8 Top Quiet Hair Dryers for an Ear-Friendly Blowout
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Getting a hair blowout can make your locks instantly beautiful. Wouldn’t it be nice to do it every day?
Well, some people do. They have a hair dryer at home and use this handy machine to dry and style their hair on the daily.
But using a dryer regularly can be tiring, and worse, deafening!
That’s because hair dryers are noisy appliances. They’re as loud as blenders and vacuum cleaners.
So if you don’t want that noise directed to your ear all the time, you can get a quiet hair dryer.
Yes, there is such a thing.
Although we wouldn’t say it’s as quiet as a mouse, it does have reduced noise so it can be safer for your ears.
Plus, you can dry your hair at night or style it early in the morning without waking up your family and neighbors.
Want to know the quietest blow dryers? Continue reading.
Table of Contents
- 1 What Is a Quiet Hair Dryer?
- 2 Why You Need a Quiet Blow Dryer
- 3 How to Choose the Top Quiet Blow Dryers
- 4 8 Top Quiet Dryers
- 5 Top Brushless Motor Compact Dryer
- 6 Top AC-Motored Quiet Dryers
- 7 Top Silent Digital Hair Dryer
- 8 Top Quiet Blow Dryer with DC Motor
- 9 Frequently Asked Questions
- 10 Quiet Hair Dryers for Peaceful Hairstyling
What Is a Quiet Hair Dryer?
No hair dryer doesn’t make any sound (unless turned off!), but there are quiet hair dryers.
A quiet hair dryer is custom-made to produce less noise than regular dryers.
The sound they produce is still a bit louder than that of a refrigerator, but it’s softer than a vacuum cleaner.
Quiet hair dryers use powerful motors that are better insulated.
Because the motor is more powerful, it takes less effort and therefore less noise to bring out the air.
Why You Need a Quiet Blow Dryer
The sound of hair dryers isn’t loud enough to damage your ears immediately.
However, if you hear this sound on a day-to-day basis, it can have a bad effect over time.
According to studies, daily exposure to loud sounds can lead to hearing damage. And this is more likely to happen when the sound is near your ears, like when you use a blow dryer.
So if you frequently wash and dry your hair or you’re a hairdresser who uses a dryer for work, you need to get a silent hair dryer to protect your ears.
How to Choose the Top Quiet Blow Dryers
There are several factors to consider when looking for a hair dryer that isn’t too loud.
You won’t normally find the word “quiet” written on the box, but you would see features and specifications that can help you determine if that particular product will work quietly.
Noise Volume
How would you know if a hair dryer is noisy?
Check the level of decibels the hair dryer produces. You can usually find it on the product label.
Sound volume is measured in decibels.
To give you an idea of how many decibels are considered quiet or loud, here are some examples.
Sound | Decibels (dB) | Examples |
---|---|---|
Faint | Less than 30 dB | Quiet rooms like libraries or museums, whispers, gentle breeze |
Moderate | 31 to 60 dB | Washing machine, refrigerators, normal voice |
Loud | 61 to 90 dB | Food processors, vacuum cleaners, blenders, hair dryers, road traffic |
Very loud | 91 to 110 dB | Power tools, chainsaws, lawnmowers, child’s scream, rock concert |
Extremely loud | More than 110 dB | Sirens, fireworks, airplane or jet engine, nearby thunder |
Regular blow dryers produce between 70 to 90 dB. Very loud hair dryers perform around 80 dB, and this level can damage your hearing over time.
When looking for a quiet dryer, choose one that can operate with less than 60 dB.
Motor Type
Hair dryers are built with motors that make the fan move.
The two common types used are DC and AC.
Alternatively, some brands introduced another type of motor that is electronically communicated (EC) or digital.
Let’s take a look at the motor comparison.
Alternating Current (AC) | Direct Current (DC) | Electronically Communicated (EC/Digital) | |
---|---|---|---|
Built | Large, heavy | Small, light | Lightweight |
Lifespan | 700 to 1200 hrs | 400 to 700 hrs | Up to 10,000 hrs |
Noise | Moderate | Loud | Quiet |
Airspeed | Powerful | Slower than AC | High velocity |
Price | $$ | $$ | $$$ |
As we’ve said, the more powerful the motor is, the less noise you’ll get.
