Dyson Airwrap vs. Revlon One

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Is the Dyson really worth $600 or will the Revlon's $40 hair tool suffice? That is the question.

The Dyson Airwrap multi-styler and the Revlon One-Step Volumizer are two of the most viral hair tools of the TikTok age. But other than overwhelming influencer evangelism, the two products actually don't have a ton in common. The main difference is right there in the products' names: As its name implies, the Revlon is a one-trick pony, a blow dry round brush to smooth and add volume to damp hair. The Dyson, on the other hand, is a "multi-styler": a hair dryer, blow dry round brush, blow dry paddle brush and curling iron replacement in one.

The other biggest difference is, of course, the price: Dyson charges $600 for the Airwrap, while Revlon's hot air brush retails for about $40 (and even as low as $19, which we spotted at Target's Black Friday sale last year). The phrase "fraction of the price" seems apt when describing the Revlon brush, which you could buy for yourself and 14 of your best friends on the same $600 budget.

Here's what the Dyson Airwrap and Revlon One-Step look like side by side.

The hair tool field is expanding in some very exciting ways – sure, many people have a hair dryer and a curling iron or two under their bathroom sink already, but these frizz-taming, arm-saving, blowout-replacing gizmos feel like a new frontier in hair care. And when one costs 15 times the other, the natural question becomes: Is the Dyson Airwrap worth the money?

For $600, Dyson promises a lot more than just a blowout. The Airwrap is unique in a few ways: 1) attachments that can be mixed and matched to create a variety of hairstyles, 2) a bit of engineering wizardry called the Coanda effect and 3) the promise of less heat damage. Let's walk through them.

TikTok and Instagram are full of Airwrap "viral hacks," like this one: I'm using Dyson's round brush attachment as a hot roller on my bangs.

I tested the Dyson Airwrap multi-styler Complete Long, the tool's second generation. Inside the hefty storage case were two smoothing brush attachments (one soft, one firm), a smoothing dryer for taming frizz and rough-drying before styling, two curling iron-esque barrels (1.2-in and 1.6-in) and a round brush attachment. That last attachment is the most similar to Dyson's competitor products like the Revlon (my colleague Sarah Mitroff also swears by the InfinitiPro by Conair) – but the curling barrels are where Dyson shines.

Unlike a curling iron, the Airwrap's round barrels themselves don't actually heat up. Instead, the barrels have vertical vents that direct jets of hot air out, sort of like a blow dryer. But unlike a traditional blow dryer, the Airwrap takes advantage of the same phenomenon of fluid dynamics that makes it hard to pour liquid from one cup to another without spilling it – the Coanda effect.

Simply speaking, the Coanda effect is a physical phenomenon (not a marketing term, it turns out!) that describes the way fluids cling to a curved surface. The Airwrap's curved barrels exploit this principle, both attracting hair and bending it around the tool, leaving your wrists out of it altogether. If that sounds confusing, take a look at the gif below to see the Coanda effect in action.

A few other unexpected perks of the Dyson: Unlike with a curling iron, you don't have to wait for the Airwrap's barrel to heat up (or cool down). This makes it easier to touch up your hair on day two or three, and I found myself redoing my front pieces every morning, with just a few seconds' time investment. I also really loved the Airwrap's "cool shot" button, which allows you to set your curls before removing the barrel, obviating the need for pins.

Any amount of heat styling will damage your hair, whether you're using a $600 styling tool or literally repurposing your clothes iron (don't do that). But if your desired hairstyle demands daily or even weekly upkeep, a little savings goes a long way. Dyson says the Airwrap's smart airflow technology controls its heating element by constantly measuring and adjusting its temperature, which prevents "extreme heat damage." The Coanda effect, besides being a cool parlor trick, also serves to limit the need for high temperatures, leaning more on the power of targeted airflow.

The Dyson Airwrap comes with two smoothing brush attachments, two curling barrels, a rough dryer attachment, and a round brush attachment.

