5 Best Garage Door Opener Reviews By Consumer

5 BEST GARAGE DOOR OPENER
REVIEWS BY CONSUMER REPORT FOR

2019

Created By: Ramona Goodman

1. CHAMBERLAIN B970: BEST OVERALL

• The Chamberlain garage door opener is one of
only two units we looked at that comes with a
built-in backup battery. This feature allows you
to access your garage in the event of a power
outage, which is especially helpful if you have
trouble using the manual release. The lift system
uses a belt to provide a quieter way to open
your door compared with more-common
chain-driven systems. With a motor rating of 1
1/4 horsepower (HP), the unit can lift
residential garage doors without causing excess
wear and tear.

2. LIFTMASTER 8500W: BEST
PROFESSIONALLY INSTALLED

• This mechanism makes it more difficult for
intruders to force the door open and enter
your garage. This LiftMaster garage door opener
is also the only wall-mounted model in our
comparison, which makes it a good option if
you want to clear up ceiling space to store
items above your garage door. This is possible
because the LiftMaster 8500W uses a jackshaft
lift system, though it does require a torsion-
spring-type garage door to function. For
comparison, most garage doors use extension
springs.

3. CHAMBERLAIN C410: BEST VALUE

• This Chamberlain garage door opener has very
favorable customer reviews on both Amazon and the
Lowe’s website, with a 4.5-star rating out of 5 stars.
With only 1/2 horsepower, the Chamberlain C410
might not be able to lift some larger doors, but it’s a
great option for most homes, particularly those with
single-car garages.

• The unit comes with two remotes and is compatible
with an internet connection and a mobile app, if you
have the Chamberlain myQ smart garage door
controller. The Chamberlain C410 isn’t as quiet as the
belt-driven garage door openers we evaluated, but it
is a reliable option for controlling your garage door.

4. GENIE MACHFORCE CONNECT: BEST
CUSTOMER SATISFACTION

• The Genie MachForce Connect is one of the newest
garage door openers we evaluated, and it has very
favorable reviews at Home Depot, the exclusive
retailer for the unit.

• In fact, it had the highest customer rating of all the
garage door openers we evaluated, scoring 4.6 out
of 5 stars. This screw-driven garage door opener
also has the highest horsepower rating in our
comparison, with a 2-HP motor, which means it can
handle residential garage doors with ease.

5. SOMMER DIRECT DRIVE: BEST
WA R R A N T Y

• The warranties on garage door openers tend to be
quite generous. In fact, it’s normal for the motors to
have lifetime warranties.

• However, the Sommer Direct Drive is the only garage
door opener in our comparison that has a lifetime
warranty on the motor, lift system and parts – the
most generous warranty package of any garage door
opener we reviewed.

• Notably, the Sommer device is the only direct-drive
lift system we evaluated, which means the 3/4-
horsepower motor travels along a fixed chain in the
rail with only one moving part. This provides the
durability of a chain-driven system and the reduced
noise of a belt-driven system.

THANK YOU!