In addition, faster air speed means quicker drying time, so you’ll have less exposure to loud sound.
Features
Let’s say you don’t want to spend too much just to get a quiet hair dryer.
Well, you don’t need to buy a digitally powered one.
There are also AC and DC dryers that come with noise-reduction designs and other special features that make the hair dryer work and sound better.
Brushless Motor
A standard dryer’s motor uses carbon brushes to power the dryer fan.
But there’s this new technology that uses magnets and electronics to drive the motor, eliminating the noisy carbon brushes.
Not only does the brushless motor produce less noise; it also delivers strong airflow and maximum heat, so it works faster.
Ionic Technology
Many hair dryers nowadays use ion technology.
Ionic dryers release negative ions that break down the water molecules on your wet hair. This makes drying time shorter.
This type of dryer can be used at low temperatures and produces low noise.
Tourmaline Coating
Tourmaline dryers are known for making locks look glossy and smooth after a blowout.
What is tourmaline?
It’s a mineral that’s crushed into a fine powder and built into the hair dryer’s parts.
And when the tourmaline is heated, it releases negative ions, similar to an ionic dryer. But it doesn’t end there.
Tourmaline also emits infrared heat.
Because of its ionic and infrared properties, it doesn’t rely solely on heated air for drying. This makes the blowout more gentle on your hair.
In addition, tourmaline can reduce drying time by up to 40%. That’s another plus when it comes to less noise exposure.
Infrared Heat
Some dryers use infrared light rays to dry your hair.
What happens is, the light heats the hair follicles from the inside out, speeding up the drying process.
Because of this, the air from the dryer is much more gentle and more regulated.
This also makes the infrared hair dryer quieter than regular dryers.
Ceramic Coating
Another type that uses infrared heat is a ceramic hair dryer.
The inside of the dryer is coated with ceramic that generates infrared heat.
As I’ve explained above, infrared dries the hair from within. The difference with ceramic is it can regulate and distribute the heat evenly.
The result? Your hair won’t be rough and damaged by extreme heat.
8 Top Quiet Dryers
Okay. We know all that information might be overwhelming. If you don’t have time to look for all those features when buying a dryer, here’s help.
We did the looking and reviewing for you.
Take a look at what passed as the quietest blow dryers with top-notch quality.
Top Brushless Motor Compact Dryer
This one is a powerful tool built into a compact body. It’s smaller and 18% lighter than a standard AC dryer. You can bring it when you travel!
Another thing we loved about this dryer is the cold shot button, which works with one press. You don’t have to keep holding it! Plus, it gets cold quickly.
Primary benefits: High air pressure for ultra-fast drying; less damaging heat for healthy hair; best for frizzy hair
Features:
- Ionic technology
- 5,000-hour lifespan
- Noise reduction technology
Infiniti Pro by Conair 3Q is a ceramic and ionic hair dryer in one. It gives your hair shine with up to 75% less frizz.
Wattage: 2000W
Settings: 3 heat, 2 speed, cold shot
Material: Titanium and ceramic
Cord: 7 ft., with hanger loop
Attachments: Concentrator and diffuser
Conair 3Q stands for:
- Quick — You can dry your hair in less than 10 minutes.
- Quiet — Its noise reduction technology and brushless motor ensure that there’s much less noise.
- Quality — It has a titanium body, durable power cord, and a motor with a 5,000-hr lifespan.
One drawback to this styling tool is that it’s so powerful; it can be too much when you use it for the first time. Your long hair can end up in tangles.
But after a few more uses, you’ll get the hang of it and end up with smooth hair.
Overall, this is a great, powerful dryer considering its not-so-expensive price and compact build.
Top AC-Motored Quiet Dryers
It’s ceramic, tourmaline, ionic, and infrared in one. That’s every kind of hair dryer in one powerful model!
Primary benefits: Reduces frizz; enhances shine; dries thick hair in minutes
Features:
- Made with ceramic and tourmaline
- Negative ion technology
- Infrared heat technology
Jinri Paris Professional Line merges advanced technology, elite design, and powerful performance for a gorgeous blowout.
