Review: The Shark FlexStyle is the greatest Dyson Airwrap dupe

UPDATE: Nov. 4, 2023, 5:00 a.m. EDT This review has been updated to include the latest pricing tiers of the Shark FlexStyle, as well as information on new attachments for the FlexStyle and Dyson Airwrap.

Revlon One-Step, your reign is over. There’s a new Dyson Airwrap dupe in town, and it’s the greatest we’ve ever seen — the Shark FlexStyle.

You’ve likely seen the FlexStyle on your For You page, and noticed that unlike pretty much every other dupe out there, it actually looks like the Airwrap. It has a wand base and several interchangeable styling heads, including Coanda tech-powered curling barrels — you know, the ones that magically wrap your hair around the barrel without a hitch.

The resemblances aren’t just in its appearance. I’ve throughly tested both products, and at the end of the day, the performance is nearly indistinguishable. If anything, the Shark offers a few new features that make me reach for it more.

Factoring in its $279 starting price point, the Shark goes beyond being a gold-standard dupe. It’s an excellent copy for less than half the price and it outperforms the original.

All of the available Shark FlexStyle configurations

The internet loves a good tear down of anything popular, so I get you’re probably itching to see me hate on the Airwrap. But before we get into any major comparisons, let’s go over what you’re actually getting with the Shark.

Really, it depends on what configuration you pick up. Here’s what’s available:

• Coming in at the cheapest price point is the build-your-own option, which you can get exclusively from Shark’s website. You’ll spend $279.99 to choose any three out of the ten available accessories, including a storage case (the two directional curling barrels count as one attachment). When the FlexStyle first came out, there were only six available attachments to choose from.

• The next configuration will set you back $299.99 from Amazon and Greatest Buy. The first option includes two 1.25-inch curling attachments, the oval brush, the paddle brush, and the styling concentrator. For people with straight or slightly wavy hair, this is a great pick. If you have wavier or curlier hair, the second option includes all of the above, but swaps the paddle brush for a diffuser. If you remember this bundle being a little cheaper at one point, you’re right — this used to be the most affordable version of the FlexStyle, retailing for just $269.99 at the aforementioned retailers. This configuration has always been $300 on Shark’s website.

When the FlexStyle was first released, these were the only two available configurations. These days, they have a few more kits and color options, including:

• The Shark FlexStyle Ultimate Six-Piece Accessory pack, which retails for $319.99 and comes with two 1.25-inch curling barrels, a paddle brush, an oval brush, a styling concentrator, and a diffuser. Basically, it combines the curly and straight hair FlexStyle offerings.

• The Shark FlexStyle FrizzFighter Finishing Tool Limited Edition Gift Set is available for the 2023 holiday season, retailing for $349.99 and bringing with it the latest FrizzFighter attachment (more on that below). It also comes with two 1.25-inch curling barrels, two 0.95-inch curling barrels, the styling concentrator, a storage case, and four alligator clips.

• Finally, Shark has recently introduced three additional color options, including Malibu pink, lilac frost, and copper for the Shark FlexStyle Air Styling & Drying System Limited Edition Ultimate Gift Set, which also retails for $349.99. Attachment-wise, you’ll get the same situation as the six-piece accessory pack (again that’s two 1.25-inch curling barrels, a paddle brush, an oval brush, a styling concentrator, and a diffuser), plus a large storage case that on its own, retails for $49.99. Overall, that saves you $20 if you were to buy the six-piece set and a case separately.

Shark sent me the wavy hair system to test, but also included the paddle brush on the side. The only attachment I didn’t receive was the then newly-released wide-tooth comb, but I don’t have the hair texture to properly test it anyway. Bought separately, each of the individual attachments will run you $29.95.

Still in the testing pipeline is the newest FrizzFighter Finishing Tool (which very much resembles a Dyson Supersonic attachment) and the 0.95-inch Auto-Wrap curlers, which both retail for $29.99 a piece.

Shark also sends along a little booklet of how to use each attachment, with recommendations for the heat and air settings.

Unlike the Airwrap, you can also use the FlexStyle attachment-free, thanks to the base’s ability to swivel and basically replicate the experience of a standard hair dryer. I packed the base by itself for a wedding I was in, and it was way less bulky in my bag than any travel hair dryer has ever been.

The value of the Shark FlexStyle versus the Dyson Airwrap

Now that the comparisons to the Dyson have begun in earnest, let’s get down to what really matters — the price.

As a refresher, the Airwrap will run you $600 for six attachments, including two different sized curling barrels, a smoothing dryer attachment, two smoothing brushes, and a round volumizing brush. Any additional attachments will cost you $40 each, but Dyson does have more options overall.

