Zanussi Lindo 300 ZWF01483WR review: Tough on stains, light on features
Zanussi has cut one too many corners with its affordable Lindo 300 model – and it’s a shame because the wash performance is very good
Pros
- Good wash performance
- 10kg drum capacity
Cons
- No pre-wash
- No user-accessible filter and drain-down valve
Someone somewhere has the unenviable task of coming up with names for home appliance ranges. In the case of the Zanussi Lindo 300 ZWF01483W, that someone got so desperate they ended up leafing through a Portuguese-English dictionary in search of inspiration: Lindo means ‘pretty’ in Portuguese. Frankly, it’s not the first word we would have used.
Zanussi Lindo 300 ZWF01483W review: What you need to know
Shop around and you’ll find a couple of very similar-sounding models from Zanussi – the ZWF01483WR and the ZWF01483WH.
The model name ending R is narrowly the prettier of the two; it has a fancier chrome-effect finish on the door, and a matching flash across its detergent drawer. The model name ending H opts for a more subdued grey plastic around the door. Both are otherwise identical internally and in terms of their fascia, controls and features.
Whichever you choose, both machines have a large drum which can cope with up to 10kg of washing – enough for big households – and a maximum spin speed of 1,400 rpm. And yes, both are A+++-rated for energy efficiency.
Zanussi ZWF01483W review: Price and competition
If you’re shopping for a washing machine at around the £400 mark, every machine has to go head-to-head with the bargain Bosch Serie 4 WAN28201GB.
Speed is not necessarily the Bosch’s forté – especially not its 60˚C Cottons wash, which took nearly 2 and three-quarter hours in our tests – but its washing performance competes with, and in some cases beats even pricier models. The clincher is that its 40˚C Cottons wash is just as quick as far more expensive machines and highly effective – and crucially it retains the key features which the Zanussi is lacking. It’s by far the best all-rounder we’ve tested so far.
Zanussi ZWF01483W review: Features and design
The ZWF01483W won’t win any awards for stunning good looks, but the essentials all seem present and correct: the door opens nice and wide, and it’s very easy to use.
The layout of the front fascia is unlikely to leave anyone reaching for the instruction manual. Tapping a button cycles through the various wash programmes, and the three buttons alongside cycle through the temperature, spin speed and a handful of other wash programme options. There’s no fancy touchscreen display here: little LED lights alongside each option light up to illustrate which settings are currently active, and a small round LCD display simply displays the time remaining in bright yellow figures.
Pull open the detergent drawer, however, and you’ll notice the first corner which has been cut: there is no pre-wash compartment. This is a problem for households which need to tackle seriously dirty loads – and a complete deal-breaker for families who intend on washing towelling nappies. Without a pre-wash, you simply won’t be able to tackle that severity of soiling.
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Zanussi ZWF01483W review: Washing performance
Every washing machine we review is tested with industry-standard cotton test swatches that are impregnated with nine key stains: grass/mud, mustard, carrot baby food, tea, cooked beef fat, red wine, tomato puree, sheep’s blood and coffee. We run 40˚C and 60˚C cotton washes with the same big-brand washing powder and, since many manufacturers present bold claims for their 15- and 30-minute wash cycles, we also test any machine’s quick-wash programme.
The Zanussi performed very well across all these tests. Just like our Best Buy machine, the £399 Bosch Serie 4 WAN28201GB, it tackIed tough stains just as well as far pricier models. The quick wash programme isn’t quite as effective as the Bosch, which managed to fade the stains a little more than the Zanussi, but this is a minor point – we really wouldn’t recommend using quick wash programmes for anything other than refreshing clothes which have been gathering dust in a wardrobe.
If we had to pick fault, then wash times are around 15 to 20% slower than the very best machines we’ve tested. A 40˚C Cottons wash took five minutes short of two hours, and a 60˚C Cottons wash took 2hrs 38mins. That said, the Zanussi is around the same speed as our favourite budget washing machine, the Bosch Serie 4 WAN28201GB. At this price, it’s a very respectable all-round performance.
Zanussi ZWF01483W review: Repairability
Sadly, Zanussi has compromised in key areas. It’s no surprise to find a sealed tank in use – that’s pretty standard stuff these days – but there’s one omission which isn’t quite so easy to brush off: the ZWF01483W doesn’t have an easily accessible filter and drain pump.
In order to save on some hoses and a front access panel, the drain pump has been mounted directly onto the sealed tank unit. You might assume that’s a good thing – after all, there’s no filter to clean – but it’s not. If something gets trapped in there you will either have to be confident enough to strip the entire machine down and clean it, or you’ll be waiting on the repairman coming to do it for you.
Worse, if the machine is stuck full of water, there is no way at all to drain it down without pulling the entire machine out and going through the same process. Those solutions are going to be time-consuming or expensive – and potentially both.
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Zanussi ZWF01483W review: Verdict
It’s difficult to understand why Zanussi has cut corners here. There are no concerns at all with the wash performance – so often a shortcoming in budget machines – but the lack of a pre-wash option and user-accessible filter and drain hose are unforgivable at the price. As rival machines provide equal or better performance and all these missing features for similar money, the Zanussi is pretty hard to recommend.