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- Super-fast drying
- Prevents heat damage
- Powerful yet quiet
- Expensive for a travel tool
- Still not the most compact travel option
After a busy 2025, Dyson has put its “Out Of Office” on – by which I mean, it’s entered the travel beauty market. This very cute and compact version of its bestselling Supersonic hairdryer is straightforwardly named the Supersonic Travel. It’s smaller and lighter than the full-size Supersonic – perfect for tucking into your holiday luggage or weekend backpack – and it retains most of the Supersonic’s technical features for fast blow drying and your best holiday hair ever.
It’s also one of Dyson’s more affordable beauty tools (although, being Dyson, it’s not exactly a budget product). It looks great and promises all the things that made the original Supersonic iconic, in a compact package. But can the Supersonic Travel really be worth 250 of your hard-earned pounds? We tested it to find out.
Dyson Supersonic Travel: What do you get for the money?
The Dyson Supersonic Travel is, in essence, a smaller version of the brand’s flagship dryer. It keeps the same distinctive hollow-cylinder design, with the motor housed in the handle and airflow pushed through the ring-shaped head, but scaled down to a much more suitcase-friendly size.
At 22.2cm tall and weighing just 330g, it’s significantly smaller and lighter than the standard Supersonic, and it’s compact enough to fit easily into your hold – or even hand – luggage. It also has universal voltage, meaning it works on power supplies worldwide, without the need for a voltage converter. If you’ve ever brought your usual hairdryer on holiday only to find it doesn’t work in the local power sockets (or even worse, starts emitting blue smoke) you’ll see what a real-world problem this solves.
Internally, the Supersonic Travel uses the same high-speed digital motor and rapid airflow approach as the full-size version, drying hair quickly without relying on extreme heat. As with the original Supersonic, Dyson’s intelligent heat control system monitors the temperature of the Supersonic Travel continuously to reduce the risk of overheating and damage.
The Travel comes with a single smoothing concentrator nozzle, and is also compatible with any existing Supersonic attachments you might already own. The magnetic attachments snap on in the usual way, so you can use your diffuser or flyaway smoother if you have one. However, do be aware that although the Supersonic Nural smart RFID attachments will fit and work with the Travel, their smart features won’t. And it’s also worth noting here that the Dyson Supersonic r attachments are not compatible with the Travel Supersonic.
Lastly, the Supersonic Travel comes in one colourway so far: a chic and pretty matte ceramic pink finish.
Dyson Supersonic Travel: What’s it like to use?
In day-to-day use, the Supersonic Travel feels reassuringly familiar. It handles much like the original, in a smaller, lighter format that’s easy to manoeuvre during a full blow-dry.
There are two airflow speeds and two heat settings plus a cool shot. That’s fewer than the three speeds and four heat settings of the full-size model, but still enough to cover everyday drying and basic styling. The control buttons are positioned on the drying head, making them easy to find and adjust mid-styling.
I tried the Supersonic Travel on my mid-length curly hair (which really doesn’t like being overheated) with both a simple blow-dry and a more polished look using the concentrator nozzle. It took just under 10 minutes for me to dry my mid-length curly hair with the Travel, which is comparable to a full-size premium dryer and noticeably quicker than my usual travel hairdryer. My hair felt soft and healthy after styling, and looked a little shinier than usual.
Dyson quotes an airflow of 11l per second, compared to the 41l of the full-size Supersonic. While I couldn’t confirm that exact figure, I can say that the airflow feels just as strong as my usual full-sized tool. Despite this, it’s no louder than a typical dryer: I measured around 76dB on the low speed setting and 83dB on high.
The magnetic attachment system is simple and effective. The nozzle clicks into place with a satisfying clunk, and being able to reuse your existing Supersonic accessories is a genuine bonus.
Dyson Supersonic Travel: Are there any downsides?
The main drawback is the price. This is very much a luxury solution to a relatively niche problem. At £250 the Supersonic Travel is significantly more expensive than most travel dryers, and even costs more than some full-size premium models.
And while it’s smaller than the original Supersonic, it’s still not the most compact option available. If you’re travelling very light, traditional folding dryers will take up less space.
You also lose some flexibility compared to the full-size version, with fewer heat and speed settings. While existing Dyson Supersonic attachments are compatible, you can’t use the dedicated Supersonic r attachments. And if your usual hairdryer is the Supersonic Nural, you won’t get the benefit of its attachments’ smart features.
Should you buy the Dyson Supersonic Travel?
If you travel frequently (or simply don’t want to rely on hotel or gym hairdryers) the Supersonic Travel is a great piece of kit. It delivers fast, healthy drying in a compact format, and the universal voltage compatibility makes it genuinely useful abroad. If you already own a Supersonic, the ability to reuse existing attachments is good for sustainability and for your pocket.
For occasional travellers, it’s harder to justify; a cheaper folding or compact travel dryer will still get the job done, even if it lacks some of the features and doesn’t look so pretty.
Ultimately, this is a product for people who are particular about their hair and want a premium tool wherever they are. If you’re the kind of person who already relies on a Supersonic at home, the Travel gives you the same experience in a suitcase-friendly form – and how essential that feels to you depends on how often you’re packing a bag. I must add that my tricky curly hair and I will definitely be taking the Supersonic Travel on holiday with us this summer.
