This is Amana's cheapest electric dryer stripped to the studs: a dial, a timer, 6.5 cubic feet, and zero digital parts to fail. The thermal fuse blows often enough that repair techs call it out by name, and when it does you'll need to replace both the fuse and sometimes the melted wall outlet, a $50 fix if you're handy or $200 if you call someone. Six years with one belt change is solid value at this price, and the mechanical guts mean you can actually fix it yourself with parts from any appliance store. Buy it if you need the cheapest thing that dries and you're comfortable with occasional fuse swaps; skip it if you want moisture sensing, wrinkle prevention, or anything resembling refinement.
Speed Queen built its name on mechanical dryers that outlasted everything else, but the current DR7 swapped those legendary controls for electronics, and the track record isn't there yet. You're paying $1,649 for commercial-grade steel, a heating element you can replace with basic tools, and a 7-year warranty that shames the industry, but one 2022 unit caught fire despite proper maintenance, and newer models hum faintly even when off. If you keep appliances for a decade, rarely dry delicates, and value repairability over proven longevity, this makes sense. If you replace every five years or the fire risk bothers you, a $700 Whirlpool does the same job without the question marks.