best beauty tech we've tested, from the Dyson Airwrap to SolaWave
Best for under $100
Budget hair dryers prove why they're a fraction of the price as soon as you hit the "on" button. The air is weak, dangerously hot, and their motors crap out because they simply can't handle daily use. BaByliss is the exception: Its recognizable line of blue titanium-infused hair tools are probably the only less-than-$100 tools you'll find in a salon.
The BaByliss Pro Nano Titanium hair dryer has the highest wattage of any dryer on this list, and its power makes itself known when the thickest heads of hair are dried in half the time it took with a different cheap hair dryer.
Curly hair but not a DevaCurl stan? The BaByliss is a great alternative for curly, coarse, or textured hair. Titanium is a great heat conductor because it warms up almost instantly and stabilizes and transfers that heat quickly, too. It's the type of constant, controlled heat that unruly tresses respond to, and the titanium-produced ions help to give you the shine that may have felt impossible to achieve at home. Beware: Titanium gets hot on the outside, too, so try to keep your hands off the barrel and give it time to cool down after unplugging.
Titanium is also less prone to corroding and chipping than ceramic, and many reviewers mention that they're only shopping for a new dryer because their five-year-old BaByliss finally died. We've been testing the same BaByliss model for over two years, and we can say definitively that it's the best hair dryer under $100.
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Best for curly hair
Drying curls requires an additional amount of care. A good diffuser is needed to mitigate airflow and ensure that your natural curl pattern isn't disrupted, and the DevaCurl's hand-shaped DevaDryer is a great option for keeping those natural curls glossy and bouncy.
Once you get past the initial shock of this diffuser looking like a literal cartoon character, the hand shape starts to make sense. (Don't ask about the lime green color choice.) The "fingers" provide the same coverage that the hand of your stylist would, getting close to your scalp to dry and volumize your roots. Holding a section of hair in the "palm" of the DevaFuser provides well-rounded airflow to all sides of a curl to promote bounce and prevent shrinkage.
Truth be told, people are more in love with the combo of the diffuser and dryer rather than the dryer itself. There's nothing special about the DevaDryer's two speed settings or middle-of-the-road wattage. The DevaFuser is advertised to be able to fit on most hair dryers, but a good portion of reviewers say that it's not that universal. If you want the DevaFuser, you should probably just buy the DevaDryer, too.
Adding to DevaCurl's lists of problems is, um, a lawsuit. The brand came under fire in early 2020 from customers after reports of hair products like serums seemingly causing hair loss. If you'd prefer to support a different brand, the hair community won't blame you. Psst: The Black Orchid diffuser by xtava is cheaper than the DevaFuser and available via Amazon Prime.
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How we tested
We updated our picks by using the following dryers as part of our day-to-day hair care: the Dyson Supersonic, the Harry Josh Pro Dryer 2000, the BaByliss Pro Nano Titanium Hair Dryer, and the Bio Ionic 10X Ultra Light Speed Dryer. The remaining dryers on this roundup were selected after extensive research, which involved deep dives into reviews from customers, influencers, and beauty blogs.
The above professional hair dryers were tested on long, medium thick hair that usually takes at least 15 to 20 minutes of blow drying to get completely dry, and about an hour and a half to fully air dry.
When testing, we chose our selections based on the following criteria (which also happen to be a good framework for anyone shopping for a new hair dryer):
At least three heat settings: You know how hair dryers in hotel rooms have an on/off switch and that's it? That's not what you want. Precise control of heat lets you customize temperature based on your damage level and the sleekness (or lack thereof) that you're going for. Some even have a "no heat" option for the days where you're not drying to style. For our two picks that had less than three settings, the ghd Air and Bio Ionic 10X Ultra Light Speed Dryer, we felt they made up for it in other areas to warrant a spot on our list.
A cool shot button: A dryer needs to be able to switch from hot to icy air with the press of a button. The cold seals those cuticles, which is crucial to achieving a blowout that lasts for days. Celebrity stylist Harry Josh (the creator of our pick for the best dryer for volume) proves the importance of a cool shot in this video by Goop. Skip to the 3-minute mark to see how a few seconds of cold air can change the way hair holds a curl.
A range of attachments: Sectioning hair and using a nozzle to compress airflow directly onto the brush allows you to concentrate on smoothing one strand at a time. Diffusers are essential (!!!) in styling curly or coarse hair. These hair care tools use small holes to diffuse air around curls to prevent cuticles from getting rough while preserving the natural shape of the ringlet.
A long cord: Professional hair dryers usually have a 9-foot cord while basic hair dryers have a 6-foot cord. Stylists need the freedom to move around a chair, and people at home will appreciate this if their bathroom has inconvenient outlets.
We're also in the process of testing more dryers, including the Harry Josh Ultra Light Pro Dryer, the T3 Featherweight Stylemax, and the T3 Aireluxe. We'll update our choices if they outperform or deserve a spot alongside any of the dryers on our existing list.
Leah Stodart is a Philadelphia-based Senior Shopping Reporter at Mashable where she covers essential home tech like vacuums and TVs as well as sustainable swaps and travel. Her ever-growing experience in these categories comes in clutch when making recommendations on how to spend your money during shopping holidays like Black Friday, which Leah has been covering for Mashable since 2017.
Leah graduated from Penn State University in 2016 with dual degrees in Sociology and Media Studies. When she's not writing about shopping (or shopping online for herself), she's almost definitely watching a horror movie, "RuPaul's Drag Race," or "The Office." You can follow her on X at @notleah or email her at [emailprotected].
Bethany Allard is a Los Angeles-based shopping reporter at Mashable covering beauty tech, dating, sex and relationships, and headphones. That basically means she puts her hair through a lot, scrolls through a lot of dating apps, and rotates through a lot of different headphones. In addition to testing out and rounding up the best products, she also covers deals for Mashable, paying an especially obsessive amount of attention to Apple deals and prices. That knowledge comes in handy when she's covering shopping holidays like Prime Day and Black Friday, which she's now done for three years at Mashable.
She graduated from New York University with a B.A. in Journalism and English Literature. You can follow her on X @betallard and reach her by email at [emailprotected].In her free time, you'll find her playing her Switch, hanging with her cat Mila, or cooking something new in her kitchen.
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