Samsung Air Dresser Long-Term Review: Redefining Clothing-Care

When I first saw the Samsung Air Dresser at the Samsung MENA Forum 2020, it seemed like a product for the luxury-clothing audience (and it definitely is). For those who regularly dry-clean clothes or have heavy maintenance for the clothes they own. I didn’t see it’s uses for the everyday user (for example, someone like me who lives in a few t-shirts and a pair of jeans). So when I got the opportunity to review it, I jumped at the chance. 

What is the Samsung Air Dresser?

So imagine a gorgeous yet simple cupboard with a tinted mirror front and a whole lot of technology packed inside it. That’s the Samsung Air Dresser in the easiest way possible. It can sanitize, dry and refresh your clothes, all right in your house without the use of any chemicals or products. 

What’s outside? 

One great and almost attractive part about the Samsung Air Dresser is the minimalist nature of its structure. The great thing about the Air Dresser is that it can look good anywhere in the house. You could have it in your bedroom or your living room or you’re bathroom and it would add to any of those rooms. If you check out a lot of Samsung’s marketing material, it seems like the Air Dresser was intended to fit inside a gigantic wardrobe but I can verify that, that’s not the only use case scenario. We placed it in a lovely corner of our house and it looks simply beautiful over there. 

If I did have one gripe with the Air Dresser’s looks it would be the sides and back of the machine. Like fridges, it just had such a plain and ‘basic’ metallic look. I wish it had a nice matte or satin finish to give it a nice shine. 

On the front of the high-tech dresser, you find a tinted mirror, called the Crystal Mirror, with a small set of controls at the center. You can pretty much control the entire device from here.

What’s inside? 

As you open the Air Dresser you’ll see three main ‘hangers’ called Air Hangers and a shelf on the bottom. Inside it’s box you find a replacement ‘hanger’, called the Hanger Kit, which can be used if you want to fit a few more items on regular hangers. The shelf can be used for sneakers, shorts, dresses, etc. You also get a counter-weight (called the Weight Kit) in the box which can be used to keep your pants nice and straight while they’re being treated inside the machine. 

At the bottom of the machine you find two water tanks. One for the water to be used by the machine and one for the drained water. 

How does it work? 

The idea is pretty simple. Through immensely strong jets of air pushed out through the Air Hangers as well as ‘Jet Steam’ and ‘HeatPump Drying’, the Air Dresser is able to deodorize, refresh, sanitize and dry your clothes. 

With a set amount of time for an overall cycle or even a specific one, the Air Dresser removes the need for an unnecessary excess of dry-cleaning or washing of everyday clothes. 

Samsung Air Dresser on the daily 

In these extraordinary times, it feels like germs are just everywhere and there’s nothing you can do but take precautions. This is where the Air Dresser gives you  a lot of control you didn’t have before. 

Sanitisation

The function I most commonly use is the the Sanitization function. Whenever I go out to a café or for dinner with a few friends, all I can think about is the fact that while I can sanitise or wash my hands, I have no control over what is getting on my clothes. Thanks to the Air Dresser’s ‘JetSteam’, a massive part of that paranoia was dealt it. Come home, pop the clothes in for a sanitation cycle et voila! Peace of mind. 

Refresh

The second most commonly used function was the Refresh function. Covid times aside, I’ve never been a big fan of rewearing clothes once I’ve gone outside. This leads to an unnecessary habit of excessive washing of my clothes which obviously led to them wearing out much faster. 

Here too the Air Dresser came to the rescue with it’s ‘Deodorizing Filter’. I’d come home from a day in the office or out in town and the clothes would go straight into the Air Dresser. After a quick 20-min cycle or a more intense 40-min cycle, my clothes would be fresh and odorless. This also worked on occasions where I just felt icky in my clothes and wanted them to feel fresh for the rest of the day. 

Drying

Next up is the drying function with the Air Dresser’s ‘HeatPump Drying technology’. Don’t think of this drying function as that of a dedicated dryer you get to partner with you washing machine. Drying here takes place slower and at a much lower temperature. 

The drying function works really well when the clothes are semi-dry but for some reason can’t get all corners of clothing when they’re straight out of the washing machine. 

Other Functions

The Air Dresser has a number for functions dedicated to laundry-care of specific items such as coats, intimates, linen and much more. Whether you’re refreshing or drying, there is mostly a specific function for clothing that needs a bit more. 

One neat little trick the Samsung holds is that of also being a dehumidifier. When the door of the Air Dresser is open, the dehumidification function extracts moisture from the air and expels dry air. I didn’t really have a way to quantify the function but it’s a great addition as a feature.  

Smart functions

Last but not least, the Samsung Air Dresser is smart too! It pairs with the Samsung Smart Things app and sent me notifications on my phone and even on my TV when cycles had come to an end or the water tanks needed filling or draining. 

There are other smart features like ‘Care Recipe’, ‘My Closet’ and more which do provide more insight into laundry care but I didn’t find myself reaching out for them too much. 

Should you buy a Samsung Air Dresser? 

Many a time when I have a new piece of technology to test, the transition from gimmick to daily functional doesn’t happen too easily or sometimes doesn’t happen at all. 

In the case of the Samsung Air Dresser, it happened and that too very naturally. The machine found a place in my life with extreme ease. Albeit, COVID and it’s sanitisation functions have a role to play but the Air Dresser definitely provides a unique, innovative and technologically advanced way to care for your clothing. 

That being said, the Air Dresser is definitely a luxury. At Dh5,999 the cost of the product could overshadow it’s functionality for some. Though I would like to state that in the past 4 months of using the machine, my laundry expenses have more than halved. Spending on the luxury that is the Samsung Air Dresser is definitely a subjective one but I do see a lot of scenarios where people (specially here in the UAE) could justify the purchase.