IMHO, as a hair tool reviewer, there's no better time than the present to upgrade your aging stylers. That hairdryer you've had for 15 years? Yeah, it's finally time to let it go. But before you dive into deep hairdryer research and dissect the latest Dyson dupes, let me point you to my current holy grail — the Shark SpeedStyle Pro Flex.
Shark's latest hairdryer landed in Australia a few months ago, as a notable evolution to the existing SpeedStyle. The Pro Flex arrives at the perfect time, as more "intelligent hairdryers" enter the market to help manage scalp health, hair damage, and flyaways.
I saw this trend take shape in April 2024 when I reviewed Dyson's Supersonic Nural, the first-of-its-kind intelligent dryer. It was only a matter of time before Shark got to work, and its entry didn't come a moment too soon.
The Shark SpeedStyle Pro Flex was designed to deliver powerful performance in a compact package, combining powerful airflow and a foldable design. One of its standout features is the new Scalp Shield mode, which helps protect the scalp and new hair growth from heat damage by regulating and measuring the temperature up to 1,000 times per second.
Alongside the new design come new attachments. The new QuickSmooth and Finishing tools both tickled my fancy, which is a major win for someone with stubborn flyaways and baby hairs. And I knew I'd get some serious use out of the diffuser attachment when I wanted to follow my wavy hair routine.
For the past two months, I've put the Shark SpeedStyle ProFlex to the test in my everyday hair styling routine. From speedy drying times to convenient attachments, here's how Shark's latest hairdryer fared.
Quick styling times unlocked
I get it — drying your hair can be a particularly tedious and time-consuming task, and sometimes after a long day it's the last thing anyone wants to do. Personally, I've fallen victim to this many a time; however, the ProFlex has made my hair routine that much faster.
Typically, taking my thick, wavy hair from sopping wet to completely dry with a traditional hair dryer takes anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour. This is largely due to my meticulous sectioning, the length of my hair and overall hair density, as my hair's thickness is pretty deceiving.
Shark claimed the ProFlex has ultrafast drying, with the high-velocity airflow reaching up to 160km/h in under a second. This piqued my interest, as comparatively, Dyson's Supersonic Nural only reaches 95km/h.
There's also the added benefit of Shark’s Scalp Shield Mode, which is activated by holding the temperature button for 2 seconds. This mode is indicated by the temperature button turning blue, and the heat drops lower to a more comfortable level to dry your roots. I liked this mode a lot — that said, I didn't notice much difference in my scalp health over the test period. However, my roots were always super shiny and polished when using the flyaway tool (more on that later), so this mode was effective in a sense.
With four heat settings (cool shot, low, medium and high) and three airflow settings (low, medium and high), I almost always opted for high heat and air and I was consistently rewarded with a quick styling time. Over the course of my test period, drying my hair from completely wet to dry with the highest settings took around 15.21 minutes. This was a big win in my books, especially because I didn't opt for an attachment in most cases and used the dryer on its lonesome.
When using the diffuser attachment, my usual settings were medium heat and medium airflow, as the process usually takes a while and my waves last longer with less heat. Sure enough, the ProFlex cut my drying time almost in half — the whole process being 35 minutes on average, instead of a full hour — and the results were pretty on par with my usual wavy hair days.
Overall, I was pretty obsessed with how fast the Shark SpeedStyle ProFlex handled drying and diffusing my thick hair and I will definitely opt for drying my hair more often.
Seriously slick
My biggest gripe after spending time drying my hair is flyaways. No matter how precise I am, whether I'm sectioning correctly or using a round brush and a concentrator attachment, I'm always left with stray flyaways. That said, the ProFlex's attachment has changed the game.
The Rapid Gloss Finishing tool — a.k.a. the flyaway attachment — uses Coanda airflow technology to help collect and smooth any stray hairs. Coanda airflow is used in several hair tools on the market — including the Shark FlexStyle and Dyson AirWrap Coanda 2x — and is an aerodynamic phenomenon where a fast-moving stream of air naturally clings to a curved or flat surface, rather than moving in a straight line.
Shark's cylindrical attachment uses two streams of air to smooth flyaway strands on dry or straightened hair. When using the attachment, you need to start directly at the scalp and work your way down to the ends.
After styling my hair, it was easy enough to pop on the attachment and start the smoothing process. The results were pretty instantaneous, and it goes without saying, but now after every styling session, I use the flyaway attachment to give my hairstyles more polish, and it's a winner every time.
Final thoughts
I've spent plenty of hands-on time with Shark hair tools and they all do a pretty damn good job at minimising heat damage while maximising frizz-free finishes. That being said, if I had to take one hair tool to a deserted island to use until the end of time, it would be the Shark SpeedStyle ProFlex.
It has all the attachments you'd need for a good hair day and beyond, doesn't skimp out on minimising heat damage and can be folded away for easy storage or use while travelling. That said, it's not an all-in-one styling kit like the FlexStyle or the Shark Glam, but it doesn't need to be.
So if you're looking for a new hairdryer with a few extras thrown in, the Shark SpeedStyle ProFlex is worth considering.
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