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Tuesday, March 19th
Where some companies' various products might lose sight of performance as they aim for the most frills, GE's priority stays focused on appliances that are functional and practical. That said, they do have higher-end lines with lavish options and that still maintain great performance. At GE, there are more than 80 models, ranging from $230 to $1,700. Their dishwashers come in a variety of capacities, styles, and cleaning and monitoring features including a "smart" option.
Antimicrobial technology
Their UltraFresh System Dishwasher has built-in antimicrobial technology to ensure a cleaner dishwashing routine. Working 24/7, it offers a fresher dishwasher by working in between cycles. This feature is offered on the Profile series.
Dry Boost
When hard-to-dry items are placed in the appliance, Dry Boost can get them up to three times drier than with heated cycles alone. It doesn't leave water behind and offers even heat for a complete dry. This is a feature offered on the Profile series.
Sanitize cycle
With all the food on the plates and fingerprints on the glasses, the Sanitize Cycle offered on the Profile Series offers peace of mind for the next user. The high temperature rinse can reduce the bacteria found on dishes by more than 99%.
Twin Turbo Dry Boost
Not only can your dishes have the advantage of Dry Boost, there's a Twin Turbo Dry Boost option where a dual fan system and inline heater provide excellent performance on your dishware and glassware, even on the plastic ones.
Fun design options
Choose the look of your appliance. Select your favorite door from six different color and finish options, the location of the control panels, and the handle styles. Not only can you choose your performance level, you can choose the look you like.
Smart dishwashers
When you select a GE Profile Smart Dishwasher, you can use the SmartHQ app to monitor the cycle and remaining time. You can lock and unlock the appliance, and even automatically reorder detergent so you never run out. If there's anything that could hinder your less-than-perfect wash and dry, you'll get an alert. These dishwashers come with built-in wifi or optional wifi for an appliance that doesn't already have it built in.
Deep clean silverware jets
No such thing as caked-on residue left on the silverware. This feature has jets placed strategically underneath the silverware basket, focusing all their cleaning power to this area. They blast away the stuck-on bits for spotless eating utensils.
Bottle jets
These clever jets are placed on the top rack to reach the tightest of places in glasses, jars, and vases. There's nothing that's out of reach when your piece is placed above the little red jet and held securely with the accompanying red gripper.
Piranha Hard Food Disposer
The top rack can be adjusted to fit taller vases, glasses and bottles. Or, if there are tall or bulky bottom-rack items, take the top shelf and raise it. This rack can be adjusted two inches up or down.
Adjustable top rack
The top rack can be adjusted to fit taller vases, glasses and bottles. Or, if there are tall or bulky bottom-rack items, take the top shelf and raise it. This rack can be adjusted two inches up or down.
Wash zones
If you want to run a half load, you can turn on just the top wash arms or the bottom wash arms if you like. Save water and energy, and only wash what you need.
Cost
Stainless steel interior
Many GE dishwashers come with a stainless steel interior. This can prevent rust better than those with a plastic interior.
Three series to choose from
The series choices are GE, GE Profile, and Cafe. If you're designing or redesigning your kitchen, you might want the Profile or Cafe series. If you just want a dishwasher that does the job for a reasonable price, try the standard GE dishwasher line.
GE series
This basic series includes the standard wash system, a hard food disposer, deluxe silverware basket, standard upper rack, heat dry on/off option, and QuietDesign sound insulation package. Several additional options are available while still staying in this series. Their "quiet" level is between 54 and 62 decibels (dBA), which is higher than the national, standard-dishwasher level at 52 dBA. There aren't a lot of features, but these appliances are reasonable in price and give your dishes a good clean and dry.
GE Profile series
This most popular series includes a full, stainless steel interior, a cleaning system with 102 cleaning jets, a quad blade arm that reverses for more cleaning area, a quiet water valve, sealed toe kick, bottle wash jets, hard food disposer, low-rinse aid indicator, child lock, tines that fold up or down for dish placement personalization, adjustable upper rack, quad-blade middle arm wash arm, and a reversing quad-blade lower jet. Whew! There are lights to indicate when it's clean, sanitized, and has finished the cycle. The quiet package offers a noise level of 46 decibels (dBA), which is quieter than the national standard noise level of 52 decibels, but not yet considered quiet by national standards. Install can be flush with the cabinets for a sleek and space-saving look, and there are other features that can be add-ons.
