Once upon a time, shopping for the best hair dryers was as simple as walking into the drugstore and debating among four or five options. Is it cheap? Does it have enough watts to get super hot? Done. Thankfully, the beauty industry has wised up to the fact that the one-size-fits-all options do not, in fact, work for all, and a new era of high-tech blow-dryers were born. But with so many hyped-up styling tools available, we turned to hair stylists to get their recommendations on the hair dryers and dryer brushes worth the money (spoiler—yes, the Dyson Supersonic is one of them). Below are the best options for every hair texture and budget, recommended by professional stylists and Glamour reviewers who genuinely use them every day.
Best Overall: Dyson Supersonic Hair Dryer
The price tag on the Dyson might take you aback at first, but if you’re looking for what the pros actually use, this tool is your ticket. It rids frizz, and leaves hair looking sleek, soft and flyaway-free. It also has four powerful heat settings with a 1600 wattage, plus multiple speed settings that allow you to get into every nook and cranny of your strands. The Dyson Supersonic truly ruins every other hair dryer you’ve ever used based on its power alone. It can be adjusted to three power settings, and the highest level will dry even the thickest hair in a matter of minutes. It cut off 10 minutes of her normal drying time routine, especially when she sections out her hair. For each brush-sized section of hair, the Supersonic fully dries my locks in no more than three passes. For sleeker looks, I also love the concentrator, which makes it easy to get a flat-ironed look from a blowout.
I love how lightweight it is, especially compared to what my mother used–so much so that it’s my travel dryer. While it’s costly, I’ve used it virtually every day since I bought it, and it’s fallen on the floor more times than I can count, yet it’s still in great shape, and it very quickly straightens my fine, curly hair, even on the most humid days.” The good news: we also found this dryer refurbished on Walmart for under $250.
Why we like it: It comes with four different attachments that allow you to customize your drying routine depending on your hair type
Pros: It has 1380 watts, making it one of the most powerful dryers on this list
Cons: It’s expensive
Reviewer used for: 8 years combined
Weight: 1.13lbs
Heat Settings: 4
Cool Shot Button: Yes
Ion Technology: Yes
Attachments: Styling concentrator, diffuser, flyaway attachment, wide tooth comb
Best for Curly Hair: The Pattern Blow Dryer
A diffuser is the best way to achieve a controlled dry on curly and coily hair types, and this pick rose to the top for its sleek and easy to maneuver attachment. I haven’t had much luck with dryers the past—they’re usually too hot and leave my curly/wavy hair frizzy at the top and fried-feeling, I was impressed by how lightweight this was when she took it out of the box, compared to others she’s tried. It comes with several attachments (a diffuser, a brush, a wide tooth comb, and a concentrator nozzle) specifically for curly/coily hair.
I found that the wide diffuser and the wide tooth comb at the top was the best match for her hair. I particularly liked that it was easy to use and never got super hot. My Dyson gets scaldingly hot fast, which makes it hard to hold it in one place for long. The Pattern’s heat, by comparison, is gentler. Perhaps it took longer to dry my hair, but it felt gentler on my curls for the long term. I also like that you could lock the cool shot button; I didn’t need to press it in place in order to keep using it. The diffuser attachment on this one also held a lot of curls in its wide bowl, making it a standout pick for Griggs. “Overall, it took around 20 minutes to dry my hair, and left soft, shiny curls—I was quite pleased.”
Why we like it: It keeps frizz away and the the wide bowl makes it easy to capture a lot of curls at once
Pros: Lightweight and easy to maneuver
Cons: It has locks on various settings which might make it harder to control with precision
Used for: 1 month
Weight: 1.12lbs
Heat Settings: 3
Cool Shot Button: Yes
Ion Technology: Yes
Attachments: Diffuser, brush, wide tooth comb, concentrator nozzle
Best for Thick Hair: T3 Aireluxe Hair Dryer
If you have medium to thick hair, the T3 Aireluxe is a great option. “I’ve owned this T3 hair dryer for a few years now and it’s never let me down. It’s powerful but I don’t feel like I’m burning my hair. I can easily control the temperature, and the nozzle attachment lets me concentrate the hot air to my round brush when I’m styling it. My boyfriend has been using this hair dryer as well and he has wavy medium hair. We take it with us whenever we travel because its light and easy to store. I will say, you do need to learn how to section and blow dry your hair first before getting that salon-worthy blowout. It took me a few tries and lots of video tutorials.
