Samsung’s Bespoke AI Combo puts a washer and dryer into a single unit. But it’s much more than that, thanks to the use of a heat pump, AI to analyse your loads, and a range of other time and energy saving features. I replaced my standalone washing machine with this unit to see how it performed, and whether it could take the drudgery out of my laundry routine.
At 19.5kg wash capacity, and 10kg dry, it may still appeal to single or a couple household, however, a full family would get the full benefit.
Key features
- 19.5kg wash / 10kg dry capacity
- AI Wash & Dry Plus, with load sensing for weight, soil level and fabric type
- AI Energy Mode, up to 20% energy savings on washing and up to 10% on drying
- Heat Pump drying technology, closed loop, no humidity released into the room
- BubbleWash and BubbleSoak
- AI VRT+ noise reduction
- Super Speed cycle, full wash and dry in 68 minutes
- 7 inch touchscreen with SmartThings app and Bixby voice control
- 10 year motor warranty and 7 years of software updates
Table of contents
- Specifications and price
- Setup and first impressions
- Design and build
- Wash and dry cycles
- Wash performance
- Dry performance
- AI features in daily use
- Maintenance
- Capacity
- Value
- Who is it for?
- Frequently asked questions
Samsung Bespoke AI Combo specifications and price
| Model | WD90H19AHSSA |
| Wash capacity | 19.5kg |
| Dry capacity | 10kg |
| Dimensions (W x H x D) | 686 x 1110 x 875mm |
| Weight | 145kg |
| Colour | Dark Steel body, Black door |
| Control panel | 7 inch touch LCD |
| Energy rating (washer) | 4.5 stars |
| Energy rating (dryer) | 10 stars |
| Water rating (WELS) | 4 stars |
| Max spin speed | 1100rpm |
| Connectivity | Wi-Fi, SmartThings app, Bixby voice control |
| Motor warranty | 10 years (Digital Inverter Motor) |
| Software updates | 7 years (2024 and later models) |
| Product page | Samsung Bespoke AI Combo 19.5kg |
| Price | $4,499 AUD |
Setup and first impressions
The Bespoke AI Combo is bigger than a single washer or dryer, so it stands higher, at 1110mm tall. The footprint is about the same as my old washing machine, 686mm wide and 875mm deep, but the unit stood about a third taller to make room for the dryer inside it.
Otherwise, it connects the same way you’d expect, with hot and cold connections as well as a drain pipe, so you can use your laundry room’s existing fit out without any challenges. Other than some balancing with the extendable feet, it was ready to go.
I used Samsung’s SmartThings app and connected it to the Wi-Fi network quickly. From there, the touchscreen is the primary way you interact with it, and it’s all pretty straightforward, with an intuative layout and lots of options to play around with.
Design and build
I like the way it looked too, with a simple touchscreen and a nice dark grey metallic finish, called “dark steel”. It also has quite a large door for chucking your clothes in, and inside the drum is sparkling stainless steel and there’s a smoky glass look on the washer’s porthole door that matches the dark grey metallic finish.
Wash and dry cycles
There’s also a huge range of wash and dry cycle types to suit different needs: AI Wash & Dry Plus, Super Speed, Towels, Eco Cotton, Bedding, Cotton, Less Microfibre, Pet Care, Delicates, Wool, Sanitize, Single Garment, Baby Care, Shirts, Denim, Hand Wash, Rinse and Spin, Spin Only, Air Sanitize, Air Bedding Care, Down Jacket Care and Cool Air. You can also save your own customised cycles, I set one up for quick t-shirt washes.
A few of these go beyond a simple label. Eco Cotton washes cotton loads using less water and energy, Sanitize uses hot water to eliminate bacteria, Air Sanitize sanitises and deodorises without using any water, and Air Bedding Care removes dust and lint from bedding using air alone.
Or you can just go with AI Wash mode and let it figure everything out for you. When it’s washing, it uses sensors to detect the weight, soil level and fabric type of each load, then adjusts the amount of water and detergent it uses accordingly. There’s also a fast wash that gets you through a full wash and dry in 68 minutes, called Super Speed, which is very handy.
Once a cycle finishes, the door opens automatically, a feature called Auto Open Door+, so humidity doesn’t get trapped inside. It’s also designed with pet owners in mind, dealing with fine pet hair as well as odours and allergens.
Wash performance
Everything came out nice and clean, no problems there. I love that the auto detergent and fabric softener dispenser, Samsung calls it the Flex dispenser, takes care of adding liquids so you don’t have to get your hands messy. It’s pretty much a one button, set-and-forget type of thing, you put your clothes in and they come out clean, dry and smelling lovely.
The machine also prevents wrinkles with a feature called Wrinkle Prevent, which agitates the drum at intervals after a cycle finishes to reduce creases for up to three hours if the laundry is left in the washer, handy for when you forget the laundry is done. It’ll also send a message to a compatible Samsung TV, like my OLED in the living room, or to your phone, plus a friendly little chime. I like to set my fabric softener to a light dosing rather than something heavier, and you can adjust that for both detergent and softener. The dispenser holds enough for 22 loads if you’re using both detergent and softener, or up to 40 loads if you’re only using detergent, so I don’t need to refill it often. You can also select Bubble Soak mode, which adds extra soaking time to really get stains out.
