Our review of the Amika Mighty Mini Dryer - AKA one of the smallest hair dryers around

If you’ve ever been without a hair dryer and hated the results, you may have vowed never to be without one away from home again. That may even have tipped you into deciding to purchase a travel hair dryer – a nice segue into this ​​Amika Mighty Mini Dryer review. If you know anything about this tool, even if it’s just the name, I’m sure you want to know if it’s mighty both by name and by nature.

There are now quite a few contenders for the best travel dryer on the UK market and, as a beauty editor who tests and reviews hair tools for a living, I’ve given most of them a whirl at some point during my career. Measuring roughly 15cm by 13cm, Amika’s certainly leans into being travel-friendly.

As this brand has a reputation for making decent styling tools – the Amika Blow Dryer Brush, for example, fared well in our rigorous testing process in line with its price – it’s set up to be a decent hairstyling tool. So how does the Mighty Mini Dryer fare? Here’s our contributing beauty editor’s full analysis.

Our contributing beauty editor’s full Amika Mighty Mini Dryer review

Our first impressions of the Amika Mighty Mini Dryer

This isn’t the first time I’ve used Amika’s travel dryer, but I remember my first impressions well. Now, don’t get me wrong, given this tool’s purpose, I knew it would be small. Given that they’re designed for chucking in a bag and taking away with you, their purpose is to both save you space without compromising too significantly on power and results (in the way that, let’s be honest, 9/10 hotel room hair dryers do). But I have to say the first thing that struck me – dare I say shocked me, even – was the Mighty Mini Dryer’s size. This is truly a miniature hair dryer, not much bigger than my handspan.

You’re also met with a very bright and funky design when you first open the Amika Mighty Mini Dryer. If you prefer colour schemes that are a bit more low-key, it may not be for you; both the tool and its case are adorned with a predominantly orange kaleidoscopic pattern. Along with the dryer, inside this case, you’ll also find two pint-sized attachments: a concentrator nozzle and a tiny diffuser. If you regularly use one of the best diffusers for curly hair when you dry yours, the latter is very small and finding a universal, regular-sized diffuser may be a better bet. But it’s better than nothing when your primary goal is saving space.

How well does the Amika Mighty Mini Dryer perform?

As a rule, it’s important to manage expectations of travel hair dryers. Some of them claim to be just as good as their regular counterparts, and though they can be decent enough, I’m yet to find one that truly holds a candle full-sized wonders like the Dyson Supersonic, the mdlondon BLOW Hair Dryer, or the Drybar Buttercup Dryer, to name just a few. That said, I didn’t expect the Amika Mighty Mini Dryer to rev up quite as much as it did. The airflow emitted from its teeny nozzle didn’t blow me away on the highest of its two settings, but it did still seem surprising for the mini tool.

In the context of testing hair dryers, it’s important to point out that I rarely use a hair dryer alone to style it. My blow drying skills with a separate brush aren’t great – that’s why hairdressers are trained professionals – and rough-drying curly hair like mine is a direct route to a lack of definition and excess frizz. In other words, a visual before and after won’t help too much in illustrating this hair dryer’s capabilities because I’d always follow with something like the best hair straighteners to get my desired finished style. But what I can tell you is that I was pleasantly surprised by how quickly the Mighty Mini Dryer dried my hair in line with its size; it’s up to the task of getting the job done in a reasonable amount of time.

How does the Amika Mighty Mini Dryer compare?

Few travel hair dryers can compete with Amika’s in terms of compactness – certainly none that I’ve tested, and I’ve tried most of the travel models on the UK market. If I’m being picky, a foldable handle might have been a nice addition, but because of its smaller size it’s not something you feel is lacking when using and storing the Mighty Mini Dryer. However, there isn't a cool shot which does feel lacking for when you want to set your style.

This dryer's power is impressive, again given the very small size, though it understandably won’t compare to many of the full-sized best hair dryers; you know you’re using a travel dryer. Models from ghd and Bellissima pack a little bit more of a punch, while it’s on par with Drybar’s in terms of wattage. But these alternatives are around £30–£50 more expensive than Amika’s, as well as taking up more space in any weekend bag.

Should you buy the Amika Mighty Mini Dryer?

At the risk of repeating myself, the main reason to buy the Amika Mighty Mini Dryer is its size. Yes, it’s slightly less powerful than your ghd or Bellissima models, while that smaller size means that proper blow-dried styles may take a little while. But if you simply want to dry your hair before styling it with straighteners, for example, it gets the job done impressively well for such a miniature tool. There’s even room in the case to stash a couple of travel minis like your best heat protection spray, so if you’re only working with a budget of £50, this ticks that travel hair dryer box nicely.