TechRadar Verdict
The T3 Fit is designed to be “super light to use yet super powerful”, and we found it ticked both those boxes in our tests. Comfortable in the hand, it’s 30% smaller and 20% lighter than your standard T3 hair dryer, and arrives with a concentrator nozzle in the box that does a great job of directing air flow. If you’re coming from having used a full-size hair dryer, it may take a while to become accustomed to the smaller design. Nevertheless, we think you’ll be pleased with the air flow, which is great for smoothing tresses, blowing out flicks and setting hair in place.
Pros
- +
Light in the hand
- +
Gentle yet powerful
- +
Ion technology for smooth and shiny results
Cons
- -
Shiny body of the hair dryer can feel a little slippery
- -
Cool shot doesn’t get that cool
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• Original review date: October 2022
• Still T3s foremost compact dryer
• Launch price: $119.99 / £130
• Official price now: $149.99 / £130
Updated: February 2024. The T3 Fit remains the brand's premiere compact hair dryer, though in the US its price did increase a little. Compact hair dryers aren't the most fast-moving sub-section of haircare tech, so it's still one of the best hair dryers you can buy for its size. The rest of this review remains unchanged.
One-minute review
The T3 Fit stands out as one of our best hair dryer favorites as a result of its light and compact design. And, in fact, it’s just one model in a range of stylish hair tools from US-based company, T3. Starting out in 2003 as a “part tech start-up, part beauty venture”, T3 currently sells a wide range of hair gadgets and technologies that have been mindfully designed to enhance your hair-styling experience. Choose from hair dryers, flat irons, curling irons and other useful and coveted styling tools.
The T3 Fit compact hair dryer arrived in February 2021, and while it isn’t the most recent launch, it remains a popular choice for those in the know as a result of its lightweight yet powerful design. T3 has since launched the equally stylish-looking T3 Afar in January 2022, which is even lighter in weight and comes with a stowaway folding handle that makes it perfect for travel. Meanwhile, the T3 AireLuxe is the latest hair dryer from T3, launching back in April 2022; it champions 15 heat and speed settings to make it ideal for every hair type.
The T3 Fit is designed to be 30% smaller and 20% lighter than a full-size T3 hair dryer, while remaining powerful in performance. On board the T3 Fit is all the impressive technology you’d expect from a standard hair dryer. It features IonAir technology for the delivery of a wide, ion-infused airstream for drying hair gently and quickly. Plus, its Ion Generator saturates the airflow with negative ions to achieve a smooth and shiny finish; we noticed just how well this works on frizzy hair. While the control buttons aren’t the smoothest to operate and feel a little clumsy design-wise, we enjoyed using the T3 Fit because of its comfortable handle, quiet operation, balanced airflow and lightweight design. In short, we think it’s best suited to those who want the power of a standard hair dryer in a more compact form.
T3 Fit price and availability
- List price: $119.99 / £130
At the time of writing, T3 hair dryers and styling tools can be bought online in the US and UK, with the T3 Fit model costing US $119.99/£130.
We feel this is a fair price for a hair dryer that delivers all the functionality of a full-size hair dryer, but in a more compact form. Also, in terms of style, T3’s products look and feels premium, with the brand offering all of its best-selling hair dryers at reasonable sub-$221/£200 prices. In comparison, you can expect to pay around $210/£189 for the popular GHD Helios, and from $354/£320 for the Dyson Supersonic.
Price & availability score: 5
T3 Fit design
- Lightweight at 400g
- Compact form makes it great for travel
- Easy-to-navigate controls
The T3 Fit’s design looks and feels luxurious, with the hair dryer arriving neatly presented in a white box. Inside the box you’ll find it sits alongside a single concentrator nozzle, and if you’ve opted to buy it with its compatible diffuser, this will come in a separate box. There’s also a great range of accessories you can choose from in the T3 range, including a smooth paddle brush, clip kit and absorbent luxe turban towel.
We like the streamlined styling of the T3, which is finished in a shiny gloss white with rose gold accents. It’s also available in an attractive graphite finish, should you prefer. While it feels nice to hold and compact in hand, its shiny surface makes it slightly slippery to hold when styling with waxy hands. Unlike some hair dryers whose controls are flush with the handle, the T3 Fit controls jut out slightly. Although this makes it not as streamlined in style as some well-known hair dryers we’ve tried, it does make the T3 Fit easy to control.
