Laifen Mini hair dryer review: On the straight and narrow

Dupes are queen in the beauty industry, from products to tech the smaller players are always aiming to emulate the big names. One look at the Laifen Mini hair dryer brings to mind one of the largest brands in hair styling - Dyson. It isn’t just the hammer-like design however, this budget dryer’s power and styling speed are also up there beside Dyson’s $750 product, but so are its exclusions. Both products cater mostly to straight haired folk, either excluding a diffuser entirely or cutting the attachment off from some of its features. The stakes are lower at the Laifen’s price point, but it is still stuck on the straight and narrow.

I know it is ridiculous to quote Shakespeare in a hair dryer review, but the line “though she be but little, she is fierce” has been running through my head through this whole process. Much like Hermia in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the Laifen Mini has more grit than you’d expect by looking at its 299g build. The smooth airflow directionality coupled with its powerful air pressure took my hair from wet to dry in around one minute per section, which is faster than the Dyson Nural fared during testing.

The button positioning, and LED temperature indicator light made the process smooth as well. Rather than having multiple cycling buttons, the Laifen has a speed toggle, and then a cycling heat button. As you go through the heat settings, an LED ring on the back of the dryer indicates whether it is cold (blue), medium (orange), and high (red). Overall the simplicity of the button positioning made the drying process faster because I wasn’t constantly pressing the wrong button and having to cycle back through both settings.

With the help of a round brush, I was able to blow dry my thick, waist length hair in around 20 minutes on high heat. I credit the sheer airflow power mostly, but not having to rest my arms was another boon. It is easy to feel fatigued using heavy stylers, but the ultra lightweight build got me from wet to dry without needing to shake out my arms and sigh in the mirror. Using all my usual tricks the style turned out lovely, but doesn’t have the same hold as I’ve had with other stylers like the Airwrap, or Cloud Nine’s straighteners. The flicks and volume dropped significantly in the first couple of hours, and by the next day only small remnants of the style persisted.

There are plenty of reasons why the hair might drop, but the relatively low heat is a contributing factor. The Laifen Mini caps out at 85 degrees on the hottest temperature, which is great for hair health, but wasn’t quite enough to give my hair staying power. I’ve had similar experiences with other lower temperature stylers like the Dyson Nural with my 2B hair, so anyone with coarser or curlier hair will likely struggle even more than I did.

This isn’t the only place where curly girls are left behind. The Laifen Mini comes with a concentrator nozzle, used mostly for straightening styles, but doesn’t have a diffuser. While I could see that argument for omitting an attachment the same size (if not bigger) than the dryer itself, it feels like an oversight. A snub even. Dyson’s most advanced dryer the Nural Supersonic had similar issues. Although it comes with an advanced diffuser, a bunch of the dryer’s smart features don’t work with that attachment. Taking inspiration from Dyson’s design wins is one thing, but from their slights is another.

While you can purchase extra attachments like a diffuser for Laifen dryers online, none of these are compatible with the Mini, so it isn’t even an extra cost, it is a total omission. Considering that Laifen is a fast growing brand in the Chinese market - where curly hair is far less common - I can understand why curl attachments are an after though. Still, launching the brand internationally it would have been prudent to cater to a wider demographic.