High-speed brushless hair dryers: why faster air means you can use less heat

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Researched. We have not used this one long enough to give you a verdict, and we would rather say so than invent one. What follows is how it works, who it suits, and what it will not do. When we have used it properly, this page carries the verdict and the date.

slopehill High-Speed Brushless Hair Dryer

Hair dries when moving air carries water away. You can speed that up with more heat or with faster air. Heat is what damages hair; airspeed mostly does not. The newer generation of small, fast hair dryers is built on that one idea: dry with air, and turn the heat down.

What "brushless" changes

A traditional dryer uses a motor with brushes, which wear, run warmer and limit how fast the motor can spin. A brushless motor has no brushes to wear, and can spin much faster in a much smaller body. According to the listing, this one reaches 110,000 rpm and pushes air at 56 metres per second — roughly five times the motor speed of the 1800W slopehill we looked at.

That is how a dryer weighing 0.7 pounds, according to the listing, can dry hair as quickly as a heavier one.

Why that matters for your hair

With enough airflow, a medium or even low heat setting will dry most hair in a reasonable time. Every step down in heat is less damage. So the real benefit of a fast dryer is not only speed; it is that speed lets you choose lower heat without giving up the time.

The listing describes four temperature settings, including cold, three speeds, and frequent automatic temperature control — meant to stop the air from spiking hotter than the setting. Start on the lowest heat that dries your hair in reasonable time, and use the highest speed.

Quiet and light

The listing says it runs at under 60 decibels and weighs 0.7 pounds. Those sound like small comforts, but a light dryer is easier to hold at the right distance and angle for the whole blow-dry, and that affects the result as much as the motor.

The filter most people forget

Fast dryers pull in a lot of air, and the filter at the back catches dust and hair as they do. A clogged filter restricts airflow and makes the dryer run hotter — exactly what you bought a fast dryer to avoid. The listing mentions a removable filter with an automatic cleaning feature. Check it and clean it regularly anyway.

The rest

Magnetic attachments that clip on and rotate, according to the listing, and a memory that brings back your last setting when you switch it on. The listing also makes claims about ions, far-infrared heat and low radiation; the ionic effect on static is modest, and the others are not what we would choose a dryer on.

For how to use the attachments that come with a dryer — the concentrator for smoothness and the diffuser for curls — see our piece on hair dryer attachments.

What it will not do

It will not make high heat safe; it makes low heat practical. It will not give a smooth blow-dry without a brush and some technique. And it will not keep working at full strength with a blocked filter.

The product

A small, light, high-speed dryer with a brushless motor, built to dry with air rather than heat. It suits anyone with long or thick hair who has been drying on the hottest setting to save time, and anyone who travels.

The one people are searching for is the slopehill Professional High-Speed Hair Dryer with Brushless Motor.

slopehill High-Speed Brushless Hair Dryer

We do not print prices here, because a price we typed last month is a price that is wrong today.

Written by CatieH, who covers nails and hair here.