Samsung Bespoke AirDresser Review
A smart way to keep your clothes in their best condition
Verdict
A smart steam wardrobe, the Samsung Bespoke AirDresser can refresh, sanitise and dry a wide range of clothes, including items that you’d normally have to take to the dry cleaners. The main benefits of this model, compared to the competition, are the wide range of cycles, each designed to look after a different type of garment, from suits and outdoor clothes to down and leather. Excellent results and low running costs are good to see, but this is an expensive device to buy.
Pros
- Low running costs
- Huge number of cycles
- Refreshes and cleans clothes gently
Cons
- Expensive
Availability
- UKRRP: £1999
Key Features
- More than dryerA dryer, steam cleaner and more.
- Steam cleaningUses steam to clean and refresh clothes.
Introduction
The Samsung Bespoke AirDresser is only the third steam cupboard that I’ve reviewed, with the products not as popular here as they are in the Far East. That’s a shame, as I think that they’re misunderstood. This model is no longer on sale in the UK.
Built to refresh and clean clothes using gentle drying and steaming, the Samsung AirDresser is a great way to breathe fresh life into all types of clothes, from suits and outdoor coats to delicate jumpers. And, it does it all without chemicals or expensive trips to dry cleaners.
For the right households, the Samsung AirDresser could become an essential bit of kit.
Design and features
- Hanging space for three items
- Accessory shelf
- Lots of programmes
As with the similar LG Styler, the Samsung AirDresser is a tall and thin wardrobe-style device. Measuring 1850 x 445 x 632mm and weighing 85kg, it’s quite a monster device, and not something I’d be keen to move once it was in place. Samsung has used an attractive sold-finish to the door, which should prove to be nice and sturdy.
As this is the Bespoke AirDresser, there are a few differences to the regular Samsung AirDresser. The main one is that there’s no trouser hanger or accessory hanger in the door; here, there are three coat hangers, with trouser/skirt clips, and a shelf for items that can’t be hung up. For most people, this will be enough space and flexibility.
How many items that you can hang at once depends on their size, and the programme you’ve selected: the manual tells you more.
When you don’t need the shelf, this clips onto the door out of the way, giving more room for longer items to hang.
The Bespoke AirDresser is built to look after your clothes in a gentle way. Its primary cleaning method is to use steam, via Samsung’s JetSteam. This forces steam up through clothes, eliminating 99% of bacteria and viruses, and removing odours. A filter inside the cabinet captures any odours, preventing cross-contamination of clothing.
Given that many clothes are washed or taken to the dry cleaners because they smell, the AirDresser can help bring clothes back to their best, without using any chemicals.
If you’d like your clothes to smell fresh at the end of a cycle, you can use tumble dryer sheets in the holder at the back.
As well as steaming, the Bespoke AirDresser has JetAir, blowing powerful jets of air up and down, loosening dust from the inside of clothes.
As well as cleaning, the Bespoke AirDresser can also dry. As there’s no motion inside, the drying method is far more gentle than using a tumble dryer, so a wider range of clothes can be dried.
Steam is produced by water in a tank and the front, and moisture is extracted into the second tank at the front. Typically, I found that each tank would last for three to four cleaning cycles.
Getting the best results means using the right combination of steam, air and drying for clothes. Fortunately, there’s a huge range of programmes available from the simple front panel. Selecting a programme, shows you how long the AirDresser will run for, with most cycles lasting between 20 minutes and one hour.
There are cleaning programmes for daily care (refreshing everyday clothes), school wear, denim, bedding, winter coats, wool items, suits, down jackets, delicate items, fur and leather, among others, plus a dry-only mode.
As well as using the control panel, the Bespoke AirDresser integrates with SmartThings, giving full control via the app. As with other smart appliances, the AirDresser has to be put into remote start mode if you want to start a cycle from SmartThings (this is for safety reasons, to make sure that a child hasn’t climbed inside), but I could send a programme to the device and start it using the button on the front.
Finally, the Bespoke AirDresser can act as a dehumidifier if used with the door open. That could be handy if you have washing drying, but otherwise check out the MeacoDry Arete One if you want a more flexible dehumidifier with a laundry mode.
Performance
- Makes items look like new
- Low running costs
- Very quiet
I tested the Bespoke AirDresser with a variety of different items and cycles. As it uses steam only, items that have actual stains on them will be best cleaned first by other methods; items that aren’t visually dirty did better.
First, I used the Daily cycle on a hoodie and a couple of pairs of trousers, using a tumble dryer sheet. This cycle uses 0.444kWh of power, which is around 15p (assuming a unit cost of 34p per kWh).
Next, I used the Outdoor Coat option on my Berghaus waterproof coat, which has a padded inner coat. This had become rather lifeless and a bit musty, but the AirDresser brought my coat back to life: it made it brighter and puffed up the filling to bring it back as good as new. This cycle used 0.589kWh (around 20p).
Similar results were to be found using the Down setting on a coat. Over the years, the outside had become rather lifeless, but the AirDresser fixed that, improving the look and removing odours. This setting used 0.416kWh (14p).
I’ve also got a leather coat with fake fur inside, which I wear when the weather gets particularly cold. It’s a beast of a coat, that’s expensive to have dry cleaned. Using the AirDresser, the cycle used air to clean it, removing odours. This cycle used just 0.185kWh (6p).
For a coat that soaked because of rain, I used the dry-only mode, which delicately dried the coat, using just 0.332kW (11p).
I also ran cycles on delicate items, such as silk scarves, and accessories, including gloves, and jumpers folded up and placed on the shelf. Most of these cycles cost around 8p to 10p to run, restoring even delicate items.
Compared to dry cleaning, the Samsung Bespoke AirDresser works out as good value per cycle, plus it’s there ready when you need it.
As well as cleaning the air filter, there’s a lint filter at the bottom, similar to ones you’d get in a regular tumble dryer. Here, the filter doesn’t get as clogged with fibres, demonstrating the gentle way that the Samsung Bespoke AirDresser treats garments.
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Should you buy it?
If you’ve got clothes that you want to protect and refresh, this is a quality smart wardrobe with a wide range of programmes.
If you don’t have so many delicate items or much space, a washing machine with a steam refresh option may fit your needs better.
Final Thoughts
If you’ve got a lot of delicate clothes that normally go to a dry cleaner, the Samsung Bespoke AirDresser can help you keep them in the best condition at home. Even for clothes that can be washed normally, being able to look after them in a more gentle, detergent-free way can help extend life and, as I found, bring them back to their best condition.
Sure, this isn’t a cheap product, but add up the cost of regular washing and dry cleaning, and the low running costs of the Samsung Bespoke AirDresser can easily make sense over its lifetime. However, it’s not commonly available in the UK now, and the Samsung AirDresser ships with more accessories making it a better choice for most people.
How we test
Unlike other sites, we test every steam cupboard we review thoroughly over an extended period of time. We use industry standard tests to compare features properly. We’ll always tell you what we find. We never, ever, accept money to review a product.
Find out more about how we test in our ethics policy.
We test compatibility with the main smart systems (HomeKit, Alexa, Google Assistant, SmartThings, IFTTT and more) to see how easy each machine is to remote control. Smart devices only.
We test with the same sets of clothes for each machine, run through a cycle on our test washing machine, so we can compare energy costs.
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FAQs
It uses steam and jets of air to sanitise and remove dust.
Yes, it is a heat pump dryer.
Full specs
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
