I tried the Wahl Vanquish Hair Dryer and it's as powerful as it is portable

Confession time: when it comes to drying my hair, I’ll either use a towel or when I’m feeling brave, I’ll pinch my girlfriend’s hair dryer after she’s left for work. Plainly, this isn’t the best setup. So when the offer to review the new Wahl Vanquish landed in my inbox, I jumped at the opportunity.

Firstly, yes, it has a very cool name. Shared with an Aston Martin no less. But what really caught my eye was how compact the Wahl is, and how it’s aimed at professional hairdressers and us regular folk alike. Being a sucker for buying products with capabilities far beyond anything I’ll ever need, my interest was piqued.

I was also drawn to the sleek black colour scheme (it’s also available in rose gold), the compact design, the promise of high performance, and how the three included attachments snap into place magnetically.

Wahl Vanquish review: Price and availability

Both colour options of the Vanquish are available now at Wahl and carry a retail price of £149.99, although at the time of writing, the black model has been reduced on Wahl’s own website by a third, to just £99.99. I imagine there are some buyers who would pay the extra to get the rose gold colour, but falling below the £100 barrier makes the black version feel like great value.

The corded hair dryer comes with three attachments to help create straight, bouncy or curly hair styles. For a hairdryer newbie like me, spending £150 on a hair dryer feels like a big step up from the circa-£30 models available elsewhere, including from Wahl itself.

But considering how dryers from Shark and Dyson can reach £300 or even £400, the Vanquish falls neatly between the two. It majors on high quality and performance in a simple and complex package, instead of aiming to pack in every conceivable feature and becoming a bigger, pricier model.

Wahl Vanquish review: Unboxing

The premium feel of the Vanquish begins the moment you open the box. Lift the magnetically-sealed lid and you’re greeted by the dryer itself and all three of its magnetic attachments. Each component is separated by a sheet of card that not only labels them all, but also points out all of the dryer’s controls, functions and specification.

Since I’m not an expert, I liked how the packaging told me everything I needed to know, and was thus able to dodge the included operating manual. That said, a quick flick through there later revealed the dryer’s self-cleaning function, and how to use it. More on that in a moment.

Wahl Vanquish review: Design and features

The Vanquish is a hair dryer that prides itself on compact simplicity, while still offering a premium feel and powerful performance. As such, this really is a small and light hair dryer. It weighs 340 grams and measures approximately 18 x 18 cm, not including the hanging loop and flexible end of the 3m power cable.

The chrome buttons are all nicely located, with the power switch on the back below your thumb, buttons for temperature and fan speed control on the side, and a button for cool air on the front of the handle, beneath your index finger.

However, this button layout is clearly intended for right-handed people, as the fan speed and temperature buttons are not as easily accessible when held in your left hand. Other manufacturers get around this by placing the buttons symmetrically on the front of the handle.

There’s a simple digital display on the side to show fan speed and temperature (each has three levels), and a blue snowflake appears when you press and hold the cool air button. It’s all very intuitive, apart from the self-cleaning mode, which is activated by pressing and holding the cool air button when the Vanquish is switched off but plugged in. This throws the motor into reverse and fires it up to maximum thrust for several seconds, before shutting down.

The motor of this 1,600-watt hair dryer spins at up to 101,000 rpm and I used an app on my phone to record its loudness of between 80 and 88 decibels, depending on the fan speed setting. This is broadly on par with similar models, including my girlfriend’s Shark FlexStyle, but the Vanquish often seems less loud because of how the sound of its Smoothtone motor is of a higher frequency.

Wahl Vanquish review: Performance

The Vanquish packs a surprising amount of power for both its price and size. It’s nice and light, so those with longer hair and more complex styles are less likely to suffer wrist fatigue, while the compact handle makes it easy to grip.

It gets hot very quickly, reaching maximum temperature in about five seconds, and the cool air function drops the temperature in about the same amount of time. A handy memory function means it’ll switch back with the same temperature and fan speed settings that you used last time. I liked how easy the magnetic attachments are to fit and remove, and how they can be rotated to any angle if that makes positioning the Vanquish easier.

I’ve used the Wahl Vanquish for a few weeks now, and while I don’t have the most complex of hair demands – I’m a man with short hair, afterall – I found it really satisfying to use. Although it can get quite thick, my short hair dries very quickly, so the more powerful heat and fan settings of the Vanquish felt like overkill. My hair would dry in an instant, but unless I was quick with the comb or careful to precisely control the Vanquish’s airflow, my hair would dry a complete mess.

If you also have short hair, it’s best to keep the fan speed low, avoid the hottest setting, and either dry from a distance with plenty of movement, or carefully use either the 72mm or 100 mm nozzle attachment to direct your hair in the direction you want to style it. Once you’ve discovered what works best for you and your do, even drying shower-fresh hair takes no time at all. The Vanquish has an ionic generator which aims to remove static from your hair and lock in natural moisture. Users with longer hair than mine are more likely to benefit from this.

Lastly, I discovered the self-cleaning function after a flick through the instruction manual. Activated with a long press of the cool button when the Vanquish is plugged in but switched off, self-cleaning mode sucks hair and anything else collected in the dryer towards the rear. It lasts about 10 seconds, then you can remove the rear cap and clean out any debris that has formed on the fine metal filter.

Wahl Vanquish review: Verdict

The Wahl Vanquish is a powerful and premium yet compact hair dryer with excellent performance. It’s very easy to use, heats up (and cools down) quickly, weighs very little and feels like good value. The magnetic attachments work well, the digital display gives you all the information you need, and the self-cleaning function is welcome.

Spending three figures on a hair dryer won’t be for everyone, especially when there are other options for a third or even a quarter of the price. But the premium hardware of the Vanquish, along with its quiet but powerful motor, shine through – especially when Wahl itself cuts the price of the black version to £99.99, as it has at the time of writing.

If you’re looking to upgrade to a more premium hair dryer, but want it to be light, compact and very easy to use, the Wahl Vanquish is a fantastic option. It's even got a cool name.

Wahl Vanquish review: Alternatives to consider

We've reviewed quite a few top-notch hair dryers recently. Options we recommend include the Revamp Radiance X Shine – which we also awarded five stars, owing to its performance and design – and the Revamp ProGloss Hydro Shield X Shine, which we gave four stars.