A closer comparison than it first looks — CHI takes three of the five specifications. The one that matters most is the one its listing will not tell you.
By Scooter M., enthusiast, crease control · Published
Rowenta, for almost everyone — but not for the reasons the spec sheet first suggests. CHI actually wins three of five published figures: a larger 220 ml tank against Rowenta's 189, a faster 30-second heat-up against 40, and a two-year warranty against one. Rowenta wins on the figure that decides whether a steamer does its job, and it wins it by default: it publishes 1,875 watts in a 1.4 pound body, while CHI's listing files a wattage that turns out to be a catalog default and so states no usable power at all, in a body weighing 2.9 pounds. That is nearly double the power at half the weight, and no amount of tank or warranty compensates for it.
We earn a commission if you buy through the links on this page, at no extra cost to you. It does not change which steamer we rank first — the ranking comes from published specifications and the arithmetic on our method page. We have not tested these units. Full disclosure.
The published figures
Read from each product's own live listing, September 2026
Rowenta XCEL DR2020
CHI Deluxe Digital 3-in-1
Power
1,875 W
Not published*
Tank
189 ml
220 ml
Heat-up
40 s
30 s
Weight
1.4 lb
2.9 lb
Warranty
1 year limited
2 year limited
Voltage
120 V
120 V
Power-to-weight
1,339 W per pound
Cannot be calculated
*CHI files a bare 1000 in its wattage field on three models that advertise 1,725 W, 1,600 W and 800 W, so we treat it as a catalog default and publish nothing — the CHI brand page sets out the evidence. The last row is arithmetic over the two rows above it, not a published figure, and it cannot be computed for a machine with no published power.
Rowenta's own XCEL listing advertises a 25-second heat-up in its title while the structured specification on the same page says 0.66 minutes — about forty. We use the structured field, because that is what the maker files rather than what marketing writes, and we flag the discrepancy rather than quietly picking whichever suits the ranking.
Why power-to-weight is the deciding figure
Wattage sets which fabrics a steamer can handle. Below about 1,000 watts you have a refresher — fine on jersey, polyester and light knits, not enough to make woven cotton look pressed. The Rowenta sits at the ceiling for a plug-in appliance on a US 15-amp circuit. Where the CHI sits, nobody can say: its listing advertises 1,725 W in the marketing copy and files a default in the field, and buying on the first of those is buying on a number the maker would not file.
Weight then decides whether you actually use it. A handheld is held at arm's length for the length of a session, and 2.9 pounds is heavier than every more powerful handheld on this site — heavier than the 1,875 W Conair at 2.27 pounds. So the CHI asks you to carry more for an output it does not document, which is a difficult combination to argue for.
The buying-a-brand-name problem
CHI is a well-known name in hair tools, and this is the most likely reason someone types this comparison into a search box. Brand recognition earned in one category does not transfer to another on its own, and the published specifications here do not support the transfer: 2.9 pounds is the second-heaviest handheld on this site, and the one figure that would justify carrying it is missing from the sheet.
That is not a claim the unit is badly made. It is a claim that you would be paying for the name rather than for a documented machine, and that several cheaper units give you more tank and a published wattage for less — including CHI's own 11590. We list the CHI as the unit to skip on the handheld roundup for exactly this reason.
The third option, which is often the right one
If you have got as far as comparing these two, the Rowenta Pure Force 2-in-1 is worth a look before you decide. It matches the XCEL's 1,875 watts, carries a larger 210 ml tank, publishes a 10-second heat-up — the fastest figure on this site by a factor of three — and adds a press plate, which does the one thing no steamer can: make a crease in a collar, a cuff or a trouser leg.
The costs are honest ones. It weighs 3 pounds, making it the heaviest handheld we cover, and Rowenta publishes no warranty term for it. A plate also needs a surface, so it is not purely hang-and-go. The 2-in-1 page sets out where the plate earns its weight.
Who should buy which
The decision
If you
Buy
Want the most capability per pound
Rowenta XCEL — 1,875 W at 1.4 lb is unmatched here
Steam cotton shirts or tailoring
Rowenta, either model. Do not buy undocumented power for woven cotton
Want a crease as well as steam
Rowenta Pure Force — the only one of the three with a plate
Steam only knits and synthetics, and value a warranty
CHI is defensible — two years, and these fabrics are forgiving about power
Want precise low-temperature control for delicates
CHI, on the digital settings
Care most about weight in the hand
Rowenta XCEL at 1.4 lb, less than half the CHI
The honest summary: CHI wins on paper in three places and loses the argument, because power is the specification that determines whether a steamer does the job you bought it for, CHI does not publish one, and the other three are comforts around it. If your wardrobe is genuinely all knitwear and jersey, and a two-year warranty matters more to you than power, the CHI is a reasonable purchase and we would not tell you otherwise.
The three machines
Ranked on published specifications. Tap a row for the full write-up; the price button goes to Amazon.
#
Product
Best for
Spec score
Price
1
Rowenta XCEL Steam Force DR2020Full 1,875W at 1.4 pounds — the best power-to-weight ratio on this site.
