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- Quickly dries thick hair
- Great attachment range
- Flexible handle for travel
- Loud
- Confusing pricing
- Awkward control placement
I tested the original Shark Speedstyle back in 2024 and was, if you’ll pardon the pun, blown away by its fast drying speeds, versatile attachment range and light build. The Pro Flex was released shortly afterwards, adding a rotating handle for more compact storage, a gentle scalp-care mode, and £20 to the asking price. At the time, being so enamoured with the original, I wasn’t convinced this was enough of an upgrade to warrant a separate standalone review.
However, now that the original hair dryer has been discontinued and there hasn’t been another upgrade to Shark’s hairdryer lineup in a while, it’s high time I revisited this old friend. It comes with the same versatile attachments, but I was interested to know if the extra features could justify the price difference, or if you’d be better off investing in one of the many other hair dryers I’ve reviewed.
Shark Speedstyle Pro Flex hair dryer review: What do you get for the money?
It took me a while to wrap my head around the pricing for the Shark Speedstyle Pro Flex. Shop at most retailers and you’ll find the hair dryer listed for around £170-200, with four attachments included. When ordering directly from the brand’s website, however, you can get the same set (£200) as well as various ‘build your own’ bundles whereby you can choose your own attachments. At the time of writing, the hair dryer with one attachment costs £160 at full price, while bundling in three attachments costs £200 (currently discounted to £160). This incremental price difference is cheaper than buying the attachments separately so it’s a good option for those wanting to minimise waste and only pay for the attachments they’ll use. Just don’t get lured in by a cheaper price if you’re hoping to get maximum versatility.
The dryer itself is smaller than hair dryers of old, thanks to its 1700W digital motor, which produces a surprisingly fast, precise jet of air. There are three speed options and five different heat settings: three standard, one continuous cool setting and a scalp shield mode. The latter is designed to care for sensitive scalps and is a feature of both the Speedstyle Pro and Pro Flex hair dryers. The motor regulates the temperature 1000 times per second, ensuring it never exceeds 110°C – perfect for minimising frizz-causing hot spots. There’s also a separate cool shot button handily placed on the front of the handle, mirroring the placement most people are used to.
Elsewhere, the design of the Pro Flex strays from the norm.The handle on the Pro Flex rotates to make storage and travel simpler, and its range of attachments far exceeds the typical offering. The four-piece set includes a Quick Smooth brush, diffuser, Frizz Fighter finishing tool and a concentrator. Not included in the set are the wide tooth comb and rotating round brush that are available to buy separately for £30 each.
These attachments clip and lock securely onto the front of the dryer, but they aren’t magnetic because the brush attachments require quite a bit of tension on the hair for best results. The locking system is easy to master and is just as effective as magnets, in my opinion.
For ease of use, the dryer has a 2.4m cord that’s plenty long enough as well as a hang-up loop for storage. The filter should be cleaned periodically by removing the cage on the back of the dryer, which detaches using a twist and pull motion.
How I tested the Shark Speedstyle Pro Flex hair dryer
I tested the Shark SpeedStyle Pro Flex dryer using the same method I always use when reviewing hair dryers for Expert Reviews. This involves quantitative measurements of wind speeds, noise levels and weight, and qualitative usability tests. Using objective data ensures our tests are consistent when paired with anecdotal judgements about how comfortable and easy a hair dryer is to use. It also allows us to compare different models fairly.
Other things we focus on include the controls’ positioning and range, weight distribution during use and attachment range. At minimum, we’re hoping to find hair dryers with a concentrator nozzle and diffuser available, and we test every attachment we can to check the results – this was particularly relevant for the Speedstyle Pro Flex, which had a selection of brushes available.
What’s it like to use?
Although a name occasionally belies the performance of a product, I’m pleased to report, unequivocally, that the Speedstyle Pro Flex is fast. In my tests, wind speeds reached a whopping 34.8m/s, making it one of the punchiest hair dryers I’ve ever reviewed. When rough drying my hair, this took my thick mane of hair from dripping wet to dry in under five minutes. Not bad at all.
The only gripes I had during this test were the loud noise levels, and that the highest temperatures were a little too hot on my scalp. Reducing the temperature using Scalp Shield mode, or one of the lower heat settings, was far more comfortable but slowed the drying time by a few minutes. Similarly, slower speeds reduced noise levels to a manageable 80dBA, while at its fastest speed the dryer roars into action at a high-pitched 90dBA.
