LG SIGNATURE DLEX9900S review: A massive, gorgeous dryer with one AI-sized asterisk

Quick Review

The LG SIGNATURE DLEX9900S is the dryer half of LG’s flagship laundry pair, and it makes the same first impression as its washer sibling, the WM9900HSA, which I reviewed earlier this week.  The DLEX9900S  is a 9.0-cubic-foot Brushed Platinum Steel monolith with a 7-inch touchscreen where the knobs should be. The drum swallows king-size comforters or dog beds whole, TurboSteam de-wrinkles a shirt in under 12 minutes, and when it’s paired with the matching WM9900HSA washer, and when it works, two machines talk to each other, the washer hands off load details, the dryer picks the right cycle, and all you do is press run. After months of family laundry, it’s the most pleasant dryer I’ve ever lived with.

It’s not quite the smartest, though, and that matters because intelligence is what LG brands this dryer as. LG’s AI Sensor Dry (which detects fabric type and moisture and adjusts time and temperature automatically) generally works as advertised, but not always. Several times during testing, sensor-driven cycles ended with loads that were almost dry, sending me back for extra time or a second cycle. On a $2,099 dryer (as of July 3, 2026, down from $2,499 MSRP) whose headline is “built-in intelligence,” that inconsistency is the difference between an 8 and a 9. Another issue I ran into was that sometimes the load information would not transfer over to the dryer, likely because I didn’t get to the dryer in time, the washer had turned off, and the information was lost into the universe somewhere.

If you’re buying the WM9900HSA washer, the DLEX9900S is close to a mandatory pairing, and you won’t regret it. On its own merits, it’s an excellent, enormous, beautifully built electric dryer whose AI needs a supervising adult now and then. But I am absolutely in love with it.

LG SIGNATURE DLEX9900S specifications

LG SIGNATURE DLEX9900S design and build

Like the matching washer, the DLEX9900S looks like a piece of furniture, and as I mentioned in the other review, my daughter said it looks like the “Cybertruck of dryers,” which I think is a compliment. The Brushed Platinum Steel cabinet, tempered-glass door, and clean, nearly buttonless face are very different than most dryers on the market. The fit and finish hold up on close inspection, and I didn’t experience any dents from long-term use. Inside is a NeveRust stainless steel drum with an interior light; the door is reversible, which makes side-by-side layouts flexible, and the lint filter sits in the usual spot at the mouth of the drum, where it’s easy to reach and clean.

The 7-inch LCD touchscreen mirrors the washer’s: responsive, legible, and quick to navigate, with an editable cycle list so your go-to programs surface first. It shares the washer’s weakness, too, though – in direct sunlight, it can be hard to read at times. If your dryer sits near a bright window, expect to shade the screen with your hand a few times a day. My hope is that LG will release a firmware update so you can turn up the screen brightness even more. 

LG SIGNATURE DLEX9900S installation and venting

It’s worth mentioning that, just like the WM9900HSA washer, LG had this installed for me professionally. The DLEX9900S is a conventional vented dryer, so it needs a 240V outlet and a duct run to the outdoors and has 4-way venting options for flexible placement. A side-venting kit is available. If you don’t have a 240V circuit where you need it, hire a licensed electrician; that’s not a DIY job. Buyers who need gas can opt for the DLGX9901S, and gas line installation and hookup should likewise be performed by a licensed professional.

Just like on the 10-year-old LG dryer that this replaces, the unit comes with FlowSense, which monitors exhaust airflow and warns you on the display when the duct is clogging. That’s a safety feature as much as a performance one, and more dryers should have it. LG also builds in a 3-minute installation check that verifies the setup before your first load.

LG SIGNATURE DLEX9900S drying performance

With one of the largest drums in any consumer dryer, the DLEX9900S handles a lot of volume. A king comforter tumbles freely instead of balling up, full family loads often dry in one pass, and the drum’s size means fewer, larger loads over the course of a week. Paired with the WM9900HSA’s 1,300-RPM spin, loads arrive well-extracted and dry faster than they did with my ten-year-old washer and dryer set.

Cycle coverage is exhaustive, though. You get 25 programs, including Normal, Heavy Duty, Bedding, Towels, Delicates, Activewear, Jeans, Quick Dry, Rack Dry (a shelf for sneakers and knits), Overnight Dry, and specialty steam cycles, with five temperature settings from Ultra Low to High and five dryness levels from Damp to Very. Everything is customizable, and like the washer, the dryer remembers your customized settings. 

Results on manual and timed cycles were consistently excellent. The asterisk is sensor-based drying, which gets its own section.

AI Sensor Dry: mostly smart, occasionally overconfident

AI Sensor Dry and the auto-sensing modes are the DLEX9900S’s big features, and to be fair, they generally work as advertised: the dryer identifies fabric type and moisture level, sets time and temperature itself, and protects delicates from over-drying. When it works (which is most of the time) it’s exactly the effortless experience LG promises. But it doesn’t always get the load fully dry.

Several times in my testing, a sensor cycle ended with towels or mixed loads that were still damp in spots, and I had to run additional time or a full extra cycle to finish the job. It was never a majority of loads, but it happened often enough to become a habit: open door, squeeze a towel, judge for myself. A “More Dry” dryness setting mitigates this sometimes on known-heavy loads, but the whole point of AI drying is not having to think about it. The “Timed Dry” became one of my most-used settings when I was trying to dry delicates that the AI setting didn’t get dry enough. 

