10 Best Hair Straighteners and Flatirons for Smooth, Damage-Free Strands

• Plate material: Titanium
• Size: 1.25 inches
• Temperature: Adjustable up to 440°F
• Auto shutoff: 30 minutes
• Cord: 9 feet

“As someone with extremely curly 3C hair, I found this iron to be very effective. It heats up quickly and offers three distinct heat settings. The lowest setting was my preferred choice. My short hair felt smooth and manageable after use. I appreciate the sleek design and was able to utilize the three-in-one function to add some body to my hair, as I typically prefer it with volume rather than styled sleekly,” says Glamour tester Kristine Straker.

• Plate material: Ceramic
• Plate size: 1 inch
• Temperature: Adjustable up to 410°F
• Auto shutoff: 1 hour
• Cord: 9 feet

"The T3 SinglePass Straightener is definitely a game changer. I’ve never liked straightening my curls because it usually takes forever and leaves me exhausted, but this made the process incredibly quick and easy without damaging my hair. It really lives up to its name. One pass was all I needed on each section. It’s perfect for nights when I want to switch up my look but don’t have much time to get ready, and the results lasted me until my next wash day,” says Glamour contributor, Audrey Harper.

• Plate material: Ceramic
• Plate size: 1 inch
• Temperature: 9 heat settings
• Auto shutoff: Yes
• Cord: 8 feet

“I’ve been using this pick for my silk presses for five years now, and she delivers every single time. With natural type 4 hair, I’m super picky about my heat tools. I want that bone-straight finish without compromising my curls. Depending on how well my blow-dry turns out, I don’t always need high heat, and that’s where this flatiron shines. It heats up fast and has nine adjustable heat settings, which gives me total control. What really seals the deal is that I can do just one pass on blow-dried hair and still get a straight and smooth finish. And it gets super close to my roots without burning me, which is major. I only use it on freshly washed and blow-dried hair when I’m going for a silk press, so about two to three times a month, and it never disappoints,” says Cherry.

• Plate material: Ceramic
• Plate size: 1”
• Temperature: Up to 450°F
• Auto shutoff: 1 hour
• Cord: 9 feet

“As you can probably already tell, I’m a straightener queen, so my standards are pretty high. I was pretty impressed with this pick from Bio Ionic—it took me no more than 10 minutes to straighten my full head and it left my strands frizz and flyaway-free. The best part? My hair felt pretty silky all day, not stripped or dry, which is a huge plus in this sub-20 degree weather in NYC,” says Glamour’s Kilkeary.

• Plate material: Ceramic
• Plate size: 1 inch
• Temperature: 365°F
• Auto shutoff: 10 minutes
• Cord: 8.8 feet

“In tests we found that GHD’s Chronos Styler heated very quickly, plus it emits a satisfying ping to alert you that it’s ready to use. We also appreciate the 10-minute auto shutoff, which is much faster than all of the other products we evaluated—a nice safety feature. On the downside, I didn’t have as much success curling my hair with this flatiron, despite the rounded edges—and I’d consider myself pretty advanced in this department. I did, however, successfully execute a sleek, straight style with plenty of shine and the type of rounded ends you might get from a blowout,” says Earley.

• Plate material: Titanium
• Size: 1 inch
• Temperature: Adjustable up to 450°F
• Auto shutoff: 60 minutes
• Cord: 9 feet

“This is probably one of the most straightforward straighteners I’ve ever used.I highly recommend it if you’re new to straightening your hair on the regular. There are five heat settings—I usually switch mine to the middle temps since I have fine strands—and the plates heat up extremely quickly. My hair overall looks much silkier after using it, and I’ve been repeatedly reaching for it whenever I wake up with bedhead,” says Glamour commerce writer, Alanna Martine Kilkeary.