Wattage: 1875W
Settings: 3 heat, 2 speed, cold shot
Material: Ceramic
Cord: 8 ft., with hanger loop
Attachments: Concentrator, diffuser, detangler comb, removable air filter
The Jinri Paris professional salon-grade hair dryer has all these great qualities:
- It gives a powerful wind with little noise.
- Negative ions can decrease the drying time.
- Infrared dries the hair from the inside out.
- It’s lightweight.
- It has a comfortable handle.
- It’s reasonably priced.
This has everything you could look for in a hair dryer.
This model comes in mini or regular sizes. You can choose to get the mini one for traveling but still get the same benefits.
Primary benefits: Dries hair faster than regular dryers; eliminates frizz; great for all hair textures
Features:
- Far infrared heat
- Negative ion technology
- Lower noise and vibration
For a salon-grade blowout, use the MHU Pro Ionic Hair Dryer.
Wattage: 1875W
Settings: 3 heat, 2 speed, cold shot
Material: Plastic
Cord: 6 ft., with hanger loop
Attachments: Concentrator, diffuser, removable air filter
Aside from the noise, another annoying (and painful) thing about blowouts is how they can hurt your scalp.
You’d find yourself jerking your head away when the dryer stays too long in a certain spot or gets too close to your roots.
Fortunately, MHU has come up with a professional dryer that won’t feel too hot and won’t burn your scalp.
That’s because this dryer, with combined infrared and ionic technology, doesn’t produce much damaging heat.
It’s a powerful dryer. But is it quiet? Yes! In fact, its highest setting measures up to only 75 decibels.
It’s specially designed to have lower vibrations. Users reviewed that this is a lot quieter than other regular hair dryers.
The only downside is, all that power makes this MHU dryer a bit heavy.
Its high-powered motor has maximum drying power and a lifespan that lasts 3x longer than regular ones.
Primary benefits: Makes hair look conditioned and smooth; perfect for styling straight hair
Features:
- Tourmaline ionic technology
- 3x ceramic coating
The Revlon Smooth Brilliance Styler gives you a smooth salon-quality blowout.
Wattage: 1875W
Settings: 3 heat, 2 speed, cold shot
Material: Ceramic
Cord: 5.5 ft
Attachments: Smoothening concentrator, removable end cap
The most affordable dryer on our list is this one from Revlon. But this cheap price doesn’t mean cheap quality.
The Smooth Brilliance Styler competes with other higher-priced dryers.
It has tourmaline and ionic technology that help seal the cuticle and boost your hair’s shine. It also has 3x ceramic coating for even heat distribution.
And finally, it ensures your comfort when styling because this dryer works quietly with a handle that is designed with a soft-feel grip.
Top Silent Digital Hair Dryer
What we love about this dryer is that it’s gentle on your wrist. It has a brushless digital motor that’s placed inside the handle, making the dryer lightweight and balanced.
Primary benefits: Decreases frizz and flyaways; prevents overheating; fast drying and controlled styling; for different hair types
Features:
- Digital motor V9
- Intelligent heat control
- Air multiplier technology
- Heat shield technology
Blow-dry thick long hair in as fast as 15 minutes with the best silent hair dryer.
Wattage: 1200W
Settings: 4 heat, 3 speed, cold shot
Material: Plastic
Cord: 9 ft.
Attachments: Styling concentrator, smoothing nozzle, diffuser
After trying out the Dyson hair dryer, we’re now convinced that it’s not just hype. It’s actually an exceptional hair tool.
One of its features is the brushless digital motor V9 that produces high-pressured, high-velocity air. This makes the hair dry fast.
This feature is also what’s responsible for the somewhat high-pitched sound that the dryer makes.
But don’t worry, that sound will only reach up to 79 dB. It’s pretty quiet compared to competing hair dryers.
However, there is some negative feedback from users.
First is that the setting buttons are awkwardly placed on the dryer’s nozzle, which can be an issue when you want to quickly change the heat.
Another is its high price. Some people think it’s absurd and that you can buy other dryers with the same features for a much lower price.
But Dyson lovers vouched that with all the special features that come with this hair dryer, you get what you pay for.
