Whirlpool WED9620HC Dryer Review

Its features are also top-notch, with steam options and an app that’s actually easier to use than the onboard controls. The most notable feature of the WED9620HC is Whirlpool’s signature cycle selection system, where it breaks cycles up into two parts: “What to Dry” and “How to Dry.” For “What to Dry,” you can choose from options like Bulky Items or Delicates; for “How to Dry,” you can pick modifiers like Heavy Duty or Sanitize. This system might be more intuitive for some, but can also be a bit cumbersome if you’re used to traditional dryer controls.

About the Whirlpool WED9620HC dryer

• Dimensions: 38.75” x 27” x 31” (H x W x D)
• Capacity: 7.4 cu. ft.
• Finishes: White, Chrome Shadow ($100 extra), Black Shadow ($150 extra)
• Cycles: The Whirlpool WED9620HC breaks cycles up into two parts, “What To Dry” and “How to Wash It.” You have to choose one of each to get a complete cycle, which yields 42 possible combinations (six of which use air only, no heat). What to Dry options: Regular, Bulky Items, Delicates, Whites, Colors, Towels, Air Only. How to Dry options: Normal, Wrinkle Shield, Heavy Duty, Sanitize, Timed Dry, Quick Dry.
• Cycle options: For a Regular cycle, there are four temperature settings and three dryness levels. For a Timed Dry cycle there are two additional temperature settings.

What we like

It’ll get your laundry 100% dry, quickly

The Whirlpool WED9620HC had some excellent drying performance on some cycles. For the Regular + Normal combination and the Delicates + Normal combination, the laundry came out 100% dry. The Regular + Quick combination got laundry moderately dry in only 15 minutes—about twice as fast as the average time we typically observe in testing. Likewise, the Bulky + Normal cycle finished in a very-fast 43 minutes, compared to the average time of an hour.

The only cycle that took longer than expected was the Regular + Normal cycle, which took a full two hours to complete, double the average Normal cycle of about an hour.

The app is intuitive and easy to use

As we'll get to later, the Whirlpool WED9620HC’s onboard controls are a bit lacking. Fortunately the Whirlpool app by Lifestyle offers all the functionality you'd want and then some. You start the device remotely, input all the settings you'd find on the device itself (and quicker), leave notes, and receive notifications when the cycle is complete.

Unfortunately, the app, too, has a bit of a downside: You need to hit the Remote Control button on the dryer each time you want to use the app. While this isn't a big deal and the button is pretty easily accessible without stooping over, it still adds a hitch to the process.

What we don’t like

The Regular + Normal cycle takes two hours to finish

Considering this is the default setting and what most people are probably most likely to stick with, we were disappointed this cycle took so long to complete—especially since other cycles took far less time. We'd highly recommend experimenting with the other cycle combinations, such as the Bulky + Normal cycle and the blazing-fast Regular + Quick cycle for smaller loads.

You have to stoop to use the touchscreen

Front-loaders are typically great at gentle, efficient scrubbing, but one of their downsides is needing to stoop over to load them. The Whirlpool WED9620HC makes it tougher, placing the touchscreen on the door itself. It’s very difficult to interact with the screen—or even read it—from a standing position. You really need to stoop down to input what you want to wash and how to wash it. Once you are interacting with the touchscreen, it feels unresponsive. It’s really a miss on just about every level.

Fortunately, there is a workaround for this: The Whirlpool app by Lifestyle is pretty quick and easy to use. You can select all the options available on the device itself and it’s actually more responsive than the Whirlpool WED9620HC’s touchscreen. We’d highly recommend checking out the app if you own this Whirlpool.

What owners are saying

There aren’t a ton of user reviews currently available for the Whirlpool WED9620HC. Based on what’s currently available, however, reception seems to be fairly positive. The Whirlpool WED9620HC currently has an average of 4.5 out of 5 stars across major retailers. On the positive side of things, users loved the dryer's steam features, app, and overall performance. Common criticisms were mainly limited to a poor user interface on the device itself and flaky WiFi. We didn’t run into any WiFi connectivity problems in our testing environment, but enough people have complained about it that it might be something to be on the lookout for.

Warranty

Whirlpool offers a one-year limited warranty on the Whirlpool WED9620HC. This is the baseline warranty in the product space. Other manufacturers will sometimes have extended guarantees for specific parts.

Should you buy the Whirlpool WED9620HC?

If money is no object? Sure. The Whirlpool WED9620HC is, by most metrics, an excellent dryer. It has a good capacity, the ability to dry laundry completely and quickly, and also has all the high-end features you’d expect, like steam, WiFi, and app support. While it does have its problems, there are also acceptable workarounds. The one issue without an easy solution, unfortunately, is its price. Of the top dryers we’ve reviewed, only a few are in the same price range, and they often offer much larger capacity or a better feature set. Still, if the aesthetics of this Whirlpool fit your home and you didn’t balk at the price, it’s a great dryer overall.

If you’re researching the Whirlpool WED9620HC, we’d also recommend checking out the Electrolux EFME627UTT, which costs about half as much and is our top-rated dryer. There’s also the LG DLEX9000V, which is slightly more expensive but has better smart features and a huge 9.0-cubic-foot capacity.