Beko WMB91242LC review

Our Rating :

Price when reviewed : £296

inc VAT

The Beko WMB91242LC might have a budget price, but it’s full of features that you’d perhaps expect to find on more expensive machines only. A large 9kg washing machine drum makes it perfect for washing duvets, an eco setting promises efficient and cheap cycles and 16 programs are available, including a 14-minute refresh wash. For a washing machine that costs under £300, this sounds like great value. Our testing looks at all the variables, from power usage to cleaning performance, to see how good it really is.

POWER AND WATER USAGE

To get a clear idea of how well washing machines clean, we always test a number of cycles to compare the results. First off: Cotton 30C. Our 3kg test load went through the wash on the default 1200 spin speed, which retained 1.2kg of water and used 83L of water. This is quite high compared with other models we’ve tested. Power usage was 0.48kW, which combined with water usage, worked out at a total cost per cycle of 31p.

On Cotton 40C, the cost per cycle increased by 3p. Water retention worked out the same at 1.2kg on the default 1200 spin speed, water used was again the same at 83L, but power usage increased to 0.73kW.

Moving on to Synthetics 40C with a spin speed of 1200, water retention was higher at 1.35kg, total water used was far lower than the other programs at 58L, and power recorded at 0.55kW. This resulted in a lower cost per cycle at 25p, which is actually fairly average.

It was the Eco 20C cycle that we were most excited about. On paper, this is a huge selling point, especially for a washing machine at this price point. Water retention was the lowest of all the Beko’s cycles we tested, at 1.1kg, water used was again the lowest at 47L, as was power usage at 0.13kW. This all adds up to a super-low running cost, at just 15p per cycle.

We also calculated running costs based on the EU Energy Label, which gives you annual electricity and water consumption figures for a year’s use, based on 220 full loads using a variety of programmed cycles. From this we can work out the average cost of a wash cycle.

Its 9kg capacity should help save costs, as you can use fewer washing cycles per year

Using the EU Energy Label we worked out annual running costs (see how we test washing machines for more information). This gave us running costs of £57.65 for high usage, £43.24 for medium usage and £28.82 for low usage. These costs include water, waste water and electricity based on the UK average. For a 9kg drum-sized machine, these figures were quite competitive, though not quite the cheapest costs we’ve seen.

WASH PERFORMANCE

Cleaning performance is an important parameter when buying a washing machine, which is why we put all models through a series of tests using our specialist stain strips. View our gallery to see all of the cleaning examples: dirty cloth is at the top of each sample; the clean one is at the bottom.

Our stain strips showed that cleaning was better in the 40C cotton wash than the 30C cotton wash, which is what we’d expect to see. Stains were marginally lighter following the hotter wash, with blood, cocoa and red wine clearly faring better.

There’s not much in it, but the Cotton 40C wash (bottom) dealt with the cocoa stain better than the Cotton 30C wash

We couldn’t pick apart results for the Synthetic 40C wash from the 30C wash – the stains appeared to be pretty much the same. It was just the red wine sample in the Synthetic 40C that was more faint in comparison.

The 40C Synthetic wash coped well with our red wine stain

We were pretty impressed with the Eco 20C wash – red wine even seemed to come out better than the 30C wash. However, blood was the stickler here, which the Beko struggled to wash out, and it was a similar story with the blood/milk/ink sample.

Although the 20C Eco wash was good, it struggled a little to get the blood stain out of the clothes

Overall, we were really pleased with the wash performance, the stains were evenly removed across all the cycles and rivalled those of machines costing almost double the price.

On the sound front, the Beko performed well here, too, 55dB on the wash wasn’t a bad result, while 71dB on a spin is quiet compared to others we’ve tested – one of the best in fact.

EASE OF USE AND FEATURES

As we mentioned earlier, the Beko WMB91242LC is loaded with features. Sixteen programs, including a dark-care wash to protect darks clothes from fading and a super-fast program for small loads make this a washing machine that can cover almost all of your laundry needs. Delicates and wool items are also catered for, plus a Baby & Toddler cycle.

The clear controls and LCD screen make this washing machine easy to use

This machine is pretty basic in its construction and feels, dare we say, a little ‘plasticky’. But it does have an LCD screen, which tells you how long is left on a cycle, and buttons to apply your own settings. We can’t fault the Beko for its user-friendliness and the ability to tweak cycles to your own liking – for example, being able to apply time delay, change the spin settings and control the temperature.

CONCLUSION

We were mightily impressed with the Beko WMB91242LC. Wash performance was better than we expected and the Eco wash is a fantastic addition with low running costs. Arguably, you can get lower running costs with the Panasonic NA-168VG4 and better low-temperature washing with the Samsung Ecobubble WF80F5E5U4W, but these machines are both a lot more expensive to buy. If you want quality washing on a budget, this is the machine to buy.