Design
These days, a dryer can be more than useful—it can be beautiful, too. Samsung has pulled out all the stops here. Our striking test model sports a black stainless steel finish. If that color seems too fashion-forward for your laundry, it’s available in white, too, for $100 less. If you’re looking for laundry room drama, the Merlot colored model totally slays (though you do have a pay a bit more for it).
Choose a finish: Sleek Black Stainless, classic White, or dramatic Merlot. Whichever you pick, you've just upped your laundry game.
The control knob makes it easy to select your desired cycle, and there are so many options on the right side of the panel, but you might never go there to make more granular adjustments.
There’s plenty of room for large laundry loads and big, fluffy comforters in the white, bright 7.5 cu.-ft. drum. The fins are differently shaped from those on most dryers, and they appear to be built to toss the load better.
The dryer's drum is spacious, white, and brightly lit.
As for the double-sided lint trap, it holds a lot of lint, but it’s not well designed. It’s really difficult to open, even once you know the secret—press the center very hard with your left thumb, and pull up and out with your right hand. Since cleaning the filter after every load is an absolute must, make sure you can open it before you buy this model.
The dryer's lint trap is double-sided, so it hold a lot of lint. Because it's not easy to open, make sure you try it out before making a final decision. Cleaning the lint filter after every load is a must.
Features
Cycles aplenty? Yes, please. More than you’ll ever use? Probably.
In our testing, we focused on Normal, Bedding, Delicates, and Quick Dry. The dryer did an excellent job getting wet laundry dry on each cycle. Sensor dry determines how long to dry each load. The cycles it runs on are highlighted in orange on the selector knob.
The selector knob makes it a snap to dial up a cycle. Orange highlights on the left indicate the cycles you can use with Sensor Dry, and the highlights on the right side of the knob identify the steam cycles.
Performance
We’ve tested a spate of dryers in all price ranges that run very hot. Since nobody likes to pull out damp laundry at the end of a cycle, that's probably intentional on the part of the brands. But dryer temperatures over 150°F can accelerate wear and tear on clothes.
The 67 minute Normal cycle hit a maximum temperature of 162°F, toastier than necessary. You might prefer to use the Bedding cycle, which had an average cycle time of 51.5 minutes and reached 152°F.
The Delicates cycle is the low and slow cycle, where the laundry load experienced temperatures up to 128°F for 82 minutes. It will completely dry your more fragile clothing without damaging it.
None of the cycles are speedy, aside from the 30-minute Quick cycle, so don’t hang around waiting for a load to finish. Just come and get the laundry when you hear the little tune. Or use the Wrinkle Prevent feature, which keeps the load rolling till you can remove it.
If you hate to iron, use the steam features. You could choose Wrinkle Away, which takes wrinkles out of a couple of garments in 20 minutes, or Refresh, which removes wrinkles and odors from up to four pieces of clothing with a spray of water.
Warranty
Samsung proves a one year warranty on parts and labor.
What the users say
Owners who left reviews are very enthusiastic about this dryer, giving it an average of 4.6 out of 5 stars. They love the modern style, the spacious drum, and the steam. A small number of users mentioned that when it’s stacked with the matching washer, the dryer’s slightly tilted control panel can be hard to read. If that’s how you’re arranging your laundry room, a step-stool would definitely help.
The bottom line
Okay, you might not have planned to invest in a dryer like this, even though you would love all the features. But if you can afford it, rest assured—this dryer functions well. The word “workhorse” comes to mind.
So, if you decide to buy this dryer, don’t hide it away in a basement laundry. With looks like these, it belongs where you can admire it. We noticed, though, that this Samsung bears a strong resemblance to another great looking dryer, our top-rated Electrolux EFME27UTT. That model is pricey, but it is much gentler on clothes.
Meet the testers
Cindy Bailen loves writing about major appliances and home design and has spent over 15 years immersed in that. In her spare time, Cindy hosts pledge programs for WGBH-TV in Boston and other public television stations.
Kyle Hamilton
Product Tester
Kyle Hamilton is a product tester at Reviewed, specializing in home appliances and technology.
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