Review – Hair dryers have been a boring but essential part of my daily routine since I made the mistake of going to the barber shop a few years ago. I’ve been using the $30 hair dryer I bought at Walmart for years and it did the basics of drying my hair, but it was loud and probably damaged my hair too. I never thought I’d be reviewing a high-end hair dryer like the Laifen Swift Hair Dryer, but here we are. Will it prove to be a worthwhile upgrade, or will a hair dryer around $200 make you prettier?
what is it?
The Laifen Swift Hair Dryer is a fast drying compact hair dryer with technology that reduces noise levels while maintaining airflow and drying power. It looks like some $600+ hair dryer and has similar tech like an air intake on the handle and an N ion generator.
What’s in the box?
- lyphine swift hair dryer
- smooth nozzle
- Manuals (English, German, Russian, Japanese)
Hardware Specifications
- Power: 1600 watts
- Voltage: 110/220V (different voltage/plug type options)
- Dimensions: 10.9 x 2.8 x 3.5 inches (277 x 70 x 89 mm)
- Net weight: 407g (blower body, excluding power cord)
- Cord Length: 5.9 ft (1.8 m)
Design and Features
The Laifen Swift hair dryer has a sleek, minimalist design. The exterior is a mix of plastic and metal (aluminum I guess) and feels high quality. Air is drawn in through a filter at the bottom of the handle, not directly through the business end.
Speaking of which, the above is the business side. Air is pushed out of the small ring opening. The resulting airflow is uniform and powerful. The metal ring allows the magnetic attachment to open and close easily.
The buttons don’t feel cheap. This is my basic requirement for buttons that they should simply work without feeling like they’re going to break. The top button is the off/low/high switch, while the bottom cycles between cold/warm/hot air modes.
There is an air filter on the bottom of the handle to keep dust and hair from being pulled into the motor. The cap is just held in place by magnets, but thankfully it never came off during use.
As with all hair dryers, there is built-in short circuit protection to prevent electric shock. The rope feels heavy and I’m not worried about this fraying and creating a hazard.
Performance
As exciting as hair styling videos are, I decided to focus more on the product in this review rather than my face and beard. Suffice it to say, I have a decent half-curly hair and a 6″ beard that goes wild every morning without heat drying and combing. It was a dream to switch from my old cheap hair dryer to this within a few weeks of review, and the old one is now heading to landfill. The handle stays pretty cool (I think the air being pulled through the handle helps with that) and on the hottest setting the head end does get hot, but I’ve never been so concerned about burning things.
The included blade attachment is easy to pop out with a magnet, which was a joy after using the friction blade attachment on my old dryer. With this attachment, I can easily straighten my beard every day and also apply some direction to my wild mane. I also bought a diffuser attachment, it’s easy to switch between them or not use the attachment for different purposes.
I start drying my beard in the heat every day to reduce frizz and keep my style combed. Next, I switch to warm to give my curls some direction, and finally, I pop the blade and hit the rest of the top with a little cool air to finish. It’s all better and faster than my old cheap dryer. The Laifen Swift hair dryer is also lighter, quieter, and easier to change attachments. Overall, it was a great experience, and the only detractor I can think of is how often I hit the temperature change button. I wish it was a slider-style button rather than a button that would prevent these frequent undesired temperature changes.
what do I like
- Quiet, lightweight and ergonomic
- Easy-to-see colored LED ring for heating
what would i change
- The placement of the hot change button gave me a lot of accidental presses – this would probably be better as a slider switch like an off/low/high switch.
final thoughts
While I didn’t expect much of a difference between my old hair dryer and the Laifen Swift hair dryer, I’m amazed how little things have improved my routine. Quieter operation means I don’t have to pause my audiobooks or podcasts while drying each day, faster results mean less time to lift the dryer over my head, and lighter and smaller means throughout the routine Less arm soreness afterwards. Add it to the sleek styling and quick-change magnetic attachment, and call me a conversion. I even bought the separately sold diffuser attachment to keep the curling iron on top as I am used to. There is a version of the same dryer with more attachments, so if you’re looking for these, check out the Lyft website!
price: $199 ($159 at time of review)
where to buy (this: Laifen or Amazon
resource: Samples for this review are provided by Laifen
