HSI Flat Iron | Best Seller from Amazon

Is HSI Flat Iron worth the hype?

Anything with 86,000 reviews and counting must be something special. Did I mention it has 4.5 star rating. It’s number one selling hair straightener on Amazon. WOW! I had to test this hyped HSI Flat Iron. My expectation were high. Unfortunately, my expectation were not met. This is below average Flat Iron, and as of 2022 it is overpriced. Let’s get into the details.

HSI Flat Iron is Below Average

The price of this Flat Iron is currently slightly below $50. I would say that is an average price for a good flat iron. There are plenty of competitors at that price point. We have brands like Conair, Revlon, and Remington competing at those price points and less in the consumer drugstore category. Competition gets deeper with Hot Tools and all its cousins like hot shot tools… that are made for entry pro-level. Hot tools flat iron options start below $50 range. So what is so special about HSI?

HSI Flat Iron Envelope Design

Looking at the packaging, there is nothing that stands out about this flat iron. It is not designed to help with curling hair, its envelope is not smaller and it’s smooth. The plates do not extend to the edge of the iron so as to get close to the roots. There are no special geometric construction to help keep the hair in on the heated plates. HSI flat iron looks to be a very generic design taken from china factory.

HSI Hair Straightener Technology

Maybe it’s all about the technology inside. Starting with heating plates, ceramic tourmaline technology has being out for a long time and material technology has moved way past this stage. For most hair types, Titanium alloy plates are a better option on a Flat Iron. Considering that a flat iron only has about a second of contact with the hair, heat needs to move fast to style the hair. Ceramic is not ideal for this purpose. Even though ceramic tourmaline provide even heat distribution on its surface, it does not provide fast heat transfer. Generally speaking, ceramic material technology is something to consider for Curling Irons not Flat Irons (even though there are a few excellent hair straighteners that have used ceramic alloy successfully).

HSI Controls

Moving on, these are no digital controls on this HSI hair straightener. All it has is a wheel that adjusts temperature from 140F to 450F. It is very hard to know where the desired temperature setting is. For example if I wanter to set the temperature to 365F, I would have to guess where that temperature is on their adjustable wheel. This is not a big deal, but it is an annoying element to have on a heated hair tool. This is the same issue that hot tools have, but they have legacy products that are just built very well and are used by many pros for year. There is no urgent need to change these because of the big following of pro that are used to these controls.

Quick Rating Rundown

This Product

(3.9)

:HSI Ceramic Tourmaline Flat Iron

Price: $48.95

Value

(4.5)

Performance

(3.9)

Controls

(3.5)

Technology

(3.5)

Best Value

(4.1)

:Conair InfinitiPRO 1″ Rainbow Titanium Iron

Price: $49.99

Value

(4.5)

Performance

(4.2)

Controls

(3.5)

Technology

(4)

Best Results

(4.4)

:Dyson Corrale Hair Straightener

Price: $499.00

Value

(3)

Performance

(5)

Controls

(4.4)

Technology

(5)

Best Hair Tools

(4.5+)

:Best Hair Tool for Any Job

Price: various

Value

(4.5+)

Performance

(4.5+)

Control

(4.5+)

Technology

(4.5+)

^{Our Rating Criteria}

Comparison to Top Hair Straighteners

Best Drugstore Flat Iron

Let’s start with the best Drugstore flat iron – Conair Infiniti Pro Rainbow Titanium Flat Iron. I believe this is the best value against performance Flat Iron on the market for many years now. It is your no nonsense flat iron that gets the job done very well. It comes at $50 pice point. It does not have digital controls. But, it is designed for easy hair curling. One of the big elements that helps with hair curling, just as with straightening, is the titanium plate technology. These plates are smooth and they provide that one pass hair straightening results. HSI flat iron does not deliver these type of of results.

Best Power Flat Iron

If you are looking for something with even more power to handle coarse hair or very thick hair, I would look at the Hot Tools options. Take a look at the Gold plated options. Gold transfers heat even faster than titanium does. But, you do have to be careful with these pro-type of tools. There is more risk with these types of tools because you can heat-damage your hair if you are not careful.

Cheapest Flat Iron You might consider

If you are looking for something very cheapest that still produces good results, check out Revlon Smooth and Straight Ceramic Flat Iron. I do not think you will find a cheaper flat iron than this little beast. Even though it does not glide through the hair, I was surprised with the results it provided. Also, it’s worth mentioning, it is not a great iron for curling.

Conclusion Remarks for HSI Flat Iron

Overall, HSI hair tool worked well! It did a good job curling, but still not quite as effortless as its direct competitor, Conair. The HSI Flat Iron was also smooth, but it took several passes to achieve an even result and I had to use it on the highest temperature setting. So, is it the best flat iron I’ve tried in this price range? No.. I would wait for a good same if you are considering this tool. It used to be at $35 price point, which is where it still belongs IMO.

Performance Rating Chart

This Product

(3.6)

:HSI Ceramic Tourmaline Flat Iron

Price: $48.95

Performance

(3.9)

Controls

(3.5)

Technology

(3.5)

Best Value

(3.9)

:Conair InfinitiPRO 1″ Rainbow Titanium Iron

Price: $49.99

Performance

(4.2)

Controls

(3.5)

Technology

(4)

Best Results

(4.8)

:Dyson Corrale Hair Straightener

Price: $499.00

Performance

(5)

Controls

(4.4)

Technology

(5)

^{Our Rating Criteria}