Best dishwashers for $600 to $900

The cheapest dishwasher in Consumer Reports’ ratings costs $220; the most expensive runs $2,200. Between those prices, our dishwasher ratings include more than 120 models.

For less than $500, you can find a dishwasher that’s excellent at cleaning a load of dirty dishes, but it might be noisy. But by moving up to models in the $600 to $900 range, you’ll get superb cleaning and convenient features that might make it worth spending a little more.

In that price range, "you’ll usually get a quieter dishwasher,” says Mark Allwood, a senior market analyst at Consumer Reports. Noise is especially important if you spend a lot of time in the kitchen or the appliance is near other frequently used areas of your home.

Feature Upgrades You May Like

Paying a little more will also get you features that make the dishwasher easier to load and more efficient to run. In our tests, dishwashers in the $600 to $900 price range varied widely in performance, so check our full dishwasher ratings before you shop. Here are some of the features you’ll want to consider.

Stainless steel, black, and black stainless finishes. These can add style but often boost the price of the dishwasher by about $100. White is also an option on models in this price range.

A stainless steel tub. This tends to resist stains better than plastic.

A soil sensor. It can improve cleaning and water efficiency by adjusting the cycle time and amount of wash water to the load’s soil level.

Flexible flatware slots. They fit more place settings than the 10 settings budget dishwashers typically hold.

Adjustable racks. These move up and down and have adjustable tines to accommodate large and odd-sized items. Plus there are silverware baskets that you can relocate as needed. Most baskets have individual slots for silverware to prevent utensils from nesting, allowing the water to circulate.

Manual-clean filters. These are different from self-cleaning filters with a food grinder, which can be noisy. You’ll need to clean the filter every so often to avoid odors, but it takes only a few minutes. Find out why your dishwasher filter makes a difference, and learn more about the two filter types.

Extras to Think Twice About

Not every feature on dishwashers in the $600 to $900 price range is worth the extra charge. So if you need to make a trade-off, consider these three features that are nice but not necessary.

Controls that are hidden when the door is closed, giving the dishwasher a sleek look.

A third top rack that allows you to spread out large utensils. You can remove the third rack to accommodate taller items on the middle rack.

Special wash zones for items that need a special cycle. For example, there are bottle-wash jets in the upper rack that send water deep inside bottles and travel mugs, and heavy-duty wash zones for pots and pans. In our tests they worked as promised, but keep in mind that the special cycles on some models run for just a few minutes.

7 Dishwashers to Consider

We combed through our ratings to find midpriced dishwashers that perform well above average and that our readers told us are reliable. (They appear here in alphabetical order.) You can expect excellent cleaning and drying that’s very good or excellent­ and a wash time of 95 to 155 minutes. These dishwashers are also quiet—you can hear them from about 2 feet away but the noise won’t drown out a conversation. To learn more about these models and to find choices in other price ranges, see our full dishwasher ratings and recommendations.

• Bosch Ascenta SHX3AR75UC, $630, a CR Best Buy
• Bosch 500 Series DLX SHP65TL5UC, $900
• Bosch 800 Series SHE68T55UC, $770
• GE GDT580SSFSS, $720
• Kenmore 14523, $700
• Kenmore 14573, $750
• Maytag MDB8979SEZ, $765

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