Our Favorite Hair Dryers and Diffusers

There are simply too many hair dryers out there. Here are a few more we’ve tried and like.

Laifen SE Hair Dryer for $150: I wasn’t expecting to be wowed by this dryer, but I was. It’s compact and painted in gorgeous colors—I tried the lavender one. It’s also the cheapest of Laifen’s lineup and, importantly, it really did dry my hair quickly. It claims to dry a full head of hair in 10 to 15 minutes. It took me around 45 minutes to diffuse and dry, but I have more hair than multiple people combined. It does it without singeing your head off—it has settings for 122 and 176 degrees Fahrenheit. After a few months, though, the diffuser fell off and separated mid-dry so be careful.

T3 Aireluxe for $200: Oh how I love this dryer. It’s constructed out of plastic, but that makes it so light and effortless to use. There are five heat and three speed settings. I just wish it came with a diffuser.

Kosa The Triple Threat Blow Dryer for $159: This hair dryer is basic, but it’s the one I reached for often when I needed my hair to go from soaking wet to completely dry. It’s light and compact, similar to the Hairitage, which made those longer sessions easier to handle. The diffuser is nice and big too, and it comes with two air concentrators. (I also really like the pink color.) I just think it’s expensive for what it is. Kosa’s hair straightener is similarly good but pricey.

Bed Head Curls in Check Diffuser Hair Dryer for $25: Everything about the Bed Head brand screams ’90s in the best way, including the design of this hair dryer. It’s cheap and works nicely to dry curls without disrupting their pattern. It’s super light and thin, and at 4 inches wide, the mouth of the dryer is larger than any I’ve seen. However, I wish there was a medium speed setting, because the low setting is too low, and high can cause frizz in some hair, even with the diffuser.

Panasonic Nanoe Hair Dryer for $160: This dryer comes with a few attachments, including an oscillating quick-dry nozzle that rapidly moves side to side as you dry, mimicking the back and forth motion you might make with your hand. The low setting was too low for me, and the high was too much for my hair. But if you don’t use the diffuser, I like the oscillating nozzle a lot. Panasonic also claims the dryer uses electrostatic shock to disperse water molecules into tinier nano-sized particles, which might reduce damage.

InfinitiPro by Conair Hair Dryer for $40: This is a great budget option if you don’t use a dryer every day. Its low setting is higher than the two mentioned above, so it will work faster on frizz-prone curls.