Why we like it: The temperature doesn’t get too hot
Pros: Sleek, lightweight design
Cons: Only has one attachment
Used for: 4 years
Weight: 1.06 lbs
Heat Settings: 5
Cool Shot Button: Yes
Ion Technology: Yes
Attachments: Concentrator nozzle
Best Multi-Styler Dryer: Shark Beauty Sharkflex Styler
Looking to master your silk press routine? I recently started using this dryer, and let me tell you, it’s extremely powerful, cuts my blow-dry time in half, and is so light that my arms don’t feel like they’ve had a workout. It take me just 15 minutes to style my hair, compared to a half hour with my old hair dryer brush. I usually make two passes with this dryer on my towel-dried hair with a paddle brush, and I love that this dryer doesn’t get overly hot. The temperature is regulated to maintain consistent, safe heat, with a maximum that’s half of a traditional hot tool, making it perfect for a variety of hair types.
Why we like it: It can be used on any hair type
Pros: It comes with multiple brush attachments
Cons: It’s pricey
Used for: 3 months
Weight: 1.5 lbs
Heat Settings: 5
Cool Shot Button: Yes
Ion Technology: Yes
Attachments: Two 1.25” auto-wrap curlers and two brush attachments
Best Budget: Revlon One Step Ionic Hair Dryer
Frizzy, wavy hair has nothing on this Revlon One Step Hair Dryer that gives you a salon worthy blowout in a matter of minutes. If you’re looking for something that dries hair within minutes, delivers maximum volume, and can seamlessly create the perfect bouncy blowout on a budget, you really can’t go wrong with this one. This one is especially useful if you have bangs or face-framing pieces you haven’t been able to style correctly, because the brush is flexible enough to get under all the hard to keep-in-place pieces. “Everyone from my sister to best friend to mom has gotten this because of me raving about it continually. I especially recommend this for anyone with thick and/or longer hair, since some blow dryers aren’t strong enough to style coarse strands accordingly. It also certainly doesn’t hurt that it’s only $40 a full-price, and around $30 when it’s on-sale!”
If you have thicker hair. This brush is helpful when I want to get my hair roughly dry quickly, but since I have thicker, wavy hair, I have trouble getting it dry all the way to the roots which leaves my hair with a lot of frizz. Therefore, you might want to skip it, unless you have thin hair.
Why we like it: It’s easy to use if you’ve never tried a blow dry brush before, and suitable for beginners
Pros: Extremely affordable
Cons: Not great for thick hair
Used for: 4 years
Weight: 1.22 lbs
Heat Settings: 3
Cool Shot Button: Yes
Ion Technology: Yes
Attachments: N/A
Best for a Salon Blow Out: Dyson Airwrap Multistyler + Dryer
The Dyson AirWrap remains my most recommended beauty product to date. It’s just perfect! And I say this as someone who used to have a DryBar membership because I was so bad at drying my own hair. But now, I can actually give myself bombshell blowouts—or at the very least, get my hair super dry—in 10 to 15 minutes, if even that.My favorite way to use it is to rough dry it with the pre-drying dryer attachment, then go in and style with the round barrel attachment for voluminous waves. “It’s never ever led me astray, and friends still assume I regularly get blowouts when it’s actually me doing it myself! That’s also how I’ve been able to justify the price—it’s saved me so much money in hair styling and blowout fees, it’s really an investment. I love this thing, and it works just as well on short and long hair as it does with extensions (I’ve used it with all three). If I could give it 10000/10, I would.” If you’re not ready to commit hefty coin for this one, we found a refurbished Airwrap on Walmart for just $210.
