List Price: $250.00
Sale Price: $109.99
Today's Bonus: 56% Off
First of all, there's something wrong with the views of the Amazon reviews of this product. When you look at the product page you see 10 reviews but when you click to see them in their entirety you only see one review, and the stars at the top of the page only reflect that one raving review, when if all of the reviews were averaged together it would not get 5 stars.
Well, my review is not so positive. Let me preface this by saying that I got this dryer from the company to honor my warranty when my beloved old T3 Evolution recently died on me. Since they have recently discontinued the Evolution model (why I don't know as the original one was great) this is the new model that is most like it, and which has effectively replaced the Evolution model completely.
Immediately after getting the Featherweight Luxe I realized that it had far less power and airflow than my old Evolution Enough less to make me thoroughly dissatisfied with the product. It bothered me so much that I went back to the salon where I purchased my original Evolution and found that they still had some in stock, so I bought one to compare it with the Featherweight Luxe. Well, it was a newer model than my original Evolution and although I was also disappointed in it, it still felt slightly more powerful than the Featherweight Luxe. It seems as though T3 reduced the power of newer Evolutions from 2000 to 1600 watts since I bought my original one. The new Featherweight Luxe only has 1600 watts too.
The entire situation puzzled and frustrated me so much that I did some research to compare the wattage listed on the bodies of the dryers (I had written down all the specs on my original Evolution before I sent it back to the company). What I found is that over the years T3 has been gradually reducing the wattage of their Evolution dryers to the point that now they barely function at 1600 watts, down from the original 2000. So don't believe any of the specs you see on any web pages that tell you that the Evolution is 1800 or 2000 watts That's old information. Furthermore, the newer Evolution I purchased from my salon said 1600 watts on the body of the dryer and 2000 watts on the box. I guess they never changed the information on the box (how misleading)! The Featherweight Luxe also said 1600 watts on the body of the dryer.
I also realized one reason the Evolution was better than the new Featherweight Luxe It was made in Korea, while the newer T3 dryers are made in China. The sound of the motor is very different on the Korean versus the Chinese dryers and the air flow on the Korean dryers is better at 1600 watts than the Chinese dryers. Perhaps in addition to lowering the wattage, the company is also using a new inferior motor that doesn't produce as much "torque".
Unless you have pin straight, relatively thin or fine hair the Featherweight Luxe dryer will not meet your needs as well as the older T3s. I don't know why T3 thought it was wise to lower the wattage of their dryers and change the motor when they moved their production to China, but my hunch is that it's all about saving money while still charging a premium price. What else is new? Only I had really come to rely on my dryer to handle my medium-thickness, frizzy, poofy, unruly, wavy hair. And I really expected more from the T3 company. They should know that the very women who would most rely on a dryer to smooth and straighten their hair are the women who need at least 1800 honest watts of power to do the job in any reasonable amount of time. Thanks to the lowered wattage and air flow I am back to flat ironing my hair after drying it because I just can't spend that much time trying to overcome the lack of air to get my hair smooth. That is the whole reason I loved my original Evolution in the first place Because not only did it smooth the hair but it did it in a short amount of time. Not anymore.
Of course, Customer Service at the company acted clueless when I told them all of this but then after a second conversation they did finally admit that the wattage was lowered on newer models, but only after I confronted them with the results of my informal study. Before that of course they were acting as if everything was exactly the same and I'm just one lone lunatic. I did manage to get them to agree to take back the dryer they sent me and send me a "Mane Tamer" flat iron instead. I figure if I'm going to have to iron my hair again, I might as well get a good one.
In the end, you may love this dryer and never know the difference if you've never used the older T3 and your hair is easier to dry. But then again if you have medium to thick, frizzy, wavy to curly hair, and/or if you have used an older T3 and have come to expect a certain amount of air flow, you will most likely hate it.
Click Here For Most Helpful Customer Reviews >>
I purchased my T3 about six-months ago and it has worked perfectly. When I first purchased the hair dryer I thought that it was going to have some unique type of drying mechanism. The box notes that it uses crystals and some other features to provide the user with a special drying experience. However, when you look inside you see what appears to be the same heating coils and design present on almost any other hair dryer. I'm not disputing the marketing claims but the "advanced" technology will not be visually apparent. The other thing that struck me was this is not a super powered dryer. Having paid over $200 I think I expected something no less than a wind tunnel experience when I turned it on. At first it seemed underpowered and I was slightly disappointed. I am still giving this hair dryer five stars due to its other features.Pros:
Well-designed: The dryer features an easy to remove rear cover with a completely detachable screen. I really like this feature as it makes it very easy to clean. On other dryers that feature removable rear covers the screens can not be removed and the plastic outlets usually prevent proper cleaning. On the T3 the screen is flat and easy to clean. An extra screen was also included. The dryer also has two small rubber bumpers affixed to the sides. The bumpers are actually useful because they prevent the dryer and or your walls from being damaged in case of accidental contact.
Quiet: Probably the quietest dryer I have ever owned.
Full heat setting is very hot: This dryer puts out a serious amount of heat which dries hair fast. What it lacks in power it makes up for in heat.
Light: Weighs very little compared to other dryers.
Plenty of settings: Comes with 6 settings. Hi-Med-low Hot-mild-warm (uses symbols)and cool.
Subjective: I was told that my hair looked better after I started using it. (This could be due to plenty of other reasons)
Cons
Very pricey: It is far more expensive than most other dryers.
Will not blow you away: If your expecting a great deal of blowing power based on the price you will be disappointed.
Warranty games: I've read that some people have had warranty issues. I waited to fill out the warranty card before noticing that you needed to have saved the box to get the serial number of the product. Having already disposed of the box I was out of luck this made me a little angry.
Overall impression: Over six-months after purchase despite the cons noted above I am very happy with this hair dryer.
0 comments:
Post a Comment