The Best Hair Dryers That Will Blow You Away

"Why don't you just let your hair dry naturally?"

Finding the best hair dryer for your hair type can often seem like a shot in the dark.

Frederator Studios, Cartoon Network Studios / Via giphy.com

To help take the guesswork out, we tested a slew of top-rated ones across all price points to see which work best for thin, thick, curly, color-treated, and textured hair — considering the weight, volume, design, overall usability, and, most importantly, effectiveness of each one.

Editor's Note: We're currently updating these picks! Check back soon for more.

Babylisspro Ceramix Xtreme Dryer

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In the Wild West of hair-care products, the BaBylissPro Ceramix Xtreme Dryer is the kind of hair dryer you want in your holster in the battle against frizzy, limp hair. It’s designed with 2,000 watts of power — the highest wattage of our picks across all three price points — and three precise heat settings (hot, warm, and cool) that can be used at both high and low speeds, plus a cool-shot button. This professional-grade hair dryer provides a quick dry and a smooth, shiny finish, especially for those with textured, curly, or color-treated hair.

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Using ceramic technology to help increase hair strength, negative ions to reduce static (more on this in a minute!), and far-infrared heat capable of drying your hair from the inside out, the BaBylissPro Ceramix Xtreme Dryer left our hair totally frizz-free and made it so much easier to manage — especially for those trying to maintain a perfect curl. Our tester with textured hair said that the BaByliss Pro “didn’t leave my curls frizzy. The dry time was a fraction of the time it takes to normally dry my hair.” Another tester said their curly hair felt “so shiny, healthy and smooth, and it curled really well after, too.”

Okay, so here’s how ionic technology works: Your hair is full of both positive and negative ions, but water (in your wet hair) contains positive ions. Ionic dryers emit negative ions, which causes all those water molecules to divide into smaller particles that evaporate quickly. This means your hair dries faster and spends less time exposed to heat — which translates to less damage to your strands in the long run. Our testers across all hair types experienced shorter dry time, but our textured-hair testers in particular noted their dry time was a fraction of the usual time.

One of our favorite features of this little powerhouse was its long, easy-to-store cord, which gave us movement and flexibility (shout-out to morning-routine multitaskers who try to do 50 other things at once). With its easy-to-grip rubberized casing, the BaBylissPro felt great (and secure!) in our hands. And despite having so much power, the BaBylissPro Ceramix Xtreme Dryer isn’t super-loud. One of our testers, in fact, mentioned being able to listen to a game while blow-drying her hair, without having to turn the sound all the way up.

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At under $60 across all retailers, the BaBylissPro Ceramix Xtreme Dryer is a solid investment, with customer reviews attesting to anywhere between five and ten years(!) of dedicated service. If you’re looking for a reasonably priced hair dryer that could last upwards of a decade — fighting frizz, reducing dry time, and treating your curls with respect all the while — we don’t think you’ll find a better pick in this price range than this one.

Get it from Amazon for $60 or from Walmart for $53.

Dyson Supersonic Hair Dryer

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Most reasonable humans would be quick to file a $400 price tag attached to a hair dryer under “shocking.” But when that hair dryer is so coveted that people everywhere are justifying throwing down enough money on it to cover their monthly grocery bill, they can’t all be wrong. Yes, the Dyson Supersonic Hair Dryer carries a hefty price, but let’s get into why that price isn’t entirely absurd.

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Not only does it look like a sculptural masterpiece from the future, it uses state-of-the-art engineering. Seriously, it took 2,000 engineers, years of research, and more than 500 inventions for Dyson to determine exactly how hair reacts to stress, how to keep it healthy, and what it takes to achieve the style of your dreams. The Dyson has been crafted with technology that could probably send us to Mars and back — but here it’s put to use making your hair look, ahem, out of this world.

The result of all this hard work is a temperature-controlled dry in just a fraction of the time a typical blow dryer would take. The Dyson’s intelligent heat control is designed to prevent overheating, for a healthier, smoother, shinier, easier-to-style ‘do. Our testers experienced an incredible average dry time of 5 to 10 minutes across all hair types. Even our thick-haired testers got perfectly dry in under 10 minutes! (Just think of what you’d be able to do with all that extra time!)

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Designed with a tiny motor strategically placed in its handle (1.06 inches — half the size of other hair-dryer motors and one-third of the weight), the Dyson Supersonic is ergonomically balanced and super-lightweight, so every moment you spend holding it will be comfortable AF. But you won’t be holding it for long, because this thing literally measures the air temperature 20 TIMES EVERY SECOND(!). It features four heat settings: 212°F for fast drying and styling, 176°F for regular ol’ drying, 140°F for a more gentle dry, and a constant cold to help seal in your look. It also uses patented Air Multiplier technology, which sounds very fancy because it is: it produces 41 liters of air every freakin’ second to make sure you get the most out of your dry time. Your (former) favorite hair dryer could never!

The Dyson Supersonic comes with rotating magnetic attachments — a smoothing nozzle, styling concentrator, and diffuser — that all snap on and adjust easily . Its heat shield technology keeps it cool to the touch to protect both you and you hair from damage. The only area in which the five-star product didn’t completely blow us away (no pun intended…or is it?) was noise level. Volume when in use is pretty standard for a blow dryer — not too loud, but not quite a near-silent hum either.

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With unheard-of dry times for even thick, curly hair and world-class technology designed to seriously prevent heat damage, this dryer is second to none. If you’re a professional stylist, you regularly style your locks with a hairdryer, or you dream of having extra time to get things done (or sleep in, no judgment), the Dyson Supersonic is not only gorgeous, it is, hands down, the most worthy investment for healthy, shiny hair you’ll find at this price point.

Get it from Amazon for $400, from Dyson for $400, from Nordstrom for $399, from Sephora for $400.