Pros
- Low running costs
- Excellent drying performance
- Clever drying rack
Cons
- Slightly confusing drying settings
If you can’t live without your tumble dryer then the Samsung DV90T6240LN is the perfect cost-effective appliance as this model promises cheap running costs that will help offset the initial investment.
In our tests, we found a setting 3, 5kg load, cost just 27p per cycle. The setting 3 load on this Samsung is equivalent to a cupboard dry, meaning it is the highest drying setting and should make clothes dry enough to be put away as soon as the cycle is complete. We also found in our tests that this setting removed 99.6% of water.
A level 2 setting, which is the equivalent of a hanging dry, is as impressive, costing just 20p per cycle and removing 97.28% of water from a 5KG wash load.
As well as regular drying cycles, there are extra features and programs that help make this tumble dryer more versatile. There are programs specifically for wool, outdoor clothing and bedding. With its decent 9kg drum, this tumble dryer easily copes with average-sized washing loads.
There’s also manual drying that helps perk up items. You can either choose the warm air option, which sends gently heated air for slightly damp items, or the cool air option, which is for refreshing laundry.
With the included drying rack that plugs into the door, you can use your tumble dryer for items that should be treated more delicately, including shoes. The light inside makes it easier to load and empty the machine too.
To make its use even easier, the dryer is also SmartThings compatible. This is particularly useful as you can see which drying cycles are available and you’ll get a notification on your phone when a cycle is finished. In addition, if you have a Samsung washing machine, you can link the cycles together, so when the washing machine has finished, the tumble dryer can be set to the correct cycle option.
If you use your tumble dryer frequently enough, this is a worthwhile investment. However, as it’s not the cheapest dryer on our list, we’d only recommend this if you know you’ll use it frequently enough to offset the initial cost.
Reviewer: David Ludlow
Full review: Samsung DV90T6240LN
Hisense DH5S102BW
The best large tumble dryer
Pros
- Drying rack included
- Smart app
- Large drum
- Low running costs
With a 10kg drum, the Hisense DH5S102BW is one of the largest tumble dryers available, which makes it ideal for larger households that tend to do bigger loads of washing and drying.
The appliance is easy to load and unload too, thanks to its large door and incredibly useful light inside the drum which helps you to check whether you’ve missed an item when unloading.
The Hisense is fairly straightforward to use, however we did note that there were a few manual settings that could have been made clearer.
There’s a dial on the appliance to select the desired drying cycle, which includes all the options you’d expect from a tumble dryer. There are also some special programs for delicates, bedding and wool. There’s also a particularly useful Ion Refresh option, which is able to refresh clothes without using heat.
You can also connect the Hisense to the smart app, ConnectedLife, which can be used as a remote control for the appliance. If you also have a Hisense washing machine, you can use the WashDry Sync option to automatically set the tumble dryer based on the wash mode used.
The Hisense’s door filter needs to be cleaned at the end of each cycle, however as it is a double filter and traps lint inside, it is easy for you to clean.
In our tests, we found that on the cupboard dry cycle, the dryer removed 99.18% of the moisture in the load and cost 31p. With the iron dry setting, which is Hisense’s equivalent of the hanging dry option, the dryer removed 95.37% of moisture and cost just 20p to run.
Just like the Samsung DV90T6240LN, the Hisense also has a useful rack that clips over the door and allows you to safely dry items that shouldn’t be tumbled.
Reviewer: David Ludlow
Full review: Hisense DH5S102BW
