James Dyson has turned his hand to hair dryers, applying the lessons learned in Dyson's vacuum cleaners, fans and hand dryers to create a faster, more balanced dryer that stops your luscious locks losing their sheen.
The first difference between the Supersonic and your average hotel hair dryer comes courtesy of its 27 mm (1.06 in) wide V9 motor. As Dyson's lightest and smallest digital motor, the V9 has 13 impeller blades and spins at up to 110,000 rpm but emits only one inaudible frequency – meaning the only noise you should have to contend with is the rush of air. The Supersonic should also be smoother than your average dryer, because it sits on a rubber mount to reduce the amount of sound transferred between the motor and case.
Thanks to the same "air multiplier" technology used in its fans, Dyson says the motor draws in 13 liters of air per second through the base of the handle, but is capable of blasting 41 liters per second at your hair.
According to Dyson, conventional dryers damage your hair by exposing them to extreme temperatures. The Supersonic aims to combat this by using a glass bead thermistor to monitor how hot the air exiting is. It does this 20 times per second, then shares that information with a microprocessor to quickly adjust the heating element.
Despite the impressive technology packed inside, the Supersonic is small compared to some professional-grade dryers, measuring 245 x 78 x 97 mm (9.65 x 3.07 x 3.82 in). It's also light weighing in at 618 g (1.36 lb), or just 18 g (0.04 lb) heavier than the considerably lower-tech GHD Air.
Capable of operating at fast, regular or styling speeds, the dryer can be set to 100, 80, 60 or 28ºC (212, 176, 140 and 82ºF). Stylists can also play with a range of magnetic attachments, all of which have a "double skin" design to make sure the outside stays cool.
It does sound impressive, but is this overkill for a hair dryer?
If you're feeling that way, look away now, because the Supersonic cost Dyson £48,770,436 (US$71 million) to develop over four years . More than 100 engineers were involved, and over 600 prototypes were tested on 1,000 miles (1,609 km) of human hair at Dyson's HQ.
In our eyes at least, that makes it the Bugatti Chiron of the haircare world, especially when you consider its mind (hair?) blowing £299 (US$435) price tag.
Dyson's video explaining the product is below.
Source: Dyson
