Forget the Dyson Airwrap — this budget hair styler is a fraction of the price and blew me away

Tom's Guide

2 days ago

I have been straightening my hair every single day for as long as I can remember, and I have to make every effort to minimize heat damage. Unless I use straighteners on my hair, I turn into a sort of frizz-ball, so I was intrigued to see whether the Dreame Pocket Neo could tame my mane.
The Pocket Neo is an incredibly affordable air styling tool option when compared to the likes of Dyson and Shark, and there's no skimping on performance for the price. The dryer is lightweight and compact, yet dries hair super fast.
It doesn't take much to understand how to use the curler attachments if you watch a quick tutorial on YouTube or TikTok, but using the dryer without any attachment is slightly tricky as the high power is likely to tangle hair.
You can find out more about how I got on in my full Dreame Pocket Neo review.
Price
$159/£119
Airflow
110,000 RPM / 70m/s / 300 million ions
Cord length
1.5m
Accessories
Curling nozzle, Unfrizz nozzle
Dimensions
1.97 x 5.71 x 7.91 inches
Weight
0.66lbs (excluding power cord)
The Dreame Pocket Neo is available at Amazon U.S. for $159 for the dryer, curling wand, and anti-frizz attachment. In the U.K. the styler is available from the Dreame online store for £119 which includes two curling wants and an anti-frizz attachment. It is available in gold (tested) or gray, with attachments to match the colorway.
Unlike its higher-end counterparts such as the Dyson Airwrap i.d. ($599), the Dreame Pocket Neo won't be breaking the bank. In fact, it is an even more affordable version of the Dreame AirStyle Pro ($399), but with fewer attachments.
The design of the Dreame Pocket Neo is one of convenience and comfort. It measures just 1.97 x 5.71 x 7.91 inches and the body weighs just 0.66 pounds.
Dreame also makes the AirStyle Pro, which looks more like a conventional air styler, but I prefer the pocket as it's a more portable solution, especially since I travel a lot. The premise of the airstyler is similar to that of the Shark FlexStyle ($279), but is, again, a fraction of the price and with fewer attachments.
Included with the Dreame Pocket Neo I tested comes with two curling attachments that direct airflow in opposite directions, and an anti-frizz attachment which directs airflow downwards to smooth flyaways.
This Dreame Pocket Neo is a storage dream. The dryer and all of its attachments fit in a small fabric bag, but it's a tight fit so takes some rejigging. That being said, once you do manage to fit it in the bag, it's so convenient. I've been able to take it away on trips with ease and it takes up barely any space in my baggage.
The hairdryer folds in three different ways. The '7 shape', which looks the most like a regular hair dryer; the '1 shape', which is best for using the curling attachment; and the 'N shape' for foldaway storage.
Included with the hair dryer you get tools for curling and anti-frizz. The version of the dryer I tested has interchangeable curling wands for each direction, but in the version listed on Amazon U.S., you only need one wand for both directions of curling. The curling wands may take a second to get to grips with, but watching a few YouTube videos is the best way to learn the best techniques.
The unfrizz nozzle was also simple to use once I got the hang of it. It is unlike any other tool I have used before. It directs the air towards the floor, basically flattening the hair. This works in the same way as the Dyson flyaway attachment and gave me the same results.
The Dreame Pocket Neo is extremely easy to use and very lightweight. My hair is thick and it can be tiring having to hold the hairdryer up for so long, but I didn't have this issue with the Pocket Neo as it was so fast.
The power cord for the dryer is pretty short, though, at just 1.5 meters, but this is an issue that is also present in the design of the Dyson Airwarp i.d..
Upon first glance at the Dreame Pocket Neo, I thought that there was no way something with this kind of design could be powerful enough to tame my unruly hair, but I was proven wrong very fast. It's small but has one heck of a blast behind it.
When used as a standard hairdryer the Dreame Pocket Neo will blow you away. I literally took a step back the first time I turned it on because: wow. The downside is that the high power makes a lot of noise, with an average reading of 90.2dB on the DecibelX app.
Even when using the dryer on its lowest setting, it was so powerful that it tangled my hair. I thought this could've been an issue with the texture of my hair so tested it out on my friend with straight hair, but the same issue occurred.
That being said, this is the fastest my hair has ever dried. The cited drying time is 40 seconds for short hair, two minutes for medium length hair and three to four minutes for long hair.
It took me about 5 minutes to fully dry my hair. Since my hair is so thick, though, I think I fall into my own category, so I won't hold the additional minute against the Pocket Neo.
The dryer is ionic, like the Dyson Airwrap. This technology utilizes negative ions to break down water molecules on the hair, rather than heat. This lessens the amount of heat damage versus standard dryers that simply evaporate the water. After using the dryer, I have noticed that my hair is softer after styling, especially at the ends of my hair.
I was able to adjust the heat and speed of the dryer to best suit me, depending on the attachments and the style I wanted to achieve. There are 5 heat modes in total which include cool air mode, warm air mode, and hot air mode. These are all pretty standard for most hairdryers and styling tools but what stood out to me was the cycle mode, which regulates temperature by switching between hot and cold.
There is also an instant cold air mode, which I used to cool the curls when using the wand. The switch between modes was super fast. I wasn't left waiting for anything to cool or heat — it was instant.
You have the choice between high speed and low speed. When I was drying, I used low speed because, like I mentioned earlier, my hair tangled easily on the higher setting
I was looking forward to testing the curling attachments and was very impressed. Like everyone else, I have spent more time than I would care to admit on TikTok watching people use air styling tools, so I went into this with a good idea of the method I would use. If you're new to air styling, I would recommend taking to YouTube or TikTok first for ideas.
When I first used the curler, I noticed that the curls were dropping pretty fast and only lasting for about 30 minutes. The next time, I swapped to the cool setting just before releasing the curl as this is advised to set the curls, and is a feature on the Dyson Airwrap too. This cooled my hair down quickly and the curls lasted all day long.
Now, my hair is the definition of frizz. My natural curl pattern is somewhere between a 2C and 3A (defined curls), so I've spent every day since I was 10 battling with a pair of straighteners.
While the Dreame Pocket Neo's anti-frizz attachment alone wasn't enough to tame my mane, when combined with the curling wands I was very impressed. I was left with a lot of volume at the roots, which I wasn't used to, but my friends all told me it looked good.
However, when I tested the anti-frizz attachment on my friend with naturally straight hair, the anti-frizz attachment worked wonders and made her hair appear more glossy than when drying with a normal hair dryer.
Overall I am very impressed by the Dreame Pocket Neo. It's extremely affordable as air stylers go, and its compact and lightweight design make it perfect for anyone who needs a dryer for travel.
It dried my thick curly hair in about five minutes and was very easy to understand, but I think that's because I watch a lot of tutorial videos. If you're not familiar with air styling tools it may take a second to wrap your head around, especially with the curling attachments as you have to direct the air flow the right way.
The Pocket Neo is arguably too powerful, causing my hair to tangle at higher speeds, but using the anti frizz attachment to direct the airflow helped with this. It was also annoying to swap out the curling barrel attachments, although U.S. users will get a 2-in-1 attachment to solve this issue. And in any case, these are only mild annoyances, and definitely wouldn't stop me recommending the Dreame Pocket Neo.