AO carries most of the major laundry brands and will install the machine and take the old one away. We compare the brands on the site and explain what to look for.
Buying a washing machine is a chore disguised as a decision. There are hundreds of models, the specification sheets are nearly identical, and the thing that actually determines whether the purchase goes well is rarely the machine at all, it is whether someone will carry it up your stairs, plumb it in and take the old one away.
That is why AO is worth considering as a route rather than just a price. It carries the leading laundry brands, its own category pages say it will take your old washing machine away, installation is offered at checkout and it operates a price match. This guide works through the brands AO stocks and the specifications that matter.
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Three brands cover most buyers: one for reliability, one for features, one for value.
The default recommendation for buyers who want quiet, well-built machines and are prepared to pay a little more for fewer problems. Expect to pay more per kilogram of drum than the value brands charge.
Samsung's EcoBubble machines are built around mixing detergent into bubbles before it reaches the drum, aimed at washing effectively at lower temperatures. It is the brand to look at if most of your washing happens cool.
LG builds around direct-drive motors and automatic load sensing, so the machine chooses the wash pattern rather than leaving it to you. Expect to pay for the feature set, and check the motor warranty on the model you choose.
Every option side by side, with the one thing that actually distinguishes it.
| Brand | Best for | Type | Key strength | Watch out for | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1Bosch washing machines | Buyers who want a quiet life | Upper mid-market | Reliability and low noise | You pay more per kilogram of drum | View |
| 2Samsung EcoBubble washing machines | Cool washing and connectivity | Mid-market to premium | EcoBubble low-temperature cleaning | Features you may never use | View |
| 3LG washing machines | Hands-off automatic washing | Mid-market to premium | Direct drive and load sensing | Price, and less manual control | View |
| 4Hoover washing machines | Finding the exact spec you want | Value to mid-market | Choice and competitive pricing | Variable quality across the range | View |
| 5Beko washing machines | Tight budgets and rentals | Budget to value | Capacity for the money | Noise, vibration and basic build | View |
| 6Hotpoint washing machines | Family laundry and stains | Mid-market | Stain-removal cycles | Less refined than premium rivals | View |
← swipe the table to see all columns →
Three things make a difference when a large appliance has to physically arrive at your house.
AO's washing machine listings state that they can take your old washing machine away, and the removal and recycling service is one of the things customers single out. Disposing of a dead washing machine yourself is difficult, so having it handled on the same visit removes the worst part of the job.
AO's category listings offer installation alongside delivery, with windows that vary by postcode. For a plumbed appliance that is more valuable than it sounds: transit bolts have to come out, hoses have to be connected and the machine has to be levelled, and a badly levelled machine walks across the floor on a spin cycle.
AO operates a price match, and reporting suggests it applies both when you find a lower price before buying and as a refund of the difference afterwards. Schemes like this commonly exclude marketplace sellers and membership-only pricing, so read the current terms – but it is worth a search before you check out.
Four specifications decide whether a washing machine suits your household. Everything else is marketing.
Drum capacity is quoted in kilograms of dry cotton and it is the specification most worth getting right. A smaller drum is adequate for one or two people and cheaper to run on part loads; a larger one earns its keep for a family, for bedding and for bulky winter coats. A half-empty large drum wastes water and energy on every cycle, so bigger is only better if you will fill it. Measure the alcove too: width is standardised but depth and door clearance are not.
A higher maximum spin speed extracts more water, so laundry leaves the drum drier and spends less time on the line or in a tumble dryer. That is a real saving if you tumble dry. The cost is noise, vibration and wear on delicate fabrics, and most machines let you reduce the speed per cycle anyway. If you line dry and live in a flat with thin floors, a lower top speed is not a compromise – it is the right choice.
The energy label lets you compare machines against each other on a standard test cycle, and the figures for consumption and noise are really useful for that. What it cannot tell you is your bill, because that depends on how often you wash, at what temperature and how full the drum is. Washing at 30 degrees instead of 40 does more for running costs than a one-step label improvement on most households' usage.
Freestanding washing machines are built to a near-standard width, but depth varies and so does the space the door needs to open. Measure the alcove height, width and depth, then check there is room behind for hoses without kinking them, a squashed waste hose is a common cause of drainage faults. If the machine is going under a worktop, check the height including the feet at their lowest setting.