• Plate material: N/A
• Size: 1.6 inches
• Temperature: Three presets in wet mode (175°F, 230°F, 285°F); two presets in dry mode (250°F or 285°F)
• Auto shutoff: Auto-pause after 3 seconds of inactivity; standby mode after 5 minutes
• Cord: 9.6 feet

“Though it’s gentle on hair, the process is a bit lengthy, since you have to first use the tool to rough-dry your roots. This is an important step, because the shape and size of the Airstrait is a bit bulky and the air shoots down toward your ends, so you can’t clamp hair all the way at the top to smooth it during the straightening process. Once I was ready to work on individual sections of hair with passes closer to that of a traditional flatiron, I found there was a bit of a learning curve to keeping hair inside of the tool. But I figured out that it helped to hold my hair, guiding it through. Even though this whole process takes a bit longer, the effort paid off. My finished style was incredibly soft and shiny, plus had impressive staying power,” says Earley.

• Plate material: Ceramic
• Plate size: 1 inch
• Temperature: Heats up to 450°F
• Auto shutoff: 60 minutes
• Cord: 9 feet

"This compact straightener is easy to throw in your travel case if you’re on the go. It heats up quickly and only takes a couple of passes to completely straighten and smooth my often frizzy hair. It’s very lightweight, which I appreciate, but this also makes it feel less durable than some of the other straighteners in my collection. It definitely got the job done (it took me about 10 minutes to straighten my whole head), and it makes a great budget-friendly option if you want to spend under $50 on your next hair tool,” says Glamour’s Kilkeary.

At Glamour we’ve been testing the best hair straighteners for more than three years. While spec sheets and reviews are a crucial component of our research, we believe it’s important to put hair tools like flatirons to the test for practical feedback. That’s why we sent more than 20 of the top-rated and most well-reviewed options to team members to assess both performance and long-term durability.

During evaluations we looked for a variety of qualities like plate material, temperature range, ease of use, and overall performance, plus convenience features like an auto shutoff (more on this below). We also considered how durable the tools were over time. Most important, our top hair straighteners had to deliver sleek and shiny results that lasted throughout the day—and, ideally, beyond.

Nearly a year later, and we're on our third round of testing. We've sent new picks to more testers, plus asked previous contributors to reevaluate each straightener. How well did each product hold up throughout continued use? Did our testers still stand behind their picks—why or why not?

Note: Although we might receive gifted products, our recommendations come from months of testing and evaluating the very best products. We maintain complete editorial independence in the products we choose to feature. We do not benefit financially from including any of the products, except from purchases of products through our links.

Choosing a hair tool can be very overwhelming. We wanted to make sure to consider a variety of hair types in our testing, so we tapped Glamour staffers and reviewers with straight, curly, wavy, short, long, and thick strands to help test over a dozen flatirons. All together, the team brings more than 22 years of industry experience to the table.

As a beauty writer with almost a decade of experience in the industry, I’m also no stranger to searching for the right hair tool. In fact, I’ve been personally investigating hair straighteners to help combat my frizzy strands for 15 years. After evaluation, our team also created straightener’s comparison chart for details on how each one holds up against the other.

