Dyson Supersonic Nural Hair Dryer

Hair drying has somehow become one of those daily jobs where a perfectly ordinary appliance is expected to manage heat, speed, styling attachments and the occasional frantic search for a hair clip. The Dyson Supersonic Nural leans into this chaos with sensors, rather than pretending our bathrooms are serene salons with unlimited plug sockets and no damp towels on the floor.

Its headline trick is Scalp Protect mode. A Time of Flight sensor measures how close the dryer is to hair and scalp, then automatically reduces heat as it gets nearer. We think that is a properly useful bit of cleverness: an automatic adjustment aimed at a real moment of human inattention, rather than another feature invented to bulk out a box.

The Nural also notices when it has been put down. Pause Detect uses an accelerometer to deactivate the heater and reduce airflow and noise, which seems designed for the familiar mid-style interruption involving a missing brush, an implausibly determined child, or a cat walking directly into the cable.

This is a strong pick for someone who wants a hair dryer that remembers the practical details. It has four heat settings, three airflow speeds, a cold shot, and attachment learning that recalls the last-used settings for a recognised attachment. The compromise is equally grown-up: it is a mains appliance with a 2.62 m cable, and Dyson asks for monthly filter cleaning. Intelligent grooming, sadly, still requires a little maintenance paperwork.