What’s the difference between the hair tools?

Dyson has dominated the beauty tools industry ever since the launch of the Supersonic hair dryer in 2016 and then again from 2018 with the Airwrap multi-styler. 

But what is the difference between the Dyson Airwrap and Supersonic? Should one be favoured over the other depending on your hair type or desired hair style? 

Below we’ve compared the key features between them below, so you can gauge which tool is better suited for your hair needs. 

The Airwrap is a multi-styler and dryer

The Airwrap offers more versatility and was designed for multiple uses compared to the Supersonic. In its simplest form, the Supersonic is a hairdryer and, as it was primarily designed for this purpose, boasts a stronger airflow compared to the Airwrap. 

Although the Airwrap does work as a hair dryer and has an included dryer attachment, its main purpose is to style hair in different ways with the various included attachments. This means you can use the Airwrap to curl, straighten or blow out hair accordingly. 

Even so, both Dyson hair tools were designed to either dry or style hair using minimal heat, resulting in less breakage and damage.

Both offer intelligent heat control

Both the Airwrap and Supersonic feature intelligent heat control technology which measures and regulates air temperature at least 40 times a second to prevent extreme heat damage and create shinier hair. 

The maximum operating temperature of the Supersonic is up to 105°C whereas the Airwrap is slightly higher and can reach 150°C, which may seem quite low when compared to more traditional hair styling tools. However, both tools offer precise heating settings depending on the desired style and feature a constant cold shot to set your look in place. 

The Airwrap uses Coanda technology

Although both the Supersonic and Airwrap use air to achieve results instead of extreme heat, the two tools work slightly differently. The Supersonic has a V9 digital motor which spins at up to 110,000rpm and, when combined with Dyson’s Air Multiplier technology, produces a high-pressure, high-velocity jet of controlled air for fast yet precise drying and styling. 

The Airwrap instead uses Enhanced Coanda airflow which is designed to attract and align hair with increased control and propel air along hair strands. 

Dyson explains the Coanda effect is an “aerodynamic phenomenon” whereby air is able to naturally follow an adjacent surface and pull in surrounding air. In this instance, air pulls the hair towards the tool and shapes it accordingly.

The Airwrap offers more choice of attachments

As the Airwrap is a multi-styler, it’s perhaps unsurprising that it boasts more choice of attachments than the Supersonic. Both have the option for users to pick and choose their attachments or purchase more separately, so can create the perfect set based on your hair type. 

All the Airwrap’s attachments use the Coanda effect to style hair with minimal heat and include various barrels for creating waves, a smoothing dryer attachment, a volumising brush to give body to limp hair and multiple smoothing brushes depending on the level of firmness required. 

The Supersonic attachments include a wide tooth comb for detangling and shaping curly and coily hair, a wave and curl diffuser that disperses airflow in two different directions, a styling concentrator for precision styling, a flyaway attachment that’s fitted with Coanda airflow and a finally a gentle air attachment for fast yet light drying. 

The Dyson Supersonic is cheaper

Neither hair tool can be considered as budget-friendly. While the Supersonic is slightly cheaper, it still has an RRP of £329.99/$429.99. The Airwrap has a starting RRP of £399.99/$549.99 however this will increase depending on the specific bundle chosen.

Having said that, both can be found on offer from various retailers, so it is possible to snap up a bargain.