Hoover OPH616

The Hoover OPH616 is a good value for money, powerful and efficient washing machine. The product is durable, comes with a 5 year guarantee and has a range of easy to use functions. I bought my OPH616 from a local electrical store near to my house for £250 6 months ago and consider it a really good investment.

Appearance
In terms of dimensions, the washing machine measures 85x60x52cm which is about the average size of a washing machine in the UK. The OPH616 itself is entirely white save for a few grey logos and is made from tough plastic and metal components. The far top right of the product features a grey hoover logo and opens out. This is where you can put your cleaning product in or if you use tablets, you will just throw them in with the clothes. To the far left of the machine are 4 buttons with indentations on them and a large dial. These are indeed power settings, rinse settings and delayed start buttons to name but a few. The centre of the product features a large door leading to a metal foiled drum which has a 6kg capacity for clothes/load. The bottom of the OHP616 has 4 small black feet which raise the machine slightly above the floor.

Features
The OHP616 is packed with a good range of handy and useful features. The product boasts a powerful 1600 rpm of power which is about 200 rpm more than my older Zanussi washing machine. The product features a child lock which is very useful if you have young kids. There are delayed start functions which I've found great in that you can suit the washing to your lifestyle and time constraints. There is options for a cold wash and you can select the spin speed of the wash your about to put in, as well as drain settings, quick wash and some temperature settings. All of the settings are useful and offer good variety to get the type of wash you intend to. With the 1600 rpm of power, if you select the maximum settings I've found very tough stains come off most clothes efficiently; the OHP616 does have top cleaning power.

Efficiency
The OPH616 is among the best washing machines currently on the UK market in terms of efficiency. I've found it cheap to run which reflects the A+ efficiency rating the product has. The machine was advertised at consuming about 1.02Kwh per cycle and needing about 45 litres of water, which is much better than my Zanussi washing machine I had prior. Overall, top marks for efficiency.

Ease of Use
The front door is easy to open yet locks securely and has a child lock for added safety. The cleaning compartment to the top right opens easily, allowing you to pour/sprinkle your cleaning product in. The buttons are all very well labelled in grey font and the dial is easy to twist. The product comes with an instruction manual but I've mainly been able to just follow what each button/dial setting does due to the clearly labelled font/pictures. The operation of the product is fairly quiet as well, you can still hear it washing but this is far from overpowering. Overall a simple and easy to use washing machine that is not too overwhelming or complicated to use.

Durability
The OPH616 comes with a 5 year guarantee which was a bit of a surprise since I wasn't aware of this. I've never experienced any leakages, software or hardware problems with the product and I've had it for about 6 months now. I've not actually heard any problems with the machine as well and from the solid build quality and construction, I rate the product highly for durability. Should there be any problems then the 5 year guarantee from Hoover is comforting but may come with terms and conditions into how you can use the guarantee.

Pricing
The Hoover OPH616 was very well priced in my opinion, I paid £250 from a local electrical store and I've seen it advertised on Amazon UK a bit cheaper at about £244. You save money/consumption due to the high efficiency of the product too, which has also saved me some money this past 6 months. The product is easy to use, powerful, functional and safe, so I had no reservations paying £250 for it. The OPH616 is made by top appliance manufacturer Hoover, so baring this in mind also, £244-£250 seems a very competitive price for a quality washing machine.

Drawbacks
There aren't many problems I've found using the product, just minor ones in my opinion. The first would be that the drum is a little on the small side at 6kg. This is fine for my current situation but if you have a large family, it's worth knowing that the drum is a little small if you plan or big heavy loads. The second thing I've noticed is that a lot the functions whilst useful, are predetermined already by the machine. For example, when in use on a particular spin setting for a certain time period, you are not allowed to change the temperature. I think this is a bit of a design fault and would like to see more flexible settings introduced in the future.

Conclusion
To conclude, the Hoover OPH616 is a fantastic, powerful, easy to use product in my opinion. Couple this with a very reasonable price tag of £244 to £250 in the UK and I had no hesitations in buying one. Although the drum is a bit small and the settings are too fixed/predetermined in my opinion, I find that these are only minor problems in contrast to the rating of the overall product. I now enjoy nice clean clothes, efficient power consumption and a great range of settings, which is all I really come to expect from a washing machine. Overall the Hoover OPH616 is a top product and one I would highly recommend for the price. Thanks for reading my review.

© Revo9 (2011)
*Note, I am both a member of Ciao and Dooyoo.co.uk under the same username of Revo9*