Which Hair Dryer Brand Wins?
In our test we compared 11 hair dryer options head to head. Dyson Supersonic came out on top. See the measured results, the runner-up, the budget pick, and a link to the full test video.
Dyson Supersonic
Price shown in test: $430
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Shrate
Price shown in test: $31
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Remington
Price shown in test: $19
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The quick take
The short version of why each pick lands where it does, built straight from the measured results.
“the Dyson definitely falls into the buy once, cry once category at over $400. However, it is in a league of its own earning A's for ergonomics and noise. It also earned A's in all performance categories.”
Best in 2 of 11 measurements, including Towel Dry Test and Hair Dry Test.
Best in 2 of 10 measurements, including Towel Dry Test and Emf.
Best in 1 of 10 measurements, including Towel Dry Test.
The measured results
Every number below is read straight from the test. Products are listed in the order they finished.
Claimed Wattage
- 1Revlon1,875 W
- 2Remington1,875 W
- 3Conair1,875 W
- 4Kiss1,875 W
- 5Shrate1,800 W
18,000 RPM motor claimed
- 6Wavytalk1,875 W
- 7Trezoro2,200 W
- 8BaByliss PRO2,000 W
- 9Panasonic1,875 W
- 10Shark1,700 W
- 11Dyson Supersonic1,600 W
Weight
- 1Revlon422 g
- 2Remington458 g
- 3Conair454 g
- 4Kiss392 g
lightest of all brands tested
- 5Shrate466 g
heaviest of the brands tested up to that point
- 6Wavytalk446 g
- 7Trezoro450 g
- 8BaByliss PRO442 g
- 9Panasonic516 g
heaviest of all brands tested
- 10Shark416 g2nd
pretty light, second lightest of all brands tested
- 11Dyson Supersonic466 g
tied for heaviest with Shrate
Noise
- 1Revlon85.3 dB
- 2Remington83.7 dB
- 3Conair83.3 dB
- 4Kiss82.4 dB2nd
second quietest of all brands tested
- 5Shrate86.1 dB
loudest of the brands tested up to that point
- 6Wavytalk86.2 dB
described as pretty loud
- 7Trezoro83.2 dB
- 8BaByliss PRO84 dB
- 9Panasonic83.7 dB
- 10Shark88.2 dB
loudest of all brands tested
- 11Dyson Supersonic82.3 dB
quietest of all brands tested
Wattage Low
- 1Revlon738 W
- 2Remingtonjust over1,000 W
- 3Conair741 W
- 4Kissabout200 W
- 5Shrateabout778 W
- 6Wavytalkaround737 W
- 7Trezoro253 W
- 8BaByliss PRO1,270 W
- 9Panasonicaround978 W
- 10Shark983 W
- 11Dyson Supersonic845 W
Wattage High
- 1Revlon1,712 W
came up short of the 1,875 W claim
- 2Remington1,694 W
- 3Conair1,675 W
about 200 W short of rating
- 4Kiss1,665 W
- 5Shratejust over1,500 W
well short of the 1,800 W claim
- 6Wavytalk1,675 W
about 200 W short of rating
- 7Trezoro1,667 W
about 500 W less than advertised
- 8BaByliss PROjust over1,800 W
described as by far the best yet and the highest measured wattage of any brand tested
- 9Panasonic1,728 W
second highest measured wattage of any brand tested
- 10Shark1,643 W
close to its 1,700 W rating
- 11Dyson Supersonic1,554 W
close to its 1,600 W rating
Air Speed Low
- 1Revlon16.57 mph
- 2Remington21.2 mph
- 3Conairjust over17 mph
- 4Kissjust over19 mph
- 5Shrate29.32 mph
- 6Wavytalkjust over15 mph
- 7Trezoroaround19 mph
- 8BaByliss PROjust over23 mph
- 9Panasonic15.68 mph
- 10Shark13.78 mph
- 11Dyson Supersonicjust over26 mph
Air Speed High
- 1Revlon22.74 mph
- 2Remington30.1 mph
- 3Conairjust over24 mph
- 4Kiss30.54 mph
briefly the fastest of the brands tested up to that point
- 5Shrate38.68 mph3rd
third fastest overall behind Dyson and Shark
- 6Wavytalkaround25 mph
- 7Trezoro27.6 mph
- 8BaByliss PROjust over36 mph
- 9Panasonic25.15 mph
notably slower than Shrate or BaByliss PRO
- 10Shark39.45 mph2nd
second fastest of all brands tested
- 11Dyson Supersonicjust over40 mph
fastest of all brands tested
Towel Dry Test
- 1Revlon
towel 150 g to 129 g (21 g water removed), almost 40% moisture content remaining, temperature reached 115 F
- 2Remington
towel 151 g to 127 g (24 g water removed, 3 g better than Revlon), driest area under 5% moisture, tied for best towel result with Dyson
- 3Conair20 g
water removed total, still almost 50% moisture content in direct path
- 4Kiss20 g3rd
water removed, tied for third place at that point with Conair, still over 50% moisture content
- 5Shrate
tied with Remington at 24 g water removed, driest area 5.1% moisture (nearly tied for best result)
- 6Wavytalk19 g
