Dyson Corrale Cordless Straightener review

Dyson is a surprising industry leader in hair tools. The brand entered the industry late, in 2016, with their Dyson Supersonic Hair Dryer. The Supersonic featured a uniquely high price tag, but its ability to quickly dry and style thick hair earned the brand a devoted following. Since then, Dyson has kept consumers on the edge of their seats with new innovations, like this Dyson Corrale Cordless Straightener.

Dyson’s Supersonic Hair Dryer and their more recent Dyson Air Wrap Styler were interesting products to watch launch, because they both offered something completely unique. With the Supersonic, consumers were able to experience a bladeless hair dryer for the first time. With the Air Wrap, the same was true for a styling wand: its conical curling attachments curled hair using a blow dryer, with absolutely zero bristles, motors, or clamps.

So the question here is twofold. One, is the Dyson Corrale a hair straightener worth purchasing? And two … Does it offer something completely unique, as other Dyson products have?

What’s in the Box of the Dyson Corrale Cordless Straightener?

In the box of the Dyson Corrale Cordless Straightener, you’ll find everything you need to get started—and then some. Dyson’s hair tools are pricey, but the brand is careful to make sure that you won’t incur any extra costs for cords, heat-resistant mats, or chargers.

Along with the Corrale Cordless Straightener, which is a hefty 1.25 lbs, you’ll also find a two-piece charging stand that comes apart for easy transportation, a magnetic charging cord that attaches to either the charging stand or the iron itself (a very classy move, if you ask me), and a velvety-soft black and navy travel case that doubles as a heat-resistant mat.

With its charging cord and stand, the Corrale offers more flexible storage options than Dyson’s hair dryer or Airwrap Styler. There’s no bulky case involved here, and the travel wrap really is a pleasure to use. Dyson has also been careful to make this iron travel-safe, with a safety plug. The plug, which consists of four prongs, needs to be plugged in before the iron will turn on, and can be unplugged before you pack your Corrale away. There’s even a tag in the travel wrap to remind you to get your straightener airplane-ready, and a velvet sachet to tuck the plug into so it can’t scratch the finish of your straightener.

What makes the Dyson Corrale unique?

The Dyson Corrale comes with a few different selling features. Some of them are completely unique to the Corrale; others, you’ll find variations of in different brands as well. These features include:

• Flexing plates that gather your hair
• Continuous temperature regulation
• OLED screen for easy viewing of the temperature, battery level, and charging status
• Four-cell lithium-ion battery: holds 30 minutes of charge and recharges in 70 minutes
• Device can be used cordless or plugged in, while charging
• 10-minute auto shut-off
• Unique, easy-to-use, built-in closure lock
• Flight-ready battery disconnection and universal voltage capabilities for international travel

Dyson’s touch-controls, smooth plates, and battery screen aren’t completely unique—but things like its hair-gathering flex-plates are, as are its secure closure and travel feature. It’s uniquely sleek and heavy, with a 10-minute auto shut-off that I would love to see in more hot tools. (They’re dangerous!!! Name one other 400-degree object in your house that people routinely forget to turn off. I dare you.) Similarly, the Corrale features better temperature regulation than I’ve ever seen in a hot tool before: not only does it heat up to 210 degrees Celsius in about 30 seconds, but it also indicates when the iron is too hot to use, reading out the real-time temperature of its manganese copper plates on a brightly-lit OELD screen.

In terms of cordless use, I think this product’s main attraction is its ability to be used both cordlessly and plugged in. It’s easy to forget to charge your products, and Dyson provides not only a beautiful charging stand, but also the ability to plug in for uninterrupted use.

Does it really gather the hair?

Surprisingly … Yes! The Dyson Corrale really does gather your hair in a smooth, neat section.

That isn’t to say there’s no tugging at all, because there is (even on my fine, straight hair.) But when I take a section of my hair and run it through both the Corrale and my regular flat iron, there’s substantially less tugging with the Coralle. Even when I switch up the order that I’m testing them or change the pressure that I’m using to squeeze the plates together, there’s less tugging every time with the Coralle.

