Best hair dryers for 2021 – CNET

Amazon/Remington

The Remington Hair dryer is a great traditional hair dryer option for a basic hair dryer that performs well, protects your hair and won’t break the bank. The hair dryer has a damage-protecting coating and three different heat settings. It also comes with two attachments, a diffuser and a concentrated nozzle for two styling preferences. “This is a decent lower priced dryer that features current technology to help keep hair healthy,” says Shelly Aguirre, stylist at Maxine Salon in Chicago.

Personally, I prefer a more powerful hair dryer since I have thick, coarse, curly hair and it needs a lot of power and heat to get it into a sleek blowout. But for a budget dryer, this one is lightweight and gets pretty hot, which is great for smoothing strands. 

The Remington blow dryer is the best option overall for someone who is on a budget, or seldom uses a hair dryer. Someone who has short, fine hair or thin hair or does not use a blow dryer very much would be happy with this value hair dryer. 

Amazon

The BaBylissPro dryer is a midpriced option that performs similarly to its $100-plus counterparts. When I tried the ceramic dryer myself, I was impressed by the drying power in such a sleek and relatively compact design. The dryer comes with one concentrated nozzle attachment (no diffuser) which is something to keep in mind. You get the standard three heat settings — hot, warm and cool — plus two different speed settings.

“This is another lower priced dryer, but it still performs well making it a good bang for your buck,” Aguirre says. For $60, you get a great blow dryer — stylist approved! — and you can feel confident that the ceramic technology isn’t doing more harm to your hair than necessary. 

Sephora

DryBar is known for making salon blow-outs into an entire experience (complete with rom-coms and wine) and you can bring some of that experience home with its professional-quality blow dryer. 

The Buttercup blow dryer is the same professional blow dryer that DryBar stylists use in the salon. It features an ultra-powerful motor and wave heater to help distribute heat evenly and dry your hair faster. The brand promises that the dryer, priced at $199, will get you a frizz-free blowout 20% faster than other professional hair dryer options.

When I tried the Buttercup Blow Dryer I was impressed by how comfortable the dryer was to hold and style my hair — it’s not ergonomically awkward, bulky or too heavy. I have a lot of hair, so I need something relatively lightweight. 

The dryer definitely delivers on power and heat. I was able to get my hair smooth and dry fast when I used the dryer with the concentrator nozzle and a round brush. 

If you’ve ever had a blowout at DryBar, loved the results and want to try your hand at getting the same result at home, you’ll be a fan of this hair dryer.

Dyson’s Supersonic hair dryer goes above and beyond when it comes to style and function. When I first turned on the dryer I was amazed — this is unlike any hair dryer I’ve ever used before. The motor is super powerful and blows an intense jet of air that dries hair fast. 

I used it without an attachment at first to rough dry my hair and then I attached one of the nozzles to concentrate the heat with a round brush. The attachments (there are a variety of nozzles and a diffuser) are super easy to use and attach to the nozzle via a magnet almost instantly. 

Besides the fact that it looks (and sounds) super cool, this dryer delivers when it comes to hair styling and function. There are four heat settings and three speeds. The high speed and heat setting will likely dry hair faster than anything you’ve tried before — it’s worth the splurge if you have hair that takes forever to dry (like mine) and use a hair dryer every day. This could be a real game-changer for your morning routine.

Dyson claims that the dryer can prevent hair damage since it contains technology that controls overheating the hair. It’s also celebrity-stylist approved. “My favorite hair dryer is the Dyson dryer because it gives just the right amount of heat with the least amount of damage,” Justin Anderson, celebrity hair stylist and co-founder of DPHue, tells CNET.

DevaCurl

One of the toughest things about having curly hair is taming unruly frizz and getting definition in your curls. It takes a combination of good products to help style curls — and the DevaCurl dryer is one addition for those with curls who want to use a dryer made specifically for their hair. Many people with curly hair can air-dry and go — but sometimes you need to dry your hair quickly or you want some extra definition and volume, which a diffuser can help you get.

Although the dryer itself is designed to use ionic generator technology that doesn’t fry your hair, the star of the DevaCurl hair dryer is really the diffuser. You can buy a universal dryer attachment for other dryers, although the one that comes with the DevaCurl dryer only fits on that specific dryer. 

I have to admit that I all but gave up on being happy with my natural curls until I tried this diffuser. I don’t love air drying my hair because it holds so much water and takes forever. But when I tried the DevaCurl diffuser, it really helped tame my curls and dry them without making my hair huge. 

It’s a bit tricky to learn to use the diffuser, but since it’s shaped like a hand you get the hang of it pretty quickly. Depending on the result you want, you can either rake the diffuser through your hair to calm curls or use it to “cup” them from the bottom, which gives them some volume. The hand-shape also makes it easy to reach your roots without messing up your curls, which is nearly impossible with most diffusers.

For someone who uses a diffuser or wants to try one soon, the DevaCurl dryer set is a good investment in the essentials you need (you also get a concentrator nozzle for when you dry your hair straight). If you already have a blow dryer you love but are interested in the diffuser, save some money and order the diffuser attachment for your current dryer.