water removed, over 40% moisture content remaining, temperature reached 140 F (highest yet at that point)
- 7Trezoro20 g
water removed, about 4 g less than the top two brands, around 38% moisture content remaining
- 8BaByliss PRO23 g
water removed, better than average, 28% moisture content remaining, temperature reached 126 F
- 9Panasonic20 g
water removed (average), over 45% moisture content remaining, temperature reached 128 F
- 10Shark
only 18 g water removed, described as struggling badly on this test, over 40% moisture content remaining, temperature only reached 108 F
- 11Dyson Supersonic25 g
water removed, best result of all brands tested, driest area under 5% moisture, temperature reached close to 130 F
All measurements (5 more)+
Hair Dry Test
- 1Revlon
driest patch 31% moisture content
- 2Remington
driest patch 20.3% moisture content, second best of all brands tested
- 3Conair
driest patch 25.5% moisture content
- 4Kiss
driest patch 32.2% moisture content, trailed even the Revlon on this test
- 5Shrate
driest patch 23.7% moisture content
- 6Wavytalk48%
moisture content, described as struggling
- 7Trezoro23.2%
moisture content, about the same as Shrate
- 8BaByliss PRO21.3%
moisture content, better than average
- 9Panasonicaround50%
moisture content, described as struggling
- 10Shark24.3%
moisture content, performed well despite not generating much heat
- 11Dyson Supersonic11.5%
moisture content, best (driest) result of all brands tested
Emf
- 1Revlon54 V
per meter, 0.56 microteslas
- 2Remington45 V
per meter, just under 1 microtesla
- 3Conair46 V
per meter, 4.14 microteslas
- 4Kiss36 V
per meter (best yet at that point in testing), 4.68 microteslas (worst yet at that point in testing)
- 5Shrate29 V
per meter (best yet at that point), 5.38 microteslas (worst/strongest yet at that point)
- 6Wavytalk
described only as performing well for volts per meter with no figure given; 1.34 microteslas measured, triggered the alarm
- 7Trezoro33 V
per meter, described as by far the best yet; 0.04 microteslas, the best magnetic field reading of any brand tested
- 8BaByliss PRO
described only as performing well for volts per meter with no figure given; 2.7 microteslas, set off the alarm
- 9Panasonic64 V
per meter, the highest (worst) reading of any brand tested; 0.14 microteslas
- 10Shark40 V
per meter, better than average; 0.94 microteslas
- 11Dyson Supersonic49 V
per meter, 5.16 microteslas (second highest/worst magnetic field reading of any brand tested)
Country Of Origin
- 1Revlon
China
- 2Remington
China
- 3Conair
China
- 4Kiss
China
- 5Shrate
China
- 6Wavytalk
China
- 7Trezoro
China
- 8BaByliss PRO
China
- 9Panasonic
Thailand
- 10Shark
China
- 11Dyson Supersonic
Mexico
Ergonomics
- 5Shrate
barrel length 2.25 in
- 8BaByliss PRO
power cord 8.7 ft, tied for longest with Dyson
- 9Panasonic
power cord listed as '8.5 in' in the transcript, inconsistent with the other cord lengths given in feet elsewhere in the same recap (BaByliss PRO/Dyson 8.7 ft, Shark 8.3 ft); likely a caption unit error for 8.5 ft, kept verbatim and flagged rather than silently corrected
- 10Shark
barrel length 2.75 in, power cord 8.3 ft
- 11Dyson Supersonic
barrel length 1.5 in, shortest of all brands tested; power cord 8.7 ft, tied for longest with BaByliss PRO
- 1Revlonnot tested
- 2Remingtonnot tested
- 3Conairnot tested
- 4Kissnot tested
- 6Wavytalknot tested
- 7Trezoronot tested
Wattage Medium
- 4Kissabout952 W
- 7Trezoroaround1,026 W
- 10Shark1,323 W
- 11Dyson Supersonicjust over1,200 W
- 1Revlonnot tested
- 2Remingtonnot tested
- 3Conairnot tested
- 5Shratenot tested
- 6Wavytalknot tested
- 8BaByliss PROnot tested
- 9Panasonicnot tested
How it was tested
- heat output and wattage (claimed vs. measured, low and high heat settings)
- noise level in dB measured 12 inches from the blower
- air speed in mph on low and high fan speed
- wet towel drying test (starting/ending weight, moisture percent, temperature after 2 minutes)
- wet hair drying test on a mannequin with human hair (moisture percent after 90 seconds)
- EMF test (electric field in volts per meter, magnetic field in microteslas, measured 6 inches away)
- ergonomics (barrel length, power cord length)
“the Dyson definitely falls into the buy once, cry once category at over $400. However, it is in a league of its own earning A's for ergonomics and noise. It also earned A's in all performance categories.”