Dry performance
The only thing I noticed with drying is that it takes longer than a conventional dryer, but I’d much rather that than burning a huge amount of energy and filling the room with humidity. On average I’d say the dryer takes about 30 to 50% longer than a conventional dryer for normal clothes, and more for something fabric dense like towels. There’s also a Dry Prep mode, which gives you a 10 minute pause after washing ends, so you can pull out anything that shouldn’t go into the dryer before it carries on automatically. You can schedule laundry to start and finish whenever you want though, so I don’t see it as a problem, and you can also choose to just wash or just dry.
The other thing I find incredibly desirable about this machine is that it doesn’t pollute my laundry room with humidity, because the dryer uses a heat pump, so it’s a closed system. It’s also very quiet, and I can barely hear it. Essentially, doing the laundry no longer means figuring out how to ventilate the room to stop humidity coating the walls, or putting up with the rumble, rattle and booming of a washer and dryer during spin cycles. It feels like a more sophisticated way of doing things, the sort of thing you’d expect in the modern age, and once you’ve experienced it you wont ever want to go back to the old way. There’s also the benefit of a 10 Star energy rating on the dryer, because it’s so much more efficient at drying, which is normally a notoriously high energy use activity. Worth noting the washer itself carries a 4.5 star energy rating, it’s the dryer side, running on the heat pump, that earns the maximum 10 stars.
AI features in daily use
The thing about pairing it with SmartThings is that you can operate it from your phone, or just check in on its status, as well as access broader functions like enabling AI Energy Mode, getting suggestions about how to use it, and customising your different wash cycles. You can also control it by voice using Samsung’s Bixby, though I didn’t actually use that feature myself. From the touchscreen you can also receive calls, and check in on your security camera or doorbell camera feeds if you’ve got them connected through SmartThings. Some of this can be a little finicky to do from the touchscreen, but otherwise the screen gives you plenty of information at a glance, including maintenance alerts, energy consumption, water consumption, what cycle you’re on and how much time is left.
I’ve been using AI Energy Mode, which Samsung says can save up to 20% on washing and up to 10% on drying. From my side it doesn’t seem to make any real difference to how the cycle runs, maybe it goes a little longer, but I’m happy to save some energy for that. You can also monitor your energy consumption in real time through the SmartThings app, and even set an estimated electricity bill alert that flags if you go over a preset target. I plugged my cost per kilowatt hour into the app, which then reports how much energy each wash and dry cycle uses, and it really isn’t much, only a few dollars a load.
Maintenance
There’s auto cleaning for the drum, called Drum Clean Plus, which uses a combination of soaking, pulsating and spinning to remove dirt, plus a water jet and high spin speed to clear grime from the door gasket. It reminds you when it’s time to run one. There’s also a dual layer lint filter, which is large and easy to clean. Separately, an auto condenser cleaning system uses a nozzle to spray the heat exchanger with water, keeping lint and dirt from building up in the dryer over time.
Capacity
I probably didn’t make full use of the 19.5kg capacity, but there was always plenty of room for a very large load, and I can see this being a genuinely useful size for a family.
Value
Yes, the purchase price is not cheap, with an RRP of $4,499. But the ability to contain all the moisture, wash incredibly quietly, handle all sorts of different loads and do the thinking for you, including dosing the detergent, really feels worthwhile, and I wouldn’t go back to something less sophisticated. It also comes with a 10 year warranty on the motor and seven years of software updates, which adds to the sense that this is built to last rather than a short term buy. The touchscreen is great and easy to interact with, but you can always fall back on the SmartThings app if you’d rather, and if you like getting into the data there’s plenty to look at.
Who is it for?
Samsung’s Bespoke AI Combo 19.5kg is great for families who don’t want to spend a lot of time thinking about laundry, value energy savings, and may have less space in their laundry room. It’s stylish, quiet, and all but eliminates humidity, and is definitely worth the additional cost for those who value these things. It’s also great for people who want to complement their laundry with a stylish looking machine, not to mention access to the latest laundry technology right from their smartphone.
Frequently asked questions
The Samsung Bespoke AI Combo 19.5kg (model WD90H19AHSSA) has an RRP of $4,499 AUD.
It washes up to 19.5kg and dries up to 10kg in a single combined unit, a size best suited to a family household.
Super Speed mode completes a full wash and dry cycle in 68 minutes.
Yes. The dryer side uses a closed loop heat pump, so it doesn’t release humidity into the room, and it carries a 10 star energy rating. The washer side is separately rated at 4.5 stars.
A heat pump dryer uses a refrigerant cycle to extract moisture from clothes and recycle the heat, rather than venting hot, humid air outside like a conventional dryer. This makes it more energy efficient and means it doesn’t release humidity into the room it’s in.
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