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- Lightweight, premium design
- Great range of attachments
- Effective, high gloss styler
- Expensive
- Large plug
- No bag
British company Dyson might have once been better known for fans and vacuum cleaners than beauty products, but since launching the original Supersonic hair dryer in 2016, it has developed – and continues to develop – some of the best hair stylers and hair dryers on the market. The Dyson Supersonic r is the company’s third hair dryer, sitting above the standard Supersonic and the Supersonic Nural in the line up.
The Supersonic r was first announced back in February 2024, designed for professionals. As such, it was not available to the general public, though that changed in April this year when a version of the Supersonic r was made available for anyone to buy alongside the other hair dryers in Dyson’s portfolio. The Supersonic r was the first Dyson hair dryer to incorporate Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology for intelligent attachments and it features a significantly more streamlined design compared to the Supersonic and Supersonic Nural.
I’ve been testing the Dyson Supersonic r for nearly two months. During my testing period, I also asked my hairdresser to blow dry my hair with the Supersonic r to get professional feedback on how it compared to a typical salon hair dryer. There’s no getting away from its hefty price tag, and the large plug is a compromise you have to make for its incredibly lightweight design, but I’ve found it to be a superbly powerful hair dryer with exceptionally versatile attachments and fabulous results.
What do you get for the money?
The Dyson Supersonic r currently costs £450 and that’s the case whether you opt for the Straight + Wavy model, or the Curly + Coily model. There is only one colour option currently – Pink/Rose Gold – but Dyson regularly brings out new colour variants of its stylers so if this light pink option isn’t for you, there’s a good chance there will be another colour available at some point in the future.
For the price, you get the hair dryer and five versatile attachments but no storage bag. If you opt for the Straight + Wavy model, the five attachments include a powerful air attachment, professional concentrator, flyaway attachment, smoothing nozzle and gentle air attachment. The Curly + Coily model swaps out the smoothing nozzle and gentle air attachment for a wide tooth comb attachment and a diffuser. My hair is naturally wavy so I had the former model in for review.
I mentioned the Supersonic r has a refined design compared to the other Dyson hair dryers, but in truth, it looks nothing like any other hair dryer on the market either. It has a slim, cylindrical barrel that curves at the top where the attachments magnetically snap on. It’s 30% smaller than other Dyson hair dryers and 20% lighter, with a body weight of just 325g. That makes it lighter than many other excellent hair dryers too, including over 100g lighter than the Shark SpeedStyle.
Inside its sleek design is a 1,700W Dyson Hyperdymium motor that produces high-pressure airflow and spins at up to 110,000rpm, while controls for that airflow and heat are positioned on the back of the barrel and in a prime location when styling.
There’s a circular power button, combined with two pill-shaped buttons for airflow and heat, and three LED lights on either side of the power button to reflect which of the airflow and heat settings you are using. On the other side of the barrel, there’s a cold shot button for setting your style.
A filter sits at the bottom of the soft-to-touch barrel, while a 0.82m wire gives you a decent amount of space to move, even if it’s not quite as long as the professional Supersonic r model and its 2.8m lead. The plug is considerably larger than a typical plug too, so that’s something to keep in mind as those with larger skirting boards may struggle to plug it in directly to the wall. Dyson did the same with the Airstrait in order to reduce the weight of the device itself, so while your wrist will thank you, it’s worth noting that you may need to consider an extension lead for use.
The power the Supersonic r delivers is excellent, however. In my tests, I achieved an incredible maximum wind speed of 36.2m/s, which is the fastest hair dryer I have ever tested. And while the average was more like 30m/s, that speed is still significantly faster than the competition; the mdlondon Blow, for example, achieved 26.5m/s, while Shark’s SpeedStyle was 26.2m/s in our tests.
It’s quiet too – something my hairdresser commented on when she used it to blow dry my hair. Dyson claims the Supersonic r has a sound level of 80.1dB and in my tests, the maximum noise levels it reached were not too far off this at 82.9dB, with an average of 79.6dB. It’s quieter than both the mdlondon Blow and the Shark SpeedStyle, and I was more than able to have a conversation with my hairdresser without shouting when the Supersonic r was being used at full power.
