The 8 quietest hair dryers for a less noisy blow-dry experience

Forgive us for stating the obvious, but hair dryers can be loud. Really loud. If this bothers you, shopping from the quietest hair dryers is the way to go. With one of these tried-and-tested tools in your hair styling arsenal, you'll be able to hold a conversation or even hear the radio (mostly) while you blow dry. 

The best hair dryers are easily the widest-used hair gadgets on the market, but even top tools aren’t guaranteed to be quiet. Between us, the woman&home beauty team has tested probably hundreds of them during our decades of experience and many of them are rather loud when you first power them up. 

But if you can't try before you buy, how do you know which dryers will make less of a racket and avoid getting stuck in a buying-and-returning loop? Well, apart from being marketed as quieter, celebrity hairdresser Michael Douglas notes that opting for a brushless motor over a traditional AC motor is a great way to ensure your dryer-of-choice makes less noise.

"[This] means there are fewer moving parts in the engine of the hair dryer, so there's less friction and it therefore creates less noise,” he explains. “I think on average it makes it about 12 decibels quieter, which is quite a big deal. A direct current (DC) motor also consumes less energy, so it's more energy efficient and it costs less money to blow dry your hair [with one of these dryers]." If that hasn't sold it to you, we don't know what will – ahead are the quietest dryers on the market that get our seal of approval.

Michael Douglas

Michael Douglass is a hairdresser with a career spanning 35 years and is the founder of both the mdlondon hair salon and tool 

The quick list

The quietest hair dryers, reviewed by a beauty editor

Lucy Abbersteen

Lucy Abbersteen is a freelance beauty editor who has written for titles including Marie Claire, Glamour and OK!, as well as regularly contributing to woman&home. She has many years of experience testing hair tools, including dryers.

The best quiet hair dryer overall

The competition for the top spot in our edit of the quietest hair dryers by ear was a very, very close call, but objectively, of those dryers that include a volume rating in their specs, this came in at the lowest at just 76 decibels. Created by celebrity hairdresser Michael Douglas, this dryer looks and feels seriously premium. Even the colour options are trendy, with both dark teal and olive green on offer (we tested the former for this piece). 

But let’s get into the details of how well (and how quietly!) it performs. First of all, when used on the lowest speed setting it is impressively hushed, which is thanks to that aforementioned brushless motor. As well as being compact and very light, another standout for us is how quickly it switches between the hottest and coldest heat settings – there's no waiting around for the dryer to cool down, so you can set your style quickly. 

A couple of minor quibbles are that you have to press and hold the button for a little while to turn it on and off, and, though a diffuser is available to buy separately, we always like it when this is included as standard. But, really, neither of these things makes a dent in our overall opinion of it. It left our hair feeling great and ticked all of our boxes, as you'd expect from a tool made by a top hairdresser.

Read our full mdlondon BLOW Hair Dryer review 

The best quiet hair dryer with no high-pitched sound

Beauty Works' offering is very quiet, as well as lightweight, and comes a pleasing white and gold colour scheme. As well as its low volume, what really stood out for us was the lack of the ever so slight "whistling" sound that is just about detectable in most quieter hair dryers, such as the Dyson Supersonic or mdlondon models. 

As for the user experience, we loved the circular LED display at the top of the tool as you can see the dryer’s exact temperature (60, 90, or 120°C) and speed setting continuously while drying, which is a nice touch. Once finished, however, we noticed that the dryer will continuously display "OFF" unless it’s unplugged or switched off at the mains (though this serves as a good reminder to do so when you've finished using it). A couple of useful added safety features that impressed us are that the dryer automatically shuts off if the rear vent is blocked or if it exceeds 150°C.

This dryer comes with two nozzles and a handy dust bag for storage, but the compatible diffuser has to be bought separately, which does let it down a little when you consider its significant price tag. But all in all, this ultra-light, ultra-quiet hair dryer didn’t disappoint when it came down to styling, yielding a pretty smooth finish as well as drying our hair quickly. In fact, we'd also vote it one of the best hair dryers for fine hair. 

