Is the Dyson Supersonic Hair Dryer Worth the Money?

Since the first handheld, portable hair dryer was invented in 1920, not all that much has changed with this styling staple’s design. Which is surprising considering that even the simple eyelash curler has seen an update.

Cue Dyson: Dyson is known for its vacuums, but the company seems to have an affinity for products that can suck or blow out air. It’s team of more than 100 engineers spent four years, and nearly $67 million to develop the Supersonic. The Dyson Supersonic Hair Dryer is quieter, sleeker, and redesigned to look nothing like any other blow dryer.

Dyson spent $56,000 buying real hair — about 1010 miles of natural hair and “created a worldwide shortage in the process.” The point was to vigorously test the different ways heat impacts hair, and the different ways people dried their hair.

The end result? The company went out of its way to “rethink” the hair dryer.

The innovation is definitely an exciting and groundbreaking advance, but is it really worthy the $399 price?

So How Does It Work

Dyson’s new hair dryer is nothing short of spectacular. It looks nothing like a regular hair dryer… it’s sleek, sophisticated, quieter than any other unit on the market, and it’s better for your hair.

What makes the Dyson Supersonic unique, beyond it’s incredible design are it’s innovative motor that produces one inaudible frequency and controlled airflow for maximum efficiency, acoustic silencers reduce sound, as well as an “intelligent heat control” system that helps protect your hair from heat damage,

There are four buttons all together. The two on the circular part of the hair dryer adjust the airflow and the heat. Push up the button on the handle below to turn the Supersonic on, and if you press and hold the last button, you’ll get a blast of cooler air.

The Motor

One of the most innovative aspects of the Supersonic is the motor—a patented digital motor V9 spins up to 110,000 times per minute and has one inaudible frequency. The addition of extra blades in the motor and acoustic silencers help reduce the sound the Supersonic emits.

It is Dyson’s smallest, lightest, and most advanced digital motor and the smallest and lightest ever to be used in a hair dryer. The motor is about the size of an acorn and, unlike traditional dryers that have their motor up towards the nozzle, this one sits in the handheld part of the dryer. This results in hair dryer that offers an ergonomic and balanced design with a reduced barrel length. A shorter barrel further reduces the dryer’s weight while also enhancing the comfort of use by allowing you to keep your elbow closer to the body, and the unit closer to the head. Which ultimately means that ‘OMG my arms are so tired I can barely hold this up’ straight feeling you get with your current hair dryer? Gone.

The Strength

While most would assume that a stronger airflow and increased heat translates to increased dryer efficiency, Dyson’s engineers, literally spent years and millions of dollars on research to determine the ideal balance. What they realized is that to dry hair efficiently and without damaging it you need a specific combination of velocity and temperature. The unique combination of the V9 motor and the air multiplier technology gives the Dyson Supersonic a higher velocity, higher pressure air to dry hair faster and most efficiently.

The Sound

Another major selling point? THE FACT THAT YOU DON’T HAVE TO SCREAM TO BE HEARD OVER YOUR BLOW DRYER. While the Supersonic is by no means silent, it is noticeable quieter than traditional dryers and what Dyson has done to minimize the dryers noise production is impressive.

The Temperature

The Dyson Supersonic includes an “intelligent heat control” system that helps protect your hair from heat damage using it’s glass-bead thermistor and a microprocessor.

Hair damaged from excessive heat loses its shine, and that’s what the Supersonic is designed to prevent. When hair is exposed to extreme temperatures, pores begin to form within the strands. When light hits the pores it scatters in all directions which reduces the reflected light, decreasing shine. Less damaged reflects light in a single direction, enhancing the shine.

The thermistor checks the heat leaving the Supersonic 20 times per second. If it’s getting hot enough to damage your hair, it relays that information to the microprocessor. This processor adjusts the “double-stack heating element” to protect your hair, so you don’t have to worry about scorching your locks.

The intelligent heat control—doesn’t go over 212 degrees Fahrenheit—which prevents hair damage. If you want something a little less intense, you can go to 176 degrees Fahrenheit for regular drying and down to 82 degrees Fahrenheit for a cold blast.

Attachments & Extras

The Dyson dryer includes three attachments that allow you to style and dry your hair at the same time. These include a styling concentrator, a smoothing nozzle, and a diffuser. Sounds pretty standard, right? Except in the case of the Supersonic, they’re all heat-proof and magnetically attached to the body, meaning no fussing around trying to get each piece to click into place. Also, the dryer is just as powerful without an attachment—and going sans nozzle makes it feel way more compact, which allows it to serve double duty as your luggage-friendly travel option.

Dyson also includes a rubber mat with each Supersonic. Why in the world would you need this? If you too have ever watched your hair dryer slip off the bathroom counter and land with a thud on the floor below, you’ll appreciate the peace of mind that comes with it.

Warranty information

The Supersonic comes with a limited two-year warranty for parts and labor from the date of purchase. Dyson offers a 30-day money back guarantee if you don’t like the hair dryer.

The warranty covers original defects from the manufacturing process, and it’s only valid if you use the machine in the country you bought it from.

It does not cover damage from electrical outages, power surges, the weather, lack of maintenance, and normal wear and tear.

The Verdict

Needless to say, I’m obsessed. At $399, it’s definitely a pricey luxury, but curly or straight, if you’re confident you’ll get good mileage out of it, it’s well worth it!

But if you’re a commitment phobe, you can always book as many blowouts with us as it takes to experience the benefits the Supersonic offers and convince yourself that it’s simply the best hair dryer money can buy!

If you’re interested in learning more or testing one out for yourself we invite you to stop into the salon. Click here if you’d like to buy a Dyson Supersonic Hair Dryer.

Highs

• Well-built
• Responsive buttons and useful LED notifiers
• Protects hair from heat damage
• Comes with three magnetic attachments for different hair styles
• Quieter than other hair dryers
• 30 day guarantee (if you don’t love it, return it)
• 2 year warranty (parts and labor)

Lows

• Pricey, but in our humble opinion worth the money which is why all of our hair technicians are sold on them and why we use and carry them.

Why Hairstylists Love It

1. It won’t hurt us or our clients. The nozzle is magnetic, so you can move it however you want. Plus there’s an extra layer of coating on the concentrator, which means that it won’t burn your fingers.”

And good news for long-haired ladies? There’s no grill on the back, therefore hair never gets caught in the dryer.

2. It’s a relief for tired arms. The dryer is more balanced because there’s a motor inside of the handle as opposed to inside the head of the dryer. It’s not top heavy, which is important to clients when they are blowing out their own hair, and very important for a stylist when we’re doing 8-12 blow-dries a day.

3. It’s settings are super versatile. Most hair dryers only have a couple settings, this dryer has four heat settings and three power settings. They are all very different, which is important when you consider women with fine hair versus thick, coarse hair in terms of maintaining the authenticity of the hair.

4. It’s a lot cleaner. As a stylist and a personal user of a hair dryer, when your filter on the back of your dryer gets dirty, it’s gross and very hard to clean. With the Supersonic, the filter is at the bottom of the dryer. All you have to do is twist it, remove it, and remove the dust.

5. It’s totally portable. It fits very well in our stylist kits, as well as when you’re traveling. Big, bulky dryers are so passé. It’s all about these small-but-mighty dryers.