London-based haircare brand Heist has launched a hair dryer that's specifically for men. In fact, according to the email that landed in my inbox this morning, it's the first-ever hair dryer for men. Embarrassingly, I hadn't realized you guys had been drip-drying for all these years, so I will be off to check my female privilege.
Outlandish claims aside, this hair dryer actually looks pretty impressive. The Heist 3.0 has been designed in collaboration with British barbers to be the perfect tool for taming those manly locks, and it has many of the features we'd look for in one of the best hair dryers in general.
There's a powerful 100,000RPM motor, three airflow speeds, and four temperature options (including what looks like a cool shot to set your style) to give you plenty of control over your styling routine, and a generous 3m power cable so you're not tethered too closely to the wall. The streamlined design is also decidedly cool, even with its resemblance to a high-end piece of plumbing.
A mysterious H-Protect System "automatically adjusts to optimal heat settings, ensuring hair protection and promoting scalp health," although I'm not quite clear on how that works in practice. Based on the buttons visible in the images, it looks like your standard manual temperature and airspeed adjust options rather than anything more intelligent than that.
The Heist 3.0 also boasts 'Plasma Coating Technology' to improve hair condition. It sounds novel and exciting, but reading between the lines, it seems to be a manlier-sounding name for the ion technology that's been popular for a long time in 'women's' hair dryers.
Attachments are magnetic and snap on and off, à la the Dyson Supersonic. The standard 3.0 includes a concentrator nozzle, but curly gentlemen will need the Heist 3.0 Pro Styling Kit, which adds a diffuser and metal stand.
If you're wondering about the name, it wasn't chosen just because it sounds hella macho – according to the website, the Heist bit is actually a portmanteau of 'height' and 'style.' For me, this raises more questions than it answers. What does 'height' refer to? Is this a tool for creating Ace Ventura-style, gravity-defying dos, or is it only for tall men? How can it be a 3.0 model and also the 'first-ever'? Is it even possible to create a portmanteau that's already an existing word? We may never know the answers.
The Heist is available to preorder in the UK, for shipping in September. The standard Heist 3.0 is £199 (around $255 / AU$342), which is right on the cusp between mid-range and premium based on the TechRadar price bands. The Pro kit has had a fairly steep markup for just a stand and diffuser, coming in at £267 (which is about $390 / AU$524). It's not cheap, but it is roughly in line with other range-topping hair dryers like the GHD Helios (£179 / $249) and T3 AireLuxe (£180 / $199.99).
