Expert rating
Benefits
- Powerful
- Calm
- Good price
The inconvenients
- Plastic construction
- Only two warm heat settings
Our Verdict
If you’re looking for a Supersonic style hair dryer, the Fentgo is a good buy. It’s lightweight, powerful enough to dry hair quickly even though it’s cooler than its competitors, and comes with two handy magnetic styling accessories.
Best Prices Today: Fentgo High Speed Hair Dryer
$89.99
If you’ve ever browsed the ranks of Dyson hairdryer dupes on Amazon, you’ll be familiar with the brand names on offer: Faszin, the unfortunately titled HappyGoo, and Fentgo.
They’re familiar-looking devices and competitively priced, but the big question is: are they any good? In this review, we put Fentgo’s high-speed hair dryer to the test.
Design and build
- Quite light at 448g/0.9lbs
- Light ring to see the temperature at a glance
- Comes with two magnetic styling accessories
The design of Fentgo’s hairdryer was obviously inspired (to put it mildly) by Dyson’s Supersonic. It’s shaped like a mallet, with a high-speed (110,000 rpm) brushless motor seamlessly integrated into the handle for a lower center of gravity and a more comfortable grip, and it comes with magnetic attachments.
However, there are some obvious visual differences, such as the fact that the Supersonic has a clear channel through the head of the hair dryer while the Fentgo does not, suggesting that its engineering is less precise and its inner workings are bulkier.
The Fentgo comes in three colors: pink, gray and white, although at this stage only the white model appears to be available in the UK. This is the model I am testing.
It has a pearlescent sheen and rose gold buttons and filter – but keep in mind that while these parts of the Supersonic are steel, the Fentgo is largely plastic and will likely show signs of wear sooner rather than later . Yet even after weeks of use (and after being repeatedly bumped into a wooden floor, which I think was a form of drop testing), it still looked pristine and worked perfectly.
However, it is much lighter than the Supersonic, which weighs around 816g/1.8lbs. The Fentgo hair dryer weighs just 448g/0.9lb without the cord, or 622g/1.37lb with it. This will make a real difference to its ease of use – and make it a better travel companion.
The cord itself is 170cm long, so you won’t have to stand too close to a power outlet when using it.
Emma Rowley / Foundry
The Fentgo’s controls are simple: There’s a slide switch to turn the hair dryer off and put it on low or high speed, and there’s a button to cycle through the three temperature options (cold, warm, hot).
It’s easy to see the temperature thanks to the light ring that glows blue, orange or red on the back of the hair dryer head.
Emma Rowley / Foundry
At the base of the handle is a filter cover that is easily removed for regular cleaning.
Emma Rowley / Foundry
The Fentgo comes with two magnetic accessories: a concentrator tip and a curl diffuser. They’re dark gray, no matter what color hairdryer you buy, and don’t perfectly match the white and pink color scheme of the model I’m reviewing.
Performance and Features
- Ion jets
- Three heat settings
- Quiet use
Fentgo’s hairdryer is comfortable to hold and feels quite light in the hand, although it’s not as light as the MDLondon Blow hairdryer or Revamp’s Enigma Revelation (both only 360g).
Its buttons are where your thumb expects them to be and you can tell the heat setting at a glance – nice design details that make it easy to use.
The manual doesn’t provide this information, but according to Fentgo’s US Amazon page, the hair dryer has three temperature options: 25°C/77°F, 50°C/122°F, and 80°C/176° F degrees, which are indicated in blue, orange or red on the light ring.
However, the coolest setting is the same as the cool setting that most hair dryers offer to set your style. So there are really only two hair drying temperatures.
The Fentgo has the look and power of a luxury hairdryer, for a much more reasonable price
If Fentgo’s claim is correct, that means the maximum temperature is equivalent to the Dyson Supersonic’s medium setting, which is good news for your hair health, as lower heat causes less damage. However, I’m slightly skeptical about it, because if you hold it close to your head at the highest temperature, it feels okay, burning the scalp.
However, it works extremely well. It is a 1600 W hair dryer and it is powerful in use. It dried my hair very quickly – without having to resort to the very hot setting and without worrying about igniting my scalp.
The hair dryer also has a built-in negative ion emitter to help straighten your hair as it dries and prevent frizz. It’s always difficult to determine the effectiveness of these types of features, but my hair felt soft and shiny after use.
The clips are sturdy and attach securely. They’re also effective, with the diffuser helping to create well-defined, bouncy curls.
Finally, it is pleasantly quiet to use. Fentgo says it’s only 59 dB, which is quiet for a hairdryer. As the motor has been optimized for noise reduction, it thankfully lacks the kind of high-pitched whine that would make you decide to store your hairdryer outside a window.
All in all, the Fentgo has the look and power of a luxury hairdryer, for a much more reasonable price.
Pricing and availability
The Fentgo High Speed Hair Dryer is available on Amazon in the US for $89.99, down from $99.99, and on Amazon UK for £89.99, again down from £99.99 . It’s not the cheapest hairdryer on the market, but it’s the cheapest of the luxury models we tested and, if that’s what you’re looking for, it has a lot going for it.
If this model isn’t for you, take a look at our roundup of the best hair dryers we’ve tested for more options at different price points.
Should you buy the Fentgo High Speed Hair Dryer?
There’s a lot to like about the Fentgo, and not much to compromise on. Its quality isn’t as impressive as the Supersonic – but you wouldn’t expect it to be for its price. What it does have is plenty of power, a lightweight and fairly durable build, and a choice of heat settings. And what’s more, it’s comfortably the least expensive of the luxury models we tested.
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