Review: GHD Chronos Max Hair Straightener

If you've had your hair dyed, cut, or styled with any regularity in professional salons, odds are you've encountered a GHD-branded hair tool. A longtime favorite of hairstylists, the company has been around since 2001 and is known for both its devotion to technological innovation and its tools' longevity. ("I've had the same GHD for 10+ years" is a typical comment on any beauty- or hair-related subreddit.) GHD's regular Chronos, Platinum+, and wet-to-dry Duet Style are all top picks in our guide to the Best Hair Straighteners, so of course we were first in line to test the company's newest release, the Chronos Max, hot off the presses in February 2025.

Like most GHD tools (GHD, in case you were wondering, stands for “Good Hair Day"), the universal-voltage Chronos Max feels solid and high-quality, as befits a hair straightener north of $300. It also plays a convenient little chime to let the user know it's been turned on, is preheating, or is turning off, and the 8.8-foot cord has a swivel attachment on the iron's back. (Unlike other flat irons, though, it curiously does not come with velcro to help bind the folded cord.) The original Chronos ($229) has been around since 2024, but the principal difference between it and the Chronos Max is the Max's larger 1.75-inch-wide plates, designed specifically to handle “thick, long, and curly hair”—just like mine.

Turning Up (or Down) the Heat

I have been using a flat iron on my long, 3a curly hair nearly every day for the past 33 years, and I found many things to love about the Chronos Max during my two-week testing period. The chime, for one—even though the Chronos only takes about 30 seconds to heat up, I had no idea how convenient it was to press a button and not have to continually stop what I'm doing to check to see if a light had turned off or stopped flashing.

I also loved the sturdiness of the body. So many hair straighteners nowadays are made with such cheap plastic they practically feel hollow, but the GHD is solid, weighing in at 12 ounces without the cord—just enough heft to feel substantial, but not unwieldy.

Perhaps the most curious feature, however, is its single temperature setting. That's right: one button, 365 degrees Fahrenheit. No more, no less, no adjusting. WIRED reviewer Brenda Stolyar experienced this for the first time while testing the original Chronos, and liked that it ultimately forced her to do less damage to her hair. As someone who's spent their entire life cranking every straightener up to max temperature to obliterate any trace of curls or frizz, though, I admit I was dubious.

Meredith Kirkland, a stylist of 20 years and GHD’s senior national education manager, says it's actually a myth that coarse or curly hair needs a tool with higher heat. “All of our hair is made out of the same material, it’s just shaped differently,” she explains. More specifically, the shaft of a straight hair is perfectly round, while a curly hair's is flatter, or more oval.

A too-high heat, like 450 degrees, can damage the hair strand's internal structure; the lowest setting damages the hair's cuticle layer without creating a long-lasting style. GHD has found the perfect compromise. “Think of 365 as the sweet spot, the perfect in-between for the longest-lasting results with no extreme heat damage,” Kirkland says.

GHD further stands behind its researched 365-degree set point with what it calls HD Motion-Responsive technology, a new mechanism contained in both the original Chronos and the Chronos Max. Motion-Responsive technology compensates for the temperature drop that occurs when heat transfers from the straightener to the hair itself, which is a phenomenon that GHD calls thermal lag.

Kirkland illustrates this by miming using a flat iron on a section of her hair. “As [the straightener] glides down the strand, it may be 430, then 420 … it’s not consistent,” she says. "Our technology has the ability to immediately recuperate from the temp drop with sensors that measure the entire plate surface 250 times a second, to ensure that every single part of the plate is exactly the same temperature the entire time you’re styling.”

In short, even if you think you're using a high-heat tool, it might be operating at 365 degrees Fahrenheit or even less, while also causing periods of unnecessary damage. Kirkland says it's these consistent temperature sensors that allow users to straighten their hair more quickly, hence the “Chronos” name (Chronos was Greek mythology's god of time).

No Pain, No Gain

This is all undoubtedly impressive, and it explains the Chronos Max's price tag (unusually high for something that's not an air-powered Dyson or a multi-tool), but does this thing actually straighten as well as a 450-degree iron? Well, for me and my frizzy curls, yes and no.

Starting with wet hair, I blow-dried using a Shark FlexFusion blow-dry brush attachment, sprayed on a heat protectant (as GHD recommends), and made a pass on each section with the Chronos Max. I repeated this process several times. My locks were straightened, though nowhere near as smoothly as with my higher-heat ceramic tools like the Paul Mitchell Style+ or Smooth+, let alone a titanium tool like the Sutra. I imagine if my hair were truly coily, like 4a or above, the Chronos would be an absolute no-go. The Max did work wonderfully for daily touch-ups, though, and did result in noticeably more shine over time, whether this was through the plates' “ultra gloss” finish or just general lack of damage.

But what about those massive plates? Some straightening iron users shy away from wider plates like those on the Max, as they traditionally are more difficult to maneuver if you're one who likes to add post-straightening waves and curls. Kirkland points out that because the Max's plates sit closer to the edge of the clamps, this iron can still be used as a multi-tool despite the width. I tried this, and while my straightening iron curl game isn't the strongest, I didn't find it any more difficult to achieve with the Max as opposed to a 1-inch iron.

In all, even if it didn't leave my coarse curls as smooth as with a hotter straightening iron, the Chronos Max is still a contender for those with easier-to-manage hair and/or those who want to minimize damage. Just don't expect it to work a miracle, although you could be forgiven for expecting one for the price.