10 Best Clothes Dryers of 2026, Tested and Reviewed

Full-sized electric clothes dryers are the most popular choice among consumers and consistently set the standard for high quality in CR’s tests. Many of our top-rated electric dryers are from LG, thanks in part to the brand’s stellar reliability ratings and impressive owner satisfaction scores. Keep reading to discover the cream of this crop.

Full-sized gas dryers require a 120-volt outlet and a gas hookup. Like its electric dryers, LG’s gas models dominate our ratings for their high performance and overall reliability.

On average, compact dryers don’t score as well as electric and gas models in our tests. But because they are smaller, they’re ideal for stacking (with matching compact front-load washers) in an apartment or a smaller laundry space. Miele compact dryers lead in our ratings, but some Samsung and LG models also earn our recommendation.

If you’re looking for a full-sized dryer that won’t run up your electric bill, you might consider a heat-pump model. This dryer type uses hot air to absorb moisture, which passes through an evaporator that collects the water and reuses the hot air in a loop until the clothes are dry (though they may not feel completely dry until shaken out).

The lower operating cost of heat-pump models can add up over time. For example, the Samsung DV45DG6000HW (which we estimate costs about $57 per year to run) costs $106 less per year than the top-rated, standard electric LG DLE3400W (which costs $163 per year to operate). Over 10 years, that can save you more than $1,000. Compared with the least efficient Maytag MED4500MW dryer (which costs $254 per year to operate), the Samsung heat-pump dryer saves even more—$197 per year, or nearly $2,000 over a decade. You’ll find the estimated annual usage cost listed for each dryer in our ratings so you can make your own comparisons.

Below, CR members can find two high-performing heat-pump dryers from our tests. And if you’re intent on pursuing an eco-friendly lifestyle beyond laundry, check out CR’s Guide to Sustainable Living.

In our labs, we dry laundry loads of different sizes and fabric mixes (such as cotton/polyester blends and synthetic delicates) to evaluate a machine’s drying performance. A dryer’s controls and ergonomics, such as ease of loading and unloading, determine its convenience score. The sound quality and volume of an 8-pound laundry load define a dryer’s noise score.

Performance matters because a machine that doesn’t dry clothes well wastes resources—either by running too long without drying clothes, or by running too long and overdrying them. In our dryer performance test, we track how long each load takes to dry at the minimum and maximum settings to see whether clothes come out damp, dry, or overdried. "We test dryness based on three different cycles—delicate, permanent press, and a mixed cotton load," says Larry Ciufo, who oversees our dryer testing.