The interesting number here is a ratio. Every other 1,875W handheld we looked at is published between two and three pounds; this one is 1.4. Over a rail of shirts that difference is the whole experience.
Note a conflict inside Rowenta's own published data: the listing title advertises a 25-second heat-up, while the structured specification field on the same page reads 0.66 minutes — about 40 seconds. We score the specification field, because that is the figure Rowenta files rather than the one it markets. If you buy it expecting 25 seconds, expect to be disappointed by fifteen.
The 190 ml tank is small, and Rowenta pairs it with a stated 10 minutes of continuous steam — an honest figure rather than an optimistic one.
Good
1,875W at 1.4 pounds — the best power-to-weight figure here
Removable tank, so you refill at the tap rather than over the sink
10.8 inches tall, so it lives in a closet rather than a cupboard
Not good
190 ml is a small tank even by handheld standards
Rowenta's own title and specification field disagree about heat-up time
One-year warranty against Conair's two
Who should not buy it. Skip this if you want one machine that presses as well as steams. It is a pure vertical steamer with no plate — the Pure Force is the Rowenta that does both.
2. Handheld · The CHI not to buy
CHI Deluxe Digital 3-in-1
The heaviest CHI, outsold on every figure its own listing states by the cheaper 11590.
CHI does not publish power draw for this model, so that figure is excluded from the score rather than estimated.
What the numbers mean
We used to call this the worst power-to-weight figure on the site. That was wrong, and the correction matters: the 1,000 W we were scoring is a bare default CHI files on three different models, including one that advertises 800 W. We no longer publish a wattage for it at all, and the honest position is that its power is undocumented rather than low.
What the listing does state still does not flatter it. 2.9 pounds is the second-heaviest handheld here, the 220 ml tank is middling, and CHI's own 11590 carries 300 ml at 1.7 pounds with the same two-year warranty for less money. Within CHI's line this is the one to pass over.
The nine fabric modes and the digital display are real features and some people will want them. They are what you are paying the premium over the 11590 for, along with three tenths of a pound less tank and more than a pound more weight.
Good
Two-year published warranty, matched here only by Conair
220 ml tank is adequate
Digital temperature settings, which some fabrics genuinely benefit from
Not good
No usable published wattage — the field is a catalog default CHI repeats across models
2.9 lb, the second-heaviest handheld on this site
Beaten by CHI's own cheaper 11590 on tank, weight and price, at equal warranty
Who should not buy it. Skip this in favor of CHI's own 11590, which carries more tank in a lighter body for less money and publishes a steam rate this one does not. If you want documented power instead, the Conair publishes 1,875 W in its specification field.
3. Handheld · One machine instead of two
Rowenta Pure Force 2-in-1 DR8822
Steams vertically, presses horizontally, and publishes the fastest heat-up in this set by a factor of three.
Ten seconds to steam is the lowest published heat-up of anything on this page. If the thing that stops you steaming is the wait, this is the answer to it.
The horizontal plate is the real argument. A steamer relaxes a wrinkle; only contact and pressure will put a crease into a trouser leg or flatten a collar point. This does both, which is why for most wardrobes it genuinely replaces an iron and a board.
Three pounds is heavy for a handheld, and that weight is the soleplate. Judge it as a small iron that also steams, not as a light steamer that also presses.
Good
10-second published heat-up, the fastest on this site
Vertical steam and a horizontal press plate in one body
210 ml tank, larger than most 1,875W handhelds
Not good
Three pounds — the heaviest handheld here
A plate needs a surface, so it is not purely hang-and-go
Wider footprint than a pure steamer to store
Who should not buy it. Skip this if you only ever steam hanging garments. You would be carrying the weight of a soleplate you never put down.
Questions people actually ask
+Is Rowenta or CHI better for a garment steamer?
Rowenta, for almost everyone. CHI publishes a larger tank, a faster heat-up and a longer warranty, but Rowenta's XCEL delivers a documented 1,875 watts at 1.4 pounds while the CHI weighs 2.9 and files no usable wattage at all. Power decides which fabrics a steamer can handle, and one of these two will tell you what it has.
+Is the CHI garment steamer worth it?
Only if your wardrobe is knitwear, jersey and synthetics, and the two-year warranty or the digital temperature settings matter to you. At 2.9 pounds it is the second-heaviest handheld on this site and its listing does not state a usable wattage, so you are carrying the weight on faith. CHI's own cheaper 11590 is the better buy within the brand — the brand page compares them.
+Does CHI make a good clothes steamer?
The build is not the issue — the specification is. A two-year published warranty is genuinely good and only Conair matches it here. But brand recognition earned in hair tools does not transfer, and cheaper units offer more tank and more power.
+Which Rowenta steamer should I buy?
The XCEL DR2020 if you want the lightest full-power handheld, at 1,875 watts and 1.4 pounds. The Pure Force 2-in-1 if you also need a crease — it adds a press plate and a 10-second heat-up, at the cost of three pounds in the hand and no published warranty.