Achieving a bouncy blow dry using the concentrator nozzle and a separate round brush took me around 20 minutes. The most frustrating part of this was that the speed and temperature controls are positioned at the bottom of the handle, making them impossible to change with one hand. They’re button controls, which I understand are placed here to avoid accidental temperature changes mid-styling, but it made controlling the dryer’s speed level tricky. Other hair dryers with button controls, such as the mdLondon Blow, avoid the risk of accidental button presses with an easily accessible settings lock. Shark should consider doing the same with the next iteration of its hair dryer.
The good news is that the settings offer plenty of control. There was a noticeable difference between the three speeds, which allowed me to quickly style the lengths, and more precisely style shorter face-framing pieces. If the hair dryer was slightly more expensive, I’d be asking for a pause-detect feature that could switch the dryer off when it’s placed on a vanity to simplify the blow dry process, but the absence of this feature can be forgiven at this price.
Furthermore, if you’re using the brush and comb attachments to blow dry your hair, their respective IQ settings allow the hair dryer to adjust the heat and speed to the ideal level, so you don’t need to faff around mid-styling.
Those investing an extra £20 for the ‘Flex’ model over the non-folding Speedstyle Pro should know that the twisting mechanism felt sturdy and smooth, with no wobbling. It’s great for compact storage as the entire dryer can fit easily into a vanity drawer. That said, the advertising, showing a man inserting the folded dryer into a comically large jeans pocket, is admittedly a tad unrealistic.
How well does it work?
I judge hair dryer performance on a few different metrics, including the health and feel of my hair after styling, how long the ‘shape’ lasts, as well as the amount of frizz and flyaways on the hair. As well as doing my usual rough drying and round brush tests, I tried out all the Speedstyle attachments to assess what impact they had on my hair. Since these are the same across Speedstyle models, there was no need to re-test the attachments on the newer hair dryer this time; the insights below are based on my previous experience.
Overall, the Speedstyle Pro Flex worked brilliantly to dry my hair quickly. In particular, the Scalp Shield mode left my hair feeling soft, healthy and with less frizz at the root than I get when styling at warmer temperatures. That said, I’m not entirely convinced I wouldn’t get the same gentle styling results from simply reducing the temperature – especially since there are three heat options available anyway.
So, while I don’t think the scalp shield mode is ineffective, I do think it’s largely unnecessary. Reducing the temperature on the hair dryer requires the same amount of effort as switching the Scalp Shield mode on. Use it if you’re worried about protecting hair growth, but it isn’t as convenient as the Dyson Supersonic Nural’s proximity sensor, which is also far easier to use.
With that hurdle crossed, the rest of my testing was positive. The range of heat and speed settings allowed me to create a smooth, bouncy blow dry with plenty of movement. My hair was shiny, smooth and felt healthy for a good few days after styling.
This took me a while, though. If you aren’t comfortable using a separate round brush, I recommend using the Quick Smooth brush, which can smooth the lengths of the hair and create a gentle texture at the ends. Then, reach for the Frizz Fighter finishing tool, which uses a ceramic coating to add shine to the hair, while minimising frizz and flyaways. This was the ideal tool for polishing a style, even after a slap-dash rough dry.
The only attachment I would be wary of is the rotating round brush, as I found the angle of it cumbersome to use compared to the hot brush attachments you get on multi-stylers like the Flexstyle. You’d be better off learning to use a separate round brush, as this gives better results.
In any case, switching between attachments was quick, easy and comfortable, thanks to the cool-touch areas. And, when setting styles, the cool shot comes through pleasingly quickly, speeding up the process further.
Should you buy the Shark Speedstyle Pro Flex hair dryer?
If you’re looking for a hair dryer that can dry and style your hair quickly, but don’t have the budget for an all-singing, all-dancing multi-styler, this is easy to recommend.
I particularly like that you can select the exact attachments you need before purchase, leaving you without extra attachments cluttering up your house. The smoothing brush and shine-enhancing attachments are especially well-designed, clip on securely and are easy to use. They’ll certainly save you time styling your hair if you have long, thick hair like mine.
That said, the hair dryer does get loud and if you like to frequently change the settings while drying your hair, the control placement might get on your nerves. If you won’t use the rotating handle, save yourself a few quid and buy the standard Shark Speedstyle Pro instead.
