I tested the Dyson Supersonic r hairdryer earlier this year and was amazed by how quickly yet gently it dried my thick mane. So, when I found out that the new Dyson Airwrap Co-anda2x, £580, uses a new re-engineered motor, Hyperdymium 2, which is more powerful that the one found in the Supersonic r, I couldn’t wait to see if it’s the tool I’ve been waiting for to curl and style my unruly hair, as well as drying it…
The Dyson Airwrap Co-anda2x is a true multi-styler, which uses heated air rather than direct heat to style hair, designed as a 6-in-1 tool to dry (as a premium hairdryer), curl, wave, straighten, smooth and volumise hair. Dyson promises it does all of this without heat damage – a claim that I believe to be true from my testing. The Hyperdymium 2 motor at its heart, spins at 150,000rpm or nine times faster than a Formula 1 car engine and delivers twice the air pressure as that of the Airwrap i.d., which launched last year, to wrap hair for curls and create sleek styles too.
Available as in Straight+Wavy and Curly+Coily sets when buying an Airwrap2x in the UK, both come with six attachments in a beautiful Dyson-designed presentation case, something you won’t want to hide away! The Straight+Wavy set I tested comes with a 30mm Co-anda curling barrel, 40mm Co-anda curling barrel, Anti-snag loop brush, Round volumising brush, AirSmooth attachment and Fast dryer. The Curly + Coily set comes with a 40mm Co-anda curling barrel, 40mm Co-anda curling barrel, Anti-snag loop brush, Tension comb, Wave+Curl diffuser and Fast dryer.
Seriously smart sensor tech
New Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID) enabled attachments mean that when you add your chosen tool to the multi-styler, adjustments will automatically be made to the settings, which makes using it faff-free. Good hair life becomes easier still when you connect the hair tool to the MyDyson app, where you can set your own hair profile that then allows the creation of a curling sequence tailored to your hair. The sequence it created for my hair – adjusting heat and airflow to wrap, set and release curls – based on the info I provided, provided outstanding results and I still had curls at the end of the second day after use.
A true multi-styler
There’s a good number of hair tools in my arsenal that I would happily replace with the Dyson Airwrap Co-anda2x – I’ll work my way through using each attachment.
First up, the Fast dryer attachment – I test a lot of hairdryers and think this does a fantastic job as a standalone dryer – you wouldn’t need another. With its high velocity airflow, it works to simply dry your hair quickly, without heat damage, leaving it feeling very soft. For all other styles, you’ll be using it to take your hair to 80% dry, which is the optimum state to then use one of the other attachments to style.
Assuming you don’t already own a Dyson Airstrait (which although a different product entirely would be my choice for those who only want to wear their hair straight) and you’re in the market for smoother, straighter hair, I’m pretty sure you’ll love the AirSmooth finishing attachment. You use it by passing your hair between the two contact bars (which aren’t heated) while two jets of high velocity air are used to straighten hair and reduce volume. When you complete a tress pass, the arms automatically, and reliably, unclamp and release your hair. What impressed me most about this styling option was the lack of frizz, which in turn made me feel like I didn’t need to get my straighteners out to feel a little more put together – saving me time and saving my hair from heat damage.
I absolutely loved using the Round volumising brush to style my hair for – I found it quick and easy to create a voluminous bouncy blowout with a nice amount of root lift and found myself reaching for this one a lot during testing. The curly and wavy set also comes with an Anti-snag loop brush that has lopped bristles that reduce snagging and are comfortable on the scalp. For my hair, the Round volumising brush works better, but if you’ve got a neat hair style that requires a lot of control at the root this would be the one for you.
Magic Co-anda2x curls
The Co-anda2x is the fourth incarnation of the Airwrap and the main USP has always been its ability to seemingly magically create waves and curls using only air. Rather than having to manually wrap your hair, as with a traditional heated curler, with the Co-anda2x, you press the power button to start a curl section and, as if by magic, draws the section of hair you’ve taken onto the barrel and wraps it itself, releasing it when it’s done. It’s Dyson’s own magic wand!
I tested both the 30mm and 40mm curling barrels and while they don’t look much different, I found they provided very different results. The 40mm barrel gave me nice loose curls / defined waves and the 30mm gave me very voluminous curls – I liked both looks equally. I really rate that the Co-anda2x allows you to easily, with just a twist of the dial on top, to change the direction of the curl, so you can create a natural looking style, rather than looking like an escapee from a period drama.
I have a massive amount of hair on my head and the process of drying to eighty percent dry and then using one of the curling barrels to create curls of waves has taken me about half an hour, which I think is pretty good – less time than it takes me with a traditional curling wand and without that horrible singed hair smell and no risk of pesky finger burns either.
For me, the best bit about the curls is that they last. I curled my hair in the morning and it looked pretty much the same in the evening. The next day it had dropped slightly but still looked good enough not to re-do it – result!
Is the Dyson Airwrap Co-anda2x worth £580?
As with all Dyson hair tech, with the verging on eye-watering price-point is offset not only by seriously impressive tech which provides seriously impressive hair styling, but also the build quality of the product. The whole thing looks and feels luxurious and smaller and lighter than the Airwrap i.d., it’s comfortable to hold and easy to manoeuvre around your head.
I think that the average woman could ditch their usual hairdryer, hair curler, heated brush and potentially hair straighteners too (unless polka straight locks are your thing), in favour of the Dyson Airwrap Co-anda2. There’s no denying £580 is a lot of cash for a hair styler, but the Dyson Supersonic r hairdryer costs £450 and the Co-anda2x has the updated motor and creates a host of different styles including the bounciest curls on the block. If your disposable income allows, I think it’s worth it for the damage-free fast drying, magic curls and voluminous smooth styles. The only thing I don’t like about the Dyson Airwrap Co-anda2x is its name – just not catchy, is it?