• Conair Double Ceramic Flatiron: It heats up to 410°F, so it’s suitable for all hair types, from fine to coarse and curly. But the heat settings weren’t quite as numerous as some other more sophisticated models. We were impressed with the $25 value, but it would have been nice to have a longer cord and, more importantly, an auto-shutoff feature.
• Dyson Corrale Hair Straightener: Glamour tester Gabriella Cuzzone was a big fan of this straightener because it’s cordless and “it heats up wildly fast.” The downside: “On the lowest heat setting, I had to run the straightener through my hair several times over,” she says.
• The CHI Original 1-Inch Ceramic Hairstyling Iron: It’s a bestseller and worked well on our testers, but we found that it doesn’t heat up as much as others on the list for the price. “While it did take approximately two solid passes per section to straighten my hair, the end result was nice and sleek while still maintaining some volume,” says Earley.
• Drybar The Tress Press Digital Styling Iron: Glamour commerce director Brie Schwartz has owned this straightener for more than five years and is a fan of how straight it gets her 3C curls. “I’ve been using a flatiron for over 25 years, and I’ve tried at least 10. I used to be loyal to the popular GHD, but I find the Dry Bar option is even better for my fine mid-length curly hair since it has a narrow barrel and is super lightweight so my wrists don’t hurt after a styling sesh. This has by far been the easiest to work with. It has stayed in great shape, and despite my dropping it countless times, it hasn’t broken. The one thing to note is that, after about a year, the outside started getting hotter to the touch, so I’ve had to be careful about how I grip it.” Schwartz also likes the digital temperature control that lets you know what temperature you’re operating at, up to 450°F.
• Bio Ionic Onepass Styling Flatiron: We liked this iron because the plates are quite thick, and it’s gentle on hair thanks to its ceramic finish. “I have very thick hair, but luckily with this hair straightener, I didn’t have to do so many passes the way I do with other flatirons. I haven’t noticed any serious hair damage, and my hair stays super straight for days,” says Calle.
• Hot Tools Pro Signature Dual-Plate Flatiron: A smaller plate size (between ½ inch and 1 inch) is best for shorter hair, and this Hot Tools flatiron can help you get an ultrasmooth finish. “The dual plate was very cool (it allows you to iron bigger sections of hair), though the ability to heat up each plate individually was a nice feature. I’d definitely use it again at a higher heat,” says Condé Nast content licensing associate Paton Hardy, who has fine curly hair cut at a short length.
• Remington Argan-Oil Infused-Hair Straightener: We found this straightener while browsing an Amazon bestseller list, and knew we had to give it a go. This compact option heats up to 450°F for a sleek finish. The plates are also infused with argan oil to give your hair some extra shine.
• Hot Tools Pro Artist Black Gold Ionic 1¼-Inch Flat Iron: This flatiron keeps hair frizz-free and shiny post-straightening and has a wide temperature range with easy-to-adjust heat settings. It has an easy-to-read LED screen as well.
• Drybar All-Inclusive Air + Active Heat 8-in-1 Multi-Styler: Multistylers are having a moment, and this eight-in-one tool is one of the more versatile. The ceramic flatiron can be used on dry hair or for wet-to-dry styling. Either way, it delivers a smooth, sleek finish that lasts for days. Our tester loved how fast it heated up and said her style lasted for days, but we didn’t include it in our top picks since it’s bulkier and heavier than others.
• T3 SinglePass StyleMax Flatiron: This flat iron takes the guesswork out of heat styling with smart temperature settings that adjust based on your hair texture and goals. It heats up quickly and delivers smooth, long-lasting results, plus the rounded edges make it easy to straighten or curl, adding to its versatility. However, the automation is a bit confusing at first and the plates didn’t glide as effortlessly as we’d hoped, which is why it ultimately didn’t make our top list.
• Wavytalk Airflow Styler Straightener and Curler: This compact multistyler, which allows you to straighten or curl, is great for short hair, because it has thick, smooth plates that grab onto smaller sections without tugging or causing breakage. Our tester loved how well it handled roots and cowlicks, especially on her fine shoulder-length hair. However, the outer material feels a bit cheap, and the air mechanism is louder than we’d like, so it didn’t make our final list.
• Remington Pearl Pro Ceramic Flat Iron: This flatiron delivers solid results for a fraction of the price of others. It has an impressive temperature range between 300°F and 450°F in increments of 20 degrees. The one-inch floating ceramic plates, which the brand says are infused with real crushed pearls, glide smoothly for sleek, frizz-free styles while minimizing damage. We removed it from our initial list because the material is a bit cheaper and not as durable.
• BondiBoost Aloe Plated Flat Iron 1":If you have color-treated hair, it’s understandable to be a little wary of straighteners—high heat can be extra brutal on your strands and can fade your color. This flatiron solves that dilemma, thanks to its gentle ceramic plates that are coated with aloe vera to help hydrate, minimize frizz, and ensure little to no breakage and hue damage. Ultimately, we removed it from our list because it’s pretty pricey and takes multiple passes to straighten which elongated our routine time.