Picking a hair dryer used to just mean checking the wattage and calling it a day. Not anymore. The market’s shifted hard toward multi-stylers, tools that dry, curl, smooth, and volumize without you needing four separate gadgets on your counter. Here’s a breakdown of four of the most talked-about options right now, from the category-defining Dyson to a couple of budget-friendlier picks that borrow a lot of the same tech.
Our Top Picks:
- Dyson Airwrap i.d.™ Multi-Styler
- Shark FlexStyle Air Multi-Styler & Drying System
- Olivia Garden 1875W SuperHP
- BaBylissPRO The Style/Switch 5-in-1 Air Styling System
Dyson Airwrap i.d.™ Multi-Styler
The Airwrap is the reason “multi-styler” became a category people actually search for instead of a marketing term nobody used. It relies on the Coanda effect to curl hair using air alone rather than extreme heat, which is the whole pitch behind its no heat damage claims. The i.d. version adds Bluetooth connectivity, so it pairs with the Dyson app to personalize heat settings based on your hair type and styling habits, then remembers those settings between uses. Attachments cover curling barrels in both directions, a smoothing brush, and a volumizing round brush, and swapping between them is genuinely fast once you get used to the click mechanism.
Where it earns the price tag is control. Airflow and heat are managed by the same intelligent sensor system Dyson puts in its other hair tools, so you’re not guessing whether a setting will scorch fine hair or barely do anything to thick, coarse hair. It’s also just quieter and lighter in the hand than most dryers in this price range, which matters more than people expect once you’re holding it above your head for fifteen minutes. The tradeoff is the price and a learning curve. Wrapping hair around the barrels correctly takes a few tries, and Dyson’s own tutorials undersell how fiddly it can be with very short or very fine hair. If you’re patient with the technique, though, it’s the closest thing to a salon blowout most people will get at home.
Shark FlexStyle Air Multi-Styler
Shark built the FlexStyle to go after the exact same use case as the Airwrap, and it’s not subtle about it. The Coanda Auto-Wrap curlers work on the same principle, using airflow to wrap hair around the barrel automatically instead of you doing it by hand, and it comes with a genuinely useful attachment lineup: an oval brush, a paddle brush, and a concentrator for straight-ahead drying and detailing.
The stone colorway and overall build feel more premium than the price suggests, and Shark leans into that as a direct value play against Dyson.
Functionally, it holds up well for day-to-day use. The auto-wrap curlers are arguably a little more forgiving for beginners than Dyson’s manual wrap technique, since the tool does more of the work for you. The paddle brush attachment is the standout for people who just want a smooth blowout without dealing with curls at all, and it detaches easily enough that switching mid-styling doesn’t feel like a chore. It won’t fully replicate the exact finish of the Airwrap, curl definition and hold tend to be slightly less refined, but for a fraction of the price it closes the gap more than most competitors manage. For most people who want the multi-styler experience without the flagship cost, this is the one to actually consider.
Olivia Garden 1875W SuperHP
This one skips the multi-styling gimmicks entirely and focuses on being an excellent, no-nonsense blow dryer, which is refreshing given how crowded the attachment-heavy end of the market has gotten. At 1875 watts, it’s built for fast drying without straying into the territory where heat damage becomes a real concern, and the ionic generator is doing real work here, cutting down frizz and static in a way that’s noticeable especially on thicker or curlier hair types. It’s marketed as quiet relative to other dryers in its power class, which holds up in practice; it’s not silent, but it doesn’t have that harsh high-pitched whine some professional dryers get at full power.
The attachment set is smaller but more purposeful: two combs and a diffuser, aimed squarely at people with curly or textured hair who want volume and definition without a flat iron finish. That diffuser attachment in particular is doing a lot of the heavy lifting for its target audience, since diffusing well at high wattage without frying curls is a harder balance than it sounds. It’s a solid pick for anyone who wants professional drying speed and doesn’t care about curling or styling attachments, think stylists, or anyone whose routine already includes separate tools for curling or straightening. It’s the least flashy option here, but also the one most focused on doing one job extremely well.
BaBylissPRO Style/Switch 5-in-1
BaBylissPRO’s entry leans into flexibility as its main selling point. The 5-in-1 design covers drying, curling, smoothing, and volumizing from a single ionic-lightweight base unit, and the swap system between attachments is built to be quick without needing to power the unit down between changes. Being ionic helps here too, reducing frizz and static the same way it does on the Olivia Garden, but paired with styling attachments rather than just a straightforward dryer nozzle.
What stands out is the weight. BaBylissPRO markets it as lightweight specifically because multi-stylers in this category tend to get heavy once you add barrels and brush heads, and arm fatigue is a real complaint people have with the Airwrap and FlexStyle both. This one manages to stay closer to a standard dryer’s weight even with attachments on, which matters a lot for anyone styling long or thick hair where sessions run long. It’s a solid middle-ground option: not as refined in curl payoff as the Dyson or Shark, but more comfortable to use for extended styling sessions, and priced to make it an easier impulse buy for someone who wants to try the multi-styler format without fully committing to premium pricing.