It's hard to quantify just how much heat damage the Airwrap does contribute, let alone how that compares to your average blow dryer, curling iron or rival blow dry brush like Revlon's. I did compare the temperature of both my hair and the tools themselves after using both the Dyson and Revlon, and the differences weren't as big as I'd expected. My hair was noticeably hotter after using the Revlon (see chart below), but the differences in temperature between the barrels themselves was negligible.

Anecdotally, the frizz factor post-styling did seem a lot less with the Dyson, which suggests to me that its protection against "extreme heat damage" claims are not just lip service.

Assuming money is no object and you genuinely just want the best hair tool for a salon-worthy blowout at home, is there any universe where the $40 Revlon One-Step wins? Honestly… yes.

Where Revlon beats Dyson, for me, is the size of its barrel. The One-Step is a girthy Goliath of a round brush, which means big volume and quicker styling. Dyson's smaller diameter – whether we're talking round brush or curling barrels – means curls instead of waves, and almost double the styling time in my testing. This may be less of an issue for those with fine or naturally straight hair, but I'm looking for a smooth-yet-wavy look, not bouncy ringlets, and I just wasn't able to achieve that with the Dyson.

Left: Styled with the Dyson Airwrap's round brush attachment; Right: The Revlon's larger barrel left my hair less bouncy and more natural. The Dyson made my bangs curl like a villain's mustache.

I could see Dyson solving this issue by adding a larger round brush and/or curling barrel to its attachments lineup. But it's important to note that the Coanda effect doesn't apply when using the round brush attachment anyway. And the curling attachments, while pretty freaking cool, tended to leave my ends curled and my roots flat, thanks to the way the airflow attracts the ends first. With hair as heavy and long as mine, the result is a little more Cowardly Lion than I'd prefer.

Revlon also beats Dyson when it comes to the dreaded learning curve. The Revlon One-Step's learning curve is "but a small berm," to quote myself, whereas the Dyson took several tries to get right. This isn't a dealbreaker, of course, and I imagine anyone willing to spend so much on a new toy would also be willing to put in the time to learn how to use it.

One of the biggest complaints I've seen about the Dyson Airwrap is that its curls fall out. In my experience, this is partly true and partly an artifact of the aforementioned learning curve. If your hair isn't damp when you curl it, those curls'll be gone faster than you can say mousse. Speaking of mousse – you'll probably need to use it if you want your Dyson look to stand the test of time.

Day 2 after using the Dyson Airwrap. Left: Round brush attachment; Right: 1.6-in curling barrel attachment.

I'm not a big hair product girlie, so I actually had to buy mousse for the express purpose of improving the return on my Dyson time investment. One side effect of that is I woke up with more of a rat's nest the next day, and finger-combing through a moussed-up mess of curls is not so easy.

Day 2 after using the Revlon One-Step Volumizer.

The Revlon One-Step doesn't seem to require any mousse, hairspray, gel or other cementing agent to keep its results intact. In fact, I generally find that I like my hair more on day 2 of a One-Step style. And because I don't have to gum up my strands with any mousse when using the Revlon, I tend to put off my next wash day for…longer than I care to admit publicly.

On the other hand, part of the reason Revlon wins day 2 is that its day 1 results are a bit frizzier and poofier than the Dyson, before settling down overnight. (And I do sometimes need to touch up with a curling iron after styling with the Revlon). This isn't an aesthetic dealbreaker for me, but definitely a red flag regarding heat damage.

Because of the frankly colossal disparity between price points, the question may not be which tool to buy, but rather, how much FOMO you should feel if you can only afford the Revlon. In my experience, the Revlon gets the job done just fine. You'll be missing out on the variety of styling options with the Dyson, which means you won't be ditching your curling iron or flat iron anytime soon, but if you just want a better way to blow dry your hair, I still stan the Revlon One-Step Volumizer.

But if the Dyson Airwrap is within your budget and you're looking to level up your DIY styling game, the tool really does offer a ton of options – and it's genuinely fun to play around with. If Dyson were to create larger-diameter attachments for those of us with thick, wavy 'dos, the heat damage savings alone would make the lack of cost savings a little easier to ignore.

Revlon's hot air brush creates volume on a budget.

Dyson's pricey hair tool will break the bank, but not your strands.

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