Plug by Must52 sells two professional dryers at ProHair.ca and they are not two versions of the same idea. One is built around speed; the other is built around gentleness. Pick the wrong one and you will have bought a very good tool for someone else's hair. This guide separates them properly.
First, who makes them. Plug by Must52 is a Canadian company founded in 2018 and based in Montreal, Quebec, owned 100% by women, and its tools are designed in collaboration with professional hair stylists rather than commissioned off a catalogue. The brand's own framing is that every styling session should give professional-quality results whether you are a stylist or a beauty lover — which is why the ergonomics get as much attention as the motor.
Airstream — the speed one
Airstream Brushless Motor Hair Dryer puts a 110,000 RPM digital brushless motor behind an ionic airflow. A brushless motor is the meaningful part: without carbon brushes there is less friction, less heat and less mass, which is how the body comes in at 336 g (11.8 oz) and under 68 dB while still moving enough air to finish a full blowout in a fraction of the usual time.
The ionic output floods the airflow with negative ions that seal the cuticle as the hair dries — that is what kills the frizz and static a hot-air-only dryer leaves behind.
- Three air speeds, four heat settings and a cool shot on a large LCD screen
- A lock function that holds your setting while you work
- Three magnetic attachments — precision concentrator, smoothing nozzle, diffuser — on and off one-handed
- Auto-clean technology that clears the rear filter so the motor keeps its output
- Nine-foot professional cord
Buy Airstream if: your hair is thick or long and drying it is the reason you go to bed damp; your arm gives out halfway through; you dry every day and want the twenty minutes back; noise matters in your house or your salon.
Airflow — the gentle one
Airflow Infrared Hair Dryer is an 1875-watt AC salon motor paired with infrared heat and tourmaline ions. Infrared behaves differently from convected hot air: it carries gentle heat deep into the hair fibre so the strand dries from the inside out. That shortens drying time, keeps moisture in the hair, and — the part people notice immediately — takes the scalp-burning edge off a professional-strength dryer.
Tourmaline generates the negative ions that shut down frizz and static as you go.
- Two speeds and three heat settings, fine hair through to coarse
- Cool shot to lock the style in place
- Lift-off filter cap for cleaning, so the motor keeps its airflow
- Overheat protection, soft-touch finish, three-metre professional cord with a hanging ring
Buy Airflow if: your scalp is the reason you stop drying early; your hair feels drier after a blow-dry than before it; you are managing heat damage or colour and want the gentlest professional option; you want a full salon motor without the flagship price.
Side by side
| Airstream | Airflow | |
|---|---|---|
| Motor | 110,000 RPM digital brushless | 1875 W AC salon |
| Core technology | Ionic — 50 million negative ions | Infrared + tourmaline ionic |
| Settings | 3 speeds · 4 heats · cool shot · lock | 2 speeds · 3 heats · cool shot |
| Weight / noise | 336 g · under 68 dB | Salon-standard AC weight |
| Attachments | 3 magnetic: concentrator, smoothing nozzle, diffuser | Concentrator; takes a universal diffuser |
| Filter | Auto-clean | Lift-off cap |
| Cord | 9 ft professional | 3 m professional, hanging ring |
| Voltage | 110–125 V only | 110–125 V only |
| Price at ProHair | $353.34 | $180.00 |
Two things to know before you buy either
Neither dryer is dual voltage. Both run on 110–125 V only. If you travel to a 220–240 V country, these are not the dryers to pack — a converter is not a substitute and plugging one in on 240 V will destroy it.
Clean the filter. Airstream's auto-clean technology and Airflow's lift-off cap exist because a blocked rear filter starves the motor of air. A dryer that has "lost power" has almost always just lost its filter to lint.
Curly and wavy hair: add the diffuser
Airstream ships with a magnetic diffuser. On Airflow — or as a spare that folds flat for a kit bag — the Must52 Silicone Retractable Diffuser slips onto most dryers, spreads the airflow instead of concentrating it, and retracts flat when you are done. Spreading the airflow is what keeps a curl pattern intact rather than blowing it into frizz, and what lifts the root for volume.
How to blow-dry either of them properly
- Wash, towel dry, and apply a heat protectant. Every time.
- Divide the hair into small sections and dry each one fully before moving on, starting at the bottom and working upward.
- For curls: fit the diffuser, drop to low or medium heat, start at the ends, scoop large amounts of hair into the bowl and let the curl form. Work slowly up to the root, massaging in circles.
- Finish with the cool shot on each section. This is what sets the style, and it is the step everybody skips.
Frequently asked
Is a brushless motor really worth the difference?
It buys you three things at once that an AC motor cannot deliver together: very high airflow, low weight and low noise, plus a motor life measured in thousands of hours rather than hundreds. Whether that is worth roughly double the price depends on how often you dry your hair — daily users notice it inside a week.
What do ions actually do?
Negative ions help break up water droplets and seal the cuticle as it dries, which reduces static and frizz and leaves the surface smoother. Airstream generates them electronically; Airflow generates them from tourmaline in the airflow path.
Which is better for fine hair?
Either, if you use it correctly — drop the heat and raise the speed so the airflow does the work rather than the temperature. Airstream makes that easier because it has four heat settings and three speeds to combine.
Can I use these every day?
Yes, with a heat protectant and sensible heat settings. Infrared (Airflow) is the gentler technology on the hair fibre and on the scalp if daily drying is your reality.
How long is the warranty?
Warranty terms are set by Plug by Must52; the brand publishes them at plugbymust52.com. Keep your proof of purchase, and clean the filters — lack of maintenance is explicitly excluded.