LG Styler review: Nice but niche

LG has been a major player in the smart home arena for several years and has made some great technological advancements in the world of white goods. The company - together with Samsung and others - has made a big contribution to appliances being far more exciting than they ever used to be.

One of those contributions comes in the form of the LG Styler, which is a large appliance that uses steam technology to refresh more delicate clothing - that can't be put through traditional wash cycles - to allow you to wear them again without a trip to the dry cleaner in between.

It's big, expensive and most definitely a luxury purchase, but is it worth it? Here's our review.

Premium design

• 445 x 1850 x 585mm
• 83kg
• White or Black
• Left or right opening door

The LG Styler is a lovely looking appliance as far as appliances go, but it's not inconspicuous. LG says you can place it anywhere in your home, but you'll still need space and quite a bit of it, unless you're happy to have it in the middle of a hallway or room. There are also recommendations for a flat surface and space around it - 50mm each side and behind, 200mm from a ceiling - all of which need to be considered.

It's tall and slim, measuring 445 x 1850 x 585mm and our review model had a lovely and premium glossy black door front, with a flush touch control panel, though the device also comes with a white front if you prefer. The sides are also white - whichever model you choose - and at least one of them will likely be on show depending on where you place the Styler so that's worth remembering.

There's a built-in handle on the left - though you can switch the hinges to the opposite side - so again, it's a flush and seamless finish. Inside, there is a moving hanger rail at the top that shakes to remove wrinkles and odours, a shelf, water and drain tanks at the bottom and a trouser press on the door. The inside also has a spotlight at the top and a blue light at the back so it looks great when you open it up. Those lights go off after 90 seconds in case you want to leave the door open during a drying cycle as the LG Styler will double up as a dehumidifier.

As lovely looking as the LG Styler is for a large appliance though,  it is very heavy at 83kg, and very big too. You're pretty much talking the size of a slim fridge so wherever you place this device in your home, is where you'll want to keep it. Moving it is no easy feat and you'll need several people to get it up any stairs.

It is perfect for those with a utility room, cloakroom or walk-in wardrobe, and those who aren't space poor, but that of course makes it a pretty niche product for most households. 

We have a utility room and a walk-in wardrobe in our home, but the size of the LG Styler meant it wouldn't fit in the utility alongside our washing machine and tumble dryer, while the walk-in wardrobe is upstairs and getting the LG Styler up there for our review period was going to be too tricky.

That meant we homed the LG Styler in our kitchen, which thankfully has matching black gloss appliances so while it still stood out, it could most certainly have been worse. It's not something we would want in our living room, as nice as it is. We would therefore recommend you seriously consider the placement of this device in your home before buying it, as it isn't a product you can hide easily.

Easy installation

• Plug required
• No plumbing
• Wi-Fi and LG ThinQ app

Once you have decided which room or area the LG Styler will stay in, you'll just need to make sure there is a plug nearby - no plumbing is required, hence the ability to place it anywhere. You can also connect it to your Wi-Fi if you download the LG ThinQ app, which enables you to download a range of extra programmes to run on the device.

In order to put the LG Styler into Wi-Fi mode, you'll need to press and hold the Delay Start Button until the Wi-Fi symbol flashes. You'll then need to join the temporary LG Styler Wi-Fi network on your phone, and that will connect it to your home Wi-Fi and allow you to control it remotely through the LG ThinQ app.

It's easy enough to do and the extra programmes are good, but you are probably less likely to need to start the LG Styler remotely like you would a washing machine.

Overall though, installation and setup of the LG Styler is very simple. Plug it in, fill up the water tank in the bottom right, pop your clothes on the hangers or the shelf, press the power button and pick your programme and you're pretty much good to go. 

LG Styler features and what it does

• Refresh delicate clothing
• Removes up to 99.9 per cent allergens
• Trouser crease

The LG Styler has several functions, all of which are pretty useful, though it is very much user dependent on whether this appliance is worth the expense and space in your home. 

The core idea of the LG Styler is to refresh clothes that are more difficult to clean in traditional washers or tumble dryers that you might want to wear again. A silk or sequin dress, a leather jacket, a suit, a cashmere jumper, a wool or fur coat, a velvet top are all examples of where the LG Styler would thrive.

The keyword is refresh though as for any hard stains, you'll need to wash the clothes first. While LG's TrueSteam technology will refresh your garments - as well as add an aroma to them if you use the Aroma Filter at the back inside the device - it won't remove stains.

Along with refreshing clothes, you can also use the LG Styler to dry delicates, like lingerie or sweaters and it also promises to remove up to 99.9 per cent of allergens and bacteria so it's great for children's teddies, clothes or baby blankets when you use the Sanitary programmes.

Additionally, you can use the trouser press in the door panel to reduce wrinkles in trousers and restore the trouser crease - useful for those that wear suits regularly and just want to give them a refresh rather than dry clean them each week.

Decent performance

• 20 minute refresh programme
• 2 hour sanitise programme
• 40dB

The LG Styler comes with three specially designed hangers - two standard hangers with trouser clips and a separate, slimmer trouser hanger that you can either use in the main section or in the Pants Crease Care panel on the door. There is also a shelf that can be stowed at the back of the Styler when refreshing long clothing.

We used the LG Styler to refresh our winter jackets, as well as our leather jacket, dress and skirt. We also used it for shirts that we had only worn for an evening, jumpers that had been tucked in a drawer and needed a spruce up and sanitise our child's cuddly puffin that is rarely out of their hands for more than 10 minutes so doesn't have time for a wash and dry.

We also used the LG Styler to refresh a suit, silk dress and a full sequin dress, as well as dry jeans and shirts after they have been through the main wash in order to get them dry without exposing them to shrinking in the tumble dryer and shake out the wrinkles. 

In all instances, the LG Styler performed brilliantly. The cycles range in length depending on what you select. For example, a 'Normal' Refresh cycle takes around an 40 minutes, while a Heavy Duty Sanitary cycle takes nearly 2 hours. There are quick 20 minute cycles for a quick spruce up - perfect for just before you head out - and the overall noise level from the LG Styler is significantly less than a tumble dryer at just 40dB. It's pretty quiet in operation considering what's happening inside.

There's also a nice little jingle sound when a cycle is finished and if you've connected the LG ThinQ app, you'll get a notification on your phone too.

You do need to make sure the hangers are locked into place in the slots on the moving rail - stowing any that aren't being used in the shelf. There are only three slots and a shelf so there's only space for around four items at a time. While that means the Styler isn't going to replace your washing machine or tumble dryer anytime soon, think of it as a device for special clothing items rather than your entire wardrobe.

The touch control panel is very easy to use and very responsive though so the LG Styler really is super simple to use, select programmes and download extra programmes from the LG ThinQ app for specialist cycles. Tap on the cycle you want to use - for example Refresh - and tap again to select Normal, Light or Heavy. You then just press and hold the start button and the cycle will start. 

As we mentioned previously, the LG Styler won't get stains out of clothing so it doesn't remove the need for dry cleaning entirely - you'll need to wash items first before putting them in if something has a mark on it. You can use the LG Styler to dry things after cleaning though, and it will reduce wrinkles at the same time - but won't reduce the need to iron altogether, sadly.

Source : https://www.pocket-lint.com/smart-home/reviews/lg/163618-lg-styler-review