The most enticing features of the T3 Fit design are its size and weight, which makes it instantly attractive for those who’d like a hair dryer for taking on their travels, or are simply short on storage space at home. It’s 20% lighter and 30% smaller than the full-size T3 AireLuxe, for example, yet it comes with equally impressive technology to style hair with impressive results.
At 400kg, the T3 Fit proves a great tool for those with long or dense hair that takes time to dry; it will limit any arm ache you might suffer with extended use – something hair stylists will tell you is a big bug bear.
Note that the T3 Fit’s head is shorter and chunkier than the sleeker, full-size T3 AirLuxe hairdryer; in fact, the T3 Fit is surprisingly similar in size to the Dyson Supersonic. However, while it’s lighter than the Dyson Supersonic, which comes in at 660g, the T3 Fit isn’t the lightest hair dryer on the market. For a full-size hair dryer of lighter weight, check out the Parlux Digitalyon Light Air Ionizer.
Setting up the T3 Fit for use was simply a matter of plugging it in and we were good to go. Its long 9ft cord enabled us to move around freely, while the hair dryer’s controls are conveniently positioned on the handle and click securely when pressed, with no possibility of accidentally knocking the settings while in use. The concentrator nozzle proved a little fiddly to attach to the head of the hair dryer at first, but once we’d discovered how it fixes in place, through the alignment of arrows, we were able to interchange between the concentrator nozzle and the diffuser attachment with ease.
Design score: 4.5/5
T3 Fit performance
- Gentle, yet powerful, airstream
- Ion generator to encourage a smooth and shiny finish
- Great for blowouts
The great thing about the T3 Fit is that while it’s small in size, it has all the power and performance you’d expect of a standard-size model. At 1600 watts, and with two speed settings and three heat settings, it has been designed to tackle a range of hair types – from poker straight to hair with Type 4 curl patterns – through delivery of a steady and gentle airstream.
It’s the hair dryer’s Ion Generator that saturates airflow with negative ions to help reduce frizz and encourage shine, while IonAir technology ensures hair is dried at speed yet gently. Having used the T3 Fit, we could definitely feel the benefits of its built-in technology compared to rival brands, which can often feel too fast and too hot.
Using the T3 to dry long, wavy hair that’s prone to frizz with even the slightest hint of outdoor humidity, we were impressed at how quickly it dried the hair – inside five minutes. We felt the benefits of the steady airflow of this hairdryer at both speed settings and on all three heat settings. In fact, even when we used the T3 Fit at its top settings, the hair dryer never became too hot nor did it blast out air too powerfully. The result was smoother hair that was less fluffy in texture than it is when dried with other well-known hair dryers.
We used a large round brush to blow out our hair, too, and liked that it made hair feel thick and weighty, with a good bounce and shine. The results on shorter styles were equally impressive, with the T3 taking under three minutes to completely dry a head of shorter hair.
Note that while the hair dryer didn’t ever become too hot, nor was the cool shot all that cold; we were expecting a much cooler blast of air than it delivered. In addition, we noticed that when the cool shot was pressed, while it did reduce the power and heat of the hairdryer, it took a little longer than we’d like to get cooler.
Thankfully, the T3 Fit is reasonably quiet in operation. We used a decibel meter app to measure noise levels, with it coming in at 85dB on its highest setting and 77dB on its lowest setting. To put this into context, we’ve previously tried far noisier hair dryers that emit around 90dB of noise. Since the T3 Fit doesn’t become too hot nor too loud, it’s a good option for use on children’s hair as well, making it a good buy for all the family.
Performance score: 4.5/5
T3 score card
| Attribute | Notes | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Price and availability | Good value for a beautifully designed hair dryer offering a premium feel and useful heat and speed settings for a range of hair types. | 5/5 |
| Design | Lightweight and compact in size, the T3 feels balanced in the hand and comfortable to use over an extended period. The 9ft professional-length cord makes it easy to move around while you style, while the concentrator nozzle directs the airflow for sleek and stylish results. | 4.5/5 |
| Performance | Surprisingly quiet and delivering a well-balanced airstream with Ion technology to lock in moisture, the T3 Fit was a joy to use. We’d have liked a “cooler” cool shot, but we think the choice of heat and speed settings were ideal for the task in hand. | 4.5/5 |
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- First reviewed: October 2022