One last thing to mention on the Supersonic r before I get onto what it is like in use, is the intelligent attachments. They use RFID technology so when they snap on, the heat and airflow settings will automatically switch to what Dyson recommends for that attachment, eliminating the guesswork. You can change the settings to your own preferences too, and if you do that, the settings will revert to what you selected the last time you used each respective attachment. Shark has a similar system with its IQ attachments, but it works flawlessly on the Supersonic r and makes for a much simpler styling experience.
What’s it like to use?
The short answer to this is the Dyson Supersonic r is wonderful to use. As I mentioned, I’ve tested this hair dryer over the last two months, washing my hair every few days and I’ve been repeatedly impressed by the Supersonic r’s performance. I’ve used it to create a bouncy blow dry, as well as a sleek, straight blow dry and I’ve used it to rough dry on my hair on numerous occasions too.
I have very thick hair, which is around waist length and naturally wavy and frizzy. I love a bouncy blow dry, but I do wear it straight on the days when I am short on time. I used the Dyson Supersonic r on freshly washed hair with only some heat protection spray applied to protect my hair, but I also used it in between washes to tidy up flyaways and reduce frizz.
First things first, I managed to rough dry my hair in around four minutes with the powerful air attachment that produces high velocity airflow to dry hair quickly, which it did. It took around 30 seconds longer with the smoothing nozzle. Neither are a small feat with the amount of hair I have though and both were a record for me. I used the highest heat and airflow settings when I was rough drying, and I didn’t find either too hot on my scalp. Both were very easy to adjust during styling thanks to the convenient positioning of the controls.
When I wanted a straight blow dry, I used both the professional concentrator that focuses air where you need it, and the smoothing nozzle that is designed to deliver more ions to reduce frizz for a smoother finish. Both delivered impressive results though I favoured the smoothing nozzle as it definitely reduced frizz and made lighter work for the flyaway attachment that I always used after each blow dry, whether straight or bouncy. In fact, this flyaway attachment, which originally launched in 2021 for the regular Supersonic, is one of the best pieces of beauty tech engineering I have had the pleasure of using. It uses the Coanda effect (same as what Dyson’s Airwrap styler uses) to attract longer hairs and hide flyaways and it’s a superb finishing tool for a smooth and shiny result.
When trying to achieve a bouncy blow dry with a round brush, I used the professional concentrator attachment, and this is what my hairdresser used when she did it too. As you might expect, she managed to achieve much better results than me, but that’s down to my lack of blow drying skills rather than the Supersonic r’s lack of performance.
The blow dry she delivered was as good, if not better, than she typically achieves with her 2,700W salon hair dryer, with the curls lasting for four days (and only not longer because I had to wash my hair). My hairdresser also commented on how lovely the Supersonic r was to use, both in terms of control and weight distribution, and said she didn’t feel any fatigue after blow drying my hair, which she said she always gets with me and her usual hair dryer. It was quicker too, with her able to blow dry my hair how I like it within 35 minutes compared to 45 minutes.
I do think those looking for a bouncy blow dry from home (no hairdresser included) on a daily basis would benefit more from the Dyson AirWrap i.d, which will now recommend wrapping, styling and cooling times for each section of hair based on your hair type. If you are a skilled blow dryer, though, the Supersonic r will really deliver, even without a round brush attachment like the one included with Shark’s SmoothStyle.
Even for those less skilled at blow drying, however, it’s almost impossible to get a bad result from the Supersonic r and you will most definitely have shiny hair when you have finished styling, especially if you use the flyaway attachment or the smoothing nozzle.
For those with young children, I found the gentle air attachment to be great for drying their hair, with the attachment evenly diffusing and smoothing airflow so it is gentler on the scalp. It’s not as good as the Supersonic Nural and its scalp protection feature but it’s a good alternative.
Should you buy the Dyson Supersonic r?
The Dyson Supersonic r is by no means cheap – costing two and a half times more than the likes of the Shark SmoothStyle – plus the plug is huge, there’s no storage bag included and you only have a choice of one colour option. That’s really all there is to complain about, though.
In terms of performance, the Supersonic r is absolutely superb. It is the best hairdryer I’ve tested this year – the most powerful in terms of wind speed, as well as one of the quietest and one of the lightest. It’s an investment, but the Dyson Supersonic r is phenomenally quick, very comfortable to use and capable of producing smooth and shiny results thanks to its myriad intelligent attachments.
