Dyson Supersonic Hair Dryer (An In-Depth Review 2020)

Dyson’s Supersonic is probably the most advanced hair dryer that money can buy. It’s got more special features than some smartphones and it’s packed to the brim with groundbreaking technology – straight from the manufacturer’s own hair laboratory.

It is one of the pricier hairdryers too though. In fact, it’s probably one of the most expensive hair dryers you’ll find on today’s market, and it can be very difficult to justify such a monumental purchase unless you’re 100% sure that it’ll provide a truly unique drying experience.

Dyson Supersonic In-Depth Review

To help you decide whether it’s worth purchasing, we’ve spent the last week road-testing the Supersonic: Exploring its special features, double-checking the way it handles different hair types and sampling its revolutionary drying times so that we can produce an in-depth review that’s capable of answering all of your questions.

And if you haven’t got time to read right through to the end, let’s just say that we’ve definitely been persuaded! It may well be situated at a high price-point, but after a week of using it, we can honestly say that it’s quite unlike any other hair dryer that we’ve ever sampled.

It’s light, it’s easy to us, it dries your hair incredibly fast and it’s also one of the safest hair dryers we’ve ever laid hands on.

Digital heat control

It’s the special features that really set the Supersonic apart though. The first of these is the intelligent heat control, which is designed to ensure the temperature of the Supersonic’s output never fluctuates.

Lots of hair dryers boast about having some kind of heat control, but few can match the Supersonic’s, which uses a microprocessor and a plethora of sensors to test the air temperature 20 times a second.

After seven days of solid testing, we can honestly say that the Supersonic manages to maintain perfectly even temperatures at all times, and we honestly never noticed the dryer heating up as we used it.

This might seem like a small thing, but little details like this means that your hair is properly protected from heat damage at all times, and that’s something that a lot of hair dryers simply cannot deliver.

The intelligent heat control does help to prevent frizz too, and we’re sure that it’s one of the main reasons our hair looked so sleek and smooth after we’d used the Supersonic.

Lightweight Motor

Speaking of special features, it’s also worth talking about the motor that Dyson have built for the Supersonic.

The motors found in most modern hair dryers are bulky, loud and inefficient. They’re normally located in the head of the dryer, and tend to weigh in at around 90-100g.

The Supersonic’s is a little different though. In fact, the V9 digital motor that’s used in the Supersonic weighs just 49g (a bit lighter than an egg) and measures approximately one inch across – allowing Dyson to secrete it in the handle of their revolutionary hair dryer.

We’ll talk about the way this affects weight distribution later, but suffice to say that it makes a big difference to the way this hair dryer handles, and really helps to improve the overall styling experience.

Increased Power

It’s not just the motor’s low weight that makes it special though. It’s actually around eight times more powerful than the motors found in most hair dryers too: Spinning at 110,000 revolutions per minute, as opposed to the 20,000 – 30,000 RPM managed by most competing products.

Now, you might be tempted to ask whether or not you really need a motor this powerful. Like us, you’ve probably managed to dry your hair with much less power in the past, and it is tempting to assume that those big numbers are only there to justify the higher price tag.

Dyson’s reason for designing such a powerful motor is pretty good though: Trials conducted by their own hair laboratory found that increasing the velocity (or speed) of the air being pushed from a hairdryer rapidly decreased the time it took for hair to dry.

In fact, velocity was found to be significantly more important than heat – so much so that Dyson’s engineers realized that they could dry hair with much cooler air if they used a more powerful motor, and focused on boosting the velocity of their hairdryers output.

And all of this research has definitely paid off, because the Supersonic will dry even the thickest hair in less than 10 minutes – and at a much lower heat setting than we’d normally use.

If you’re keen to cut down on heat damage or spend less time in front of the mirror, we’d definitely recommend switching across to the Supersonic, because its powerful little motor really does make all the difference.

Noise-canceling, 13-blade fan

Most of us would probably assume that a more powerful motor would mean more noise, but Dyson’s engineering team has taken care of that problem too.

By giving the handle-mounted fan 2 extra blades, they’ve pushed the noise generated by the motor up into a frequency that’s outside of our normal hearing range.

This means you can’t really hear the Supersonic working, although you will still be able to hear the air it’s pushing, and we do think that claims about the device being ‘inaudible’ are probably a little over exaggerated.

Still, if you want something that’s quieter than the average hairdryer, you’ll definitely find it here.

User-friendly design

Best of all though? The Supersonic is an absolute joy to use. As mentioned above, the motor is in the handle, which means that the finished product isn’t top-heavy at all.

Comparing it to other hairdryers, it’s immediately apparent that it’s much better balanced. It feels more evenly weighted in your hand, and it handles much more naturally.

It does also inflict much less strain on your arm, so if you’re one of those people that finds their arm aching after 10-15 minutes of continuous drying, you’ll definitely feel the benefit here.

It’s much more fun to use too: The futuristic styling is complemented by a minimalist approach to the dryers control interface, and Dyson have incorporated some incredibly sophisticated LEDs in the head to feed back on things like temperature and air speed.

Better still, it powers up almost instantly, with none of the 3-4 second wait required by other dryers. Put plainly, using it feels a bit like your using a hair dryer from 20 years in the future, and while some of its features may take some getting used to, we do think it delivers on its promise to revolutionize the hair drying experience.

Focus on Safety

The Supersonic is a very safe dryer too. It goes without saying that putting the fan and the motor in the handle radically reduces the risk of your hair getting tangled up in the dryer, and the fact that the exhaust is on the bottom of the base does also reduce the chance of accidental burns.

What’s more, the digital motor uses a brushless design perfected by the engineers responsible for Dyson’s vacuums. These motors are much less prone to burn out than the motors found in most hair dryers, which means that you don’t have to worry about it overheating during use, or blowing up on you without any warning.

Also read: Dyson Supersonic Vs. T3 Cura Luxe

Round-Up

All in all, it’s fair to say that the Supersonic exceeded our initial expectations. It’s much, much faster than most of the hair dryers we’ve tried, and it’s blend of complementary special features means that you are all but guaranteed a smooth and sleek finish every time.

There are a few niggles – little things like the odd button layout and the inconveniently long power cord which, at 9 feet long – does have a nasty habit of getting tangled, knotted and caught.

That said, we’re confident that the Supersonic will completely revolutionize the way that you look at hair drying. It’s a great product and we thoroughly enjoyed using it.  It’ll get you out the door faster too, which is no small thing!