I tried 6 Dyson Supersonic dupes that are actually worth the hype

Though it’s not an exact replica of the ring-barreled Supersonic, the Laifen Swift bears the closest resemblance to Dyson’s design, barring all the random iron and fuschia knock-offs that are inexplicably (or perhaps, very explicably) $40 or less. 

At $139.99, the Laifen’s price inspires more confidence in its overall performance and longevity. Beyond the design, it also has magnetic attachments (though you’ll have to pay a bit extra to get more than one, the included smooth nozzle) and that signature Dyson air sound I’ve come to know through my time using the Airwrap. However, what kept me reaching for it over and over again was its simplicity. For anyone who needs their blow dryer to be easy to use above all else, the Laifen is the way to go.

While doing my first round of testing for this story, I became a daily blow dryer user to help style my bangs. I’ve had the cut before, but held off on recutting them solely because of the necessary effort to style them. Something about dragging out the blow dryer every single day really didn’t gel with my minimal-effort lifestyle. The Laifen felt compact and lightweight enough that pulling it out for just a minute or two every day didn’t feel like a hassle. Though I no longer use it daily, I do use it regularly when I’m not testing other products, and it’s held up for over a year and a half with no signs of aging.

I can’t say the dry time feels astonishingly fast, but it doesn’t lag either. The two air speeds are strong, and I almost never found myself needing to go beyond the first one, even when doing an all-over rough dry to my wet hair before bed. The negative ions at work provided me with a super smooth dry, too. The heat options are more limited with only a cool, warm, and hot setting. I found the hot one gets hot, and even the warm one can feel a bit intense close to the scalp, so I recommend sticking with the lower two settings.

For the days I felt like diffusing my wavy hair, switching the attachments was beyond easy. Though this is when I found myself most wishing for a temperature setting or two more, the hottest setting never felt scorching. A long press of the temperature button auto-cycles through each temp, which sometimes feels useful for finding the middle ground between the warm and hot settings, but over time hasn’t been a setting that I typically use.

Some particular design choices I like that add to the all-over simple vibe are the single switch turning on the dryer and switching the airspeed, and the one button for adjusting the temperatures. The ring light at the back of the dryer changes color from blue to orange and red as you switch through the dryer’s three temps, or oscillates on a purple tone for the long press. At $139.99, this dryer feels like an investment, although not a hefty one —it clocks in at nearly $300 less than the Supersonic, and it’s frequently on sale.

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If you’re wishing the Laifen Swift was just a bit cheaper, you’re in luck. The Dreame Gleam hair dryer looks and performs very similarly. Though I slightly prefer the Laifen, this Dreame dryer is an excellent option if you’re on a budget (and is better than the previous under $100 pick, the BaBylissPRO Nano Titanium).

At first glance, the Dreame Gleam looks nearly identical to the Laifen Swift. Like the Laifen, it has two speeds, and three heat settings (it’s marketed as having four because it has a circulation mode where it cycles through the different heat settings automatically, but that’s technically not a different temperature — plus, it’s gimmicky). It has the same short nozzle clearly inspired by the Supersonic, and an LED light on the back that indicates what heat setting you’re using.

When actually using the dryer, I found it to be easy to handle: it’s ever so slightly chunkier than the Laifen (though I had to hold them side by side to check), but the Dreame is a tad lighter. As for how it dried my hair, I was able to take my mid-length hair from dripping wet to completely dry in 15 minutes, with the assistance of my hair brush. It was easy to achieve plenty of volume with the one concentrator attachment, primarily using the warm setting. As with the Laifen, I found the highest setting to feel too hot to use for more than 10 seconds or so, especially when drying at the root. My hair looked shiny and like it hadn’t been over blasted with heat (again, I laid off the hottest setting), but it was also slightly frizzier than when I had used the Shark dryer on this list. Still, these are minor complaints for a hair dryer under $100.

Value aside, there are a few cases where I’d recommend springing the extra $40 or so for the Laifen Swift. The Dreame Gleam only comes with the one concentrator attachment at the time of writing and doesn’t have any more options available for purchase, so if you like using a diffuser, you’re out of luck. In addition to having more variety of attachments, the Laifen’s magnetic attachments also feel more secure. Though I didn’t have any issues with the Dreame attachment disconnecting from the barrel while in use, I do wonder if it would perform as well over time as the Laifen. Finally, the Laifen sounds like a Dyson, and the Dreame doesn’t — loudness-wise though, they are similar. It’s a more superficial point, but if you want the closest Dyson experience possible, you’d probably be happier with the Laifen Swift.

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A good recreation doesn’t always make for a good dupe, which is why I appreciated that Zuvi Halo didn’t try to be a Dyson Supersonic. The Zuvi Halo combines the power of airflow and infrared light, which the the brand calls its LightCare technology, to speed up dry times while using less heat and minimizing hair damage. Basically, it has the same goals as the Supersonic with a different method.

