Dyson Airwrap i.d. Multi-Styler and Dryer

What the Coandă effect actually does

Both of the big air stylers are sold on the Coandă effect, the tendency of a fluid jet to stay attached to a nearby surface. It is named after the Romanian inventor Henri Coandă, though Thomas Young described the phenomenon as early as 1800. The mechanism is entrainment: a jet of air drags surrounding air along with it, and when a surface sits close by, the air between jet and surface is depleted faster than it can be replaced. The resulting pressure difference bends the jet onto the surface, and a curved surface renews the effect continuously.

On a styling barrel that means the airflow itself catches the ends of your hair and wraps them round, rather than you clamping a section between hot plates. The curl then sets as the hair dries in that shape. That is the part worth understanding before you buy, because it explains the two situations where an air styler disappoints and neither is a fault: hair that is still soaking is too heavy for the airflow to lift and wrap, and hair that is already bone dry has nothing left to set. The window is damp hair, and it is narrower than the marketing implies.

What the heat ceiling does and does not promise

Dyson states that Intelligent Heat Control measures and regulates the air temperature to keep it below 150 C, and that ceiling is the basis of the no-extreme-heat-damage framing used across the range. For context, conventional tongs and straighteners commonly offer settings of 200 C and above, so the ceiling is a genuine difference rather than a marketing flourish.

Read the claim precisely, though. A lower ceiling caps the worst-case thermal insult; it is not a claim that heat styling becomes consequence-free, and Dyson’s own wording is about extreme heat damage specifically. Repeated styling still stresses hair, and the sensible reading is that this is a lower-temperature tool, not a no-temperature one.

What the i.d. adds over a standard Airwrap

The i.d. is the connected version. Each attachment carries an RFID chip, so the machine recognises which one you have fitted and applies that attachment’s preset heat and airflow instead of leaving you to dial it in. Those presets are adjustable in the MyDyson app and remembered by the machine. The app also holds a hair profile, which drives the i.d. curl sequence: a curling routine recommended for the hair type and style you told it about.

Whether that is worth the premium depends on whether the original’s settings were the thing stopping you. The RFID recognition removes a real learning curve; it does not change the underlying barrel technique, which still takes practice. Kits vary by hair length and type, and attachments are sold separately at Dyson pricing, so compare on the attachment set you will actually use rather than on the headline price.

The maintenance that decides how long it lasts

Air stylers pull air in through a filter at the base, and that filter collects hair and product residue. Dyson supplies a cleaning brush and the machine signals when a clean is due, with at least monthly cleaning advised for regular use. Clean the filter cage rather than the mesh.

This matters more than it sounds. A clogged filter restricts airflow, and a restricted machine can cut out mid-style as it protects itself from overheating. That is a maintenance symptom rather than a fault, and it is the most avoidable reason one of these ends up written off as broken.