Cafe series
The controls on this series of dishwashers are on the top, so they're not visible when the door is closed. The tub is stainless steel and there's a full-wrap blanket for insulation. The quiet package offers a noise level of 45 decibels (dBA), which is pretty quiet, but still not quiet according to national standards. The dishwasher control features are the same as in the Profile series, and adds an automatic hot start, automatic temperature control, bottle jets, dedicated silverware jets, a drain pump, a clean sensor, and a hard food disposer with a removable filter. The wash arms include three wash levels, bottle jets, and lower, middle, and upper jets. There are rows of tines that can fold up or down depending on your dish-shape needs, there's an included third rack that's above the regular top rack, fan-assist dry, and heat on-off dry. This is their top-of-the-line series and can include additional options to meet your needs or "smart" appliance desires.
Our favorite GE model
The GE Profile PDT715SYNFS offers great cleaning and drying, a Sani cycle to eliminate 99.9% of dishware bacteria, bottle jets, deep-clean silverware jets, and the fabulous DryBoost with Fan Assist for efficient drying, even on plastic containers. The door boasts fingerprint resistant stainless for a clean-looking appliance.
Warranty
There is a limited, one-year warranty on the entire appliance. The water distribution system carries a limited, 2-year warranty, and the tub and door liner have a limited, 10-year warranty. There are more details included in their full warranty description.
Good customer service
When you call GE, they answer. This can't be said of all brands. Not only do they answer, but they may be able to answer basic questions over the phone. They can also book an appointment with a repair person, and you don't have to wait months for the date. This is especially helpful, as if your appliance isn't working, you don't want to be without it for months until the arrival of the repair person.
Best for function, not form
GE carries three series of dishwashers, all of good quality and longevity. Their basic line is reasonably priced, cleans well, but is quite noisy. Their Profile and Cafe lines are reasonably-priced for the features they offer, boast over 120 cleaning jets and various drying options. Because of the value for the money along with high marks for reliability, we highly recommend GE dishwashers. If their noise levels were lower, they would probably have earned an even higher rating from us.
Most of us don't think too much about our dishwasher. We load the dishes, it cleans, we empty. But when the dishes aren't coming out as clean as they should, it's taking more rinsing to get all the food off, you're drying your dishes by hand because the machine doesn't, or if the coating on the tines is chipping off, you might start thinking about replacing your appliance for one that holds up and maybe has some nice features that you deserve.
Did you know there are three types of dishwashers? There's built-in, countertop, and drawer. Built-in dishwashers are the traditional dishwashers most of us have had in our homes. They are full-sized or even narrow and apartment-sized, and are slid in below the counter. Counter-top dishwashers can be found in Europe and are just that - they are small and fit on the counter. The drawer models are shallow and fit below the counter. Because they are the most common type, we will look at only the built-in models.
Think about what you want in your new appliance. You'll obviously want a dishwasher that does a good job of washing your dishes. There are a lot of fun features you can have, such as a third rack, lights, and smart capabilities, but if the machine doesn't do a good job of actually washing your dishes, what's the point of any of the bells and whistles?
So once you choose a brand that you like, you can select your wish list features such as the third, top rack; a quick-wash cycle; a delay start; self-cleaning filters - yes, you should know if you need to clean your filters for maintenance, which is typical; food pulverizers; interior components made of stainless steel to promote longevity; child locks; sanitizer settings; sustainable materials; special jets under the silverware caddy; and smart capabilities, so you can control the dishwasher from your phone or smart home system.
And that's just the beginning. Here are several other criteria to keep in mind as you shop for your new kitchen appliance:
To help you make this important purchasing decision, Top Consumer Reviews has evaluated today's most popular dishwasher brands. If you're done spending too much time pre-washing your dishes, continually re-arranging them because the rack and tine design is poor, drying them after the dishwasher supposedly dried them, or re-washing after the clumps of old food just don't come off after a full cycle, do consider a new dishwasher. You can save a lot of time by not pre-washing, post-washing, and drying. And with all that extra time, you could relax reading a book or watching your favorite show while a super quiet dishwasher does all the work while making virtually no noise.
Select any 2 Dishwashers to compare them head to head