The best quiet hair dryer with a long warranty

Another super quiet dryer, Bio:Ionic’s Smart-X's impressive credentials immediately piqued our interest. It claims to dry hair 75% faster than its competitors, employing enhanced air pressure rather than excessive heat to do so. That said, the highest heat setting is still pretty hot in our book, but it also works to balance the air and temperature 100 times per second to ensure consistent quality drying. 

As for the user experience? We found it to be noticeably powerful and it certainly left our hair feeling soft, however, while it may have been a little faster, we’re not sure that the overall drying time felt dramatically faster than other top-tier dryers from Dyson, mdlondon or Beauty Works. But regardless, we did think that this tool feels like a premium gadget – and one that we really enjoyed using at that.

Other techy touches that ticked our boxes include a lock function for when you've programmed in your desired settings; the dryer also remembers them the next time you fire it up. And not only is it equipped with a self-cleaning feature, but a light indicates when it's time to do so. This dryer will also go the distance as the guarantee is a whopping 10 years, so you’re covered for a long time if you choose to invest. 

The best quiet hair dryer for curly hair

Easily one of the most famous hair dryers on the market, the Dyson Supersonic changed the game with its expert engineering when it first launched in 2016. It's famous for several reasons, including that it's quieter than your standard dryer – even on its highest speed setting. A Dyson engineer tells woman&home that the motor, which sits at the base of the handle thanks to its unique design, is made quieter thanks to the inclusion of a silencer in the handle. The V9 Digital Motor's fan was also tweaked slightly to reduce high-pitched whistling. 

The Supersonic is great for all hair types, but we wanted to give it a particular shout-out for curly hair, because the expertly engineered airflow is so gentle on curls through the accompanying diffuser – one of a whopping five attachments that come with this dryer as standard. Admittedly, this attachment could be bigger, but it has lots of tiny holes to evenly disperse the air, which leads to excellent definition and added volume (if you need it), so it's easily one of the best diffusers for curly hair.

We can speak from firsthand experience that it’s the best pairing for styling all types of curly hair – think defined and frizz-free – and we've really never seen flyaways flattened as well as the unique flyaway attachment can. It's a brilliant tool.

See our full Dyson Supersonic Hair Dryer review

The best quiet hair dryer for energy efficiency

The Zuvi Halo is eerily quiet, largely down to the fact that it uses light technology as well as gentle air to dry hair. This left our strands feeling seriously soft, whether blow dried into a sleek style or curly with the accompanying diffuser (though do note this bundle costs slightly more at £369). There’s also a gentle air attachment for an even softer drying experience. 

A must-mention that really sets it apart from the competition is this dryer’s energy efficiency. While most models’ rating exceeds 1000w – sometimes even 2000w – the Halo’s is remarkably low at just 680w , so it will have far less of an impact on your electricity bill. Its ability to save you money in the long run slightly softens the blow of its price tag which, like the Dyson’s, isn’t feasible for many people. 

As for the actual user experience, there was no denying that it left our hair soft, quite possibly because, for the most part, it dries at one note – you can’t crank things up to much hotter or faster. Overall, we’d say this is proof that you can put a price on healthy hair. 

See our full Zuvi Halo Hair Dryer review

The best quiet hair dryer loved by hairdressers

The family name behind one of London’s most luxurious salon destinations, as well as a line of great hair-styling products, The Great Hair Dryer is a pleasingly stylish electric blue number that marks Hershesons' first foray into hot tools. It comes in a handy metal case, which is complete with a leather-look handle, and three attachments: two concentrated nozzles and a small diffuser.

We’d dub it small and mighty as, although it’s nice and quiet and weighs less than 300 grams, making it ideal for travel, it packs impressive blow-dry power. There are three heat settings, a cool shot and three speed settings to choose from, plus it's powered by oxy active technology that boosts shine and helps to preserve colour. 

