As any teen in the 2010s, I grew up in an era of pin-straight hair. Taking hours to straighten my curly hair had as big of an impact on me as curating my Tumblr while listening to LIGHTS. Very early in my hair journey, I even took part in the trend of straightening my hair with oils, which, yes, fried my hair.
That is all to say, I’ve used many straighteners and hair treatments over the years, and nowadays, I look for the quickest and easiest way to style my hair, while not completely pulverizing my sweet curls. So back in 2020, when Dyson launched its cordless hair straightener, the Corrale, I couldn’t help but be intrigued. At $650, Dyson’s third product launch in the company’s haircare lineup continues to gather a cult following, promising half the damage and all the hair styling glory. And for the past month, I’ve tested it to see if the value is still worth the price tag in 2023.
Cordless never felt so good
Dyson has built a reputation for functional yet aesthetically modern designs; however, the company seems less inclined to break from the traditional hair straightener silhouette when designing the Corrale. Opting for a heavier, thicker body, the straightener houses a 4-cell lithium battery, giving the device one of its standout features: the ability to be cordless.
While the extra heft may feel like a deterrent for some, I adapted quickly since the weight is balanced nicely across the body. I can’t emphasize how satisfying it is to have the freedom to move around my apartment and not be physically restricted by the length of a cable. Its portability also means I no longer have to sport awkward-looking bangs after a night out or have unruly, frizzy hair after an unfortunate run-in with bad weather. If I have the Corrale in my bag, I have 30 minutes of battery life to retouch my strands anywhere.
The test unit I received was the Bright Copper/Bright Nickel version, which includes a heat-resistant velvet travelling pouch, a charging dock, and a magnetic 360˚ charging cable.
If 30 minutes of battery life doesn’t feel quite sufficient, you can use the device in “hybrid mode” by connecting the Corrale to its magnetic 360-degree charging cable, which expands its run time. While testing it, I found 185°C to be the sweet spot, and on average, the Corrale managed to straighten my thick, medium-long hair in about 20-25 minutes.
As with any product relying on batteries, the more energy you use (in this case, heat), the faster the battery drains. The setting I chose left me with little battery remaining, and I found the best way to avoid running out was to keep the Corrale’s wireless charging base close by and charge it while I brushed or sectioned my hair. This still maintained its cordless appeal and didn’t add any extra weight.
The minimalist charging dock encourages you to keep your Corrale charged while not taking up too much counter space in your bathroom.
Using the charging dock also kept me in the habit of keeping the Corrale charged when not in use. This is important because, unfortunately, the straightener uses energy quicker than it can charge, so if your Corrale is fully drained during your next styling session, you’ll have to wait for it to charge before you can do any styling.
Dyson recommends using it on a full battery, which takes about 70 minutes of charging time; however, I found waiting about 40 minutes (which roughly brought it to an 80 percent charge) and using the wireless charging dock in between prevented it from dying on me mid-styling.
Helpful design features
The Corrale has three heat options for you to choose from: it takes about 25 seconds to reach 165°C, followed by a further 10-15 seconds per additional temperature setting (185° C and 210°C).
Like with most Dyson products, the Corrale packs thoughtful design details: The LED screen and buttons for example, take the guessing game out of the process by showcasing the battery level and temperature, while a friendly prompt sound will also let you know when the straightener has reached your desired heat option.
As a safety component, the Corrale also has an automatic shut-off feature that reduces its temperature after 5 minutes of inactivity and completely shuts the straightener off at the 10-minute mark. Not having to worry about whether or not my apartment is on fire because I left my straightener on was an incredible feeling.
With travellers in mind, Dyson also included a lock to keep the straightener plates from opening up, as well as a “flight-ready” feature, which isolates the heaters from the battery to meet ICAO regulations.
The Corrale plates, made of a manganese copper alloy, are builtmade up of 15 micro hinges that give the straightener its flexing plate technology.
However, according to Dyson, the Corrale’s main design innovation are its flexible plates. When you run a traditional straightener over a section of hair, strands can loosen from the plate’s grip, leading to heat exposure without the straightening payoff, but with the Corrale, the flexible plates are able to curve around the hair. Paired with its integrated sensor system that constantly regulates heat, the Corrale offers a more even heat distribution, allowing for sleeker strands with less heat and time.
I found certain aspects of this to be true.
Did the Corrale actually enhance my hair straightening experience?
The first thing that blew me away when trying the Corrale is that for the first time in my life, I didn’t need to use the highest setting to straighten my hair. For context, my straightener of choice has been the Evalectric Ocean Blue Classic Styler, which I bought about seven years ago for around $250. That seemed like a luxury purchase at the time, as my previous straighteners had been around the $50-$100 range, but it has served me well.
Both the Evalectric and the Corrale make my hair sleek, but where the Corrale really shines is in the way that, as promised, it can straighten my hair with less heat. One or two passes give my hair shine but also a really natural bouncy quality. My hair gets sleek but doesn’t lose its volume, all while cutting my styling time in half.
I also love that even at its highest setting, the Corrale has never caused the dreadful slight-burnt-hair-smell I’ve experienced throughout my years of straightening my hair with other devices. If you know, you know.
A great device with a few setbacks
Using the Corrale has erased the memory of my trusty Evalectric straightener, and I have really enjoyed my time with it. That said, some aspects don’t quite make it the perfect device. While cleaning the Corrale as part of the recommended maintenance, for example, I noticed that after a couple of uses, the plastic components surrounding its micro-hinged flexing plates showed some wear. It almost looks like it’s melted from running my hair on it. I suspect that since the straightening plates are not quite flush with the plastic used (at least they aren’t in my test unit), the heat from the hair being straightened, mixed with the natural friction, caused this wear.
For people with curly, coarser hair, Dyson suggests using smaller sections. I experimented with smaller and slightly bigger sections of hair to compare, and on different occasions I noticed slight tugging when passing the Corrale through, especially when I had to twist the straightener to curl my hair.
At first, I thought it could be due to the fact that the plates gathering the hair may make the experience feel different, but I felt hair getting caught on certain parts of the straightener. Carefully selecting smaller sections minimized that experience, but this is something I didn’t really have to think about with my Evalectric straightener. While that aspect doesn’t fully cancel out the other great aspects of the Corrale, its premium price tag makes that experience difficult to ignore.
A close up of the wear, which was mainly prominent at the edge where the plastic meets the plates.