Cove Dishwasher Review 2026: Is It Worth $2,699, or Only in a Package?

Cove is the high-end dishwasher brand brought to you by the Sub-Zero company.

In this article you'll learn all the different aspects of new dishwasher.

In the end, we'll also compare Cove to the Miele G7000 series and the Bosch Benchmark, its two main competitors.

They built a very good dishwasher. Whether you should buy it is the more complicated question.

What You'll Learn

• Whether the Cove earns its $2,699 price tag on its own, or only inside a Sub-Zero and Wolf package.
• How it stacks up against the two machines it actually competes with: Miele and the Bosch Benchmark.
• The Sub-Zero ownership advantage that doesn't show up on any spec sheet and why it matters more in year twelve than anything on the feature list. 

Cove DW2450WS at a Glance

My Twenty-Year History with the Cove Dishwasher

Twenty years ago, I was flown to Chicago for a meeting with the executives of Sub-Zero.

They wanted to build a dishwasher.

We spent hours going over the features people actually use and may like. At the end, they asked me what I thought.

I told them they were nuts.

Dishwashers, as you know, are an extremely competitive category. Bosch, KitchenAid, and especially Miele own the premium space, and they're very good at it.

However, they listened to me as much as my nine-year-old daughter does now.

Then again, Sub-Zero launched Wolf in 2000, no range-building experience, and Wolf is now the dominant premium range.

Cove is now built in Kentucky and is part of family-owned, American-made Sub-Zero Corp.

Cove Dishwasher Build Quality: Why It Feels Different

The first thing you notice opening a Cove is how solid and heavy it is.

Most dishwashers don't feel like this.

Sub-Zero is big on first impressions. Their refrigerators are harder to pull because they've got a vacuum seal and Wolf oven door feels more solid as well. 

The next thing you notice is the racks. They're solid too.

The Cove feels built to last in a way most dishwashers don't.

Cove Dishwasher Racks, Wash System, and Controls

To their credit, they copied a lot of good features from other manufacturers.

They have three levels of wash action and racks that adjust side to side and up and down.

The bottom rack adjusts to fit almost any platter. For that, they took a page from Miele, whose racks are the best in the industry.

There's a water softener option, which matters if you have hard water (Typically in Mass, we have softer water, but there are towns on wells with harder water).

The digital controls give you all the major cycles (12) plus a number of options.

They borrowed the best ideas in the category, and they borrowed the right ones.

Cove Dishwasher Quietness: How Many Decibels?

If you're worried about quiet, the Cove runs at 41 dBA.

That's well under the 44-decibel quietness standard.

No, you won't hear it, even in an open kitchen that runs into the family room.

At 41 dBA, you won't hear it, even in an open kitchen.

How Does the Cove Dishwasher Dry?

The Cove dries with a heated final rinse and a fan-assisted dry.

The hot rinse heats the dishes, and the fan moves air to pull the moisture out.

It dries well. Plates and glasses come out ready to put away.

Plastics are where you'll still find a few drops, which is true of nearly every dishwasher except the Bosch with CrystalDry.

The heated rinse and fan-assisted dry add time. Cove cycles run about 30 minutes longer than other brands, start to finish.

It dries well, and it takes about 30 minutes longer to do it.

The Cove Feature You Won't Find on a Spec Sheet

The best part of the Cove isn't on the spec sheet, and no salesperson will tell you about it.

Sub-Zero keeps parts forever.

I started full-time at Yale in 1986, and we still source parts for Sub-Zero units older than that.

Many companies pour their money into the newest features. Sub-Zero spends more on parts and available technical support than any brand we service.

You've heard the claims. Manufacturers say their machine will last 20 years, or something like that.

That only holds if the parts are still around to get you there.

Sub-Zero may be the best brand to buy after the fact, because you'll still get parts and support 10 to 15 years out.

How Does the Cove Compare to Bosch and Miele?

So the Cove is a solid product.

But at $2,699, it's not an infallible slam dunk.

