Covering hair drying, straightening, curling, and detangling all in one tool, CHI Volumizer 4-in-1 is for home stylers who put a premium on versatility.
CHI Volumizer 4-in-1 Blowout Brush
Model Name/ Number: CA7557 Price: $102 Heat Settings: Low: 150.3°F / High: 182.4°F Attachments: Oval Brush, Paddle Brush, Nozzle Concentrator, Compact Diffuser Best for: All hair types What we like: Appeals to many different styling needs What we don’t like: Not ergonomically designed Rating: 4.4/5.0
Hot air brushes tend to have similar qualities and it’s not very common to find one that stands out. But CHI Volumizer 4-in-1 came up with a very intriguing design that satisfies all sorts of styling needs in only 1 hot tool.
Contrary to most hot air brushes in the market, it comes with 4 different attachment options that you can pick and choose every time you’re in front of the mirror. The compact diffuser is great for creating root volume and natural-looking waves, while the nozzle concentrator helps focus the airflow for faster drying and styling. The paddle brush is perfect for smoothing out hair, and the oval brush is ideal for creating voluminous curls. The attachments are easy to change, and the brush is lightweight, making it comfortable to use.
Below we break down our experience with CHI Volumizer 4-in-1. If you’re curious about the competition, check out our article about the Best Hot Air Brush Reviews of 2023.
We know that CHI Volumizer 4-in-1 is much more than an oval brush with a barrel, but nevertheless, the oval barrel of any hot air brush is usually the most useful part of the tool. With 2.3 inches, it fits its reputation of being the most versatile tool in the market. With its medium size, it’s suitable for different hairstyles. It’s large enough to cover a lot of hair at one go, which makes it great for long hair. Yet it’s still slim enough to come close to the roots and have a good grip, making it desirable for short hair as well.
The oval shape is gentler on the hair than round, creating less tension on the strands. This means it’s suitable for fragile and fine hair. In terms of hairstyle, the oval equals to great volume rather than tight and defined curls.
If what you’re looking for is to curl your hair, there are many other hot air brushes on our list that will do an outstanding job such as Drybar The Single Shot for longer hair or Drybar The Half Shot for short hair.
And if you have long hair and looking for a way to shorten up your styling time, you might want to consider an oval-shaped tool with a larger barrel such as Amika Hair Blow Dry Brush 2.0.
Bristles
There are 2 different attachments to discuss in this section.
When we have a close look at the barrel attachment of the tool, it’s a combination of 0.53″ nylon tip and 0.34″ tufted bristles. The bristles are shorter compared to most hot air brushes on our list. Shorter nylon tip bristles are not the best when it comes to detangling.
We can also see that the bristles are quite hard which makes it great for styling the hair and boosting volume. One needs softer bristles for easy detangling, if this is your priority, the paddle brush attachment is for the rescue. As we said, CHI Volumizer 4-in-1 satisfies the needs of many.
Here we can see that whether you’re looking to style or detangle and smoothen your hair, there’s an attachment option for you.
Attachments
As its name indicates, CHI Volumizer 4-in-1 comes with 4 different attachments. First of all, it clearly has a detachable design. We all know that this makes the tool compact and easy to travel with, not to mention versatile. CHI Volumizer, in essence, combines the functionality of a hot air brush, a blow dryer, a detangler, a curler, and a volumizer all in one.
The oval-shaped brush gives voluminous curls. The paddle brush smooths out and detangles the hair. The compact diffuser boosts the volume of the roots and also seals the defined curls with a gentle blow. And finally, the nozzle concentrator helps focus the airflow for faster drying and styling. The nozzle attachment basically serves as a blow dryer, saving you space and money. After testing the tool, we can assure you that the attachments are easy to change and use and the product is sturdy.
Like every quality hot air brush in the market, CHI Volumizer 4-in-1 comes with different heat settings. These are 2 hot (low and high), and a cool option.
With a temperature as high as 182.4°F, the high heat setting is the preferred choice for thick and curly hair. This heat is considered an average high-heat option that is effective yet gentle enough not to burn your strands.
The low heat option, on the other hand, with 150.3°F, is beneficial for very fragile hair that doesn’t need much taming.
And finally, the cool shot option is a highly beneficial and, to be honest, underrated feature that seals the styling session and makes it long-lasting. It’s especially useful for home stylers that doesn’t want to spend too much time every day in front of the mirror.
If you have very thick hair that requires very high heat to style, we recommend Hot Tools Pro Artist Black Gold, which has a maximum heat of 213°F and does wonders in taming unruly hair.
Performance And Durability
CHI products are known for their quality and CHI Volumizer 4-in-1 is no less than its reputation. Considering most detachable hot air brushes sacrifice sturdiness, this one is extraordinarily well-built. We have tested, detaching, and reattaching all the heads more times than we can count and it remained in perfect condition. After months of consistent use, it’s still in great shape. We do know that it is an investment to spend over 100$ for a hot hair tool, but the durability seems to justify the cost.
CHI Volumizer 4-in-1 comes with all the usual features we’d expect from a hot air brush with this price and quality. It’s infused with Ceramic and it has a built-in ion generator that emits negative ions. These qualities are used to reduce frizz and increase shine, as well as to avoid heat damage.
Ergonomics (Weight, Handle, Sound)
Weight might not be the top consideration for most home stylers, but it matters more than one would think. CHI Volumizer 4-in-1 is a winner when it comes to weight, compared to most hot air brushes in the market. With only 13 oz. (the average weight is around 15 oz.), it makes a very comfortable tool that doesn’t give you arm fatigue when you use it for a long period.
The handle is average-sized, (13 inches) and the handle’s diameter is 5.5 inches. As much as it’s a comfortable tool, there are some notable design issues regarding the handle. First of all, it’s thick at the bottom, making it difficult to grip especially for small hands. And it gets skinnier toward the top which makes your hand slide and touch the bottoms on the top.
It’s also important to note that the handle gets as hot as 99.1 F., while the cool tip is 113.1F. max. These numbers are higher compared to most hot air brushes on our list, which is something to consider if you’re using the tool very often and long periods of times. But these are overall small sacrifices to make if your priority is versatility.
It’s true that hot air brushes are noisy tools and it can make your life easier to choose a quieter one if you have sensitive ears or a sleeping family member next door. CHI Volumizer 4-in-1 is one of the quietest hot air brushes on our list. With only 89 dBA, we can say that it’s a gentler option for your ears.
Competition
CHI Volumizer 4-in-1 is a unique hot air brush and our favorite feature-rich tool this season. However, if you like a well-functioning hot air brush yet you don’t really care for the extra attachments other than the oval brush, Drybar The Double Shot is a great high-end alternative that offers a more luxury session. It truly satisfies every need of a home stylist other than the detachable design and it may be the option to consider if you don’t need versatility and would benefit more from an ergonomically designed tool that is comfortable to hold.
If a detachable design for easy storage and easy cleaning is all you need, and you don’t want to invest in the attachments, we recommend you consider Revlon One-Step Volumizer PLUS 2.0.
For our readers that love the versatility but would prefer a more budget-friendly product, Conair The Knot Dr. Oval Dryer Brush offers a reasonable solution. The tool itself is as cheap as 40$ with extra attachments that you can buy separately which are also fairly priced. It might not be as durable and sturdy as CHI but it comes with a very 3 inched barrel which is more desirable for long hair and has other sized barrel options.
