Laifen Swift hair dryer review: Supersonic styling for less

Mallet-shaped with a lustrous metallic sheen, the Laifen Swift Particular is a gorgeous-looking hairdryer. At first look, you can be forgiven for pondering that it’s a luxurious magnificence equipment with a hefty price ticket.   

However that’s the shock: the Swift is much cheaper than you may anticipate.   

Design and construct

The Swift is available in 4 colors: matt black, silver blue, pearl white and ruby crimson. We examined the ruby crimson mannequin, and it’s paying homage to the color of Dorothy’s slippers within the unique technicolour movie of The Wizard of Oz again in 1939.

Consistent with the most recent hair dryer design traits, the Swift’s high-speed motor, able to 110,000 rpm, sits inside its 7in/ 18cm-long deal with. The consumption vent is on the backside, simply above the ability cable.

Add to {that a} snub-nosed 3.5in/ 9cm head that may pump out as much as 13 litres of air in a second, and you’ve got a quick hair dryer with a extra user-friendly, centred weight which you could make use of nearer your scalp with out the danger of hair getting sucked into an consumption vent.

Not that this can be a heavy hairdryer: at 09.lbs/ 407g, it’s a lot lighter than a Dyson Supersonic (1.2lbs/ 560g with out attachments). Though the ability wire might be a bit longer, it’s nonetheless a good 71in/ 1.8m so it’s best to have the ability to attain your mirror from a plug level with out resorting to an extension cable. 

Thus far, all good.

However what of Laifen’s claims concerning the thermo management know-how that protects hair from excessive injury, and an air pace of twenty-two,291 metres per second? What concerning the unfavourable ion know-how of 200,000,000 unfavourable ions per cm3 to spice up hair shine and smoothness, and scale back frizz and dryness?     

Let’s check out what it’s like to make use of.

Within the field

Within the field, there’s the Swift, a handbook, a top quality management card, and a darkish gray, magnetic styling nozzle. Should you go for the Particular for round $20/ £20 extra, you’ll get three attachments: a diffuser, a clean nozzle and a fast styling nozzle.

Alex Greenwood / Foundry

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The diffuser has a diameter of 5.5in/ 14cm with air prongs that stand 0.8in/ 2cm above the tiny dispersal holes, so you probably have curly or wavy hair, you actually do get curl assist when you dry, and the attachment dries the roots similtaneously the general mass of hair inside the diffuser disc.

The straightening attachment filters the air right down to a 3.1in/ 8cm lengthy and really slim aperture for intense and centered drying, and the short styling nozzle is a shorter and wider model of this attachment.          

Because the attachments are magnetic, you don’t have to fuss about making an attempt to fit tabs into catches mid-blow dry. You merely put the attachment on the tip and it’s able to go.   

Management

Controls come within the type of a button and a swap on the deal with of the Swift. The button, roughly the place your thumb may sit, is the warmth setting management. It cycles from cool to heat to scorching and again; you can too long-press it to set the hair dryer to auto-cycle by means of the warmth settings. Above it’s the energy swap that slides from off to hurry one and pace two.

Alex Greenwood / Foundry

What we notably favored about these controls was the chance to repair the hair dryer on a cool setting with out having to maintain a button depressed along with your thumb; it makes it far simpler to chill dry hair for longer durations.

There’s additionally a hoop mild on the finish of the dryer head that illuminates blue, orange or crimson, in accordance with the warmth setting. It is a good contact because it means you possibly can visually examine within the mirror what warmth you’re working with, as a substitute of getting to drag the dryer away to examine the button.

Alex Greenwood / Foundry

Laifen states that the cool air setting is room temperature, whereas heat is about 50°C and scorching is about 80°C, and we discovered this beautiful correct – be warned: the recent setting is absolutely scorching. By way of the pace, nicely, pace one is fairly blustery whereas pace two feels a bit like being caught in a twister.

