Review: LG Tumble Dryer (RHX7009TBB)

We’ve tested quite a few tumble dryers here at the editorial office, and after a while you start to notice small details. Like not being able to hear when the tumble dryer is running because it has just fallen below some magical noise threshold. This is the case with this machine from LG, for example. Even when it’s working its way through a load of towels and bed linen down in the laundry room, there is silence on the ground floor.

But hey! How do you then know when the cycle is complete? Well, that’s where the ThinQ app comes in. It just sends a notification. These are truly new times.

AI built in

If your AI knowledge still hasn’t progressed beyond the level where you can prompt Chat GPT to make an action figure of you or make your dog look human, then you’ll just have to trust that the good folks at LG are a little further ahead of the curve.

They’ve built AI technology into this tumble dryer, which means clothes dry faster and in a more gentle way. The secret is their AI Dual Converter, which adapts the drying cycle to the type of fabric, the amount of clothes and how wet they are.

The reduction in drying time has been thoroughly checked and confirmed by the test institute Intertek, according to LG themselves, but from this we can only conclude that it does dry clothes faster than we are used to from other machines.

Useful and secure app

LG, like many other manufacturers, has chosen to create a single app for all their smart products, and it makes perfect sense. After all, we’re the kind of people who are already scrolling through page after page of apps on our phones every time we need one. So thank you for giving us only one more app.

ThinQ is a solid and well-functioning app that is easy to connect the product to. In this case, the tumble dryer. It’s painless and easy and is obviously well-tested. Just make sure you have Wi-Fi that reaches into or out into the room where the tumble dryer is placed.

We enjoy being able to remotely control the machine, keep an eye on how far it is in the cycle and, not least, get the coveted notification when the machine is ready to be emptied.

It’s not the most advanced app in the world, and we’ve certainly seen apps from appliance manufacturers with more features, but here you have access to choose a programme and customise it as you wish.

Digging a little deeper into the menus, you’ll find contact info for LG’s customer service and the ability to send messages directly from the app. Which, of course, we hope you won’t need. We didn’t.

Spacious

Although the dryer ‘only’ holds 9kg, it seems spacious, and even when we loaded an entire washing machine full of clothes into it, there was still plenty of room. However, be aware that AI sensing is only activated when a maximum of 5kg is loaded into the machine.

A special rack is included for drying shoes and other items that shouldn’t be ‘tossed around’ in the dryer while going through the wet-to-dry process.

And that’s what it’s really all about: Yes, clothes actually get dry in this machine. There’s no ‘cheating’ at the finish line to make the energy label look nicer (even though it’s a nice A+++) by delivering clothes that are still damp. In short, we are very satisfied with the drying level in the machine, without fiddling with selecting ‘extra dry’ or similar programmes that drive up energy consumption.

Design

How many people choose a tumble dryer based on design is anyone’s guess (or not), but it’s always nice to have something beautiful to look at and that also works intuitively, and this tumble dryer fulfils those criteria.

The design is sleek and minimalistic, with a round display that commands attention. The round display is actually quite nice and extremely easy to use and read. For example, when the machine is drying, it shows in large numbers exactly how many minutes are left. These numbers can be read from a long distance and clearly without glasses.

We like it because it’s clear communication that shows attention to detail.

Conclusion

In fact, we couldn’t ask for more, so the tumble dryer gets top marks and a warm recommendation. It will fulfil most people’s needs – and take good care of their clothes.