My hair just seems to run through the styler a little better, with more of the stray strands working their way to the centre of the iron. It doesn’t work as effectively as Dyson shows it to in their demos, but it does work; I think it’s partially because of their soft-touch heated plates, and partially because of the styler’s V-shaped end. Your stray hairs don’t just drop off the end, as with any other hot tool. Instead, they slide back down into the “valley,” where they can be straightened, waved, or curled.

My experience with the Dyson Flat Iron

I’m of two minds about this flat iron from Dyson. On one hand, it’s an incredibly beautiful product. It’s sleek and weighty, and you can really feel how high-quality it is. I love its secure closure and velvety-soft travel mat, and its charging functions feel truly ingenious. It’s gentle on my hair, heating up quickly and applying even pressure so that you can get long-lasting results at lower temperatures than you’re used to.

The Corrale is also beautifully sculpted, with an entire curved back that helps set shapes into your hair even as it cools, coming out of the straightener. It straightens, curls, and waves your hair, and is designed perfectly for creating gentle movement at the ends of your hair. It makes it easy to create a sleek, refined hairstyle that’s reminiscent of coming out of a blowout at the salon, but with a little less volume. (A tip from cosmetology school: you’ll always get more volume, and especially more root height, out of a round brush and a blow dryer than you will out of a hot iron!)

This iron feels otherworldly, and its bi-directional temperature regulation is a fantastic feature that I rarely see in hot tools. The entire process of using it is just really luxurious, from the moment that you unlace the satiny ribbons of its travel roll to when you slide its locking mechanism open.

The downsides of the Dyson Corrale

All of that being said, the Dyson Corrale Cordless Straightener is phenomenally heavy. It’s 567 g (1.25 lbs), while most of my other high-end flat irons are closer to 240 g (0.58 lbs). It’s heavy enough that my arms get tired before I can finish doing my hair, and I’m a wizard when it comes to flat iron curls. It usually takes 3-4 minutes for me to curl my hair, or 5-6 minutes if I’m using a lower temperature or I’m really dawdling.

It’s also surprisingly limiting, for a product that’s so conscious of its own versatility. Sure, there are three ways that you can charge this iron… But there are also only three temperature settings, which is really odd for a tool like this. 165, 185, and 210 degrees Celsius translate to 329, 365, and 410 degrees Fahrenheit—right in the upper middle range of what most stylists recommend that you style your hair at. For healthy hair, 375˚F (190˚C) is a good bet for regular styling, but my own fine, fragile hair starts to break if I style it over 300˚F (150˚C), and I like to keep it at 250˚F (120˚C) if I’m just smoothing and shaping.

Dyson claims that its iron styles with “less heat” and “50% less breakage,” and I believe that it’s probably true for most users. Still, I’d be willing to bet that those of us currently using lower temperatures will see more breakage with the Dyson Corrale. My current flat iron starts at 140˚F, which is a mere 60˚C—a far cry from Dyson’s 165˚C base temperature.

This takes us nicely into my next question: who is the Corrale made for, after all? Because it certainly isn’t me, as much as I wish this sleekly-curved clamp was my styling soulmate.

Who is the Corrale made for?

One of the toughest things to do when reviewing a product is to figure out that product’s target audience. If the product is perfect for you, that’s easy to figure out: you’re the audience! But if there’s anything that gives you pause, you have to do a little double-checking first. If there’s something about the product you don’t like, is it possible that you just don’t like it because it was designed with a different consumer in mind?

I think that’s exactly what’s happening for the Dyson Corrale. It’s a wonderful product, but it just wasn’t wonderful for me. It isn’t wonderful if your body is chronically exhausted, or if you have super fragile hair. It’s unique, but not quite as unique as the brand’s other hair tools.

However, it’s amazing if you have a thick head of hair. If you loved the Dyson hair dryer, you’re likely to love this straightener, too. It would be perfect if you travel a lot, or if you’re constantly forgetting to plug things in or turn things off. (My hair may be a little too fragile and my arms a little too weak for this flat iron, but WOW, do I ever forget to turn my flat irons off!)

The Dyson Corrale is heavy, but it’s made to compensate for all of your forgetfulness. In a lot of ways, it’s the perfect luxury product: it isn’t made for everyone. Instead, it’s made to do a lot for a select few. It takes care of the small details for you, so you can focus on getting your busy life just right.

Shop the Dyson Corrale and other Dyson hair tools online at Best Buy.