Bosch Nexxt 500 Series
by brenna
(Lowell,IN,USA)
I have had the Bosch Nexxt 500 model washing machine for about a month now. I do not recommend this washer. I bought this model because it is supposed to be extremely energy efficient and eco friendly, along with many washing and spinning options that the traditional top loading washing machine doesn’t have.
The Eco-e function reduces water temperature and increases wash time. I don’t understand the point to this when one has a choice in water temperatures. Why not just select cold water wash with heavy duty wash instead of using the Eco-e button. Its seems a pointless function that sounded good at the store marketing level but was not what I expected for real life use.
My BIGGEST complaint with this machine is the cycle time. I have used other high end front loading washers at friends’ houses before and owned one of the first generation models and in comparison, this one takes forever. If you select the “XX sanitizing” feature , which washes towels and linens in extra hot water to make sure they are as clean as can be, expect an extra hour for the cycle! The cycle time is displayed right on the machine, and imagine my shock when I realized it was going to take 2 hours and 7 minutes to wash my towels! The only way you can wash anything for less than 57 minutes is by using the quick 25 minute wash feature which only uses cold water.
This is fine for my lightly soiled clothing I have worn only once but I wash a lot of towels and linens and work clothes and waiting at least an hour for each load really takes a lot of time. I also find that the spin cycle does not get as much water out of the clothes as other models and so far I have seen no reduction in drying time with the matching Bosch dryer.
I am really disappointed with this machine because I bought a front loader around 8 years ago and had expected that a machine this expensive and of a newer generation would perform better but it does not. The only difference with this machine and the older generation of front loaders is the cycle selections. There are many more choices regarding spin time, wash time and temperature but they all add more minutes to each cycle.
While I want to use less water and energy to clean my laundry, I also expect the new line of machines to be quicker and spin better than their previous counterparts. The one thing I do give Bosch credit for with this line is the nice array of colors.