Braun 3055BK Iron

This delivered powerful steam and ploughed through the ironing pile at high speed. It’s black, modern-looking and certainly has unisex appeal. You control steam level (up to 50g/min) with a small dial under your thumb, but you can’t control temperature. Instead, it has a single iCare setting that can’t be overridden and promises to be good for all iron-safe fabrics.

There’s a trigger button under your finger which is good for 230 g/min steam shot and vertical steam – again powerful. It glides very smoothly. We found it possible to plough through the ironing double-speed because the steam is strong enough to do both sides of a shirt at once. Its 330ml tank is easy to fill through a large opening, and it comes with a jug, but the 2.5m cord is a bit short.

It stows looped around the heel adequately but not brilliantly. And we couldn’t see the benefits of the soleplate’s 3D design, where it curves up at the heel end. Still, the performance is excellent.