Breaking it down solely by the number of attachments, that’s roughly $100 per attachment, and I can’t say each one justifies its spot (looking at you, firm smoothing brush and soft smoothing brush).

The non-customizable FlexStyle, on the other hand, comes with four attachments, but as I mentioned above, can function as a dryer sans attachment. Therefore, you have five styling options for $299.99, which breaks down to about $60 per attachment. Even without the built-in drying, you’re still paying about $75 per attachment, putting you way below the Dyson.

If you opt for the cheapest $279.99 FlexStyle, which comes with three attachments of your choosing, you’ll get a little less bang for your buck, at $70 per attachment if you factor in the base as a dryer, and $93.33 if you don’t — still cheaper than the Airwrap.

The discrepancy in cost doesn’t translate to a discrepancy in quality, either. The attachments performed almost identically, down to the curling attachment using Coanda air tech to pick up your hair for you. Both stylers have three heat settings, three fan speeds, and a cool shot button or switch.

The only other edge the Dyson has is its fancy carrying case, which I do prefer for storage over the box the Shark comes in. I just don’t prefer it for $330 more, especially since you can pick up a carrying case from Shark these days for $50 (or get it included, depending on which set you buy).

Attachments breakdown

When I was initially sent my sample of the FlexStyle, I tested it for a few weeks and used each attachment at least once, if not a few times.

I say initially because after I was done testing and in the process of writing this review, Shark informed me that they had wanted to send me a newer sample with an updated ALCI plug that was meant to increase the lifespan and durability of the FlexStyle. The one I had been sent was a pre-release version sent to a limited number of consumers, and a Shark spokesperson reassured me that anyone with the “old” model was sent the updated version.

I say this for the sake of transparency, not because I noticed a difference at all in the FlexStyle’s performance. I retested each attachment with the new sample, again at least once if not multiple times for the same timespan. None of the attachments or the base as a standalone dryer performed differently, and all of the attachments clicked in to the base and stayed locked in without a hitch.

With all of that said, here’s how I found the experience of using each attachment that was sent to me. As I noted earlier in this review, I did not receive the new wide-tooth comb meant for coily and curly hair, nor could I have accurately tested it.

Auto-wrap curlers

When I reviewed the newest version of the Dyson Airwrap, I went on and on about how grateful I was to test the curling attachment that did not require switching barrels and was pretty dramatic about how detrimental that would’ve been to my minimal hair-styling patience.

Then, the FlexStyle arrived and I saw that Shark’s curlers are exactly like of the Airwrap’s first generation, which require you to switch barrels to switch directions of the curls. And you know that? This is one of those moments where I get to exhibit my maturity and admit that I was wrong. It was really not that big of a deal to switch out the curling wands mid-styling.

Don’t get me wrong, it meant that I pretty much stuck to the look of curls going one direction — away from my face — on either side of my head. However, what I realized with these curlers, and with hot air styled curls in general, is that on my hair, they look the greatest and frustrate me the least when I lean in to a more very loosely curled blown-out look. The more structured curl look that I can easily achieve with a curling wand simply does not last when using a hot air styler. (Allegedly, there are ways to get hot air styled curls to last, but they’ve never worked for me, and are frankly far too time consuming to be worth it.)

All this to say, I don’t think switch the direction of the curls makes that big a difference when you’re going for the loose curl look to add just a bit of dimension and volume. Plus, my loose curl method took less time and let me style on dry hair, which made me way more likely to reach for these attachments.

OK, last thing on the curlers and then we can move on — they don’t have a longer barrel version meant for longer hair, like those I tested with the Airwrap. Considering the ends of my hair are closer to the bottom of my back than my shoulders, I anticipated it might pose a problem, but once again, Shark proved me wrong. Sure, the hair wrapped around itself more, but I really didn’t find myself having to adjust section sizes. The wand was just at successful at grabbing my hair, and the style lasted for the same amount of time.

Styling concentrator

While I can’t say using the concentrator gave a vastly difference experience from the sans-attachment dry, it did get a lot of moisture out of my hair in under 15 minutes. I still had some frizz, but I rough dried my hair, so that was to be expected. While it’s probably the most redundant attachment since you don’t need it to rough dry your hair, I could see a more directed air flow having a time and place, especially if you pair it with a brush. It does score points for being super tiny and easy to store or pack.

Oval brush

My official tier ranking of hot air oval brushes I’ve tried is as follows: the Revlon One-Step, the second generation Airwrap, and then the Shark FlexStyle. It’s not that the FlexStyler’s brush was bad — I actually really liked the way my hair came out, and I’m usually not a huge fan of my hair without some defined waves or curls in it. I also liked that the barrel was larger than that of the Airwrap, as it felt like I could get more volume and movement in my hair.

