Verdict

Pros

• Amazingly frugal Super Eco Wash
• Excellent AddWash feature
• Smart Control app control
• Good stain removal test
• Even quieter than label states

Cons

• High water use on standard Cotton wash

What is the Samsung WW80K6414QW?

The ultra-efficient 8kg WW80K6414QW is the first machine we have tested with Samsung’s innovative AddWash feature. Dropped a sock on the way to do the washing? No problem. Just pause the wash and put the sock in through the AddWash door.

Add in a solid array of programmes, full iOS and Android supported Smart Control and a raft of Samsung’s proven wash tech including Ecobubble and a brushless motor, and you have a recipe for a cutting edge washing experience. The only thing obviously missing is a four-figure price tag. Let the testing begin….

Samsung WW80K6414QW – What is it like to use?

We don’t see too many really genuinely innovative features on washing machines, so when Samsung’s WW80K6414QW arrived with app-based Smart Control and the company’s all-new AddWash feature, excitement was high in the testing department. (…and yes, we do know how sad that is.)

We have seen machines controlled by apps before, but not at this slightly more realistic end of the market and not with the breadth of functionality within Samsung’s Smart Home control hub app.

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You can start, stop, pause or simply monitor each stage of your wash from the app, with various alerting options to let you know when the cycle is finished. Within the app there are chat controls, which we assumed allowed you to talk to other Samsung Smart Home users. Not so. This allows your connected appliances to talk to each other to share control information. Quite what else they might talk about is a mystery but it probably brings a whole new meaning to “airing your dirty laundry” if your washing machine is talking to your fridge and oven about your smalls. I digress.

To be honest, it’s still early days for this level of smart control on washing machines, and, of course, you will still have to load and unload the washing by hand anyway. Yet this incarnation of the Smart Control is much slicker and more user friendly that the version we tried on Samsung’s flagship WW9000 last year, and the washing controls are much better integrated into the Smart Home app’s overall feel.

In fact, Smart Home is Samsung’s ‘one app to control them all’, so in here is the ability to command all your Samsung smart kitchen appliances from a single interface on any Android or iOS device. It also incorporates Smart Check, which diagnoses faults and sends a report to Samsung’s engineers if something goes wrong.

Even if you need a call out (and many common issues are resolved over the phone) you can be assured the engineer knows what he needs to do and will have spare parts with him when he arrives. There is currently no link or interactivity between Samsung Smart Home app and Samsung SmartThings – but we suspect that is only a matter of time.

And then there is that door. Or rather the smaller door within the bigger door. The AddWash feature allows you to stop the machine, add items of laundry through the smaller door and let the washing carry on from where it left off. AddWash is the ultimate solution to that dropped sock on the way to the washing machine or those dirty kids clothes that didn’t quite make it to the laundry basket. If the load gets a little larger than anticipated through these last minute add-in garments, you can also add extra fabric softener to cater accordingly.

Behind those headline features is much of Samsung’s top tech too. You get Ecobubble washing that quite literally fizzes the water and detergent into your clothes for a more economical deep cleaning wash, an ultra-quiet brushless motor with a 10-year guarantee, and a couple of high speed washes, just 15 and 30 minutes, for loads up to 2kg.

While most of the key features can be set-up from the app, once you have loaded the machine with washing the chances are you will use the fascia controls. These could not be simpler to use, with a large central rotatory dial to select the programme and a row of buttons beneath the display for options to tweak the temperature, number of rinses and spin speed. The soap dispenser drawer is a great size and easy to load without spills and you are ready to go. “Go” being the largest button on the right side of the fascia, complete with play/pause symbols.

Samsung WW80K6414QW – How noisy is it?

We weren’t expecting this machine to be as miraculously quiet as some of Samsung’s top-of-the-range machines but the brushless motor and double glazed doors suggested it was going to be far from noisy. Wash noise consistently averaged 53dB, exactly as stated on the EU energy label, which is well below the level of quiet conversation and is a gentle background noise. Not the very quietest machine out there, but very good indeed.

On spin, the measured figures departed significantly from the energy label however, but for the better. While the label would suggest the 1,400 maximum spin emitted some 74dB, which is only average for a machine at this price, in reality we measured a very impressive 68dB on maximum spin.

We always query test results if they are way out of kilter with specification either-way but multiple maximum spin noise tests, with both half loads and full loads, continued to produce almost exactly 68dB. That figure is excellent for a 1,400 spin machine and certainly wouldn’t intrude on a conversation if you were chatting over coffee in the kitchen.

Samsung WW80K6414QW – What programmes does it have?

Keeping it real in terms of the sheer number of programmes, the WW80K6414QW offers a good selection of the more commonly required washes without going into the niche-load cycles found on Samsung’s more upmarket models. The main crop includes Cottons, Synthetics, Wool, Delicates and Babycare, with additional programmes dedicated to Bedding, Outdoor wear, Dark Garments and Denim. There is a variation on the Cottons theme as ‘Cotton with Eco’ programme that uses a lower temperatures and reduces energy consumption – not to be confused with the dedicated Super Eco wash, however.

