Is it any good?
The BEKO WM74165W is a speed demon, reaching up to 1600 rpm which is about as fast as you can find on the market. When running a cycle at this speed the drying time can be effectively halved as most of the water is already spun away from your clothes.
So it’s fast, but is it a good cleaner? The answer is a definite yes. This is the sort of solid all-round washer that BEKO excels at and has made them one of the top brands for midrange white goods. In tests at 40°C degrees it removed stains well from synthetics, and competently from cotton. Though we would advise going up to 60°C with cotton if your wash is very dirty, for an only slightly soiled set of laundry you could get away with a 30°C cycle with this model.
Higher temperatures don’t cost the earth either – the machine has an A+++ energy rating, which makes it up to 30% more efficient than a standard A grade model. It also automatically reduces the amount of water it uses when you fill the drum with a small load.
Its quick wash time is an impressive 28 minutes for a full load and only 14 minutes if you are only looking to wash 2kg – perfect for when you remember that you left your favourite dress at the bottom of the laundry basket.
In total there are 15 versatile wash cycles which cover pretty much any situation and the digital display will always keep you up to date with how much time is left in any particular cycle.
You can also schedule a wash for up to 19 hours in the future – so if you plan on doing a 1600 rpm spin maybe plan it around your neighbours being out at work.
The drum can take a 7kg load, which means it will comfortably serve a medium-sized household, but larger families might want to look at other 9kg models.
Any Downsides?
Yeah. Its standard rinse setting is not great, but you can set the machine to do an extra rinse. It can also be a bit noisy as you would expect from such a fast machine. This can be a bit annoying for both you and your neighbours.
Also, the machine picks its own spin speed for any particular cycle, so if you are particularly fussy about the exact way your clothes are washed then you might want to look elsewhere.
We’re also not blown away by the design. It’s fairly standard and nondescript, but this is very common in washing machines in this price range and for something a little more chic you’re going to have to shell out a lot more.