To investigate the effects of drying means on the processing quality of dried cut strips, the change trends of physical indexes, sensory quality, chemical components, smoke indexes and seven harmful components of cut strips after cylinder drying and pneumatic drying were studied. The results showed that: 1) Comparing with cylinder drying, the dried tobacco featured significantly higher filling power, lower proportion of small strands and lower tar and carbon monoxide deliveries by pneumatic drying. Among the seven harmful components, NNK delivery was significantly reduced, while crotonaldehyde delivery was obviously raised by pneumatic drying; and the other five harmful components did not change regularly. 2) The effects of drying means on the sensory quality were mainly reflected in aroma quantity and abundance, which were reduced by pneumatic drying; however, the effects were obviously different among tobacco leaves from different areas.