This is a strange question, I am aware of that. I only recently started using a hair dryer in the AM to help style my hair, and I have struggled to find a suitable hairdryer and have been confused by some of the results I've found.
Hair type/bio info: 28 M, type 3a-b hair, mixed race (African American and white), short to medium length (approx 2-3 inches on top, and short on sides), my hair is fairly thick, and when left alone it would curl into loose curls to just frizz. when it is initially cut short it will be somewhat straight but quickly becomes wavy and curly as it grows out.

I recently (like january) began to use a hairdryer in the morning because it would take forever for my hair to dry so I could style it. The first hairdryer I used was the most basic Conair 1875 that my girlfriend had for crafting (link here). It worked pretty well and I was actually able to straighten my hair with this and roller brush with little effort, and the hairstyle would hold all day after I used Moroccanoil texture clay to style.

I recently went to visit family for a few weeks and forgot this dryer, so I had to buy one. I figured I should try a different type, since the one I had been using was the cheapest at Walmart. I tried several different dryers over the course of the last month. Revlon's Infrared hairdryer, Conair infinitipro smooth wrap, the Conair salon performance, and finally Conair's Infinitipro Flomotion. The Flomotion model is the one I am currently using, and I have found that it is the best out of the newer models, but still not as consistently good as the original cheap Conair--my hair is more sensitive to humidity and choice of hair product with the Flomotion than with the cheap Conair.

I am not so much looking for recommendations for other dryers to try (though those would be appreciated too), but rather some kind of explanation as to why I have been experiencing such a discrepancy in outcomes. Some of the other dryers did not get as hot as the cheap Conair, or were not as strong, but the Flomotion can get hotter and stronger. Even when I try to adjust the flomotion to be as close as I can to the cheap Conair in both temperature and strength, the outcomes still vary.

The only conclusion that seems to make senses to me would be that the 'fancier' science in the newer options--infrared, ionic, ceramic, etc.--does not agree with my hair. I think the cheap Conair just does hot air, without any bells and whistles, so I wonder if for some reason my hair does not like those additions, and responds best to just plain old hot air. Does anyone know if this is some kind of recorded phenomenon, or has had similar experiences? Are there other, perhaps nicer, hair dryers that just emit hot air but may be better than the cheap conair? I'm just not able to make sense of the different results I keep experiencing. Thanks for the help!

I am considering adding a hair dryer and diffuser into my routine because I'm tired of having wet hair for hours and hours after I wash it. Even just to get it to a damp stage and significantly shorten my drying time.

I've never used a hair dryer on my hair before because I grew up thinking I couldn't on my curly hair, but I've done some research and saw how people in the curly hair community do it do so it works well with their hair.

That being said, I've looked into which hate dryer would be good and not super expensive and I keep coming across this one. But when I look it up to purchase it there seems to be at least 3 different models, and they all kinda have mixed reviews which makes me nervous. Has anyone here used more than one of the infiniti pro conair hair dryer + diffuser models and can recommend one over the other? Thanks!