Flat Iron Review

The 3 Best Flat Irons
Bio Ionic 10X Pro Styling Iron
Best Overall

Chi Ultra CHI Titanium Straightening Iron
Best Titanium Flat Iron

Hot Tools Digital Salon 1″ Flat Iron with Titanium Plates
​Best Budget Flat Iron

Where once flat irons were used to just straighten hair, now they’ve become an all-up hair styling powerhouse that can also curl and create beachy waves. But, if you’re not careful, they can also really damage your hair. The key to the perfect coif: Find an iron that straightens your type of hair at the lowest possible heat setting with the fewest passes. Sounds complicated? What it really comes down to is plate material — ceramic and titanium are best. Ceramic plates deliver a very gentle, far-infrared heat that locks moisture into your hair while emitting negative ions. Those little ions close the hair’s cuticles, working to smooth strands and cut frizz. Titanium plates are a favorite of professional stylists and it’s not hard to understand why — they’re super smooth, heat up fast, and are lightweight.

The Bio Ionic 10X Pro Styling Iron landed our best overall spot easily, though we didn’t expect it to. What seemed gimmicky at first (it vibrates), turned into straight-up awe. Our at-home testers and professional stylists both agreed, this ceramic flat iron hands-down straightens and styles beautifully for all types of hair right out of the box — well worth the $230.

For coarse or textured hair, the Chi Ultra CHI Titanium Straightening Iron won’t lead you astray. (Titanium plates are too harsh to use on thin or damaged hair.) The $120 iron performed similarly to the Bio Ionic 10X, just not as astonishingly well. It may take a few tries to get the hang of it to avoid any unwanted crimps.

Don’t want to spend over $100 on a flat iron? The Hot Tools Digital Touch 1” Flat Iron with Titanium Plates ($60) beat out two popular brands that were twice the price. But you’ll have to take an extra pass or two compared to our other top picks — and more passes means potentially more damage.

How We Found the Best Flat Iron
There are a lot of flat irons on the market each promising to do the same thing. We started our search by compiling 132 flat irons from popular beauty websites like Sephora and Ulta, the hair-focused online retailer Folica, and the omnipresent Amazon.com.  Then we dug into the details.

Click here for the details >>>  ​