You can buy a hair dryer, also called a blow dryer, for $20, but surely a $200 hotshot with high wattage will dry your hair faster, right? Wrong. Despite big differences in price and wattage, drying time for the 10 hairdryer models we tested didn't vary much. Fancy claims were harder to assess. There were "ceramic" and "tourmaline" dryers among the high- and low-rated models. And all the dryers are claimed by manufacturers to be "ionic" (they release charged ions).

As the Ratings (available to subscribers) show, the dryers differed in ease of use, noise, and features. Note to travelers: The only one with a folding handle and dual voltage is the lowest-rated Conair. It was louder than some lawn mowers for which we recommend hearing protection.

Bottom line
All will dry hair in about the same time. The best value is the Revlon Ionic Ceramic Pro Stylist, $20. It lacks some features, but our panelists praised it, and it has a bonus the pricey ones don't: separate heat and speed settings. What do you get for bigger bucks? The CHI, $135, and Bespoke Labs, $200, are quietest. They're also the only ones with an extra lint filter and a cord longer than 100 inches.