We independently evaluate all of our recommendations. If you click on links we provide, we may receive compensation. The 9 Best Hair Dryers We Tested for Salon-Worthy Blowouts at Home We put our locks on the line and got stunning results By Alyssa Brascia Alyssa Brascia Alyssa Brascia is a staff shopping writer for PEOPLE with two years of experience in the digital media industry. Her expertise lies in the realm of fashion and beauty, where she covers the best products that your wardrobe and makeup vanity need like the best lip oils, boyfriend jeans, workout sets, ballet flats, and more. People Editorial Guidelines Updated on October 14, 2025 01:45PM EDT In This Article View All In This Article Top Picks Reviews Our Stars How We Tested Complete Your Hair Styling Set What Is PEOPLE Tested? Credit : People/ If you’ve ever gotten a blowout at the hair salon, you know how unstoppable you feel with all that extra volume and shine. But if you want to recreate that experience at home, you’ll need to start with an incredible hair dryer. There are a few factors you should take into account when looking for that perfect tool. Justine Marjan, celebrity hairstylist to clients such as Khloé Kardashian and Ashley Graham, says the best hair dryers include heat control to ensure hair health, concentrated airflow to ward off frizz, and quiet airflow. Ideally, the hair dryer should also be lightweight so that it’s easy to move your wrist while styling. In two and a half years, we’ve tested more than four dozen hair dryers on different hair types, from thin and straight to thick and coily, both in our lab and at home. Whether you are shopping for a hair dryer or other hair styling tools like a curling iron or flat iron, knowing your hair type is important. Every year, we try new and popular tools, considering the speed, heat settings, wattage, sound level, ease of use, and attachments of each before deciding on our winners. Keep reading for the best hair dryers that PEOPLE tested. Our Stars Best Overall: BondiBoost Everlast Airstyler Blow Dryer & Styler Best Budget: Remington Damage Protection Hair Dryer Best Attachments: Dyson Supersonic Nural Best Basic: Conair InfinitiPRO Hair Dryer with Diffuser Best for Travel: Conair InfinitiPRO DigitalAire Drying Wand Best for Fine Hair: Hot Tools Pro Signature Ionic Ceramic Hair Dryer Best for Curly Hair: Shark SpeedStyle Pro Hair Dryer Best for Frizz Reduction: Remington ONE Multi-Style Hair Dryer Best for Long Hair: T3 Aire 360 Ceramic Air Styler NEED TO KNOW For this story, we consulted Justine Marjan, celebrity hairstylist and Global Stylist for TRESemme, and Renato Campora, a celebrity hairstylist who has styled Amanda Seyfried, Angelina Jolie, and Cate Blanchett. Hair Type: Identifying your hair type and catering to it will help you get the best results from a hair dryer. While there is no type of hair dryer that works best for certain hair types, strand-smoothing models (like the Remington One Multi-Style Hair Dryer) typically work well for straight or wavy hair, while quick-drying hair dryers with frizz control (like the Shark SpeedStyle Pro) work well for curly or textured hair. Dryer Technology: Ceramic vs. ionic hair dryers have different benefits. "An ionic hair dryer is a type of hair dryer that has a negative ionic charge," Campora tells PEOPLE. "When negative ions react with the positive ions in your hair, it helps to close the damaged cuticles of the hair." This helps reduce frizz, static electricity, and flyaways. Ceramic hair dryers heat quickly and evenly with infrared heat, which helps speed up the drying process. Ultimately, which is better for your hair will depend on your hair’s needs. Speed and Heat Settings: Higher speeds and heat can dry hair faster, but it's best to choose hair dryers with multiple settings (like the Dyson Supersonic Nural, which has scalp-protecting technology) to prevent damage. Some have extra perks like cool shot buttons and turbo or volume settings. For a time-saving dryer with smooth and volumized results, hot air brushes are another great option. Attachments: Most hair dryers come with a concentrator, but other attachments may include wide-tooth combs, diffusers, or flyaway treatments. "You can use [a] comb attachment to stretch out curls, a wide styling hair dryer nozzle for smooth blow dries, a diffuser to shape curls, or no attachment for added volume," Marjan