My favorite front tire is the Schwalbe Magic Mary which is a really popular 27.5 front tire. It hooks up in corners and helps you stay on your bike when many other tires would wash out or fold over. It's also a front tire that's on a lot of enduro racers bikes.
The Maxxis Minion DHF tire is also a favorite front tire among mtb enthusiasts, as well as the Maxxis ASSEGAI.
The Schwalbe Hans Dampf Snakeskin Folding TL Easy 650B Tire is a really good mtb tire and gets great reviews when used as a front tire. You'll hook up much more in turns and wash out much less when using the Hans Dampf Trailstar 27.5 x 2.35 for super grippy handling. If you want a more durable tire go for the Hans Dampf Pacestar 27.5 x 2.35.
For a while I had setup the Hans Dampf Pacestar 2.35 on my front tire (tubeless) from Wiggle.com and a Hans Dampf Pacestar 2.25 on my back tire. With the tire setup my mountain bike would ride up steeps and corners so much better than the crappy stock tires that came with my 27.5 mountain bike.
I've since put on a 2.35 Magic Mary (trailstar compound) on the front and a 2.35 Hans Dampf (pacestar compound) on the rear for overall traction. Overall, I really like the Magic Mary tire on the front and think it's an awesome front tire (amazing grip, and excellent turnability). I believe the side nobs on the Magic Mary tire are stiffer, than the Hans Dampf, so there's less of a chance for the nobs to fold over in a turn, which can cause your front tire to wash out.
For a less draggy rear tire for dry summer riding, I'll sometimes put on a Schwalbe Rock Razor 2.35 (pacestar compound), but the stopping power is not as good as a Hans Dampf.
No matter which tires you choose for your riding style, just make sure you get Tubeless Ready tires, as a tubeless tire setup makes such a difference in handling turns and a tubeless setup will also will knock off over a half a pound of weight from your bike. No more pinch flats as well when running low tire pressure!
Wiggle.com has some of the lowest prices off on the Schwalbe Hans Dampf tires or Maxxis 27.5 mtb tires.
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