When it comes to buying a new hair styler, two brands immediately pop up as the best of the best: Dyson and ghd. Dyson began designing haircare in 2012, and completely revolutionised the industry with its Dyson Airwrap. In comparison, ghd was founded in 2001 and quickly became the go-to hair styling manufacturer for use in salons, backstage and homes.
Both Dyson and ghd design and manufacture some of the best hair care products on the market, many of which feature highly in our guides for the best hair dryer and the best hair straighteners. More recently, wet-to-dry hair stylers have become an industry staple, and both brands offer their own versions: the Dyson Airstrait and the ghd Duet Style. But which should you choose?
In this comparison guide, I put the Dyson Airstrait and the ghd Duet Style head to head to find out which one reigns supreme.
Dyson Airstrait vs ghd Duet Style: what is a wet-to-dry styler?
The Dyson Airstrait and the ghd Duet Style are both wet-to-dry stylers, and do precisely what they say on the tin: they take hair from wet to dry while styling your locks at the same time. But as they’re two completely different products from two completely different brands, let’s quickly break down precisely what they do and how they work.
Starting with the Dyson Airstrait, this wet-to-dry styler is one of the most recent hair products from Dyson and was released in 2024. It has a similar design to a pair of hair straighteners and has glass bead thermistors and blade impellers located in the arms. As the plates run through your hair, heated air is projected and generates pressure and airflow to dry, straighten and style your hair. See our Dyson Airstrait review for more details.
In comparison, the ghd Duet Style came out in 2023 and became the first 2-in-1 hot air styler to dry and style hair with just one device. Built on ghd’s popular hot brush technology, the ghd Duet Style also looks like a pair of straighteners and uses four smart temperature plates, a styling chamber and internal aerodynamics to apply hot air to take your hair from wet to dry. See our ghd Duet Style review for more details.
Dyson Airstrait vs ghd Duet Style: design and features
Despite being from separate brands, the Dyson Airstrait and ghd Duet Style have extremely similar designs. Looking and acting similar to hair straighteners, the Dyson Airstrait and ghd Duet Style have two arms that open and close around hair, and where the airflow is projected out of. Both devices also use sensors to adapt to your hair’s needs to keep it protected from the heat.
Where the Dyson Airstrait sets itself apart from the ghd Duet Style is that it can be used as a hair dryer when the arms are closed. By closing the plates and fixing the slider button, the Dyson Airstrait can dry your hair by moving it over and around the head. While it doesn't offer an exceptionally strong dry (you’ll want to look at the Dyson Supersonic for that), this is markedly different from the ghd Duet Style which doesn’t have this option so to dry your hair, you’ll have to run the plates through it to dry it completely.
In terms of controls, the Dyson Airstrait has buttons underneath and in between the arms, including the on/off button, heat and airflow options, and a cool shot. It also has a mini LCD screen which shows you the temperature and airflow details, and will flag if there’s any issues. Compared to the ghd Duet Style, the Dyson Airstrait is a lot slimmer and longer, although it’s a little weighty.
The ghd Duet Style is shorter and chunkier than the Dyson Airstrait, but has a similar weight. The ghd Duet Style has simpler controls which are located on the handle of the device, including the on/off button and a Shine Shot button. Compared to the Dyson Airstrait which immediately starts up, the ghd Duet Style takes a little longer to heat up to your desired temperature.
But the most impressive feature of the ghd Duet Style is its Shine Shot option. When your hair is dry and you want to switch to styling, all you have to do is press the button for two seconds for it to switch from drying mode to styling mode. The Shine Shot is only for use on dry hair, won’t expel any air and will heat up to 185°C, so you can curl, wave and straighten your hair safely.
The Dyson Airstrait comes in signature Dyson colours, including Bright Nickel / Bright Copper and Prussian Blue / Rich Copper. The ghd Duet Style keeps things simpler and is available in black or white.
Dyson Airstrait vs ghd Duet Style: performance
I’ve tried and tested both the Dyson Airstrait and the ghd Duet Style, so I feel like I can confidently compare the two in terms of performance.
With the Dyson Airstrait, it can be used as both a dryer and styler by fixing the plates closed or leaving them open. This is what sets it apart from the ghd Duet Style as the latter doesn’t have this option, although the drying from the Dyson Airstrait could be stronger. I enjoyed using the Dyson Airstrait for straightening and smoothing flyaways, and found it left my hair feeling and looking volumised, silky and healthy. However, I’d only use the Dyson Airstrait for straightening rather than any other styling, because the constant air projection made it harder to achieve other styles.
While the Dyson Airstrait differs from ghd Duet Style with its drying, the ghd Duet Style excels with its styling. If you don’t love the constant contact of your hair with the plates, this might disappoint you as you have to run the ghd Duet Style through your hair to dry it, unlike the Dyson Airstrait. But I didn’t find this to be a problem. What I loved most about the ghd Duet Style was its Shine Shot mode as it turned off the air but kept the heat, allowing for easier styling for curls and waves.
Dyson Airstrait vs ghd Duet Style: price
The Dyson Airstrait is £449.99 and comes with a velvet heat mat. It’s available to buy at Dyson, Boots, Currys, Argos, Very and John Lewis.
The ghd Duet Style is £379 and comes with a heat proof plate guard. It’s available to buy at ghd, Amazon, John Lewis and ASOS.
Dyson Airstrait vs ghd Duet Style: who wins?
Both the Dyson Airstrait and ghd Duet Style have admirable features and qualities, although both seem to falter in similar areas, like weight and ability to get close to hair roots. But if I had to pick a winner, I’d say the ghd Duet Style narrowly wins this race.
The Dyson Airstrait has a more attractive design and offers the ability to dry without having to run your hair through the plates continuously. Its technology is incredibly impressive and the LCD screen is a nice touch, plus you can connect it to the MyDyson app. After testing it, I’d have to say it can only really be used for straightening so as a ‘styler’, it falters in some styling areas like curls.
While the ghd Duet Style might be simpler in looks and controls, it actually offers a lot more in my opinion. Its separate styling mode is great for curling, waving and straightening hair, so the ghd Duet Style comes out on top as the best wet-to-dry styler, and it’s cheaper.
