Revlon One-Step Volumizer Plus 2.0 Review (2026): The $49 Dryer-Brush That Still Wins

The original Revlon One-Step is the rare beauty tool that lives up to viral TikTok hype, and the Plus 2.0 update, released in 2024, fixes the two complaints I had about the original (motor reliability and wrist fatigue). After 8 months and 110 hours of use across three hair types, this is the budget hair-styling tool I recommend more than any other in my entire career.

Why you should trust this review

I’ve been reviewing beauty tools for 7 years, including hot-tools and hair-care devices. Before The Tested Hub, I was a contributor at Allure (2021–2024) and a senior editor at Refinery29 (2018–2021). I’m a NIC certified esthetician and have personally tested over 110 beauty devices, each on a minimum 30-day routine.

For this review, I purchased the Revlon One-Step Volumizer Plus 2.0 at retail in September 2025, Revlon did not provide a sample. As with all my hair-tool reviews, I tested across three hair types: my own type 2B medium-density shoulder-length hair, Yuki’s type 1A fine color-treated bob, and Aliyah’s type 4A high-density coils.

How we tested the Revlon One-Step Volumizer Plus 2.0

Our hot-tool protocol runs for a minimum of 30 days. For the One-Step, we extended that to 240 days. Here’s what we measured:

• Max barrel temperature. Surface-mounted thermocouple readings at the bristle midpoint, taken at each of the three heat settings, repeated 5 times.
• Heat consistency. Same thermocouple test 30 seconds, 2 minutes, 5 minutes, and 10 minutes into a session, to catch motor-thermal sag.
• Hair-health impact. 60x USB microscope inspection of three labeled test strands at session 1, session 15, and session 30, against a 410°F curling-iron control on a fourth strand.
• Drying time. Wet-to-dry stopwatch on a 6-oz wet-hair sample, repeated across three sessions per hair type.
• Hold duration. Photographed styled hair at 0, 4, 8, 12 hours under 55% RH and again under 75% RH (humidity stress test).

You can read the full protocol on our methodology page.

Who should buy the Revlon One-Step?

Buy this if:

• You currently use a separate dryer + round brush and want to combine them into one tool.
• You have type 1, 2, or 3 hair (straight, wavy, or curly, but not coily).
• Your hair is shoulder-length to mid-back. Above the chin or below mid-back, the 2.4” barrel is the wrong size.
• You want a measurable upgrade over a basic dryer without spending more than dinner-out money.

Skip this if:

• You have type 4 coily hair, the bristle pattern doesn’t behave well in tight texture.
• You want to curl your hair, not just smooth and volumize. The One-Step won’t make a curl that holds longer than 2-3 hours.
• You already own a Dyson Airwrap or Shark FlexStyle. The One-Step would be redundant.
• You blow-dry daily and value motor longevity over price, consider stepping up to a Drybar Double Shot or, if budget allows, the Dyson Airwrap Multi-Styler.

Performance: 8-minute blowouts that look professional

The single fact that earns the One-Step its 248,000+ Amazon reviews: it cuts blowout time roughly in half compared to a separate dryer + round brush combo. In my stopwatch test on damp shoulder-length hair, a wet-to-styled session averaged 8 minutes 12 seconds with the One-Step, versus 16 minutes 30 seconds with my old Conair 1875W dryer plus a round brush. Yuki’s chin-length bob: 5 minutes 40 seconds. Aliyah’s mid-back coils, where the tool is at its weakest: 14 minutes, with mediocre results (more on that below).

The blowout it produces is genuinely competitive with a $40 salon visit. After 8 months, I’ve stopped booking blowouts entirely.

Hair-health impact: a pleasant surprise

This was the test where the One-Step surprised me most. I expected, based on the price point, to find a tool that ran hot, dried hair too aggressively, and showed clear cuticle damage on our 30-session check.

Instead, I measured a max barrel surface temperature of 280°F (138°C) on the high setting. That’s lower than my old salon-grade GHD curling iron (365°F), lower than every $50 conventional dryer + round-brush combo I’ve benchmarked (which all run hotter at the bristle), and only 22°F warmer than the Dyson Airwrap’s 302°F ceiling.

After 30 styling sessions, my color-treated test strand showed only minor cuticle lift under 60x magnification, measurably better than the 410°F curling-iron control, slightly worse than the Airwrap. Yuki’s bleached fine hair came through 4 months of near-daily use looking healthier than at the start of testing, which I attribute to ditching her old 365°F flat iron.

Aliyah’s type 4A strand was the exception. The bristle pattern caught and tugged enough that we abandoned the One-Step for her use after week 3, not because it damaged the hair, but because it was a frustrating tool for her texture.

Build quality: the Revlon weak spot

The original Revlon One-Step had a reputation for motor failure at 18-24 months. Searching Amazon reviews of the original surfaces hundreds of “died after a year” complaints. Revlon redesigned the motor for the Plus 2.0, and the brand now offers a 4-year warranty if you register the device.

Our unit has 110 hours of use and no airflow degradation, but 8 months isn’t long enough to validate motor longevity claims. I’ll update this review at the 18-month and 24-month marks.

What I can speak to is cosmetic durability. The plastic body has accumulated visible scuffs around the bristle base after 6 months, not damage, just wear. The 6-foot cord is short by 2024 standards (most competitors offer 8 feet), and the swivel is plasticky compared to Dyson’s metal pivot. None of this affects performance, but at $49, you can feel the cost cuts in your hand.

Comfort and ergonomics: the wrist matters

The Plus 2.0 weighs 1.2 lb (560 g), a tenth of a pound lighter than the original. Over an 8-minute blowout, that doesn’t matter. Over a 14-minute session on Aliyah’s longer hair, it absolutely did. After 110 hours of testing, I can hold the One-Step steadily through a full styling session without the wrist fatigue that bothered me with the original.

The handle is a smooth matte plastic, easy to grip when hands are dry, slightly slick when hands have product or oil on them. A textured grip would be a meaningful upgrade.

How it compares: the budget vs upgrade question

The honest framework: the One-Step is the floor of “tools that are actually good.” Below it, you’re in unsafe-temperature territory (the generic Amazon dryer-brush I tested as a control hit 390°F and damaged its test strand by session 10). Above it, you’re paying for nicer materials, hair-health margins, and additional capabilities.

If you want to just curl, the One-Step won’t do it well. If you want to dry and smooth, it’s exceptional value.

The natural upgrade is the Dyson Airwrap Multi-Styler at $599. The Airwrap does what the One-Step does plus actual curls plus heat-capped styling on bleached hair plus six attachments for different hair types. It’s a different category of tool. If you currently style 3+ times a week, the math works out. If you style once or twice a week, the One-Step is plenty.

The Drybar Double Shot at $165 sits awkwardly between the two, it’s nicer than the One-Step but doesn’t do curls. I’d skip it and either go One-Step or jump to the Airwrap.

A note on motor longevity

The motor is the One-Step’s only real long-term question mark. The redesigned 2.0 motor is too new to have 5-year data on, and Revlon’s reputation for motor reliability is mixed. Two things help:

1. The 4-year warranty. You have to register within 30 days of purchase. Most people don’t. Don’t be most people.
2. Filter cleaning. There’s a small filter at the base of the brush. Pull it off every 4-6 weeks and clean the lint out. In our test unit, neglecting this for two months reduced airflow noticeably, once cleaned, performance returned.

After 8 months, this is the budget hair-styling tool I’d buy with my own money. It is not the Dyson Airwrap. At one-twelfth the price, it doesn’t need to be.

Revlon One-Step Volumizer Plus 2.0 vs. the competition

Full specifications

Frequently asked questions