Best Hair Dryers: The Only List You Need to Read Before You Buy in 2024

Budget friendly, travel friendly (foldable), and noob friendly, the Nova Silky Shine hair dryer is perfect for daily use and no fuss. It’s basic, easy to use, and comes with hot (warm air) and cold (regular air) settings, and for INR 489, is great value for money! While this runs on only one speed, it’s got a thermoprotect feature, and ionic conditioning, making sure your hair is shiny and well-styled, with minimal damage. Safe to say it's one of the best hair dryers to get when on a budget.

Favourite Feature: It's foldable, so great when travelling. 

Rating: 4/5 on Nykaa

Price: INR 489 on discount

This is a super popular option across the world for its compact size, great drying abilities, and value for money. This lightweight (still a workout if you’re at it for over 10 minutes) hair dryer is perfect for basic but thorough drying. With hot and cool settings, and an extra attachment that helps with concentrated, narrow drying, so busy girls (and guys), this one’s for you. Not to forget, it comes from a trusted brand, one of the best brands for hair dryers and hair tools actually. Three of the folks at LBB have also used this, one of whom has had the same model since about 2011. Light but durable, this one is quite powerful.

Favourite Feature: The drying power. It's small but packs a punch!

Rating: 4.3/5 on Nykaa

Price: INR 1,007 on discount

This cute, futuristic-looking hair dryer is equally powerful. More so with the Ananya Panday signature on it. Okay, we don't really know if that helps, but for someone with hair as gorgeous as hers, we're hoping she really has put her money where her mouth is with this collection. Vega is known for their stellar range of hair and beauty gadgets, and being an Indian company, they know the needs of Indian women through and through. One of the best hair dryers for women, with a low-, and high-heat setting, the dryer is great for styling, and did we mention it has an auto-heat cut off.

Favourite Feature: Cool Shot button. This one blasts extra cold air to ensure your set-and-styled hair doesn't go out of place. It keeps your style that much more intact. 

Rating: 4.1/5 on Amazon 

Price: INR 1,439 on discount

Have curly hair? This Hair dryer by Nova comes with a diffuser too! With two heat settings, and cold and hot options, it’ll have your hair dried and styled in the best way. Minimising frizz while powerfully drying hair, the hair dryer has an internal thermostat that makes sure that it won’t overheat. If you don't have curly hair, then consider using the nozzle attachment for concentrated drying and styling too. Oh, and men, it says for women. Ignore that!

Favourite Feature: The fact that it comes with a diffuser (and three other attachments), which makes it super convenient, IYKYK. This also includes the Cool Shot Button, which hits you with a burst of cold air to keep the hairstyle in place.

Rating: 4.1/5 on Amazon. This one has been tried in-house over the last six months, and so far, so good!

Price: INR 1,049 on discount

A trusted German brand, Carrera Electronics is almost always professional yet affordable. This one is a travel dryer that comes with a foldable handle and travel bag. But what we like most is that it's got a two-speed control and the motor is quite powerful. And for someone like me, with really thick hair, it's needed to tame those locks! The air is also infused with argan oil and keratin to make for smoother hair, and that is all one can really ask for! I'd personally rate this 9/10.

Favourite Feature: It's foldable, light and blows out keratin- and Argan oil-infused air so the heat isn't damaging.

Rating: 4/5 on Amazon, with one review giving a proper lowdown on the product. 

Price: INR 2,790 on discount

An old favourite of ours that we are convinced was actually created in the 90s but just gets updated each year. This one by Panasonic is economical and magical!  It's light and easy to use, though sometimes, it's a bit too lightweight. So, if you are blessed with super thick and curly hair, then don't expect it to dry or straighten too quickly. The cool shot button is my most loved feature, as it's one of the few dryers that doesn't run out of steam on a cold blow. It styles the hair equally well on both cold and hot options.

Favourite Feature: It has a three-speed setting, plus the Cool Shot button.

