6 Dyson Airwrap Dupes That Actually Impressed Us After Hours of Testing

The name says it all: This GH Beauty Award winner creates the ultimate soft, beachy waves and (bonus!) does the work for you. The automated curling barrel twirls your hair around the barrel, taking away the guesswork and sometimes inconsistency of using a regular curling iron.

While it creates curls like a pro, it doesn't have the style options of the Airwrap or some other dupes. It's designed to be used on dry hair, so you need to either air dry or blow dry your hair first. And there is a learning curve (just like many other tools), but once you get it, it's super simple.

What Testers Say: "I can curl all of my hair in less than five minutes with this curling iron—a total gamechanger. It makes getting the perfect waves almost effortless," says GH Senior Beauty & Style Director April Franzino.

RELATED: 10 Ways to Create Beachy Waves

Boasting a zero heat damage claim based on a third-party study, T3's newest tool uses their Aire 360 Technology and extra-long ceramic curling attachments to create bouncy blowouts, waves, and curls.

The biggest difference between this tool and Dyson's is that while Dyson's curling barrels are plastic, T3's are covered in a ceramic coating called CeraGloss. It comes with four attachments: a dryer concentrator, oval brush, and right and left curling barrels, all of which pair easily with the base that (bonus!) contains a smart microchip for digital heat control.

What Testers Say: When using the tool, Butler noticed that the barrel retained a lot of heat "so even when I activated the cool shot, my hair on the barrel still felt very warm." While the ceramic coating may help the barrel get hotter faster, Butler felt it also may diminish the effectiveness of the cool shot.

She suggests holding each section of hair with your hand after you remove the wand, like you would with a curling iron, to help the curl retain its shape. Butler also liked that the barrels are an inch longer than most other tools she tried, "which means you can create looser spiral curls or curl longer hair."

Another more budget-friendly find, Ella Bella's Air Styler kit comes with six different attachments, allowing you to create numerous types of looks and styles easily. It has ceramic coated metal curling barrels that may retain heat more than the plastic ones that Dyson uses, which Butler notes as a main difference between the two, but does utilize the same auto wrap Coanda effect to curl hair.

What Testers Say: "I like that this tool comes with three styling brushes so you have plenty of options," said Butler. "I also really love the case it comes in—it has molded cups and elastic straps for every piece allowing everything to fit perfectly into place so you don’t have to fuss with fitting the pieces back in, which I often do with the Dyson's attachments."

Most Dyson dupes come with left and right barrels to swap when doing different sides of your head. This styler from FHI Heat is the only Dyson dupe that Butler has seen with the same direction-switching barrels as the latest Airwrap. "Instead of having left and right barrels, one barrel can be twisted and curl hair both ways," she explained. It has a super lightweight base and, like the Airwrap, comes with six attachments but at a significantly lower price point. It also includes a lock button, cool shot, four heat settings, and three speed settings.

This tool received the top score for not being heavy and having a gentle diffuser in our Lab testing. Butler loves that it has two different diameters of barrels for different curl size and that it includes a close dupe for the Dyson flyaway attachment.

What Testers Say: "The design of the tool is very luxe, and the attachments click into place so nicely," she said. Her only complaint: "the direction-switching pieces are a bit difficult to turn." Other testers also struggled a bit with the attachments, specifically knowing exactly how to use them.

With nine different attachments (including a volumizing pik, smoothing brush, oval brush, diffuser, concentrator, and four curling iron barrels), Sally Beauty's chic black and rose gold styling set takes the cake for the most customizable tool. Like the Airwrap, it uses coanda-effect technology and has four heat settings and a cool shot button. Plus, the temperature maxes out at 190°F, reducing potential for heat damage.

What Testers Say: The tool was highly rated for its versatility, ease of use, and overall performance. One hundred percent of testers felt that the attachments were easy to swap and that the tool was comfortable and not too heavy to hold while using. "I love that it's capable of so many different things, and it cuts down on additional styling tools," shared one tester. "Every attachment really did their job well: the brush, smoother, curling wands."

One thing testers didn't love: The placement of the fan and temperature buttons. A few noted that it was hard not to press them by accident when styling.