If you have a higher budget and your hair health is your top priority, the Zuvi Halo was the most gentle hair dryer I tested. It consistently left me with the shiniest-looking and softest-feeling hair.

Zuvi claims the LightCare tech (i.e. the ring of infrared lights used in three out of four of the styling modes) dries the surface of hair without baking it from the outside in, and while retaining inner moisture. The dryer’s product page says this leads to hair that’s “+38 percent shinier” and has “+109 percent internal moisture,” among other parameters that are next to impossible to test independently. I can say that my hair was noticeably shinier and less crispy feeling than it usually is after heat styling — even when compared to the Supersonic.

As for drying time, without any attachments and with the assistance of a round brush, it took about 16 minutes to dry my hair as compared to the 15 minutes it took with the Supersonic. This was with the dryer’s “care” setting (the remaining settings are fast, soft, and style). Each of the settings automatically adjusts the airflow and heat, leaving you with no way to pick custom settings. Someone who’s more particular with their blow-dry settings might find this annoying, but I found there was enough variety between them that it didn’t really hinder my ability to dry and style my hair. The hottest of the settings, fast, did feel noticeably hot, but this dryer does claim it tops out at 111 degrees Fahrenheit. That tracks — it never felt scorching, or even as hot as the Laifen Swift on its lowest heat setting.

The Zuvi Halo also comes with three magnetized attachments, including a gentle air dry attachment, a diffuser, and style concentrator. Unfortunately, both the diffuser and style concentrator block the light tech. Still, the dryer functioned well even without the full light power. Plus, the gentle air attachment lets the light through, so it’s not an across-the-board flaw of all the attachments.

While some reviews praised this dryer for keeping noise down, I didn’t find it to be any less quiet than the Supersonic (which is admittedly on the quieter end of hair dryers).

If you’re intimated by the $329 investment of the Zuvi Halo (which is still $100 cheaper than the Supersonic), the brand does offer a 30-day return period if you’re not completely satisfied with your purchase. Zuvi also offers a cordless model (priced at $499), though that price bump puts it $70 above the cost of the Dyson Supersonic.

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If you’re not quite willing to invest in a Supersonic but want something a little more high-tech than the budget-friendly models out there, the Shark SpeedStyle Pro Flex is the perfect middle ground.

The attachments allow for easy styling, especially if you’re looking to achieve sleek volume, while the folding base makes finding storage space easier.

The Shark HyperAIR was previously one of my favorite Supersonic dupes, and though you can still find it at retailers like Amazon and Best Buy, it’s been phased out of Shark’s beauty lineup. In its place is the Shark SpeedStyle, which there are several versions of — I tested out the Flex Pro because it comes with the best mix of attachments (outside of the build-your-own option), and offers an interesting storage solution.

My first and lasting impression of this hair dryer was that it doesn’t play with its air speeds — they’re strong. While that meant I definitely preferred to use a brush instead of just rough drying, it also meant my hair dried quickly. Reliably, my whole head was entirely dry in less than 15 minutes. The QuickSmooth brush attachment was also helpful in keeping things from looking too windswept and more styled and volumized. A button on the side of the attachment lets you adjust the exact angle on the brush, and though I can’t imagine anyone would need to adjust it all that often, it was a nice detail.

The QuickSmooth brush, like the other three attachments that come with the dryer, automatically adjusts to the optimal air speed and temperature. Again, not super necessary, but a feature that matches the price range, and lets me style my hair with less thought. If you want, you can manually override both settings.

As I did with the FlexStyle diffuser, I loved the SpeedStyle diffuser for its adjustable prongs and size. The FrizzFighter finishing tool did exactly what its name promised, though I did find it flattened my hair some after using the QuickSmooth brush. The styling concentrator was nothing crazy, but was nice for targeting the strong airflow and distributing it more evenly. Unless you have wavy or curly hair, you likely won’t need all of these attachments — to save $30, you can opt for a build-your-own kit and pick any two SpeedStyle attachments.

If you’re not too pressed for space, you can also grab the SpeedStyle without the Flex — I can’t speak to if it performs all that differently, but “folding” this dryer didn’t make a drastic difference. With that said, it does make storing it slightly less awkward, so if you are tight on space, it could definitely be worth it. Despite its size, this is the heaviest dryer on this list of recs, but it feels well balanced, and overall less bulky than the HyperAIR, so I never really noticed its weight while using it.

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Can’t decide whether you’re more into the Airwrap or the Supersonic? No problem. The Dreame Pocket hair dryer uses the same Coanda tech that made the Airwrap famous for “grabbing” hair and wrapping it around the curling barrels.

As the midpoint between the Supersonic and Airwrap, the Dreame Pocket does sacrifice a bit from both designs, but it makes an excellent fit for someone who wants to blend the best of both words. And for folks who are short on space or travel a lot, this is the most compact hair dryer I’ve ever tested — and the included carrying case makes it even easier to store.

