Shark HyperAir vs. Dyson Supersonic: Which is better?

The Shark HyperAir looks like a dupe for the double-the-price Dyson Supersonic. It forgoes a long barrel and instead opts for a short, wide one that, like the Dyson, acts as the control center with three buttons for air and three for heat settings. Both sets of buttons even light up white and red, respectively, like the Dyson.

This landed higher than the Dyson on our list because it felt more comfortable to hold, thanks to its better weight distribution, but I have similar criticisms for both tools. The medium heat and air settings dried my hair in 20 minutes, with the finished 'do looking semi-straight but poofy. But the higher airflow, even on medium heat, was intense and whipped my hair around at times.

Would I use this again? Sure. But I could get my hair to look sleeker with other, more affordable options on this list.

No hair dryer list would be complete without the super-pricey Dyson Supersonic Hair Dryer. Its diminutive but powerful motor lives inside the Supersonic's handle instead of the head, differentiating it from the other models we've tested.

The design lends itself to being more balanced and, in theory, more ergonomically pleasant to use. However, placing the motor inside of the handle means an ultra-light barrel that leads to an awkward weight imbalance, most noticeable when I was maneuvering it around my head to dry my roots before moving onto styling.

I liked that the Supersonic's control buttons are located on the head of the dryer as opposed to in its handle, and that they light up to show which of the three heat or air settings I’m using. Their placement keeps them from accidentally engaging while the hair dryer is in use—an issue that some hair dryers suffer from.

Its "cool shot" button locks into place so that you don’t have to keep squeezing it to keep it on—a nice touch if you like to use the function to "set" your hair after styling with hot air. The Supersonic comes with two smoothing nozzles and a diffuser, all of which attach to the hair dryer magnetically in a snap.

I saw poofy but fully hair-drying results after 30 minutes of using the Dyson and a round brush—a little longer than some. While the Supersonic works well enough, there are far less expensive hair dryers that you can invest in that will yield similar, if not better, results.