Integrated and built-in machines are a different purchase entirely and are not interchangeable with freestanding models. AO lists both, and Hoover in particular is noted on their pages as offering freestanding and integrated options. If you are replacing an integrated machine, match the door fixing type as well as the dimensions.
Modern machines wash at lower temperatures, which is cheaper but allows residue and smells to build in the drum and detergent drawer. Run a hot maintenance wash periodically, leave the door ajar between loads to let the drum dry, and clean the detergent drawer and the filter. Almost every mid-life washing machine complaint traces back to one of those three being neglected.
Check what warranty comes as standard and what is being sold as an extension. Manufacturer warranties differ substantially by brand and sometimes by range, and the standard cover is often longer than people assume. Know what you already have before paying for more.
Ranked by how well each one delivers on what it promises – not by price.
The brand people buy when they do not want to think about their washing machine again for a decade.
Bosch has built its laundry reputation on two things that do not show up well in a specification table: noise and longevity. The machines run quietly enough to live in an open-plan kitchen or a flat, and the brand consistently places well in independent reliability surveys. Bosch organises its range into numbered Series tiers, with higher numbers adding programmes, better displays and quieter operation, which makes the line-up easier to navigate than most once you know that is what the numbers mean. For many buyers that structure alone makes the decision easier.
The trade-off is price. Bosch is rarely the cheapest machine with a given capacity and spin speed, and if you are judging purely on the numbers on the label you will always find more machine for the money elsewhere. There is also a real difference between the entry Series and the upper ones, so a budget Bosch is not automatically a quiet Bosch, check the quoted noise figure on the energy label for the specific model rather than assuming it applies to the brand. Buy it if you want to be left alone by your appliance.
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The brand to look at if most of your washing happens at 30 degrees and you want it to work properly there.
EcoBubble is Samsung's signature laundry technology and the reason the brand appears in so many AO comparisons. The principle is that detergent is mixed with air and water into a foam before it enters the drum, so it penetrates fabric faster at lower temperatures. Since washing cooler is the single most effective thing most households can do about running costs, a brand that designs around it is addressing a real problem rather than inventing one. Samsung also tends to lead on interface design and app connectivity, which some people use constantly and others never touch once.
The caveats are the usual ones for feature-led appliances. Connectivity adds a layer that can go wrong and is not necessary for the machine to wash clothes, and app support is tied to the manufacturer's goodwill over the life of the appliance. Samsung's reliability record in laundry is good but not the class-leading reputation Bosch and Miele enjoy, and the brand's own tech names are not directly comparable to rivals' claims. If you wash cool and want a modern machine, it is an easy recommendation. Buy it for the washing technology rather than for the app.
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The machine for people who want to press one button and trust it to work the rest out.
LG's laundry range is defined by its direct-drive motor, where the drum is driven without a belt. Fewer moving parts means less to wear out and generally quieter, smoother operation, and LG has historically backed these motors with notably long warranties: worth checking on the specific model, because that cover is often the strongest part of the proposition. On top of that sits LG's load-sensing technology, which assesses the weight and fabric type and adjusts the drum movement accordingly, so you can use the automatic programme rather than second-guessing it.
The compromises are about price and complexity. LG machines with the full feature set sit at the upper end of the market, and the automatic cycle selection is harder to override than a straightforward programme dial if you like controlling exactly what happens. Direct drive is a sound engineering choice but it is not a guarantee of reliability on its own, the electronics and bearings still matter. If you want the machine to make the decisions, this is the brand that is designed for it. Check the stated motor warranty, because that is where the real value sits.
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The brand AO sells most of, which means the widest choice and the most competitive pricing on the site.
Hoover is singled out on AO's own washing machine pages as one of their most popular brands, available in both freestanding and integrated forms. That popularity has a practical consequence: it is the brand where you are most likely to find a machine at the exact capacity, spin speed and price point you want, and where competition keeps pricing keen. For integrated kitchens in particular the choice is unusually good, and integrated laundry is an area where options are often thin. If you have a specific requirement, this is where you are most likely to meet it.