With smaller dryers, it’s even easier to knock buttons and change settings, which is addressed (and fixed) with the addition of a lock button. Programme in your desired settings and forget all about them until you’re done. As you’d expect from a brainchild of hairdressers, it performs brilliantly, and hairstylists and beauty editors alike have been raving about it; our senior beauty editor has dubbed it one of the best hair dryers for curly hair. 

Read our full Hershesons The Great Hair Dryer review

The best quiet hair dryer for storage

Another super compact dryer, Diva Pro's Atmos Atom Hair Dryer is very small and therefore, like most of the quietest hair dryers that made it into our round-up, lends itself well to travel. The dryer and its attachments also come in a stylish metal tin, which is great for both general storage and keeping these parts together when travelling. 

All of the attachments are magnetic, which is both satisfying and secure, and you get two different lengths of narrow nozzles and a diffuser to play with – plus the cable's length is very generous at 3m. It makes a nice job of drying and we didn't notice an excessive amount of frizz after doing so. The downsides are that the plug, although adaptable for EU use, is quite chunky and it's not the most premium-feeling hair styling tool we've ever picked up. But there's no denying this is a quiet device that provides a pleasant drying experience. 

The best quiet hair dryer for a stylish design

Last but not least in our edit of the quietest hair dryers is this tool from cool Aussie brand BondiBoost, with an equally cool black and white colour scheme. There are two useful attachments in the box: a narrow nozzle and a decent-sized diffuser.

When firing this tool up we did notice that it’s ever so slightly noisier than a number of the other dryers in this roundup, though still noticeably quieter than your traditional roaring hair dryer motor. What followed was a nice drying experience, with our hair left feeling nice and soft without excess frizz – two things that scored a lot of points during the testing process. 

As for downsides? There’s only one real quibble for us, which is that there’s no way of knowing what setting you’re on just by looking at the dryer – you have to cycle through the settings to work out where you’re at. It could also perhaps have done with a slightly lower speed setting than its lowest offering, but it’s still a nice, lightweight, and undeniably quiet tool. 

How we tested the quietest hair dryers

During the review process we tested a range of hair dryers whose manufacturers billed their tools as being particularly quiet, comparing them against each other to find the quietest of the bunch. But volume wasn’t the only category we required these dryers to score well in – we also required them to be all-around excellent dryers and assessed the below factors while testing.

• Volume (in decibels if provided)
• How loud it sounded at the lowest and highest speed settings
• Price
• Number of heat settings
• Number of speed settings
• Attachments that come as standard
• Any outstanding advanced technology or features

Ito 's worth pointing out that the quietest hair dryers do tend to be a little pricier because of the advanced technology involved in making them so. But on a more positive note, they're also often lighter and more compact, which ups the value-for-money factor as they often double up as the best travel hair dryers. 

How to choose the quietest hair dryer that suits you

First and foremost, when looking for the quietest hair dryer to suit your needs it's a good idea to look at the decibel rating to assess whether or not it's quieter than average. However, you'll still want to ensure that it ticks all of the boxes to suit your styling needs. The following are all important factors that you should also consider before making a purchase. 

• Attachments: Ideally, the attachments will come included with your dryer rather than having to be purchased separately. Concentrator nozzles are beneficial for more precise styling, while a diffuser is extremely useful when drying curly hair types. 
• Number of speed and heat settings: Having multiple speed and temperature options means you can adjust your dryer depending on your hair's needs and/or desired finish. 
• Size and weight: The size and weight of your dryer is important day-to-day, particularly if you're hoping to avoid arm ache. But it's even more important if you travel regularly and need a tool that won't take up too much space in your bag. 
• Technology: Look out for any special features that are incorporated into a dryer, such as ionic technology for a smoother finish, or ceramic for more even heat distribution, for example.  

What is the average decibel level of a hair dryer?

According to Hairdressers Journal, the average decibel level for a hair dryer is usually between 80 and 90 dB. Therefore, hair dryers that are 80 dB or below would be considered quieter than standard. To that end, the quietest dryer in our guide is the mdlondon Blow Dryer at 76 dB.