LG's direct-drive motor and AI fabric sensing promise a decade of hands-off laundry, and the 5.3 cu. Ft. Drum handles king comforters without complaint. The agitator fin can tear during normal use on even lightly-used machines, and LG may classify that as user error rather than honor the warranty, one 2024 buyer reported a torn fin with minimal use and no coverage. The impeller design also struggles with heavy makeup stains on towels, and some cycles require app downloads to unlock. Buy if you want smart features and capacity for a decade of light-to-medium loads; skip if you wash heavily soiled items daily or want ironclad build quality without app dependencies.
Speed Queen builds this washer with commercial laundromat guts, all-steel construction, simple mechanical controls, a 25-year design life, but the original 2018 TR7 cleaned so poorly that Consumer Reports called the factory thinking the test unit was broken. It wasn't. A 2019 update improved things to adequate, yet stain removal still lags competitors at this price, requiring more pre-treatment and manual fiddling with water levels. Buy it if you want a tank that will outlast your mortgage and you're willing to do some of the heavy lifting on tough stains. Skip it if you expect a thousand-dollar washer to handle laundry effortlessly on its own.