Best hot air brush 2021: Ghd, Remington, Dyson and more

Best: Overall

After this hot brush went viral on TikTok last year for giving an effortless and bouncy blow-dry, we couldn’t wait to see what all the fuss was about.

At first glance this is hefty oval hot brush in a pink and black colourway looks quite big, but its heat and styling is spot on.

The brush’s power is apparent as soon as you turn it on, with hot air flowing right to the root, thanks to its ionic technology that helps dry, detangle and style your locks. The settings are simple too, with one click to start and a second click for more power. It didn’t get too warm, even on its hotter setting, unlike some of the other models we tried.

It’s heavier though – after blow-drying one side of our hair, we had to stop for a break. However, the grip allows it to sit in your hand with ease, while the extra nozzle, at the end of the brush, means you can hold it in place with your other hand, meaning no burned fingers.

The brush is designed specifically for mid to short hair, but we found it worked great on long hair too. Overall, we loved the fuzz-free and bouncy blow-dry result that we were left with.

Best: Oil-infused brush

One of the latest hot brushes to appear on the market, this straightening model includes ionic jet technology to eliminate frizz – an element that made it stand out.

Light and easy to hold, the hot ceramic bristles detangled our hair after drying, leaving it looking smooth and silky. We loved how we could use it to straighten our hair or to give our layers more volume.

The settings are simple: one button turns it on and you can adjust the temperature settings from 130 to 210C, meaning if you have thicker hair, like us, you can still achieve a great style.

This hot brush is also infused with oils including keratin, argan oil and coconut oil – meaning you’ll be protecting your hair as you heat it so you’re left with shiny tresses.

Every time we used the brush it tamed our frizzy locks and left us with straight, glossy hair.

Best: For speedy styling

One of the most expensive and well-thought-out models on the market, the Dyson airwrap has everything you need – from brushes to barrels and a mini dryer – meaning you can style your hair wavy, curly or give yourself a bouncy blow-dry.

We loved the barrels – four in total that differ in size – which attach easily to the wand and are locked in place straight away. Dyson makes use of the Coanda effect, which encourages the hair to curl around the barrel without you having to tease it there itself (which is pretty impressive if you’ve spent hours previously styling your hair with a curling wand).

The clever way it distributes the hot air means that it creates less damage to the hair – a worry for anyone who’s obsessed with styling. Other attachments include a blow-dry brush, which left our hair feeling volumised, and two straightening brushes.

Despite its size, the hot brush is incredibly light and the barrel model is easy to grip. The heat and power settings are fully adjustable and easy to work, while it also comes with a handy vanity case so the brush heads are easy to store.

It’s a worthy investment if you’re short on time and looking for easy ways to style your hair differently.

Best: Budget buy

You really feel like you’re getting your money’s worth with this hot brush – it’s one of the cheapest models on the market and comes with four different attachments.

A sleek and light product in a black and purple colourway, we loved the smaller attachment for giving our fringe some volume and the bigger, 38mm thermal brush for creating soft waves through the rest of our hair.

The bristles on these two attachments, although soft, did catch our hair as we tried to unravel it, somewhat ruining the style. The most intense heat setting meanwhile, blasted our scalp too much.

The straightening attachment was our favourite – the soft bristles made us feel as though it was taking care of our hair as it straightened it. It helped to eliminate frizz and left us with straight, glossy locks.

A great choice if you’re on a budget and want to achieve different looks, although those who prefer straightening will get the most reliable performance.

Best: For straightening

Another straightening hot brush, the Amika polished perfection works on dry hair, so it’s perfect for when you are in between washes or want to calm down fuzzy or freshly dried locks.

If you’re worried about heat damage, the Amika brush comes with ceramic bristles and nylon cool-tips to evenly heat the hair and reduce the risk of damage. We also liked the digital interface which informed us of the temperature, which goes up to over 200C. The auto-shutoff feature is also handy.

Some air brushes are quite hefty, but this is the size of a normal hairbrush, at just 9in long, while it also has a sturdy grip and is lighter than some of the other models we tested.

We loved how it glided through our hair and, even after the fifth consecutive morning of use, it gave us a frizz-free look. At under £100, it’s one of the cheaper straightening hot brushes on the market.

