Laifen Swift Professional High-Speed Hair Dryer, 200M Negative Ions, White

Why it's worth it

Laifen's brushless motor spins at 110,000 RPM and pushes air fast enough to cut real time off drying thick or long hair. It's light, it runs at 59 dB, and it costs a small fraction of the flagship dryers it's chasing.

The motor is the story. A brushless motor at 110,000 RPM spins several times faster than the standard DC motors in most drugstore dryers, and the listing rates airflow at 22 m/s. Forbes Vetted describes the airflow as comparable to Dyson's. In practice that means the difference between drying long, dense hair and giving up halfway. Owners with thick hair report cutting their routine down sharply.

It's the quietest dryer in this lineup on paper. Laifen rates it at 59 dB. Even allowing for how manufacturers measure, that's a genuinely different experience from a screaming 1875W dryer, and it's the thing owners bring up first. If you share a bathroom wall with a bedroom, or you dry your hair early, this matters more than any spec sheet feature.

From our review of 7 hair dryers for every hair type, by Sarah Wright, Editorial Associate

What we like

• +The motor is the story
• +It's the quietest dryer in this lineup on paper
• +Heat protection is here too, just less elaborately
• +At about 1.3 pounds it's lighter than most of the competition, and the magnetic nozzles get consistent praise for staying put

What to know

• –The attachment selection is thin compared to what Dyson and Shark include
• –It's a young brand, so there's less long-term durability history than there is for BaBylissPRO or Conair
• –The high-speed airflow takes some adjusting to