Panasonic Nanoe Hair Dryer review

When it comes to selecting a new hair dryer, the internet is awash with options. You can select from different sizes, heads, and styles—and that’s just the easy stuff. What really sets one hair dryer apart from the next is the technology involved in making it, and that’s what the Panasonic Nanoe Hair Dryer brings to the table.

What is “nanoe” technology?

Every brand has its own proprietary technology to make your hair smoother, less frizzy, and less damaged (Many have even more than one!) For Panasonic, the hot technology right now is “nanoe” tech. Their current lineup is all about drawing moisture from the air and infusing “nano-sized, moisture-rich nanoe™ particles directly into the hair shaft.”

If you’re familiar with haircare tools, you won’t be surprised to find that the nanoe process is based on ion technology. Panasonic says that their nanoe particles contain nearly 1000x more moisture than regular ion particles, which get “infused” into the hair and scalp during the drying process.

What’s in the box of the Panasonic Nanoe?

The Panasonic Nanoe hair dryer contains three attachments in the box. The dryer itself has a fairly standard, circular opening, which the other attachments snap into.

The Quick-Dry Nozzle is a Panasonic exclusive, and it’s very unique. Designed for “quicker, more uniform styling,” this nozzle is made to allow for simultaneous strong and soft airflow. The odd little partitions that it adds to the opening redirect the air in an effort to cut down your drying time.

I honestly didn’t notice a difference in the amount of time that it took me to dry my hair, but the idea behind the nozzle is pretty cool. It’s somewhat similar to the Concentrator Nozzle that’s also included, which is pretty standard. A concentrator nozzle simply flattens out the airflow exiting the dryer, giving you more control during the styling process.

If you usually dry your hair all at once, with the sole purpose of getting it dry, then you don’t really need a concentrator nozzle. However, if you style while you dry, then I absolutely recommend selecting a hair dryer with a nozzle like this one. It makes the airflow very controllable, allowing you to dry only the hair that you’re directing with your brush. When used properly, a concentrator nozzle gives you a more polished blowout. It also cuts down on frizziness and fly-aways, because nothing is being blown in the wrong direction as it dries.

Finally, the Nanoe comes with a standard Diffuser, which is designed to help dry curly or wavy hair. As someone with stick-straight hair, I can’t really recommend this one way or the other, but I can note that the prongs on the Panasonic diffuser are particularly deep.

Panasonic Nanoe features I’m loving

It’s evident by this point in my Panasonic Nanoe review that I don’t really believe in nanoe technology. (It’s also hopefully evident what I think of the “nanoe” name with a certain level of polite derision, but that is neither here nor there.) I don’t need fancy words to sell me a product, and I don’t think most consumers do, either.

What we want is not a hair dryer that bends the laws of chemistry to give us great hair, but rather a hair dryer that feels nice and works well. The Nanoe has a few additional features to help realize those dreams. They’re pretty standard, but because they’re not present in every single hair dryer, they’re still worth noting!

The one thing that I look for first in a hair dryer is always separate temperature and speed modes, which the Panasonic Nanoe does indeed have. It maxes out on 1875 Watts of power, which fuel three temperature settings (hot, warm, and cool) and two-speed settings (high and low). I mostly use this dryer on hot and high, which gets me in and out of the bathroom nice and quickly. When I have more time, however, I’ll go with warm and high, and when it’s late at night, I’ll go with hot and low.

The Panasonic Nanoe has a removable filter that’s really easy to clean and comes with a 360-degree Rotating Cord—my favourite thing ever in hair tools. Rotating cords do such a great job of reducing cord tangles in the bathroom, and they make hot tools significantly easier to use. I also find that, when done well, a rotating cord increases the longevity of your tools by reducing stress points and bends in the cord.

My experiences with the Panasonic Nanoe Hair Dryer

With my fine, thin hair, it’s pretty easy for a dryer to please me—and the Nanoe does. It dries my hair in about the same amount of time as my usual rotation of hair dryers, but it leaves it feeling very soft. That might be attributable to the Nanoe technology, but I personally think it has more to do with my current haircare regimen. (I added a volumizing mist and a hairspray recently, and they’re working really well for me!)

I didn’t love the weight of the Panasonic Nanoe—it’s 20.6 oz—but I do really appreciate that it also comes in a travel size. The Panasonic Nanoe Compact Travel Dryer offers the same technology, backed by 1400 Watts in a 13.1 oz body. The travel size is a little cheaper and lighter, with a foldable body and a Quick-Dry Nozzle that’s secured onto the dryer itself.

Overall, despite liking the Panasonic Nanoe Hair Dryer, I’m not completely enamoured with it. It’s a very good hair dryer that comes in a lovely matte finish, but it feels a little too heavy in my hands. It comes with a powerful motor and a great set of attachments, however, and it’s definitely the kind of dryer that I would happily use—I just wouldn’t get rid of a current one to make space in the bathroom for it! I love its swivel cord, separate controls, and cool shot button.

Shop the Panasonic Nanoe Hair Dryer and other hair tools online at Best Buy.