tells PEOPLE. Finding which attachments work for your hair can help you decide whether you need them in tandem with your hair dryer. Wattage: Wattage indicates how much power and airflow the dryer produces, which also determines how long it takes to dry the hair. Lower wattages dry slower, but too much wattage can be damaging to your hair. The hair dryers on our list range from 1,500 to 2,000 watts, which is a good benchmark. For any hair type, Marjan puts hair protection at the forefront when it comes to blow drying. Even a few spritzes of a good hair detangler before blow-drying can make a difference. It’s of peak importance that the dryer does “not get too hot, so that the hair health is protected,” Marjan tells PEOPLE. What’s My Hair Type? 1A/B/C: Straight hair. No curl (A), slight wave (B), coarse, almost wavy hair (C)2A/B/C: Wavy hair. Loose wave (A), “S” shaped waves (B), tighter waves (C)3A/B/C: Curly hair. Large, loose curls (A), tighter curls (B), spirals (C)4A/B/C: Coily hair. Defined “S” shape (A), “Z”-shaped coils (B), zig-zag, springy coils (C) Best Overall: BondiBoost Everlast Airstyler Blow Dryer & Styler Sephora $219 at Nordstrom The BondiBoost Everlast is so much more than a hair dryer. Our testers loved that this hair tool is also a straightener and curling iron, valuing this dryer far beyond its under-$200 price tag. It was easy to hold and maneuver this tool with any attachment, and the buttons are carefully placed to avoid accidental setting changes mid-style. Each attachment helped testers with a range of hair types get smoother, frizz-free styles in record time. Testers with long hair wished the attachment barrels were a bit longer to accommodate more hair. They had to style their hair in smaller sections than usual, which made this process a bit more tedious than those with medium-length or short hair. However, each section dried quickly and evenly, so even though the sections were smaller, they dried faster. The included travel bag was also a huge selling point. It has slots for each attachment, a hanging hook, and plenty of room to store the base of the dryer, a heat protectant, and a hairbrush. Credit: People Credit: People / Joy Kim Credit: People Credit: People / Joy Kim Credit: People Credit: People Hair Type: All | Ionic: No | Wattage: Not listed | Settings: 3 heat, 3 speed, cool shot | Attachments: Smoothing concentrator, angled concentrator, two ceramic air-wrap curlers, ceramic round brush, ceramic volumizing round brush, storage bag Tester Testimonials Type 1B/C: Strong, even airflow cut our tester’s dry time "almost in half."Type 2B: They achieved extra volume and sleek, frizz-free hair with the round brush attachment — "no crisp or crunch!"Type 3A: The dryer delivered much smoother results and "less heat damage" than usual. Best Budget: Remington Damage Protection Hair Dryer Amazon $24 at Amazon Between its frizz-controlling results, multiple heat and speed settings, and reasonable price, this model was easily the best choice for those who don’t want to spend a ton of money on a good hair dryer. Though simple in function and design, this tool has three heat and speed settings and includes two styling attachments, offering the same basic functions as most other dryers we tested — at a fraction of the cost. We appreciated its smooth and even airflow and were impressed with how quickly it dried our testers’ strands despite their varying hair types, a quality we can attribute to its ionic and tourmaline hair-protecting technology combined with its ceramic heating system. While we did run into a few snags when it came to design (the cord is a bit too short and the buttons are easy to accidentally switch), we were more than happy with the results. Credit: People Credit: People Credit: People Credit: People Credit: People Hair type: All | Ionic: Yes | Wattage: 1875 | Settings: 3 heat, 3 speed, cool shot | Attachments: Concentrator, diffuser Tester Testimonials Type 1A/B: Their hair “looked lovely” with lots of shine, smoothness, and no heat damage after using this tool.Type 2A: It only took a few minutes to dry their hair, and their frizz was more controlled than normal. Type 3B: The diffuser gave them good volume and smoothed their hair simultaneously — plus, the diffuser tips didn’t hurt when they hit their head. Best Attachments: Dyson Supersonic Nural Dyson $499 at Amazon It’s no surprise that