Somewhat depends which model and priority of features. Bosch has the best drying with the zeolite crystals in the 800 series. The Miele 7000 series (which is above $1200) has the autodos dispenser which automatically detects how much dishwasher solution needs to be dispensed during the cycle.

Forever fan of Bosch. Mine have never needed repair, last forever, and least time I compared models, in-person, I could cram more into the Bosch.

I've had both and prefer Bosch. Better value, excellent performance and reliability. In my opinion Miele is underwhelming and overpriced.

I have hard hard water, and can't do a whole-house water softener. My Miele (bottom of the line model) gets my glassware sparkling.

There was another discussion about this recently. I commented that in our two-unit house, I'd had a Miele installed because of size issues in our upstairs unit, where we lived. At about the same time, I had a Bosch installed in the lower unit, which was a rental. We have moved into the lower unit, so have experienced both. It seems to me that the Bosch does an equally great job as the Miele. The cycle takes about an hour less, and the Bosch cost about $1000 less. We have a municipal water supply that is medium-soft.

We love our Miele 7000 series that pops open at the end of the cycle to aid in drying and has a nice light inside. Does an amazing job of washing and drying. More than the cost you suggest but we love it. We are in a new build and keeping with the Miele dishwasher

I was tempted to go back to Miele. Problem is, the local, independent dealer I've used and trusted for major appliances in the past couple of decades only sells Bosch (and other brands.) The local dealer for Miele is a bit sketchy. For a major appliance, I think the quality of dealer/repair place is almost more important that the brand itself. So I guess it's going to be Bosch.

We replaced a twelve-year-old Bosch dishwasher with another Bosch last week. The built-in leak detection system alerted us to a slow leak that otherwise would have ruined our hardwood floors, possibly subflooring, etc. before other evidence presented. Repairing would have cost half the price of a new DW and we wouldn't know what might go bad next, so I replaced it with another Bosch DW because of the Aquastop technology.

I've noticed that the Bosch models I look up online are always the same price at every store, except often there's no price given at all. Even the box stores show the same prices as my local, independent dealer. Does that mean there's no discount available, or is there likely to be some negotiating room?

We have had three Bosch dishwashers in two houses. So far, they’ve given me no reason to consider another brand.

phrog - I noticed that, too. Could be price fixing? IDK, but it helped make no difference where we bought ours. Best Buy had it & installed less than 72 hours later.

I have (and love) a Bosch 800 with CrystalDry that's 3 years old.

I am going to buy a new dishwasher soon I expect. My Bosch is probably 10 years old. My dishes don’t dry, glasses always have residue in and on them, etc. i am hoping newer models do better.

I've never used Miele, but my Bosch 800 is terrific. I have very hard well water and my dishwasher has a water softener compartment.

This is our 2nd Miele dw, first one was in our Calif home and the 2nd is in our Oregon home. We love how squeaky clean and dry our dishes and glassware are. Also, the third top tray for silverware is so handy. We follow the Martha Stewart suggestion of placing the forks, spoons, knives together within their category. Very easy to scoop up all the forks, for example, together to place them back in the drawer.

We were at a Christmas party and some of the guests complained of their Bosch dw having an awful smell. I directed them to the Houzz comments re Bosch smells and how to eliminate by emptying the excess water.

The Miele dw hasn’t had that problem but we do include a rinse aid with each wash.

I had good luck with my first Bosch DW (1997 to 2017) and its replacement, a 2017 model 300 series, has been excellent. Last year, Bosch revamped its line up of 300 and 500 series models, which are the ones in the OP's $1200 price range. Wirecutter's latest testing of some of the updated 300 and 500 series --- published a week or so ago --- reported some pretty discouraging concerns with the current lineup. Here's a link to that article.

https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/the-best-dishwasher/

After my research, I had to eliminate Miele because the local dealer doesn't have a very good reputation. My Bosch dealer, however, has been selling and servicing my large appliances for about 15 years. Very honest and reliable. It turned out he was the only dealer (including the box stores) that offered discounted prices on Bosch (DW $1599 instead of $1799) and extended warranty for six years of coverage ($250 instead of $300). I always figure that with something like a DW, you're investing in both the machine and the dealer.

jwvideo - great link to the Wirecutter. It came out a couple days after our Bosch 500 series DW was installed and I didn't see it.

We had a 12-y/o 800 Series that was the best. As for our new 500 series? ~meh~

The NYT article says they had trouble getting dishes clean at times. Our dishes are clean but I do. not. like. the. redesigned racks. Ugh. :-p

(rant alert)

Our old 800 series had awesome racks---all three. Nowadays, all Bosch series levels have the same redesigned racks, so it didn't matter how much money we spent. Or didn't spend. I still haven't made peace with any of them and find them fairly dysfunctional for our needs and use. I wonder about the great brain trust that thought this was a good idea, but surely someone, somewhere loves them.

The third (upper)rack is particularly disappointing due to the ability to lower the sides to make room for ramekins, etc., which we don't use. The problem is the sides of the 3rd rack are wider to give space for the slide button that allows the bottoms to drop a bit. Our knives now have to be loaded differently so they don't overlap flatware on the opposite side. (We do not use a flatware basket on the bottom rack). I always used to fit spatulas, etc., on the middle rack between cups and glassware in our old 800 series, and that worked beautifully.

The middle rack for glassware seems to have narrower space between the times that run front-to-back. We already had to buy new everyday drinkware that will fit. The flip up/down mini shelf for shallow items canNOT be removed. (our old 800 series allowed this and it was highly appreciated).

All the stock photos of the bottom rack show a large stock/soup pot loaded. That's nice. Ours is not DW safe that once-in-a-decade time I use it, and doubt many others are. Who uses a pot that size on a daily basis? The space on the right, where the flatware basket can reside, is useless wasted space to us, for the most part. Don't even get me started on the front tines that load frot-to-back. WTH? Our bowls overlap and hit each other, so dysfunctional for this family. Smaller bowls like Correlle would likely do well. Our Villeroy Boch bowls don't.

Our old 800 series third rack was fairly dry by the end of a cycle --- the RACK itself. With the wider frame on the sides (mentioned above), there is a lot of water sitting on that thing at the end of a cycle.

We do not use the Wifi and have no interest in that, so I cannot speak for it.

And TBH, I miss having the controls on the front because I don't know how much time is left on the cycle. This was a choice I made, to try the integrated type and now I know my preference. I didn't think that through, so Live and Learn. Not using Air Dry feature helps shorten the cycle. Now, I set a 2-hr timer and check for the red light to be off, then open the door to let things finish drying....as much as they can. I feel quite certain this 500 series does not eat up the final rinse water like the old 800 series did, to help get things dry. The countertop doesn't get as warm by the end of a cycle. That is a first world problem.

It is what it is, and we will adapt ... sooner or later. Not that I would have bought a Miele after the enormous repair bills I had with our Miele W4842 FL washer; I'm snakebit on the brand.

Before you eliminate Miele because of an appliance store reputation call Miele direct to inquire about service. Miele provides the service person for my area. He's completely independent of any of the appliance retailers. He recommended not repairing a 15 year old Diamonte level dw and suggested a lower-level current model (G 5056) as the best long-term trouble-free replacement. It has better capacity design and is producing even more sparkling clean output than the previous model.

Well, the decision was made a couple of weeks ago. I now have a Bosch Benchmark DW cleaning my dishes. So far, in the early days, it's impressive. Long term, I have to X my fingers.