The Best Hair Dryer Brushes of 2024

The internet is flooded with glowing reviews of the Revlon One-Step Hair Dryer, including one from Reviewed’s former beauty editor. Therefore, I wasn’t entirely surprised that this hair dryer brush stood out from the pack. This dryer has nylon and tufted bristles that help detangle your hair as you use it. It also has an oval-shaped barrel instead of a round one to help the brush smooth hair on the longer side and add volume on the shorter. It even has “ionic technology” that Revlon claims can condition, smooth, add shine, and reduce frizz on hair.

My hair was completely dry after 12 minutes using this dryer brush, but beyond that, it looked as straight as it does when I use my flat iron, the T3 Lucea ID 1-Inch Smart Flat Iron. To achieve straight hair, I usually allow my locks to air-dry and then painstakingly straighten each section of hair—an ordeal that takes both forethought (time to let hair air dry), extra effort, and at least 10 more minutes than using the Revlon.

Beyond the results I saw on my hair, I was impressed by the quality of the appliance itself. It feels sturdy and well-made, but it’s not too heavy, either. The weight felt balanced no matter the angle I held the brush—it didn’t skew towards one side or the other. The even weight also made it easy to pull my hair taught enough to get that sleek style I’m always after.

The one potential downside I see is that this hair dryer brush gets extremely hot. In fact, we recorded a temperature of 203°F in our lab testing—the highest of any of the dryers. This didn’t bother me both because I have a cook's hands and the time the brush needs to be right up next to the scalp is minimal, but others may find it uncomfortable or worry about scalding sensitive skin.

For me, it never got so hot that I couldn’t continue on with my blowout, and I felt like the heat helped me achieve a sleek blowout faster (remember: It took just 12 minutes, total). I was careful about how close I got to my scalp and where I placed my hands when handling the brush and found it easy to avoid any discomfort from the heat.

The Drybar Double Shot was one of the fastest hair-drying brushes I tested. It took just 11 minutes to completely dry my hair, which I attribute to the brush’s great airflow. Even an extra minute is a bonus for me, as I’m always running short on time.

It wasn’t just fast, though. The brush moved easily through both wet and dry hair, and was one of the only hair dryer brushes that made my hair as sleek as I like it to be, probably thanks to its very hot temperature, which we recorded in second place behind the Revlon at 197.6°F. The brush has decent weight to it and feels comfortable to hold, which helped me manipulate the tool to achieve the ideal tension necessary for a straight style.

If there’s any downside, it’s that the brush has a slightly longer, heavier handle than the Revlon and others, which makes maneuvering it awkward, particularly as you get acquainted with the tool.

The L’ange Hair Le Volume 2-in-1 is the most attractive appliance I tested. The handle of the brush is a matte black material that feels silky smooth, and the barrel is a gorgeous rose gold. Unlike some other brushes, it also comes with a sleeve for the barrel to help protect the bristles when not in use—a nice bonus for those of us who shove their hair tools into their vanity, or for anyone who travels. You’ll feel like you’re using a luxe tool with this, but it’s priced in the middle of the pack.

The styling experience was a positive one, too. The brush was comfortable to hold and I had no trouble getting the bristles through both wet and dry hair. I was also able to achieve the right tension to get a straight style in the end. But the airflow felt weaker than other brushes I tested, which meant it took longer than I expected—18 minutes—to nail the style. With patience, though, the overall final look was comparable to the speedier top two dryers.

The standout feature on the Bed Head One-Step Hair Dryer is its bristle type. They’re very flexible, which means brushing through both dry and tangled wet hair is a breeze. It also has a nice weight that’s light enough to hold for long periods of time but heavy enough to produce adequate tension with the hair while pulling the brush through it.

The downside to this brush is its larger-than-most barrel size that makes it difficult to work with small sections of hair. Although this may not be a problem for someone with longer, thicker hair, it made it a challenge for me to style my mid-length hair because I inadvertently picked up additional hair when attempting to style in small sections. The end result after 15 minutes was wearable but fluffier than I’d like.

The Dyson Airwrap is one of the most hyped hair tools out there. It’s also one of the most expensive. I wanted to love it and had high hopes I would, not only because of the consistent praise it receives, but also because its brush attachment is smaller than the barrels on other dryer brushes. I thought this might work great for my mid-length hair.

Unfortunately, I struggled to use this dryer effectively because of how lightweight it is. The bristles slipped right through my hair instead of catching the strands and creating the resistance needed to flatten them. After 18 minutes of my hair blowing around haphazardly, the result was it looking so poofy that I opted to refine the style with my straightener before heading out for the day.

Though it may sound like my experience with this dryer brush was largely negative, it landed in the middle of the pack score-wise because of its objectively positive features. For example, it has more speed and heat settings than the average, plus it comes with additional drying and styling attachments and a storage case that landed this a Best Splurge pick when Reviewed tested curling wands. No, it’s not the best dryer brush, but these features set it apart—and above—others on this list and make for a comprehensive styling kit.