Dyson’s Supersonic hair dryer (which Beyoncé used while promoting her haircare line, Cécred), has historically earned high marks during our tests. But its latest iteration, the Nural, was even more impressive than its forebearer. Instead of manually selecting their heat and speed levels, our testers just needed to press the “on” button, and the smart dryer was not only quiet, but sensed the correct settings. It dried their hair quickly and gently thanks to its “Scalp Protect” mode, which senses how close the dryer is to your skin and cools off accordingly. Each tester noted their hair felt smoother thanks to the negative ion technology and various styling attachments. These attachments catered to all hair types, from wide-tooth combs for natural coils to a flyaway tool. While its high price may deter some shoppers, many testers felt this dryer is in its own category. Credit: People Credit: People / Joy Kim Credit: People / Joy Kim Credit: People Credit: People Credit: People Credit: People / Bridget Annear Hair Type: All | Ionic: Yes | Wattage: 1600 | Settings: 4 heat, 3 speed, cold shot, pause detect, attachment learning | Attachments: Wide-tooth comb, diffuser, concentrator, gentle air attachment, flyaway attachment Tester Testimonials Type 1B: Their hair dried much faster than normal with the sensor-adjusted settings and looked ultra-sleek. They’re officially considering Dyson for future hair tools.Type 2B: The flyaway attachment smoothed, defined, and added extra shine to their waves. Type 3B: They experienced no heat damage from this dryer (especially compared to their old one).Type 4B/C: Steady airflow dried their hair much faster than normal (only 10 to 15 minutes for their whole head). Natural Afro-friendly! The 9 Best Hair Dryers We Tested for Salon-Worthy Blowouts at Home Best Basic: Conair InfinitiPRO Hair Dryer with Diffuser Amazon $46 at Amazon If you’re looking for a hair dryer that hits all the high notes without the extra money (or frills), look no further than this Conair hair dryer. This tool utilizes both ionic and ceramic heat technology to quickly and gently dry wet hair, cutting testers’ dry times in half while reducing the chance of heat damage, leaving them with silky-smooth strands. Testers said they never felt like their hair had a crunchy or stripped feeling after styling with this tool, and they appreciated the included attachments that were easy to take on and off. Some of us with wrist issues do wish that the dryer were a bit lighter, but in general, there wasn’t much that we would change for its amenable price. For basic functionality and a sleek ‘do, this is one of the cheapest routes to go (without sacrificing quality). Credit: People Credit: People Credit: People / Joy Kim Credit: People / Joy Kim Credit: People Credit: People Hair Type: All | Ionic: Yes | Wattage: 1875 | Settings: 3 heat, 2 speed, cool shot | Attachments: Concentrator, diffuser Tester Testimonials Type 1A/B: It dried their whole head of hair in 10 minutes, but it delivered a more shiny, polished look in 20.Type 2A/B: This tool significantly smoothed their hair and cut their drying time down.Type 3A: The lowest heat setting was strong enough to dry their thick, dry hair quickly. Type 3B/C: The airflow was not as strong as this tester would have preferred. Best for Travel: Conair InfinitiPRO DigitalAire Drying Wand Ulta $150 at Amazon Another favorite from Conair is the Drying Wand, which we thought was a comparable, yet budget-friendly alternative to the pricey Dyson Airwrap and Shark FlexStyle. The wand itself acts as a fast-drying hair dryer, and its slim body is easy to pack in a suitcase or carry-on luggage. Its styling attachments are useful and easy to switch out, making at-home blowouts easy to do. We mostly loved the volumizing and detangling tools — the former boosting body across all hair types, and the latter carefully combing through curls. Though the dryer uses anti-frizz technology, this tool is not ionic, which means that it didn’t leave all of our testers’ hair as smooth as some of the others (testers with straight and wavy hair saw more success than those with curls). However, we still think this is a great alternative to the pricey, premium models that this wand imitates. Credit: People Credit: People / Joy Kim Credit: People Credit: People Credit: People Credit: People Credit: People Hair Type: All | Ionic: No | Wattage: Not listed | Settings: 3 heat, 3 speed, cool shot | Attachments: Detangling comb, straightening comb, volumizing brush Tester Testimonials Type 1A/B: It fully dried their hair in about 10 minutes, which was “faster than any other hair dryers” they’ve tried.Type 2A/B: Their hair looked a lot smoother than before — a result of its anti-frizz technology. Type 3B: It drastically cut down their drying and styling time, combining both into one 30-minute process. Best for Fine Hair: Hot Tools Pro Signature Ionic Ceramic Hair Dryer Amazon $50 at Walmart With its adjustable settings and ionic technology, this low-priced dryer is a great choice for anyone with fine hair. Its basic design and lightweight body made this model easy to maneuver, keeping arm fatigue at bay while we dried our hair, and it dried fine hair at a surprisingly fast pace. Testers with thick hair thought the airflow was average compared to the expensive models they tried, but they did appreciate the boost in shine and smoothness that this tool delivered. (One’s even planning to recommend it to their mom.) While we wish it came with a better diffuser (this one didn’t give our hair as much volume as some others did), this dryer is still a good option for anyone looking for a basic hair dryer that is fine-hair-friendly and doesn’t cause extra heat damage. Credit: People Credit: People Credit: People Credit: People / Joy Kim Credit: People Credit: People Credit: People Hair Type: All | Ionic: Yes | Wattage: 1875 | Settings: 3 heat, 3 speed, cool shot | Attachments: Concentrator, diffuser Tester Testimonials Type 1B: Their hair looked “less frizzy than usual” and dried a few minutes earlier than it would normally.Type 2B: They ended up with a bouncy, shiny blowout with the concentrator and defined waves and curls with the diffuser.Type 3A/B: The diffuser delivered smoother curls, while the concentrator gave them a shiny blowout minus the smoothness. Best for Curly Hair: Shark SpeedStyle Pro Hair Dryer Shark $200 at Amazon There wasn’t much we didn’t love about this fast-acting hair dryer from Shark. From its lightweight design to its powerful airflow, this tool delivered sleek and shiny strands in no time — especially when used with one of its many attachments. Testers especially loved the finishing tool and smoothing brush, noting that while this dryer can stand on its own, the smoothing attachments are top-notch. We do wish that it came with one round brush attachment for volume, but if frizz-taming is what you need, then these attachments will deliver. Also, a word to the wise: Make sure to manually enact “Scalp Shield” mode when drying close to your skin, or else it can feel too hot. If you want something similar to the Dyson Supersonic but don’t want to spend that much, the Shark SpeedStyle is a great alternative. Credit: People Credit: People / Joy Kim Credit: People Credit: People Credit: People Credit: People Hair Type: All | Ionic: No | Wattage: 1750 | Settings: 3 heat, 3 speed, Scalp Shield mode | Attachments: Smoothing brush, concentrator, finishing tool Tester Testimonials Type 1A: It was so quick-drying that they could use the lowest settings to style. Type 2B: They achieved dry hair in a little more than 10 minutes — an impressive feat for their thick locks.Type 4C: It quickly dried their hair, smoothed frizz, and boosted volume without being too hot or damaging. Best for Frizz Reduction: Remington ONE Multi-Style Hair Dryer Remington $57 at Amazon Compact and easy to maneuver, this hair dryer from Remington has a sleek, stout body that makes it easy to add attachments, store, and pack in your travel bag. We appreciated its strong airflow and several settings for heat and speed, which made each styling session a personalized experience depending on hair type and texture. While testers with fine hair had faster drying times than those with thicker hair, everyone got smoother, sleeker, and shinier strands as a result. The diffuser and flyaway tamers were both proficient in controlling strands gone awry and helped dry our hair evenly. However, we found it to be heavier than some of the other dryers that were tested. Though this dryer is just more than $50, we think it’s worth a lot more for its functionality alone. Credit: People Credit: People Credit: People Credit: People Credit: People Credit: People Hair Type: All | Ionic: Yes | Wattage: 1875 | Settings: 8 