Review: Dyson Corrale

The Dyson Corrale caught my eye during load shedding and because I travel often. I’m a big fan of hair tools if it will get my hair done in the least amount of time. I actively try to avoid extra time on my hair, and why I own a Dyson Supersonic hairdryer.

The Corrale is everything I love in a hair tool and why I loved reviewing it on my travels over the last few months; it is portable, cable-free and suited for quick styling. But, it is pricey at R9 999.

Quick Look

• 200W Cordless hair straightener
• 3 heat settings: 165°C, 185°C, 210°C
• Lithium-ion battery charges in 70 minutes
• 30 minutes style time
• Charging dock with magnetic 360° charger
• 45mm in height; 561g in weight
• Heat-resistant travel pouch included

Design and portability

It looks like any other hair straightener with an ergonomic grip and curves in the right places. There’s a tiny OLED display on the side to show controls for heat, charging status and battery life. It has a safety feature that will auto shut-off after 10 minutes of inactivity, and the plates lock when you shut it off.

If you plan to travel with it, it has a universal voltage and flight-ready toggle for flight mode. It comes with a heat-resistant travel pouch, which is everything. You can be in a hurry, touch up your hair and pack it away immediately. It is long and narrow, which easily fit into my hand luggage for the multiple trips I’ve made with it, even when I had limited space. I do not travel with the cable, well not yet anyway, because it is 4.34m long.

Using the Dyson Corrale

Dyson says the Corrale is the only straightener to have “flexing plates” that shape and gather the hair, which subsequently lets you style your hair with less heat, thus half the damage. It was smooth on my hair when I used it, and didn’t feel like it was tugging, so this is the flexing plates doing its thing.

It also heats up fairly quickly when you switch it on. It is ready to use after you hear a beep. You can also choose your temperature setting when you switch it on. I used it exclusively on the lowest heat setting at 165°C to minimise heat damage. This also helped to prolong the 30 minute battery life. I wanted it to use as little power as possible.

The Corrale has intelligent heat control, which regulates the temperature “100 times a second” to keep it constant. This means you won’t have an over heating issue. I didn’t feel like it was over heating, but my primary use was quick 5 minute touch ups.

It has a 4-cell Lithium-ion battery, and while I couldn’t find the actual battery capacity on the Dyson website, it provides up to 30 minutes of style time from a single charge. It will recharge in just 70 minutes. Even if you forget to charge it, it still charges quickly at 70 minutes so love that about it.

Another thing about the charging dock and cable; you don’t have to charge it on the dock. You can straight up plug it on its swivel magnetic cable and use it while it is plugged in. But I didn’t need to do that, well not yet anyway, because I charge it and pack it for my trips sans cable – but it is an option.

The travel pouch is super useful because you can place it on the counter space in front of you without damaging anything. And as mentioned earlier, it has has a flight mode that you can toggle when you’re traveling. I didn’t have issues traveling with it in my hand luggage but going through security at OR Tambo it did show up prominently on the scanner, which confused the male security officer, but a female officer explained it was a hair tool, while I was gesturing with my hand how I use it on my hair, LOL.

I tested it on two overseas trips that were 3.5 and 4 days long; its 30 minute battery carried me through. I was so impressed, purely because it worked for my intended purpose – quick touch-ups. I found myself in humid weather so needed extra use, sometimes twice a day.

To be clear, I did not use it to iron my whole head of hair from curly to straight. I washed and dried my hair straight with a comb as normal, and used the Corrale for a quick straighten. This way worked pretty efficiently, and why I could use it over 4 days.

On my last trip, I still had about 20% power left and used it at home again during load shedding, so it really does go a long way if you make an effort to prolong it – and it’s not difficult to do.

Opinions on the Corrale

I think managing your expectations is key to buying the Dyson Corrale. If you travel a lot or can’t deal with load-shedding and want to be able to style your hair, the Corrale will be a huge help. But don’t expect to straighten your whole head of hair multiple times.

If you have really curly hair, it will take longer to straighten on an iron with 30 minute battery life – decide if this is something you want to to – I would suggest against it if you have longer or super curly hair.  If you want something to constantly straighten, get a regular hair iron. While it can be used plugged in without the dock, it defeats the purpose of a cordless hair iron, then you may as well buy a regular hair iron.

The other important factor here is price. It is pricey at R9 999, and its nearest rival, the GHD Unplugged, only offers 20 minutes of style time, which also takes longer to charge. But you are paying for convenience here and it is the best cordless hair iron on the market right now.

The Corrale nails the quick charging time, longer battery life, and being travel-friendly. It has the potential of saving you from salon visits while abroad and the ability to do your hair literally anywhere, and that’s what makes it worth your money. But it’s up to you decide if you travel often enough to warrant the purchase.