Why we like it: It not only dries hair, but styles it too
Pros: Dries hair extremely quickly
Cons: It’s expensive
Used for: 3 years
Weight: 1.5 lbs
Heat Settings: 3
Cool Shot Button: Yes
Ion Technology: Yes
Attachments: 1.6” long barrel, 1.2” long barrel, dryer+flyaway smoother, firm smoothing brush, soft smoothing brush, round volumizing brush, detangling comb
Best for Fine Hair: Hairitage 1875 Watts Ionic Hair Blow Dryer
My hair is notorious for two qualities,one, that it’s very thin, but two, that there’s a lot of it, and both of these elements make it a lot harder for me to fully dry my hair. It can sometimes take up to a full hour to get every section of hair, but this affordable option actually changed my hair care game. This ionic hair dryer is super powerful yet lightweight, and allowed her to fully dry my hair in a matter of 20 minutes, a great feat for the typical 45 to 50 minute endeavor. This blow dryer not only cut my drying time in half, it also felt warm but not too hot, which was perfect for my finer strands. I completely avoided the dreaded singeing smell that sometimes happens when I blow dry too hard, and after the fact, my hair looked and felt silky smooth and brushed out without a single tangle.
Why we like it: This one provides consistent heat without getting overly hot
Pros: It has ion technology that works to keep frizz at bay, so it’s especially great if you deal with static-prone hair
Cons: It’s plastic
Used for: 3 months
Weight: 1.6 lbs
Heat Settings: 3
Cool Shot Button: Yes
Ion Technology: Yes
Attachments: Concentrator nozzle
Best Blow Dry Brush: T3 Aire 360 Ceramic Airstyler Blow Dry Kit
I am a huge fan of this fast drying blow dry kit because it’s completely changed my regimen altogether. I don’t air dry my hair anymore after discovering the T3 Aire 360 because it’s so much easier to use and leaves my hair looking so smooth and silky. Before I used this dryer brush, there were always damp spots that didn’t dry simply because I ran out of time when styling or because it would take multiple passes over and over to try to get each section completely dry. After incorporating this kit into my routine, i noticed that it only took about 15 minutes to dry her full head, and that’s due to the powerful airflow and round brush that clings onto each strand. After regular use, my hair also looked a lot smoother and frizz-free. “After drying, my hair is super silky soft, and not staticky in the slightest. I like to add a hair oil to keep my strands extra moisturized, and I’m on my way!”
Why we like it: It clings onto each strand, making it one of the most thorough blow dryers on this list
Pros: Extremely powerful
Cons: Pricey
Used for: 6 months
Weight: 1.2 lbs
Heat Settings: 3
Cool Shot Button: Yes
Ion Technology: Yes
Attachments: 2 curling attachments, oval brush, drying concentrator
Best for Travel: Dreame Pocket Hair Dryer
When it comes to traveling, sometimes the hotel provided hair dryer just doesn’t cut it. That’s why this travel hair dryer is a favorite of me, and a worthwhile investment. When I travel, I almost always bring a carry-on but I want comforts like my own hair dryer, so space-saving options are really important to me. I also have very long, wavy hair that takes quite a while to dry, so I can’t sacrifice on power. This is the only dryer I’ve tried that actually delivers on both. It comes with two attachments—curling and smoothing nozzles—but the whole thing is foldable, and fits in a small, flexible gray pouch that’s so small, you could stick it in a personal item. Earley also loves the highest heat setting on this one because it doesn’t feel overly hot as other dryers. This hairdryer is so powerful that it flies off the counter if you don’t turn it off before setting it down. The attachments click in without any effort, too, and I’ve found them both to be very effective.
Why we like it: Super compact and easy to store in a carry-on
Pros: Doesn’t make a lot of noise
Cons: Only has 2 drying speeds
Used for: 4 months
Weight: 0.66 lbs
Heat Settings: 5
Cool Shot Button: Yes
Ion Technology: Yes
Attachments: Curling nozzle, unfrizz nozzle