A light, high-speed dryer with a 110,000 RPM brushless motor that TechAdvisor gave five stars and TechRadar four. TechRadar dried thick, medium-length hair in just under seven minutes and TechAdvisor cut its usual 10 to 12 minute dry to seven or eight. Both note a short cord, and TechRadar misses a separate cool-shot button and a hanging loop.
Full review
Drying speed in two tests
TechRadar dried damp, thick, medium-length hair on the Laifen Swift's highest setting in just under seven minutes. That is slower than the four and a half minutes it recorded for the Dyson Supersonic on the same hair type, but far quicker than the 12 to 15 minutes of the writer's own Panasonic dryer, and the hair came out smooth with a gentle shine.
TechAdvisor, which gave the Swift five stars and its Editors' Choice, dried below-shoulder-length hair on speed one in seven to eight minutes against its usual ten to twelve. It reports good lift at the roots, no static or frizz, and a result close to a salon volume blow dry without the hair feeling over-dried.
Design and controls
The 110,000 RPM brushless motor sits in the handle, with the intake at the base, and both outlets weigh the dryer at 0.89lb/407g without its cable; TechAdvisor compares that with 560g for a Dyson Supersonic. Attachments snap on magnetically, and TechRadar notes the dust filter cover at the base is magnetic too, for quick cleaning.
A button cycles cool, warm and hot (a long press sets auto-cycle) and a slide switch picks one of two speeds. TechAdvisor liked being able to leave it on cool without holding a button, and the colored ring light that shows the heat setting in the mirror. TechRadar would rather have a dedicated cool-shot button and missed a hanging loop.
Trade-offs
The cord is the shared complaint: TechRadar calls the 1.8m/5.9ft length its biggest design setback, and TechAdvisor says it could be a bit longer. TechRadar also found the dryer quiet, but not as quiet as promised. TechAdvisor notes the standard package includes a single styling nozzle, and the diffuser comes only in the more expensive Swift Special bundle.
Strengths
- +Dried damp, thick, medium-length hair in just under seven minutes on its highest setting in TechRadar's test
- +Cut TechAdvisor's usual 10 to 12 minute dry to seven or eight minutes, with no static or frizz
- +Light at 0.89lb/407g without the cable, per TechRadar and TechAdvisor
- +Magnetic attachments and a magnetic filter cover snap on and off, per TechRadar
- +A colored ring light shows the heat setting, which TechAdvisor found handy in the mirror
Watch-outs
- −Short 1.8m/5.9ft cord, flagged by both TechRadar and TechAdvisor
- −No separate cool-shot button and no hanging loop, per TechRadar
- −TechRadar found it quiet, but not as quiet as promised
- −The standard version includes only one attachment; the three-attachment set costs more, per TechAdvisor
How it compares
TechRadar timed the Dyson Supersonic at four and a half minutes on the same hair the Laifen Swift dried in just under seven, so the Dyson is faster, but TechAdvisor weighed the Swift at 407g against the Supersonic's 560g. Unlike the Conair InfinitiPro 1875W it uses a high-speed brushless motor with magnetic attachments.
Rating sources
Counts as 4.96/5 in our score — this publisher's 21 scores on the site average 4.21, so its scores are adjusted down to compare fairly with other publishers.
Counts as 3.92/5 in our score — this publisher's 195 scores on the site average 4.25, so its scores are adjusted down to compare fairly with other publishers.
Our 4.4 score is the average of these published ratings, each adjusted for how strictly its publisher scores. More about methodology.
