Samsung DW60H9970FS: How noisy is it?

If you are going for a night-time wash, this Samsung will certainly not keep you awake. It is pretty quiet throughout its main cycle, but that is not quite the whole story. Dishwashers make a variety of noises with water valves opening, rushing inlet water and pump-out often making a lot of noise, albeit briefly. The Samsung is exceptionally quiet across these potentially disturbing noises with the water in-rush measuring a whisper-quiet 37dB.

The WaterWall high pressure jet system certainly makes more noise than traditional rotary systems, but this has been largely addressed with excellent sound deadening in the door and case of the machine. The net result is a running wash noise of just 48dB, which is not much louder than the ambient noise in a busy library. Our averaged sound tests regularly come out much higher than the ‘best case’ published by manufacturers, which in the Samsung DW60H9970FS’s case is 41dB.

Samsung DW60H9970FS: How well does it wash?

Once we have installed a dishwasher we run a quick wash or self-clean programme to prime the pipes and pumps and then allow it to cool completely before running two complete cycles – full load Auto and Full load Eco.

The Samsung’s clever basket lay-out and top rack means it has an exceptionally large capacity, although there is traditional mid-height rotating spray bar that will foul plates over 25cm across. We raised the top basket to accommodate our larger plates, but this means wine glasses have to be laid at a rather jaunty angle in the now limited height top basket, which would not aid cleaning.

Three key test ‘stains’ are included in the main Auto wash, covering 24-hour dried on Weetabix and milk in a ceramic bowl, 24-hour dried on scrambled egg in the Pyrex dish used to cook the egg and red wine dried into a greasy-fingered wine glass. We used a leading brand triple action dishwasher tablet for all tests.

Despite the test wine glass almost laying at 45 degrees, it came out absolutely spotless, bone dry and polished to perfection with not even a hint of streaks or smears. The cutlery certainly benefited from placement on the top and spread out as this too was clean and polished. The ceramic breakfast bowl with dried on Weetabix in milk is a challenge many households will be familiar with, but the Samsung handled it perfectly, leaving the bowl spotless.

Related: Samsung WW9000 Washing Machine

The scrambled egg test is much like the ‘dirty engine oil’ stain in our washing machine reviews – we don’t expect any machine to be capable of removing it but we can gain information about their performance by how much they have removed.

The Samsung nearly upset our finely tuned test procedure because on first inspection the Pyrex egg bowl looked clean! On closer inspection, however, we found a few small but stubborn remnants of the egg around the cooking line of the dish. This is by far the best washing result we have yet to see on a dishwasher and is outstanding cleaning result.

Better still, the automatic door opening assisted the drying as well. We test for remaining moisture half an hour after the cycle has ended, and the dishes and Samsung’s cavity were remarkably dry. Like the wash performance this is the best drying performance we have tested to date.

Samsung DW60H9970FS: How much will it cost to run?

With its A++ energy rating proudly displayed on the Eco label, you won’t be surprised to hear the Samsung DW60H9970FS is fairly cost effective to run for a 14-place setting model. Our full load Auto wash, complete with dirty load, came in at 1.41kWh in total and used a frugal 20.4 litres of water.

Most makers, Samsung included, tend to quote for lightly soiled loads in the main headline specification (0.936kWh / 10.7litres in this models case). However, Samsung does give a range of figures in the manual depending on soil level and our results are well within the limits stated.

The Eco wash is run with a lightly soiled full load and used a frugal 0.98kWh and just 10.4 litres of water – almost exactly the figure quoted by Samsung. That is probably less water than it would take to wash up by hand. It is not the absolute lowest running cost large capacity dishwasher available, but the cleaning results speak for themselves.

All test results are available on the Samsung DW60H9970FS specs page.

Should I buy the Samsung DW60H9970FS?

Samsung’s flagship domestic appliances are turning out to be very special indeed and the Samsung DW60H9970FS is no exception at all. The design is gorgeous, the build excellent and its washing and drying performance is second to no other machine we have tested so far.

To polish this sparkling result, it is very easy to use. It’s not (quite) the quietest dishwasher on the market, thanks to the powerful WaterWall system, but as the cleaning results were so good we can forgive it that. The only other elephant in the room is that price ticket of £799. Is it worth it? If you have the cash, we certainly think so.

Next, read more dishwasher reviews

Verdict

An outstanding dishwasher that earns its sizeable price tag and our recommendation to boot.

Trusted Score