heat and speed, cool shot | Attachments: Concentrator, flyaway tamer, diffuser Tester Testimonials Type 1B: It dried their hair in under 10 minutes, and the flyaway tamer smoothed their strands to the ends.Type 2A/B: The ionic technology didn't shorten their dry time, but they saw “60 percent less frizz” than normal. Type 3A/B: The diffuser’s unique cup shape gave them sleek, defined curls that didn’t separate. Best for Long Hair: T3 Aire 360 Ceramic Air Styler T3 Micro $300 at Amazon Styling long hair can be a chore, but this long-barreled multi-styler was more than up for the challenge. One tester achieved a “big, Texas blowout” in 45 minutes without feeling arm fatigue, though they could do a simple dry job in just 15 minutes — taking their hair from wet to styled in much less time than their usual dryers would have. The ceramic-coated attachment heads were instrumental in the smooth, sleek styles that each tester, no matter their hair type, was able to achieve. However, we did notice that type 1 (straight) hair didn’t hold curls as well as other textures did. With its air-curling attachments, this tool mimics the look of the Dyson Airwrap. Though it has a lower price than the Dyson, it’s still pricey enough that we’d prefer to buy it on sale. Credit: People Credit: People Credit: People Credit: People Credit: People Credit: People Credit: People Hair Type: All | Ionic: No | Wattage: 1500 | Settings: 3 heat, 3 speed, cool shot | Attachments: 2 curling barrels, concentrator, oval brush, storage tote Tester Testimonials Type 1A/B: The long attachments helped this tester with long, straight hair attain a bouncy, “really smooth” blowout.Type 2B: They achieved a smoother result with more volume and likened it to their Dyson Airwrap.Type 3A: It delivered bouncy, lush curls with lots of shine — though they had to use the cool shot on the top layer to keep frizz at bay. How We Tested We take our hair dryers very seriously — so much so that as new hair dryers hit the market, we test them, then re-evaluate our previous winners to give you up-to-date info on the best tools. We tested 12 of the newest dryers this year (bringing our total to 46, including previously tested models) in our PEOPLE Tested lab and at home. In the lab, our testers came with clean hair, which they re-wet to style on set. Professional stylists worked their magic with the hair dryers, then the testers and experts gave their opinions on how each dryer looked, felt, and performed. Next, we sent the hair dryers home for long-term testing with two to three testers per tool, ensuring each tester had a different hair type. Testers used the dryers at least twice per week (those with type 3 or 4 hair could use them once per week) for four weeks, then checked in with performance feedback. Once they assessed their hair health, they noted whether or not each hair dryer was worth the investment, scoring each product on a scale of one to five. We then analyzed all the data and used that information to determine which were our winners. New favorites in hand, these hair dryers made our PEOPLE Tested list. People Complete Your Hair Styling Set Once you choose the right hair dryer for your hair type and preferences, pair it with a heat protectant spray and salon-worthy hair products to get the perfect style every time. Try a hair oil for extra-smooth results, then finish up with a hair gloss for a professional-looking shine. Color Wow Dream Coat Supernatural Spray $28 $27 at Amazon Briogeo Destined For Density Shampoo $32 $31 at Amazon Olaplex Bonding Oil $30 $29 at Amazon Moroccanoil Color Depositing Mask $30 $29 at Amazon People What Is PEOPLE Tested? We created the PEOPLE Tested seal of approval to help you find the very best products for your life. We use our unique methodology to test products in three labs across the country and with our network of home testers to determine their effectiveness, durability, ease of use, and so much more. Based on the results, we rate and recommend products so you can find the right one for your needs. But we don’t stop there: We also regularly re-review the categories in which we’ve awarded the PEOPLE Tested seal of approval — because the best product of today might not be the best of tomorrow. And by the way, companies can never buy our recommendation: Their products must earn it, fair and square. Read more: Shopping Beauty Products Hair Products