This dryer’s custom-designed fan produces gentle and wide airflow that can dry hair quickly. That feature is the reason T3 Cura Luxe made it to our list of the quietest hair dryers.
Primary benefits: Dries fast with healthy-looking results; can be used for everyday styling; for straight or wavy hair
Features:
- Has a volume booster switch
- Auto pause sensor
- Digitally-controlled heat
- T3 Digital Ionair Technology
True to its tagline, the T3 Cura Luxe is beautiful outside, and powerful inside. You pay for its luxurious design and strong drying power.
Wattage: 1875W
Settings: 5 heat, 2 speed, cold shot
Material: Plastic
Cord: 9 ft.
Attachments: Drying concentrator, styling concentrator, pure stream cap, removable filter
If you want to invest in one of the top quiet hair dryers but don’t want to break the bank, you can get the T3 Cura Luxe.
Like the Dyson Supersonic, T3 Cura Luxe uses digital technology to dry hair in no time.
It also has special features like an auto pause sensor. You’ll just release the handle to pause the dryer’s airflow.
This feature can be disabled and enabled whenever you feel like using it again.
Another one is the volume booster. In just one click, the dryer will produce more air and make your hair voluminous.
What we don’t like about this hair tool is it doesn’t have a diffuser.
It’s also a bit heavy, but the ergonomic handle with an angled design guarantees little to no strain on your wrist.
Top Quiet Blow Dryer with DC Motor
There are many good things about this product, but what really got us was its classy black and rose gold color.
Primary benefits: Lightweight and quiet; protects from extreme heat damage; boosts hydration for frizz-free hair
Features:
- Lightweight DC
- HeatPro technology
- Ceramic tourmaline
- Ion generator
The Trezoro Ionic hair dryer is 2x more powerful yet 3x kinder to your hair. You can make every day a good hair day.
Wattage: 2200W
Settings: 3 heat, 2 speed, cold shot
Material: Ceramic
Cord: 9 ft, with hanger loop
Attachments: 2 concentrator nozzles
Since you’re looking for a quiet hair dryer, we’d like to mention that this one reduces sound by up to 42% and has a low pitch sound.
That will certainly not wake up your neighbors.
As for the features, the Trezoro Ionic hair dryer’s ceramic tourmaline feature has added HeatPro technology for constant temperature and concentrated airflow.
Moreover, its integrated ion generator emits 90% more smoothing ions than other ionic dryers.
This is indeed a powerful yet quiet hair dryer.
We love that we have control when using this product because of its negative ion switch. So if you want to use the dryer without the ionic technology, you can simply turn that feature off.
Primary benefits: Forms a protective film on the hair strand to add shine; preserves moisture in your hair; safe for pregnant women and children
Features:
- Constant temperature heating technology
- Fuse protection
- Low radiation
- Negative ion switch
- ALCL safety plug
Wavytalk aims to make people’s daily styling routine easy and fun and accomplished that with their ionic blow dryer.
Wattage: 1875 W
Settings: 3 heat, 2 speed, cold shot
Material: Ceramic
Cord: 6.5 ft. with hanger loop
Attachments: Concentrator, diffuser, removable back filter cover
A special feature of this dryer worth mentioning is its blue light technology, which is a good scalp treatment because of its anti-inflammatory properties.
It regulates the pH balance of the scalp too.
This hair dryer also comes with fuse protection, which makes the hair dryer automatically shut off when the temperature is too high.
It has a compact and lightweight design, it’s made to last, and it’s so quiet. The Wavytalk meets all your hair dryer needs.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why are hair dryers loud?
Hair dryers are so loud because they’re made that way. It has a bulky motor and fan at the back that create noise when they push air.
What’s more, the airflow coming from the back passes through a narrow vent and is obstructed by heating wires inside the dryer. Those are other reasons for the loud sound.
What is the quietest hair dryer on the market?
The quietest blow dryer on the market is Wavytalk’s, with its less than 50 dB noise level. That’s as quiet as your normal talking voice.
Quiet Hair Dryers for Peaceful Hairstyling
Drying your hair doesn’t need to be deafening. There are many quiet hair dryers that you can choose from to dry and style your hair.
Enjoy styling long and thick hair, wavy or curly hair without waking up the family.