Dyson announces Supersonic Nural, the first upgrade to its £329 hair dryer in almost a decade

As with the original Supersonic, which marked the vacuum cleaner brand's first foray into haircare when it launched in April 2016, there are three levels of airflow and three heat settings.

But you won’t have to worry about manually adjusting these as frequently as the original Supersonic, which is still available from Dyson with prices starting from £329.

That’s because the hair dryer can now recognise which attachment is connected and adjust the heat and speed of airflow accordingly. Built-in memory will recall the last settings used with that attachment, so you’ll only need to set-up your preferences with attachments once.

The system works via RFID tags built into the attachments, that’s the same system used in keycards or fobs to buzz into a secure building ― so you won’t need to charge your attachments. We saw this system debut with the Supersonic R, an unrecognisable hair dryer from Dyson that's only available for professional stylists to buy, announced earlier this year.

Dyson has also fitted the Supersonic Nural with a Time of Flight (ToF) sensor. This is the same technology built into many smartphones to separate the subject from the background in Portrait Mode-style shots.

It works by firing invisible infrared beams and measuring the time it takes to bounce back, enabling the clever system to calculate distance.

Using this knowledge, Dyson’s new hair dryer will maintain the same 55°C temperature — no matter how far away you’re holding the Supersonic Nural from your head. Dyson engineers say this’ll shield your scalp from excessive heat.

The ToF sensor is housed inside a new bullet-shaped capsule in the circular head. Dyson has also fitted an LED that switches between blue, yellow, orange, and red based on the proximity to your scalp. The visual aid shows in real-time that the further you hold the Supersonic Nural from your scalp, the higher the heat to ensure the temperature reaching your hair remains at exactly 55°C.

People have a tendency to hold hair dryers too close to their scalps especially as arm fatigue sets in, Dyson discovered during its research. This exposes the skin on the top of your head to hotter temperatures than manufacturers intended, since most hair dryers are designed to be held a minimum of eight inches (20cm) away from your scalp.

“From our research into the science of hair, we know that there is a connection between the quality of hair and a healthy scalp," said Shawn Lim, Head of Research for Dyson. "The scalp tissue comprises different layers, with the outermost layer serving as a barrier against external stressors. But when your scalp is damaged, moisture loss can occur, a key factor in our development of the Scalp protect mode feature. This helps to maintain scalp moisture levels and allows for gentle drying."

This new protective mode only works with a few of the five attachments found in the box with the Supersonic Nural, including the Gentle Air attachment, Styling concentrator and Wide-tooth comb.

Speaking about the reworked hair dryer, Sir James Dyson, Chief Engineer at the company, said: “If you’re able to limit heat damage, you can get a healthier scalp; and healthier hair.

"Our new Supersonic Nural has a Time of Flight sensor which recognises your head and reduces the heat as it gets close to your hair, preventing heat damage to both your scalp and your hair. Innovation only comes from investing in research and development. Our obsession to truly understand the root of the problem continues, as we build up some of the most sophisticated hair laboratories in the world."

Finally, the last innovation in the Supersonic Nural compared to its predecessor is a motion-sensing accelerometer. This allows the hair dryer to automatically turn off the heat and minimise the airflow from the motor as soon as you put it down.

Everything kicks back into action as soon as you pick up the Supersonic Nural and start using it again, so there’s no need to constantly fiddle with the settings each time you need to switch between the hair dryer and a brush or clips.

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Alongside the Supersonic Nural, Dyson has announced a slew of new attachments to pair it with, including the Curl + Wave diffuser that can be transformed into a single dome to offer smoother, elongated waves with rounded ends. Clip-in the insert for diffuse mode for more defined and voluminous curls, thanks to the pronged insert to get airflow into your roots.

Dyson Supersonic Nural doesn’t replace the original Supersonic in the line-up, with both hair dryers still available to buy for the foreseeable future. There’s no UK release date confirmed yet, but the Supersonic Nural will launch this year, the British brand has revealed.

It will cost £399.99 (€449.99 in Republic of Ireland) and ship with five attachments in the box. Other standalone accessories will be on offer, Dyson says.

Haircare is a huge area of growth for Dyson, which was founded by British entrepreneur James Dyson in Malmesbury, England in 1991. The company announced a £500,000 investment into the category in late 2022 following the success of the Supersonic and AirWrap.

Last year, Dyson launched the Dyson Airstrait — a wet-to-dry hair straightener that uses airflow instead of heat, and thus avoids heat damage — in Boots and its own stores last month in the UK. Earlier this year, Dyson unveiled a dramatic redesign to the Supersonic for professional hair stylists, dubbed Supersonic R.