Panasonic NA-168VG4 review

Panasonic has always aimed for the highest efficiency with its home appliances, and the 8kg NA-168VG4 is no exception. In fact, the washing machine is way more efficient than its A+++ rating already suggests, proving to be incredibly cheap to run in all of our tests.

POWER AND WATER USAGE

Across all of our tests, the NA-168VG4 proved to be very consistent in its usage. Washing our 3kg test load using the 30C Cotton cycle used just 47L of water and required only 0.47kW, resulting in a cycle cost of just 20p. With the spin speed set to 1,600rpm, our clothes retained 1.3kg of water. This isn’t bad, but we’d expect perhaps a couple of hundred grams of water less.

Switching up to the 40C cotton programme, resulted in similar water consumption of 49L, and power increased by just 0.07kW to 0.54kW, due to the having to heat the water to a higher temperature. Water retention was slightly better, with our clothes holding 1.2kg of water.

We were particularly impressed with the low 0.67kW of power for the EasyCare wash. Typically, this kind of wash uses considerably more power, as the drum is started, stopped and rotated to cater for more delicate garments; a cotton wash generally spins the drum more consistently, requiring less power. Panasonic defaults to an 800rpm spin speed (you can override this), which means clothes came out with retaining 1.4kg of water.

This washing machine is A+++ rated, but it’s far more efficient than even this suggests

Panasonic also has a 15C wash, which is an efficient way of cleaning clothes that are only lightly soiled. As you’d expect, this saves a lot, with our 3kg wash costing just 16p. This is thanks to low water consumption of 40L and very low power consumption of just 0.31kW.

These figures are certainly cheap, but to find out how the machine performs over a year we used the figures from the EU Energy Label (see how we test washing machines for more information). These showed us that this washing machine costs £43.45 for high usage, £32.59 for medium usage and £21.72 for low usage. These costs include water, waste water and electricity based on the UK average. Any way you cut it, this washing machine is exceptionally efficient and excellent value.

WASH PERFORMANCE

Having the best wash performance isn’t going to be much use if the wash quality isn’t very good. Fortunately, we found it to be excellent at all tested temperatures – 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.

The Cotton 30C and Cotton 40C cycles produced very similar results, with the higher temperature cycle just slightly ahead for some tests.

At 30C we found that there was a slight stain left over from our blood sample

We found that most of our blood was washed out, although the 30C cycle left a stain where the cloth wasn’t quite evenly washed. Cocoa staining was decent, with an even removal across the test strip and trace amounts of the staining left. Red wine removal was excellent, with all but the slightest bit of staining remaining on close inspection.

The 40C Cotton wash (bottom) managed to remove more of the blood, milk and ink combined stain than the 30C Cotton wash (top)

The combination of blood, milk and ink came out cleanest at 40C, with large areas of the cloth coming up stain free. At 30C, the cloth was visibly cleaner, but left darker patches of staining. Similar results could be seen on the same type of cloth stained with carbon black and olive oil. Using the 40C EasyCare setting, wash performance was almost as good as the 40C Cotton cycle. Only minor differences remained, such as slightly less red wine being removed in the wash.

We also ran the same tests on the 15C wash, which Panasonic recommends for lightly-soiled garments. In our tests this wash produced decent results, with good cleaning on our cocoa, blood/milk/ink and red wine stain strips, although the Cotton and EasyCare cycles managed better results.

At 15C, red wine removal was surprisingly good, although this wash is best suited for lightly-soiled garments

Blood and carbon black/olive oil stain strips were noticeable worse than on the other cycles. However, for lightly-soiled garments, this efficient wash is still useful.

EASE OF USE AND FEATURES

The NA-168VG4 is exceptionally well made and feels tough. The door opens and locks into place easily, and the detergent drawer felt secure and operated smoothly. Using the washing machine is also incredibly easy thanks to the simple layout of the control panel.

You can override pre-set wash options and select additional features using the clear control panel

A main dial lets you select the wash mode that you want, with pre-sets for most types of clothing, including Wool, Silk and Delicates in addition to the usual cotton and EasyCare cycles. While this dial sets you basic settings, you can also override the temperature (cold, 30C, 40C, 60C and 90C) and the spin speed (500, 800, 1,000, 1,200 and 1,600rpm) by hitting the relevant button on the front. This uses LEDs to highlight the current setting.

In addition, you’ve got a set of other options that you can add to a wash, including Prewash, which rinses the clothes before the main programme starts; Extra Rinse, which uses more water to ensure all detergent is removed; Easy Ironing, which uses a slower spin speed and regularly rotates your washing after the cycle has finished to prevent creasing; and Eco, which uses less water and power, but takes longer.

It’s straight-forward to pick your wash cycle and the Memory option is a great way to recall your favourite wash settings

A handy Memory option on the main dial lets you select your favourite options and remember them for future use, so you can quickly get the wash that you want. Once you’re done you just hit the Start button and the machine begins immediately, unless you’ve set the delay timer. This delays the start of the wash, so that you can ensure the machine finishes when you’re around, such as when you get back from work, and your washing doesn’t just sit there wet. A timer on the front shows you how long the wash will take. It’s calculated based on the amount of washing in the machine, so it updates as the wash progresses.

We found the machine fairly quiet in use, with a wash noise rating of 53dB and spin rating of 71dB. More importantly, the machine was stable and didn’t vibrate or shake annoyingly, meaning that it shouldn’t be too distracting.

CONCLUSION

With low running costs, excellent wash performance, decent drum size and a comparatively quiet mode of operation, the Panasonic NA-168VG4 is an excellent choice for any household and wins a Best Buy award.