Steam features: TurboSteam earns its billing

TurboSteam is the feature I expected to be a gimmick, and wasn’t. In around 12 minutes, it reduces wrinkles in up to five garments, according to LG, which is a genuinely useful feature when a shirt comes out of the closet creased and you have somewhere to be. SteamFresh does light refresh duty on clothes that need de-odorizing rather than washing, and it extends to things you can’t easily wash, like decorative pillows and kids’ plush toys. SteamSanitary adds a high-heat steam sanitize option for bedding and gear. Wrinkle Care, the post-cycle intermittent tumble, kept finished loads presentable when I couldn’t unload right away. I didn’t experience any shrinkage from my clothes while trying these settings, but my recommendation if you buy this dryer is to try them on some clothing or items you won’t worry about if they do shrink. Then, once you’re comfortable, try the setting on nicer things.

Noise and vibration

Tumbling is fairly subdued at every heat level, audible as a low rumble from the next room but never intrusive, with no drum rattle beyond the usual zipper percussion from jeans. I do have my laundry room on the ground floor, and the sound or vibration might be worse on the second level of a home. 

LG SIGNATURE DLEX9900S smart features and the ThinQ app

The ThinQ experience mirrors the washer’s, for better and worse. Cycle monitoring, end-of-cycle push notifications, downloadable cycles, smart routines, energy tracking, and SmartDiagnosis all worked reliably, and Google Assistant and Alexa are supported, although I wasn’t able to test Google and Alexa features. The coolest feature is the pairing: when the WM9900HSA finishes a wash, it transfers the load information to the dryer, which pre-selects the appropriate cycle. Walk over, move the load, hit run. It’s a small thing that you will miss immediately on any other laundry pair, although as I mentioned above, it worked only about 75% of the time. If I took too long to run the dryer, it would forget the transfer information.

And the same flaw as the washer: remote start requires you to physically enable it on the dryer before every remote session, which defeats the purpose entirely. If you’re standing at the machine anyway, you don’t need the app.

Maintenance is otherwise refreshingly minimal. Just clean the lint filter, heed the FlowSense warnings, and that’s essentially it. Some features that I really enjoyed included the ability to change the tune the dryer makes when it completes a load. There are several to choose from, and they even include Christmas-themed tunes. I also like the phone notifications, which told me when the load was completed. I know this is nothing special, but it kept me from forgetting about the clothes in the dryer. And I also really liked the sleep setting where you can run your load while sleeping, and it keeps the notifications and tunes quiet for you. 

How I tested

I used the DLEX9900S as my household’s only dryer for around six months,  drying real household loads across cottons and linens, synthetics, delicates, towels, king-size bedding, dog beds and mixed family loads. Cycles tested included Normal, Heavy Duty, Delicates, Quick Dry, Bedding, TurboSteam, and SteamFresh, with sensor-dry accuracy tracked across repeated Normal loads. The dryer was paired with LG’s matching WM9900HSA washer (1,300 RPM max spin), reviewed here,

Comparison and alternatives

The DLEX9900S’s most direct competition comes from LG’s own lineup: the DLEX8900B offers 7.4 cubic feet, sensor dry, and steam for hundreds less, but you give up the touchscreen, the SIGNATURE finish, and 1.6 cubic feet of drum. Samsung’s Bespoke DVE53BB8700 (7.6 cu. ft.) counters with Steam Sanitize+ and similar smart-app features at a lower typical street price, though Samsung’s service network trails LG’s in my opinion. 

Should you buy the LG SIGNATURE DLEX9900S?

The LG SIGNATURE DLEX9900S is a great dryer with a genuinely useful AI brain that occasionally overestimates itself. The capacity is huge, the build and screen are the best in the category, TurboSteam is a feature you’ll actually use, maintenance is near zero, and the washer-dryer handoff is a cool feature. Against that, the sensor drying sometimes leaves loads damp, the screen glares in sunlight, and remote start remains a feature LG advertises but effectively doesn’t work the way you would expect.

At $2,099, it’s expensive but defensible for what you get, especially bundled with the matching washer, where LG’s pair discounts apply. Buy it for looks, the capacity, the build, and the ecosystem. 

FAQs

Is a 9.0-cubic-foot dryer overkill? For small households, probably. For families of four-plus, or anyone who dries comforters and bulky bedding at home, the oversized drum means fewer loads and better tumbling; bulky items actually dry evenly instead of balling up.

Should I get the electric or gas version? If you already have a 240V outlet, the electric DLEX9900S is the simple choice. If you have a gas line and dry a lot of laundry, the gas DLGX9901S typically costs less to operate, but gas installation must be handled by a licensed professional and is rare in newer homes.

Does it need a vent? Yes. This is a conventional vented dryer requiring a duct run to the outdoors.

Why do sensor-dry loads sometimes come out damp? Moisture sensors read the clothes that touch them, so dense items in mixed loads can fool the system into stopping early. Using the More Dry setting, sorting heavy items together, and not overloading all help, but in my testing, occasional damp finishes still happened, especially if the load got twisted up, the core would still be damp.

How do I keep it running safely? Clean the lint trap after every load and inspect the exhaust duct annually.  Lint buildup is a leading cause of home dryer fires. The DLEX9900S’s FlowSense indicator warns you when airflow drops, but it supplements regular cleaning; it doesn’t replace it. Clean your lint trap and vent!