What got me was the way it felt using this attachment with the swivel part of the base. Working with a round brush to style your hair requires a decent bit of tension, and I could see and feel the base on the Shark moving ever so slightly. It was never enough to cause concern, but it was noticeable. Still, I really can’t complain that much. Working in sections from 80 percent dry hair, it only took me about 25 minutes to fully style my hair, and I loved the results.

Paddle brush

This was my personal least favorite attachment, mostly because again, not so much a fan of my hair straight. If you’re not really looking for a ton of volume, and want smooth sleek hair more than anything else, the paddle brush will be your greatest friend.

It was super easy to use, and didn’t yank or tug, which especially impressed me because I have perpetually knotty hair. I started from about 80 percent dry hair, though some sections were more damp than others, and was able to get perfectly straight and dry hair in 10 minutes.

Curl defining diffuser

My wavy hair and I were stoked to be sent a diffuser, and the Shark one did a great job.

Typically, I’ll use a diffuser to give an overall dry to my hair, then pixie diffuse — a technique where you let small sections of hair fall into the bowl of the diffuser, scrunch upward, and hold it into place for 15 to 30 seconds.

I’m currently in the process of testing the [Airwrap’s] new diffuser and how it compares to Shark’s. The lack of a Dyson diffuser was one of the factors that made it easy to declare the FlexStyle the superior hair tool, so we’ll have to wait and see if Shark’s diffuser holds up, and really and truly outdupes Dyson.

I’m not super precise, and I usually only go for whatever percent dry hides that fact that I washed my hair just before I went out in public in the middle of the afternoon. Though my process can lean on the haphazard side, I loved how much control this diffuser gave me in styling my hair. I could adjust the prongs to be long (Shark recommends this for roots/longer hair) or short (for shorter hair or ends). The long prongs make grabbing sections and actually holding it for pixie diffusing so simple.

Having that control not only made the process of styling more pleasant, but I think it actually gave me better results. For a fun, very un-scientific experiment, on one test I dried half my hair with the FlexStyle and the other half with my standard blow dryer and diffuser combo (a BabylissPro Nano Titanium and its matching diffuser). When I used the Shark, I had less trouble keeping sections in the bowl of the diffuser, which led to more defined waves. I noticed the longer prongs when getting into my root to dry with some lift. Most of all, I liked I could do the overall dry in dryer mode and then switch to wand mode for pixie diffusing.

The timing was about the same, and again the results weren’t that different, but it made me, a devout air dryee, actually want to pull out a blow dryer more.

For a long time, the mere existence of a diffuser gave Shark a huge edge over Dyson — but those days are over. In fall 2023, Dyson released its Airwrap for curly and coily hair, which included a much-awaited diffuser attachment. At the time of writing, Dyson doesn’t sell the attachment separately, but according to a spokesperson, it will be available on its own this fall for $39.99.

I’m currently in the process of testing the new diffuser and how it compares to Shark’s. The lack of a Dyson diffuser was one of the factors that made it easy to declare the FlexStyle the superior hair tool, so we’ll have to wait and see if Shark’s diffuser holds up, and really and truly out-dupes Dyson.

More praise for the overall design

The Shark’s base is a bit bigger than the Dyson’s, but honestly both are kind of surprisingly big when you first pull them out of the box. Considering you can twist the Shark, the extra inch and a half or so made sense.

Weight-wise, the Dyson is ever so slightly lighter, with only 24 ounces on Shark’s 24.64 ounces. I could tell a difference when I held both wands in either hand, but when I was styling, I didn’t think twice about it.

One smaller change that Shark made that I especially appreciated was flattening the barrel of the base where the power switch, air, and temperature buttons were located. It made it super easy to hit the cold shot button without looking, or changing the air speed when I was diffusing my hair.

Is the Shark FlexStyle worth it?

Much like the Airwrap, the FlexStyle is not an absolute essential hair styling tool, especially if you already own a blow dryer and some hot tools.

However, if you’re looking to switch to hot air styling to help your hair out for regular styling, the FlexStyle is 100 percent worth it. Admittedly, I am someone who would much rather put more effort into their makeup than hair, but I found myself wanting to style my hair more often with the FlexStyle.

Though it has some minor flaws, at $280, those are much easier to look past than those of the Airwrap. Between the FlexStyle and the Airwrap, it’s hard for me to imagine a reason why you’d opt for the latter unless you’re into big purchases for the sake of big purchases, or if you’re especially loyal to Dyson. But if neither of those apply to you, then there’s a better vacuum company making hair tech to throw a significantly smaller amount of your money behind.