Efficiency

For our first take a look at, we began with damp, under shoulder-length Northern European hair. We used pace one, with no attachments, and oscillated between heat and funky.

The hair took seven to eight minutes to dry whereas usually we might be taking a look at roughly ten to 12. The pace and focus of the air permits you to focus particularly on totally different sections of the roots to realize good carry. And, due to the air energy, biking heat and funky acquired the job finished shortly.

The main focus of the air stream lifts the hair on the roots because it dries, and, with out an attachment, the blast of the stream cyclones the size. What this does is offer you large quantity, physique and motion, akin to a seashore hair/salt spray impact, whereas the power additionally appears to separate strands in a fashion that you’d usually require a brush to realize.   

The hair wasn’t over-dried both. The ends brushed by means of nicely with no static or frizz, and the outcome was similar to a salon-style quantity blow dry. The hair regarded and felt like silk, with a fantastic refined flip to it. The lighter weight of the hair dryer made it extraordinarily simple to deal with and manoeuvre too.

In our second take a look at, we used the short styling nozzle on pace one, switching between heat and funky, on the identical hair, and it took six minutes from towel-dried to shaggy dry.

Once more, we achieved actual carry on the roots, and the hair was tender with no static. Certainly, the hair dries so quick and with such a separation of strands that it appears to really feel lighter. The ensuing brush-through was simple and, once more, there was no dryness on the ends of the hair.

For our third take a look at, we used the diffuser on Mediterranean tender curl hair. It was a fast dry, with very shiny outcomes, and preserved the curls nicely.

In our fourth take a look at, we used the graceful nozzle: and right here we have to sound a warning. Because the aperture is so slim, the air’s warmth and power are extraordinarily concentrated – even on the nice and cozy setting, we discovered the temperature of the air stream to be too scorching.

On a remaining observe, we discovered that hair appeared smoother, shinier and was far simpler to deal with by way of dressing and creating an up-do after utilizing the Swift, which was opposite to our regular experiences with hair dryers. It additionally appeared to make a wash last more, possibly as a result of the power of the air stream lets you go down a warmth setting.

After utilizing the Swift for a fortnight, we acquired the sense that the hair dryer has a form of “setting” impact on the blow dry. Even with out utilizing any product, the foundation carry and switch of the hair appeared to final, notably the curve on the ends. We puzzled whether or not this was right down to the power of the air stream, or whether or not the ion know-how created this outcome. Nonetheless, we actually didn’t want to make use of any hair spray in any respect.        

All in all, the outcomes achieved from the Swift had been sensible, and this hair dryer actually modified our expectations of what a house blow dry may obtain.   

Value and availability

The Laifen Swift is accessible globally from the maker’s web site. It has an MSRP/ RRP of $199/£182.36 however on the time of writing, it’s out there for round $30/ £27 much less. Nevertheless, if you happen to can afford it, our recommendation could be to go for the Laifen Swift Particular, which comes with three styling attachments, fairly than only one. This has an MSRP/ RRP of $239.99/ £218.83, though it’s presently out there for round $50/ £45 much less.

It doesn’t include journey or storage equipment however you should buy a magnetic wall mount for the hair dryer and a journey bag individually.     

Verdict

We expect this can be a terrific hair dryer for the worth; a lot so, we’ve given it 5 stars. It appears to be like nice, performs nicely and our hair has by no means regarded so silky or had a lot physique and carry.

Okay, it isn’t a price range equipment, nevertheless it isn’t as costly as many rivals, and it actually delivers the products. Should you frequently blow dry your hair, and also you desire a hair dryer that’s simple in your wrist and will get the job finished shortly, strive the Laifen Swift.

We don’t suppose you’ll be upset.   

For extra hair care shopping for choices, and to see how the Laifen Swift stacks up in opposition to the competitors, take a look at our round-up of the perfect hair dryers and the perfect hair straighteners we’ve examined.