Quieter Hair Blowers

A hair dryer is an everyday essential you probably don’t give much thought to. At the salon, you’re almost always guaranteed a great blow out. But it’s not such a sure thing at home. Consumer Reports ShopSmart magazine put 10 hair dryers to the test, including top-selling Conair, to see whether there were big differences in performance. The hair dryers cost anywhere from $20 all the way up to $200.

In a temperature- and humidity-controlled room, testers dip samples of human hair in warm water then they dry as usual with each of the blow dryers. In addition, Consumer Reports had 10 panelists take the dryers home and try them out. All the blowers dried at about the same speed. And although dryers tout things like “pure ceramic technology” and “tourmaline ionic,” those features didn’t seem to affect the drying rate.

But there were big differences in how noisy the blowers are. Turns out the lowest-rated dryer, the Conair Ionic Cord Keeper, is as loud as some lawnmowers. Ouch! In the end, the quietest dryer is also the top-rated one. It’s the Chi Pro-dryer GF-1505. At $135 it’s a splurge, but panelists really liked it. Panelists said it was lightweight and dried hair quickly, and one even said it made her hair extremely shiny.

But if a fabulous haircut is what you want to splurge on, ShopSmart says consider the Revlon Ionic Ceramic Pro Stylist RV484. At just $20 dollars, it’s a bargain. It’s got a great feature that the more expensive brands actually lack—separate heat and speed settings so that you can control temperature and air flow.

You’ll see that hair dryers have all different wattages. But Consumer Reports’ tests show the number of watts is no indication of how well a dryer dries. Blowers with lower wattage did just as well as those with higher.

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