Rating: 4.2/5 on Amazon

Philips doesn't disappoint with their range of hair gadgets, and it shows. Most people, when asked which hair dryer they use, are quick to answer Philips before we even finish our sentence. We're eyeing the BHD318/00 hair dryer, don't go on the technical name because it's otherwise quite easy to use. It's got a 1600W drying power, advanced ionic care for frizz-free hair (generates 20 million ions per drying session), three heat and speed settings, cool air setting to finish your look, and a ThermoProtect attachment that mixes cool and warm hair for everyday use as it helps in dropping 10°C when drying hair. All of this and it comes with a two-year worldwide warranty, which speaks of how good the quality is. Users say that it's a great product and that they love the foldable design as it makes it compact and easy to carry when travelling. 

Favourite Feature: The ThermoProtect feature that gives a smooth silky finish to the hair, and the foldable design that makes it compact and easy to travel with.

Rating: 4.3/5 on Nykaa

Wahl products are extremely durable and reliable, and this one has a 2,200-watt motor (read: extremely powerful) and two-speed and three heat settings. Multiple reviews mention that the build of the product is good and that it's relatively lightweight. You get a standard concentrator and a diffuser attachment with the dryer too. All curly hair people have approved of this one!

Favourite Feature: The removable inlet grill for easy cleaning! 

Rating: 4.2/5 on Nykaa.

Price: INR 1,650 on discount

The 2000W motor in this hair dryer gives high airflow and balanced heat for easy drying. It features two speed modes, three heat settings and a cool shot button, which is essentially all you need from a hair dryer. The best part is that this comes with attachments like a diffuser, concentrator nozzle, and comb attachments, so you don't have to buy anything extra. The cord is about 2.5 meters long, so not being able to move freely won't be a concern. 

Favourite Feature: The auto shut-off feature prevents overheating and you get many attachments for a great price.

Rating: 4.4/5 of 628 ratings on Nykaa.

Price: INR 1,479 on discount

Most of us agree that Dyson products are superior in quality and fully worth the hype, not just because they're good at what they do but also because they always try to reduce the effort from the users' end and simplify things as much as possible, whether it's their vacuum cleaner, which cleans your home in minutes or their hair-styling tools like this Supersonic Hair Dryer. This hair dryer works to dry out your hair faster when compared to other dryers on the market, and has a patent heat control technology that protects hair from extreme heat damage. It comes with five different styling attachments that help get a smooth finish every time. 

Favourite Feature: The easy-to-use design and the fact that it actually makes life easier. 

Rating: 5/5 on Nykaa

This hair dryer from Ikonic is quite impressive. It claims to be able to produce heat at a constant temperature, which helps with styling and ensuring that your hair remains healthy. It's got a high-performing motor, four heat settings, two speed settings and a cool shot button to set your hair in place. Multiple user reviews suggest that the built quality of this hair dryer is also amazing and that they didn't regret spending money on this product.

Favourite Feature: Multiple speed settings, and great built quality.

Rating: 4.4/5 on Nykaa.

Price: INR 4,290 discount

Not sure if this counts as a hair dryer, but how could we not add a blow brush when it's been all the hype recently? And as long it dries your hair properly, we don't think anyone has a problem with it. You can use this Blow Brush to straighten or curl your hair, and yes, you can use it straight out of the shower with minimal towel drying as well. The good part is that you don't have to use a styling brush and hair dryer because this does the job of both in half the time. It's got three speed controls and helps with frizzy hair. However, if you live in a humid area, you know that no hair dryer or product can tame the frizziness. Check out the product in action here.

Favourite Feature: The two-in-one ergonomic design

Rating: 4/5 on Nykaa.

Price: INR 2,437 on discount

We'll be honest, the looks of this hair dryer might have caught our attention at first but it's the reviews that made us stay longer. Every review we read for this one only has good things to say, from how lightweight and travel-friendly this one is to the power it is able to pack, all concluding to just how great this hair dryer is. Philips claims that this hair dryer has a mineral ionic care that helps reduce UV damage (how cool is that?) and is able to straighten your hair 50% faster and get rid of frizz. While we've not heard too many claims of it being 50% faster, users have said that it is quick, efficient, and powerful.

Favourite Feature: The super cute look, and mineral ion technology that lowers UV Damage.

Rating: 4.8/5 on Nykaa

Looking for more hair styling tools? Check out the best hair straighteners and best styling tools for perfect hair all the time.