Curls are beautiful, but taking care of and styling them can be a long, frustrating, and often expensive task. Whether you have tight coils, waves, or Shirley Temple spirals, sometimes you just want to smooth them out and not be bothered for a few days. Having a good tool, be it a hair straightener or a blow-dry brush, makes that process easier.

WIRED’s Gear team has an array of curl types, needs, and hair-styling tricks, and we’ve all tried a lot of hair straighteners in our lifetimes. Some flat irons have left us with crispy ends and cramped hands, while others, like the ones listed here, gave us sleek hair. There’s a dizzying number of options around, but hopefully our favorite hair straighteners can help narrow down your search.

Updated April 2024: We added GHD’s Chronos Flat Iron, BabylissPro Nano Titanium Prima3100 Hair Straightener, and Drybar Reserve Vibrating Styling Iron. We also updated links and pricing.

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