Whether you want to smooth out curly locks, or even create soft waves in your tresses, a hair straightener (yes, they straighten, but can curl too) is a versatile styling tool. They’ve been around since the 1980s, but it wasn’t until the early 2000’s that their popularity rose thanks to salon-brand GHD.
Now, they’re a staple when it comes to styling your hair.
Until recently, most hair straighteners (also known as flat irons) were mains-powered and required you to be close to an electrical socket to style your hair. However, both GHD and Dyson have since launched a set of cordless hair straighteners that let you touch-up your style no matter where you are.
You probably know that Dyson was first to launch its Corrale cordless hair straighteners in 2020, while GHD only unveiled its first battery-operated flat irons in 2021, and they’re $200/ £100/ AU$225 cheaper than Dyson’s offering – but how do they compare?
We pitted the Dyson Corrale and the GHD Unplugged cordless hair straighteners head-to-head, using them to both smooth and curl our hair and help you choose the right hair styling appliance for you.
Best GHD Unplugged and Dyson Corrale deals
Read on to discover how these two cordless hair straighteners stack up against one another – or, if you’ve already decided which of the two you wish to buy, check out the best prices for each right now:
Price
Before we look at how well these cordless straighteners smooth hair, let's take a look at just how much they cost.
The GHD Unplugged cordless hair straighteners will set you back $299/ £299 / AU$475, making it the most expensive pair of flat irons they offer.
The Dyson Corrale are more expensive, which is unsurprising given Dyson’s products usually come with a premium price tag as they’re loaded with cutting-edge technology. As such, the Dyson Corrale hair straighteners cost $499.99 / £399.99 / AU$699.
Both pairs of flat irons are considerably more expensive than mains-powered straighteners. GHD’s wired offerings start from $169 / £119 / AU$240 (Dyson isn’t in the wired straighteners game, only offering the wireless the Corrale right now). However, using rechargeable batteries in products pushes the price up, so it makes sense that the Corrale have a heftier ticket.
Design
The two hair stylers do look slightly different.
The GHD Unplugged hair straighteners have a tapered design, which sees the thickness of the styler narrow from 1.6 inches wide at the handle to a mere 1 inch wide at the top of the plates.
This narrowed frame makes it easier to clamp the hair close to the root so you can style the full length of your locks, while the plates themselves are narrower than many hair straighteners at 0.8 inches.
The Dyson Corrale hair straighteners, however, are 1.6 inches wide down the straight edges of the styler – and at 11.5 inches, they are 3.8 inches longer than the GHD Unplugged too.
However, they have 1-inch wide plates, which is the standard size you find on most hair straighteners, and will make it quicker to style hair as more strands can be heated in one go.
The Dyson Corrale are also heavier at 1.23lb, while the GHD Unplugged are extremely lightweight at 0.66lb, and are less likely to result in arm ache when styling hair.
Both hair straighteners are powered by a rechargeable battery – GHD says this offers 20 minutes of styling time when using the Unplugged to style hair, whereas the Dyson Corrale lasts slightly longer between charges at 30 minutes. The GHD Unplugged also takes longer to charge, requiring two hours to take the battery from zero to 100%, while the Dyson Corrale can do this in 70 minutes.
The GHD Unplugged offers just one temperature for styling – 365 F / 180 C, making it good for those with fine hair, as temperatures above this can cause serious heat damage. The Dyson Corrale meanwhile offers three temperature settings; 330 F / 165 C, 365 F /180 C, and 410 F / 210 C, ensuring those with a wide range of hair types will find it effective at styling in one pass.
The GHD Unplugged comes in black or white versions, while the Dyson Corrale is available in a range of vibrant shades including purple, red, blue, and nickel, although this shade comes with a bright fuschia accent.
Features on test
When it comes to styling hair both into a sleek smooth style, and creating soft waves, both hair straighteners were simple to use and able to smooth or curl our fine, shoulder-length hair in one pass, ensuring we weren’t drying out our locks.
However, the size and the weight of the Dyson Corrale meant we found our arm ached after curling our whole head of hair, and it also wasn't as easy to slip into our bag and carry around for touch-ups.
That said, there are some features on the Dyson Corrale that set it apart from the GHD Unplugged hair straighteners. There’s a lock that keeps the plates together when they’re not in use, which is extremely handy to prevent any damage when you're not using them.
The Dyson Corrale also benefits from an OLED screen that offers a more accurate battery level than the GHD Unplugged, which just has four LEDs below the power button to indicate how much battery is left.
The Dyson Corrale also benefits from being able to double as mains-powered hair straighteners. While the GHD Unplugged can be used when the battery is being charged by the bundled USB-C cable, the Dyson Corrale builds on this with a swivel connector that enables the cable to rotate through 360 degrees. This means you can manipulate the styler in all directions – something that happens when you’re curling hair more than straightening it.
Verdict
When it comes to choosing the right cordless hair straightener, in our eyes the GHD Unplugged is the best for most people. While we don’t like to tell you which is best for your needs, it’s lightweight, more compact and more affordable than the Dyson Corrale.
The battery life is shorter than the Dyson’s cordless styler, but chances are you’re investing in a cordless straightener to slip in your bag for touch-ups, so 20 minutes is more than long enough for this purpose.
However, if you have thick hair, you may find the higher temperature that the Dyson Corrale can reach, better for ensuring you can style your hair with one pass, rather than having to repeatedly use the straightener on the same section which dries out the hair, causing split ends.
The fact it can be used on mains-power and has the same swivel connector found on wired straighteners, means it’s also the best choice for anyone looking to replace an existing hair straightener with one that can be used on the go as well.
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