I Tested Samsung’s Vented and Ventless Washer-Dryer Combos Side by Side — This One Won Me Over

I have a confession: I’m 100% one of those people who will put a load of laundry in the washing machine and then completely forget about it. I’ll get caught up in work, errands, or whatever else the day throws at me, and before I know it, 12 (or sometimes even 24!) hours have passed, and my freshly washed clothes are still sitting in the machine. Sound familiar?

That’s exactly why I was so game to test the Samsung Bespoke AI Laundry Combo, an all-in-one machine that washes and dries your clothes without having to transfer loads in between. Even better? I got to test both the vented and ventless versions side by side in my own home. Here’s how it went.

First things first, can we talk about how nice these machines look? They’re sleek and surprisingly compact for appliances that do double duty. They’re front loading and you can order each unit in ivory, brushed black (which we chose) or steel color options, which means there’s one for every laundry room aesthetic. Even the lint traps are discreetly tucked away inside their own compartment and on the vented model it’s ridged, making it super easy to slide in and out and keep clean.

We had both installed on the same day, side by side in our laundry room, and they fit right where our older Samsung washer and dryer had been. No rethinking the layout required! We did have to bring in an electrician ahead of installation to accommodate the vented model’s 240V power requirements, but the work was relatively quick. Definitely check your electrical setup before ordering.

One of my favorite features is the automatic detergent dispensing system. Instead of measuring and pouring detergent every time you do laundry, you fill the reservoir and forget about it until the machine alerts you to refill. There are separate compartments for laundry products, including fabric softener, and you can add bleach when needed. We added almost half a standard-size bottle of detergent, and it lasted more than a month. I’ll always take one less thing to think about on laundry day.

The touchscreen is another feature I’ve come to really appreciate on laundry day. There are plenty of preset cycles to choose from, plus options to customize your settings. We’ve become especially fond of the AI OptiWash & Dry setting, which uses sensors to help determine the appropriate wash and dry settings for each load. (Even less for me to think about.) Samsung also offers optional storage pedestals with slide-out drawers that fit underneath each unit. We skipped those initially, but I’m actually considering adding them. A little extra storage and less bending down to load laundry? Yes, please.

Before these machines arrived, doing five or six loads of laundry could easily take up an entire weekend. Between washing, remembering to transfer clothes, waiting for the dryer, and starting the next load, it always felt like laundry was something I had to plan my entire day around.

Now? With two washer-dryer combos running side by side, I can get through that same amount of laundry in roughly half a day. I load one machine with towels and the other with clothes, start both, and go about my day. When I come back, everything is washed and dried — not a damp towel in sight. No more transferring wet laundry or waiting for a dryer to become available in our home. And most importantly for me at least, no more discovering a forgotten load of stinky damp clothes the next morning. That last part alone has made a huge difference in how often we do laundry. Instead of waiting until we have a mountain of clothes to tackle, knowing we can do an entire load of laundry at the push of a button, it’s become so much easier to wash things as we go.

This was the question I was most curious about when I started testing. After all, if both machines wash and dry your clothes, how different could they really be? In our experience, the biggest difference came down to drying time. The vented machine consistently finished our loads faster than the ventless model. Depending on the size and contents of the load, the difference could be as much as an hour. That was especially noticeable when we were tackling larger loads and trying to get as much laundry done as possible in one day.

But here’s the important part: Both machines actually fully dried our clothes. With our typical standard sized loads, we generally found that each machine could complete a wash and dry cycle in under two and a half hours, although the vented model was usually the faster of the two. For reference, Samsung advertises a 68-minute Super Speed wash-and-dry cycle for the vented model and a 98-minute cycle for the ventless version, based on specific test loads and settings. Those aren’t necessarily the times you’ll see with a full or large load of towels or clothes, which is why I paid more attention to how the machines performed with our actual laundry.

Beyond drying time, the only other major difference between the two models is installation. The vented combo requires a 240V outlet and an external dryer vent, which makes it a more straightforward replacement option if your laundry room is already set up for a traditional electric dryer. The ventless version, on the other hand, plugs into a standard 120V outlet and doesn’t require external dryer venting, giving you more flexibility in where you can install it, provided you have all of the necessary water supply and drainage.

My verdict: If you already have the appropriate dryer vent and electrical setup, I’d lean toward the vented version for its faster drying times. But if you don’t have an external dryer vent, the ventless model is an appealing alternative that still delivers the biggest benefit of an all-in-one machine: not having to move laundry from the washer to the dryer. And after testing both, I can say that convenience matters more than I expected.

I didn’t realize how much I’d appreciate having my laundry machines connected to my phone until I started using Samsung’s SmartThings app. Once we added both machines, we could check the progress of each load right from our phones. The app shows how much time is left in the cycle, so I can see whether my laundry has another 45 minutes to go or is almost finished without having to walk all the way to the basement laundry room.

I also get notifications when the wash portion of a cycle is complete and drying is about to begin. That’s especially handy if I’m washing something I want to hang dry, like a sweater, because I can pause the cycle and grab it before the dryer starts. Honestly, between the app notifications and the fact that the machines do both jobs, laundry has become one of those household chores I barely have to think about anymore. 

If you have a busy household or simply want to spend less time thinking about laundry, I think the Samsung Bespoke AI Laundry Combo is absolutely worth considering. Having two machines side by side has been a game changer for us, but you certainly don’t need both to appreciate the convenience. Even one can make laundry day feel like less of a chore.

As for vented versus ventless, I’d choose based on your home’s setup and how much drying speed matters to you. The vented version was the faster performer in my testing, as expected, but both delivered on their biggest promise: making laundry easier. And honestly, I can’t imagine ever going back to our old setup.

Buy Now: Samsung Bespoke AI Laundry Vented Combo, $2,099.00; Samsung Bespoke AI Laundry Ventless Combo, $2,299.00