Best: For volume

The style of this hot brush – oval shaped with short combination bristles – really worked with our hair and it gave us the grip to get to the roots as we blow-dried. Its downfall was its weight – we found we had to give our arms a rest during styling. We could, however, feel the effects of its “moisture lock” feature, where the ceramic-coated barrel transfers micro conditioners onto your locks.

The settings on the airbrush did confuse us – it comes with three heat and two speed settings, but when we changed them, they didn’t seem to affect the speed or heat. We also found that we had to be clever with the way that we held the brush so it didn’t burn our hands.

We did, however, love the results. This machine gave our hair bounce and lots of volume. We also liked the “cool shot”, which you blast all over your hair once you’ve finished styling to keep it in place.

Best: For curling and blow drying

If you’re looking for a tool that curls, blow dries and uses hot air to de-frizz hair, then the air style from Babyliss will do just that. Its range of interchangeable attachments, which are designed for use when hair is 80 per cent dry, includes a paddle and volumising bush along with a curling wand and even a drying nozzle. It’s barrel-like grip sits in the hand well and its three heat settings are easy to use. However, we did find that the highest of the two hot settings was a little too hot for our scalp to handle.

The curling wand was perhaps our favourite tool as it gave us loose beach waves. But, as we had it on the lower setting, we found that it took a while to style the whole head. Despite this, it is possibly the lightest model we tested. The volumising brush is great if you want to achieve the bouncy blow-dry look, and the paddle brush helped us eliminate frizz after getting caught in the rain. It’s a great all-rounder if you’re looking to get a few styles from just one model.

Best: For taming frizz

Haircare lovers went wild for this hot brush last year, when its founder Sharon Rabi showed off its ability to tame her very frizzy locks via a viral video – so we were excited to see if we got the same results.

The classic flat brush is designed quite simply. It’s USP is its patented technology, which means it only ever gets to 185C – which the brand says is the optimal temperature to achieve a straightening effect without damaging the hair. It also claims to be eight times more powerful than a straightening iron because of its shape.

The hot brush heats up in under a minute, with the red flashing light informing you that it’s heating up and a beep and green light letting you know it’s ready to use. It glided through our hair, but there was a bit of tugging when it got to knots – this seems to be one of the problems with the ceramic brushes, as they don’t move with your hair.

However, we love how it gave us a silky mane, straightening our hair and getting rid of any frizz in less than five minutes. The brush also comes in a rose version and a skinnier smaller version that would be great for taking away with you on holiday.

Best: Mid-range price

This attractive-looking hot brush is in the mid-range of prices for this sort of product and is affordable if you’re looking to cut down on blow-dries at the salon.

Easy to use, it has two heat settings and never gets too hot due to its intelligent “sensor protect” technology. Its large gold barrel, which has air outlet holes, also has soft bristles attached to it, while the whole product proved very light.

After you’ve given your hair a quick blow-dry and while the hair is still damp, the air and barrel format first gives your roots some volume and then the rotation buttons style the rest of your tresses.

We loved the lift at the root, but when we came to styling our locks quickly got tangled in the bristles because of the fast rotation speed – we were worried about damaging it. Once we’d got the hang of it, we loved the lift and volume it gave our hair – but we’d love to see the speeds altered so we could feel more in control of our at-home blow-dry.

Best: For easy de-tangling

As a leader in the field when it comes to straightening irons, has ghd also embraced the world of hot brushes?

The classic black brush looks sleek and isn’t too big, making it easy to store, while the non-heated handle means you won’t have to worry about burning yourself. Perfect for dry hair, we loved how it could make frizz vanish in minutes and even straighten our hair after it had been curled.

It never felt too hot either – the ceramic technology, with anti-static ioniser, heats the brush to the optimum 185C styling temperature, so that, unlike with straighteners, it also felt as though we weren’t damaging our hair.

The grip was perfect and the product didn’t slip in our hands, while the bristles combed through our strands with ease, even when we’d woken up with a slightly tangled mop. The product also has a smart sleep mode – meaning if you forget to turn it off, it does so automatically after an hour.

Just like the brand’s straightening irons, the ghd hot brush leaves you with a super sleek, glossy finish and perfectly straight hair.