For those in a hurry or keen to save as much energy as possible, there are Super Speed and Super Eco washes too. The Super Speed is a sensor cycle for daily wear items and will take no more than an hour to do a complete wash and spin with good cleaning results. Unlike many other brands’ higher-speed washes, you can use this programme with a full load too. The Super Eco Wash brings into play cooler water temperatures and Samsung’s Ecobubble soak and wash features to achieve a full load clean using the minimum of resources. As you will see from our test results, it achieves that with flying colours.

Samsung WW80K6414QW: How well does it wash?

Our standard test procedure includes a full load Cotton wash at 40 degrees, using 80% weight of the stated maximum to replicate how most people load their machines. In this 8kg machine’s case that is 6.4kg of dry mixed cottons, which is a significantly large pile of laundry.

Into this wash we place a test stain strip with dried-on coffee, ketchup, turmeric, engine oil and blood (testing staff were harmed in the making of this last test, but they like to go the extra mile). We also undertake two half load tests, 3.2kg of dry washing, using the Cotton cycle and Samsung’s Super Eco programme. Non-biological detergent is used throughout.

Before

After

In the first main wash the test strip cleaned up well, with the ketchup and, unusually, the blood stains removed completely. This is quite rare in all but the very best machines for wash performance. The coffee stain was significantly reduced, which was again a great result especially considering this particular stain strip had a coffee spillage large enough for Starbucks to have been proud of it.

The tough turmeric and engine oil stains were diminished, although still visible. Only biological detergent will shift these sticky customers entirely, so overall the WW80K6414QW gives a very good account of itself for cleaning performance.

Typical of modern machines, the cycles are quite long with the main cotton wash running to over three and a half hours. However, if you pause the wash to add a garment it simply picks up where it left off so there is virtually no extra time added to the whole wash.

We tried a couple of full-load runs and stuffed several T-shirts into one load half way through very successfully. We showed a few visitors this feature and it was universally praised as “blimey, that’s a good idea”. Clearly finding that escapee sock, underpants under the bed or an errant T-shirt just after you have put the washing on is a common complaint.

With a thumbs up to its A energy rating, the full load test cycle used a very frugal 1kwh of electricity although water use was a bit high at over 80litres. However, the Samsung’s maximum spin did a good job of removing water from this load, leaving under 2kg of water (30% of dry washing weight) behind to dry off after the wash.

The half load Cotton wash went just over two hours and showed commensurate reduction in resources required, using 0.75kWh in electricity and the water consumption dropping to just over 50 litres. Spin efficiency was equally good on half load with around 1kg of water left in the wash after spin.

The real star of the energy-efficiency show was Samsung’s amazing Super Eco Wash. Using a half load, this programme used under 0.2kWh of electricity – the lowest figure we have ever recorded for a half load wash. We ran this cycle several times to ensure our figures were correct and it consistently used the same, very small, amount of electricity.

Water consumption too was down to around 40 litres, while the spin efficiency – usually the figure that gets compromised for low energy washes – remained pretty good too at 1.2kg. Those figures are very impressive whichever way you look at them, giving this Samsung the lowest potential running costs of any machine we have tested to date. Brilliant.

Samsung WW80K6414QW – How much will it cost to run?

With all sensor machines, making accurate predictions of total running costs is a bit of a guesstimate as it will depend on how dirty your washing is, what programmes you use and how much washing you put in each load. So we standardise the figure based on our tests, suggesting the average household would run 240 washes a year, split 200 at full load and 40 half load washes with an even split between standard and Super Eco.

Using that ratio, the WW80K6414QW romps home as one of the most energy efficient washing machines we have tested, using just 225kWh of electricity – or about £33 – per year. However, if we owned this Samsung and knew how efficient the Super Eco Wash was, we would adapt our washing programme choice accordingly and stick all but really dirty washes on Super Eco.

Unlike many other brands ultra-eco washes, the Samsung’s spin on Super Eco Wash remains very good so it’s not then going to cost you more in tumble dryer energy or time having washing hanging around the house drying either. As such, this would be our default program and that would deliver spectacularly low annual running costs… probably half of our standard calculated figure. That is a truly spectacular result and over the 10 or more years you would expect this machine to run for, would go a fair way to paying back its asking price in energy savings alone.

If the WW80K6414QW has one chink in its full eco warrior credentials, that is its rather high water consumption on normal Cottons wash. This would add a little to running costs over more water-frugal machines if you are on metered water – albeit only about a fiver per year in comparison to similar A machines we have tested. Once again though, if you were to use the Super Eco Wash as your main default wash, the water consumption would be much lower than our standard scoring tests and those competing machines too.

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Should I buy the Samsung WW80K6414QW?

Absolutely. With two of the most innovative features on the market in AddWash and Smart Control, this machine is already a significant step ahead of much of the competition. Add in that Samsung’s Ecobubble wash performance is excellent and  this machine has the best set of eco-chops we have tested – all without a stratospheric price tag – and the WW80K6414QW is an absolute winner.

It’s a little water thirsty on standard programmes, but use the Super Eco Wash and this machine will reward you with a great wash and bonkers low running costs. The fact it isn’t outrageously expensive if just one more reason we love this machine.

Verdict

Simply the best combination of innovative yet useful features, washing performance and economy we’ve yet seen in a washing machine.

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