Hoover sits in the value-to-mid part of the market and you should buy it on that basis. It does not carry the reliability reputation of the German premium brands, and the breadth of the range means quality varies meaningfully between the cheapest models and the better-equipped ones – a spin speed figure on a budget machine does not mean the same thing as the same figure on a premium one. Check the warranty terms on the specific model, and be a little sceptical of feature names unique to the brand. For a lot of households it is the sensible, well-priced answer.
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The honest budget choice: large drums, few frills, and no pretence of being anything else.
Beko's position is straightforward and it does not pretend otherwise. It offers large drum capacities and sensible programme selections at prices well below the premium brands, which makes it the obvious choice for rental properties, first homes, utility-room second machines and anyone who simply needs clothes to come out clean without paying for a connected app. The controls tend to be simpler than on feature-led rivals, which is a genuine advantage if the machine will be used by people who do not want to learn an interface. Nobody buys Beko expecting refinement, and that honesty is part of the appeal.
You get what you pay for in the areas that are hardest to see. Build quality, noise levels and vibration are where budget machines differ most from premium ones, and a cheap machine on a suspended wooden floor can be noticeably louder and more mobile during a spin. Longevity expectations should be realistic too. The sensible way to buy Beko is to be clear that you are optimising for purchase price and capacity, and to check the standard warranty on the model you choose rather than assuming anything. Judge it on purchase price and drum size and it holds up well.
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The brand most British households have owned at some point, and the one that takes stains most seriously.
Hotpoint has been a fixture in British utility rooms for generations and is named among the brands AO carries. Its laundry range is built around stain-treatment programmes designed to tackle specific marks at lower temperatures, which is exactly the right focus for a family machine dealing with school uniforms, sports kit and food. Spares and service coverage for a brand this long-established and this widely sold are generally easy to find, which is an underrated consideration over a machine's lifetime. For family laundry, that focus is more useful than a long programme list.
It sits in the middle of the market and behaves like it. Noise levels and build refinement are a step behind the German premium brands, and the stain programmes are a brand-specific feature set that cannot be directly compared with rivals' equivalents, treat the names as a guide to intent rather than a measurable claim. Reliability over the years has been mixed by range rather than uniformly strong, so check the warranty and current reviews of the specific model. For a straightforward family machine at a mid-range price, it remains a reasonable pick.
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We assess products on construction and claims we can verify, not on which brand pays most.
We test marketing claims against the actual published construction and specification, rather than taking a product name at face value.
Every product in a guide is judged against its siblings, so the ranking reflects what you actually choose between.
Independent certification, materials and build quality all feed into the score, not just headline features.
A score means nothing without context, so every pick states who it suits — and who should skip it.
We weigh what's included and what isn't, because delivery, fees and accessories change the real price.
Brands cannot buy a position. Affiliate commissions fund the site but never determine the order or the wording.
AO's washing machine category describes covering all the leading brands and names Hoover, Samsung, LG, Beko and Hotpoint among them, with Hoover described as one of their most popular brands in both freestanding and integrated forms.
The wider range typically extends to other major manufacturers as well, but stock changes, so check the current brand filter on the category page rather than relying on any list.
Yes – AO's washing machine listings state that they can take your old washing machine away, and the removal and recycling service is offered alongside delivery. It is normally selected at checkout and may carry a charge, so confirm the current terms when you order.
Match it to how much you actually wash. One or two people rarely fill a large drum, and running a big machine half empty wastes water and energy on every cycle. A family, or anyone regularly washing bedding and bulky coats, will get real use out of a larger capacity. The honest test is how many loads you do a week, not how many people live in the house.
No. A faster spin leaves laundry drier, which saves tumble-drying time, but it also means more noise and vibration and harder treatment of delicate fabrics. Most machines let you select a lower speed per cycle. If you line dry, a very high maximum spin is of limited benefit.
AO operates a price match, and reporting indicates it can apply both before purchase and as a refund of the difference afterwards. Schemes of this kind commonly exclude third-party marketplace sellers, trade pricing and subscription-only prices, so read the current terms before relying on it.
Measure the space, decide the drum size on how much you actually wash, then compare the delivered-and-installed total rather than the shelf price. Book removal of the old machine at the same time. The brand matters less than getting those three things right.
Browse the current range Stock, pricing and delivery slots change daily, check AO's current listing before buying.
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