To see where it lands, compare it against its two best competitors: Bosch and Miele.

Cove vs. Bosch Benchmark

Twenty years ago in Chicago, we compared dishwasher features against the best on the market at that time.

Bosch's signature feature wasn't one of them. CrystalDry has only been out about 4 years, so it wasn't around for us to test back then.

It's still the best in the category at drying plastics.

CrystalDry uses a zeolite, a natural mineral that absorbs moisture and releases heat to dry even plastics better than anything else.

Bosch also offers PowerControl, their wash system, which splits the bottom rack into quadrants and varies the spray intensity by zone.

In theory, you can run fine china and a baked-on lasagna pan in the same load.

Where Cove answers back is build.

The Cove is the more solid dishwasher, with three levels of wash and better racks than the Benchmark.

Then again, it's about $700 more, unless you buy it in a package. More on that at the end.

The Benchmark wins on drying and speed. The Cove wins on build and parts.

Cove vs. Bosch Benchmark: Spec Comparison

Cove vs. Miele G7000: The Same-Price Comparison

Miele has evolved over the last 20 years too.

The G7000 series features AutoDos, an automatic detergent dispensing system that senses water conditions and adjusts the detergent for you. The racks changed as well.

They now handle small items like bottle caps and my daughter's metal straws. There's even a dedicated straw holder.

Even though the original Cove was built with Miele in mind, I still think the racks are more solid on a Cove than on a Miele.

The drying systems are different.

Cove uses fan-assisted condensation drying.

Miele draws cooler air through a port, where it meets the steam, condenses to water, and then the door pops open at the end of the cycle to speed drying.

It's a good system.

I'd want to wash a load of Tupperware in each before I called a winner. I own the Miele, and it's very good. Not as good as the zeolite in the Bosch. Some water still pools on the plastics and the lighter items, but it dries well.

What the Cove brings is the more solid machine, the more solid racks, and better parts and service availability 20 years out.

Against Miele, it comes down to a very good machine versus a very good machine.

Cove vs. Miele G7000: Spec Comparison

The One Time Price Stops Being the Question

Here's where the Cove math changes.

If you're already buying a Sub-Zero and Wolf kitchen, you get a $1,000 credit toward a Cove dishwasher.

That brings it to about $1,699.

You're getting the matching panel, the matching handles, the five-year warranty, the solid build, and the parts support that outlasts the kitchen, for less than a mid-tier machine costs on its own.

Bought in a Sub-Zero and Wolf package, the Cove is the best dishwasher purchase in the market.

If you want a Cove, Bosch, Miele, or any dishwasher we carry, we deliver, install, and fit the custom panel within 48 hours across our service area.

Should You Buy a Cove?

Go back to Chicago for a second.

Dishwashers are a category full of good names. KitchenAid, Bosch, Asko, and especially Miele made their reputations here, and they earned them.

At $2,699, the Cove is absolutely competitive with a Miele. It matches on features, beats it on build, and wins on parts 20 years out.

So the question was never whether the Cove is good. It is.

If you're building the Sub-Zero and Wolf kitchen and you take the credit, that question answers itself.

If you're not, you're deciding how much a matching, built-to-last, American-made dishwasher is worth to you.

The question was never whether the Cove is good. It is. The question is whether you spend this on a dishwasher at all.

See the Cove for Yourself

If you want to compare Cove versus Miele or any other dishwasher, you can feel the difference in person at any one of our six stores: Boston, Framingham, Hanover, Norton, Hyannis, or Nantucket.

Feel free to stop in. If you want us waiting for you, set an appointment at your convenience.

We also deliver and install dishwashers within 48 hours in our area.

Additional Resources

Break through the clutter of dishwasher choices. Our Dishwasher Buying Guide reveals the top picks for racking, washing, and drying from brands like Miele, Bosch, KitchenAid, Cove, and more. Download and discover your perfect match. Over 1 million people have found the answers in a yale guide.

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