We see tons of cool home tech being released each year – coffee machines that deliver perfect drinks at the push of a single button, robot vacuums that can do a better cleanup job than you can, and so on. But this year, the product that impressed us the most was a hair dryer – the Dyson Supersonic Nural, to be precise – the newly crowned winner of the Home Tech of the Year prize at the TechRadar Choice Awards 2024.
This is the follow-up to the original Supersonic, which seriously shook up the haircare market when it hit shelves in 2016. One key reason for its popularity was the streamlined shape, doing away with the chunky barrel, putting most of the weight in the handle, and thus making it much easier to wield. In a market that was, at that point, pretty stagnant, that was a game-changer.
Dyson could have gone with iterative improvements in its next-gen version, but instead, it decided to shake things up again by throwing a whole load of tech at it. One key takeaway from my time as TechRadar's Homes Editor is that tech for the sake of tech is not a good thing (I, personally, do not need app control for my microwave). But here, it's not just for the sake of it.
These are improvements that all address niggles and annoyances that, so far, we've just put up with. None of them are essential, but they sure made my styling routine smoother than ever when I tested this dryer out for my Dyson Supersonic Nural review.
For instance, this hair dryer knows when you've put it down and will drop into low-power mode after a second or so in response. That means you don't have to fuss about switching it on and off when you want to take a pause in styling to grab a comb or some heat-protect spray, and it's immediately ready to go as soon as you pick it up. That's a feature that none of the other entries in our best hair dryer ranking can offer.
Sensors, sensors everywhere
The attachments also have sensors, so the Supersonic Nural will remember which settings you like to use with each, and there's no need for manual adjustment every time you snap a different one on. This is doubly useful because the attachments here go way beyond the basic diffuser-and-concentrator combo. You've got a wide range, considering different hair lengths and types, too. These transform the Nural from 'just a hairdryer' into a tool that can compete with some of today's best multi-stylers.
I love both of these things, but neither is the headline feature. That is the 'Scalp Protect Mode'. These days, people are increasingly aware of the damage that regular heat styling will do to your hair in the long run. Dyson has come up with a solution you won't find anywhere else on the market: the Nural can adjust how hot or cold the airflow is based on how far it is from your head to maintain what feels like a constant temperature on your scalp.
That means you can get up close to your head for precision styling without burning your locks. The inside of the barrel will also glow blue through to orange as the temperature adjusts (okay, this bit isn't strictly necessary, but it is cool). During my testing time with the Nural, I found myself using Scalp Protect mode automatically, finding there was no real compromise in drying times.
Such an advanced dryer will be overkill for many, and the sky-high cost – at list price, $499.99 / £399.99 / AU$749 – will put others off too, but this kind of innovation can only be a good thing for the wider market. (I've covered why I think the Nural's price tag is fine, actually, in a separate article, so I won't get into it too much here.)
It's difficult to innovate meaningfully in the home appliances marketplace and even more so to introduce improvements that are genuinely useful, but Dyson has knocked it out of the park with the Supersonic Nural. It is a worthy winner of our Home Tech of the Year award 2024.