If you’re interested in a Dyson Airwrap, there’s a good chance it’s because you’re dying to try out the Coanda tech-powered curling barrels. Though there are now many great Airwrap dupes under $300 on the market, multistylers aren’t for everyone: They’re bulkier than you’d think, and often require a lot of storage space.

Enter the Dreame Pocket. Even compared to a standard hair dryer, the Pocket is tiny. It easily fits into its storage case that’s basically the size of a medium makeup bag (my Baggu dopp kit is bigger) along with its two attachments. The airflow is surprisingly powerful despite the dryer’s size, easily drying the entirety of my head in just over 15 minutes (in other words, just a minute or two more than the Supersonic).

Its unique folding mechanism not only makes it extra small for storing or packing in a suitcase, but also for using the included curling attachment — when you push the nozzle back, the entire dryer essentially becomes a base for the attachment. Unfortunately, it only comes with one uni-directional curling barrel, so you’ll have to commit to all your curls going in one direction, but I honestly found that to work well for the blown-out look. You probably won’t be able to get a great curled all-over look with it, but for what it’s worth, even multistylers with curling attachments — including the Airwrap — are better for achieving a bouncy, wavy blowout style than long-lasting curls.

While the style looked basically the same and lasted as long as when I used similar attachments on other Airwrap dupes, I will say that the Pocket’s curling nozzle seemed to have ever-so-slightly less gripping power, so I had to use smaller sections of hair or make peace with a few small strands falling out. The other attachment, the unfrizz nozzle, also uses Coanda tech not unlike the Supersonic’s flyaway attachment, but the same held true about the grip power — my frizz still smoothed out, but it didn’t feel quite as “grabbed” by the tool as Dyson or Shark’s version of the attachment.

Overall, this is a solid combo of a hair dryer and a multistyler. As with any compromise, it does lose some of the more refined parts of each, but the main draws of both stools shine through in one compact, travel-friendly package.

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Automatic temperature adjustment can be a game changer for anyone trying to maximize their dryer’s styling power while minimizing hair damage. The T3 Aire IQ does it just about as well as the Dyson, and even beats the more expensive dryer in a few areas.

When I heard the phrase intelligent hair dryer, I imagined a dryer that could work with a companion app that tailored the dryer settings for my hair type.

In the Dyson Supersonic Nural, I didn’t exactly find that. Sure, it can be connected to the Dyson app, but the short “hair profile” I filled out didn’t really tailor to any specific styling guides it showed me. Plus, the app couldn’t be used to actually control the dryer. Here’s what intelligent drying actually entailed: attachment detection that adjusts the dryer to the optimal speed and heat settings, pause detection that lowered both settings automatically when the dryer was placed down, and scalp protect mode, which used Dyson’s “Nural” sensors to change the air flow and temperature when you’re using it at the roots of your hair. For all this, you’ll pay $499.99, or $70 more than the regular Supersonic.

With the T3 Aire IQ, intelligent drying doesn’t involve a companion app, but rather a whole host of controls directly from the dryer itself. The first time you start it, you can select your hair type between fine, medium, and coarse (the dryer will save these settings for your future uses, but they’re easily adjusted after the fact). Already, this distinguishes it as more “smart” than the Supersonic. However, like the Supersonic, the T3 Aire IQ senses which attachments are connected and adjusts the heat and speed, but it also takes the hair type you input into account. For example, when I used the diffuser attachment for my fine wavy hair, the dryer adjusted to the lowest air speed and second heat setting. I also tested the diffuser on my mom’s curlier, coarse hair, and the diffuser set instead to the third heat setting and lowest air speed.

If you’re not thrilled with the automatic settings, overriding them is as simple as hitting the right or left buttons on the back of the dryer, while on the Supersonic Nural, you have to hit an additional button before making an adjustment — it’s not the worst, but for $500, it was slightly more friction than I expected. On the T3, I had my choice between five heat settings, compared to the Dyson’s four — both dryers, however, have three air speeds. For $100 cheaper, the T3 also comes with a magnetic stand that can hold two of the three attachments (the aforementioned diffuser was too big to fit on it comfortably). Plus, its pause detection works with all the available attachments, while the Dyson didn’t pause automatically when I was using the diffuser attachment.

So, where does the T3 dryer show its lower price point? Not in the dry time — both took around the same time, and left my hair feeling similarly shiny and soft. However, your options for styling are more limited on the T3 dryer, as it offers three attachments to the Nural’s five. If you’re hair isn’t curly or wavy, though, there’s less of a disparity — two out of the Dyson’s five attachments are a wide tooth comb and a diffuser. (I will say the magnetic attachment was generally more reliable on the Dyson — twice during testing, a small bump caused the T3 attachments to detach.) The Dyson’s diffuser was also more unique, with removable prongs that made pixie diffusing especially easy. Finally, the filter location on the back of the T3 dryer was a bit awkward, sometimes slightly grabbing my hair, though never painfully so.

All in all, the T3’s cons didn’t add up to a $100 price difference, so if you’re looking for a hair dryer that does all the setting work for you, I recommend it over the Dyson Supersonic Nural.

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