We reviewed 36 hot brushes and these are the 14 best

Score: 89/100

ghd’s newest launch wowed our panel. With only one on/off button, it’s a straightforward styler that takes your hair from wet to dry, at a seriously impressive speed. With the help of temperature sensor tech, it maintains an optimum lower temperature of 120ºC, to help minimise any damage to your hair from heat styling.

It helps you achieve a salon-worthy, sleek blow dry without the need for a separate hair dryer and straighteners. It can also be used for dry styling to pump up the volume between washes. And you’ll be pleased to know that the ceramic bristles are snag-free.

Thanks to the elliptical-shaped barrel, it also does the job of a hair dryer and barrel brush, so you can perform hair wizardry one-handed. Simply wrap your strands around it from root–to tip and let the heated bristles do all the work. The result? “Sleek, smooth and voluminous hair, with the perfect blow-dry flick at the bottom,” according to one satisfied tester.

It works well on different hair types, too, impressing our beauty team who have a range of thick, thin, coily and curly tresses. You can read more about what they loved and how they use it in our full ghd duet blowdry review.

Score: 86/100

ghd's first professional hot brush also impressed our panel, who found it easy to use (thanks to the one control button), comfortable to hold with its slim handle, and lightweight.

Nearly all our testers said it glided easily through their hair, leaving it smooth and shiny, as if they'd had a blow dry. They also achieved their sleek styles in record time (faster than straighteners in some cases), thanks to its 185C heat. Most found that it significantly reduced their flyaway hairs, too.

Score: 83/100

For most of our testers, the SmoothStyle from Shark straightened and styled their hair quickly. It may not have all the bells and whistles of the FlexStyle (or its six interchangeable heads), but this hot brush does deliver a sleek dose of shine to locks, at a more affordable price.

Bear in mind that while some hot brushes promise to add a curl or bounce, this one was most effective at straight styling. But straight doesn’t mean flat, with one tester praising its ability to deliver “lots of volume at the roots”. If long, well-behaved lengths are what you’re after, this could be the pick for you.

Score: 82/100

With multiple styling attachments that curl, volumise, straighten and more, this seven-in-one styler really does the most. The curling attachment went down particularly well with our testers for ease of use, especially in comparison to other similar hot brushes they’d tried. It’s simple to change the attachments too, so you can speedily change the curl barrels when you’re swapping sides.

Some testers did find that while the curling attachment gave their hair an instant bounce, unfortunately, the curls didn’t last the whole day. Our advice? Invest in some styling products to give it more hold – one of our experts’ best hairsprays, perhaps?

Score: 80/100

Dyson's innovative Airwrap styler was adored by our testers for its high-quality feel and ability to create a glossy, frizz-free finish. This multitasker comes with six different heads to help you create everything from poker-straight strands to retro curls.

Speaking of curls, the Dyson engineers have also developed something called i.d. curl™ where you program in your hair profile on the MyDyson app, including hair type, hair length and skill level, and it will create a bespoke curling routine, just for you.

It aced our lab test, keeping frizz and flyaways at bay and leaving hair silky smooth, with no dryness in sight. Everyone was impressed with how speedy it was, and many commented on the joyful colour combos on offer. For the price, though, those with thin or straight hair said they expected more hold from their curls, so this is perhaps more suited to those with coarse, thick, or wavy hair.

Score: 79/100

If adding oomph to your roots is your aim, try our third ghd entry. Our testers found it boosted volume, successfully straightening hair, and its high-quality design earned universal praise. Everybody found it satisfyingly speedy to heat up too, and the panel loved the luxuriously silky and shiny finish it gave them.

It tackled frizz with aplomb — the panel saw a reduction in flyaways — and the majority found it comfortable to hold, if a little bulky. It proved an excellent detangler, too, with our testers saying it glided effortlessly through their ends.

Score: 78/100

Insert fire-starter joke here.. But really, the Prodigy lived up to its name and was adept at creating curls and adding volume for our panel. It’s a versatile one, as each of the six different attachments creates different styling results. From pin-straight lengths to professional-looking blow-dries, you can leave the house with a different style each day. “I could create nice waves with the round barrel and style my bangs with the oval barrel,” said one tester.

Despite including a de-frizzing attachment to reduce flyaways, many of our testers said it didn’t smooth them down as effectively as they would have wanted. One curly-haired tester said, “I don’t think this tool is great for frizzy, coarse hair types,” as it didn’t manage to eliminate frizz. They did add that a bit of additional curl cream helped to sort it out, though. The whole panel did agree that it left hair feeling softer, which is likely down to the HI-Pro ceramic coating, which uses ions to seal the cuticle, helping to soften strands.

Take care when using though, as some testers found it got extremely hot. A heat-resistant glove may, erm, come in handy here.

Score: 78/100

If you find your style regularly drops by noon, this blow dry brush is worth a try. It managed to keep bouncy, voluminous styles intact for longer.

It was particularly good at leaving hair tangle-free, with many of our testers also reporting less frizz and added softness after use. Glossy hair in just one swipe — what’s not to love?

Score 76/100

The larger the brush, the shorter your styling time — it's that simple. And you won’t have to go over the same area twice with this extra-large styler, which left hair tangle-free for most of our panel.

It got a thumbs up for reducing flyaways and frizz, and can be used to style right up to the roots without causing discomfort.

The design would make it tricky to curl strands, but it was ideal for straightening, with one tester commenting: "I absolutely love this product and wouldn't hesitate to buy it."

Score: 75/100

If you can't step outside without your hair turning into a ball of frizz, this dual-ended brush will be a game changer. Whether you want salon-worthy XL curls, or poker-straight ends, it helps you achieve both easily.

It managed to banish frizz and flyaways, while avoiding desert-dry ends. And most testers saw a boost in smoothness, softness and shine after use. It also avoided pesky snags and did a great job at nailing beachy waves.

Score: 73/100

This bristle brush claims to adjust the temperature to your hair’s styling needs during use for the best results. In the lab, it aced our tests with a quick heat-up time and accurate maximum temperature claims.

It also impressed our panel with its effortless ability to fight frizz and flyaways, and allowed them to tackle often hard-to-reach areas such as the back of the neck and the roots, delivering a smooth finish.

Score: 72/100

Thick hair may be enviable, but it takes double the time to style. That’s where this brush’s deeper bristles came in handy, allowing testers to grab larger sections of hair and speed up the job.

It proved effective at straightening too, leaving our panel with poker straight strands. Not skimping on smoothness either, most said it left their hair silky and were happy with how fabulously soft their locks felt.

In the lab, it reached its promised temperatures but was a touch slow to heat up to its maximum. That said, no testers reported any problems.

Score: 71/100

It’s hard to argue with a hot brush that comes with five attachments to adapt to your ever-changing moods and looks, especially if you love mixing it up when it comes to your hairstyle. Our panel praised the range of attachments, with even the least adventurous telling us it encouraged them to be a little bit braver.

It was easy to hold and not too heavy, and, thanks to the air power technology, which means you don’t have to wrap your hair around the barrel yourself, it automatically created perfect curls in seconds — ideal for hot brush beginners.

Score: 70/100

Easy to use, this brush styled without snagging and didn’t leave hair feeling dry. It also worked on thick, frizzy hair, with testers commenting that it left it much smoother.

This tool also never got too hot, with most finding they could comfortably style right up to the roots. For professional results on a budget, Revlon is a safe bet.