Amica is one of the leaders of the European household appliances market and one of the most valuable brands. The company is also one of the most trusted and popular brands in the category of large household appliances, a fact confirmed by the findings of independent researchers. For the last few years, Amica has received the Most Trusted Brand distinction, an award based on surveys conducted by Reader’s Digest. Amica has a significant share of its domestic market.

Washing machines is one of the strong areas of Amica. In the following review we will see about the AWCT12L Front Loading Washing Machine which is one of the best selling models of the current market.

Design:

The Amica AWCT12L is a front loading washing machine and design wise, it looks very similar to all the other front loading washing machines. The control panel of the machine has a rotary control for program selection, and buttons for additional functionality, start/pause control and an on/off button. An illuminated light on a button means that the function is activated. Overall, it is a pretty good looking machine. The contrast between the writing and symbols on the control panel is not great either, so it may be difficult to read for some.

The special antibacterial agent used in the cleaning agent drawer prevents the development of bacteria and mould. It also limits unpleasant odours, which makes the machine cleaner and more hygienic. Comfortable access to the drum is provided by a very wide door with a 33 cm diameter and 180 degrees opening placed higher than in standard washing machines.

Wash Programmes:

The Amica AWCT12L 6kg Capacity Washing Machine has 7 wash programs including Everyday wash, Intensive Washing, SuperShort Wash, Cotton System, Woll Wash, Special Synthetic Wash programme and Delicate Washing.

As the name indicates, Everyday washing program allows you to wash when you need and not when you have enough dirty clothes of one type for one load. The Intensive Washing Function is perfect for very dirty clothes as the basic washing phase will be extended by one third to ensure there will be no marks even after the toughest stains.

The SuperShort Wash allows the wash time of the cycle can be reduced by a third if the clothes are only lightly soiled. Cotton System is the most popular wash cycle for white and colourful clothes. You can use it to wash sheets, towels and other cotton products. The Special Synthetic Wash programme is a unique wash programme developed for special synthetics cycle with a maximum temperature of 60°C. With the Delicate Washing, the washing temperature does not exceed 30°C and after the cycle end the water is not pumped out, hence preventing delicate fabrics from being damaged.

Additional Features:

Amica has also offered a few additional programs including Extra Rinsing, Effective Plus cycle, Antybacteria and AutoSensor. Using the Extra Rinsing option, clothes are rinsed using 30% of water more. This is of relevance when water used to wash is very hard. The only odour left is the scent of clean clothes, while all the others are eliminated. With the Auto Sensor feature, you can save water and energy because the washing machine automatically matches the level of water and energy required to the weight and type of the wash load.

You no longer need to guess how heavy your wash load is and how long the cycle should be. Effective Plus cycle is the cycle with a pre-washing cycle intended for very dirty cotton clothes. It eliminates burdensome soaking. With the help of the Antybacteria feature you can choose one or two additional rinsing levels which enable thorough rinsing of detergent. This is just ideal for people with sensitive skin or allergy sufferers.

Rain washing:

Amica has employed the Rain washing feature in the AWCT12L 1200 Spin Speed washing machine. It is nothing but an assembly of specially shaped pickers in the drum ensures additional downward spray of the load. Thus, the detergent is evenly distributed on the entire load of clothes being washed.

Extras:

Some of the other useful features on the AWCT12L freestanding washing machine include Foam protection, Anti Leakage protection, Door hinging on left, Automatic balance system, Auto Drain, Spin speed reduction system, safety door lock, 180 degree opening door and Full Control Assist.

Performance:

On the part of performance, Amica AWCT12L fully automatic washing machine lets us done a great deal. Cleaning is poor and rinsing was a hit and miss. Although the washing is very quick, in fact one of the quickest we have ever tested, its cleaning is not up to the mark. This 6Kg AWCT12L is poor at cleaning on both the cotton and the easy care programs. While rinsing is quite good at the easy care program, it was awful on cottons and too much of detergent was left back on the cloths once the wash cycle was over. It is a good thing that there is an extra rinse function on this washing machine as you are likely to need it. The spinning is much more effective on cottons than on the easy care program, however, it still does a good job of removing water off the easy care items.

One of the reasons of the disappointing performance of the machine can be its very short program cycles even for a 6Kg machine. We are quite sure that it is very difficult to get any good result in anything under two hours. The 40oC cotton program takes just an hour and 14 minutes to wash a full load, which compares to an average of two hours across all the 6Kg machines. The easy care program is equally fast taking just about an hour to wash a 3Kg load. This time frame is 20 minutes less than the average. Noise wise, it is not overly noisy while washing, but it has got one of the noisiest spin.

Efficiency:

One thing that is really great about the Amica AWCT12L white colour washing machine is it is outstandingly water and energy efficient no matter what program you choose.  And to top it all, this machine is rated A for energy efficiency, A for spin efficiency and A for wash efficiency as well.

Warranty:

The Amica AWCT12L comes with 2 years guarantee for the entire appliance, 7 years guarantee for housing perforation and 10 year guarantee for drum perforation.

Verdict:

Though the Amica AWCT12L front loading washing machine has a decent design, it lacks some of the basic useful features. Since there is no LCD display, you will not be able to see the remaining time on wash cycle and lacks a child lock too. It lets you down a great deal when it comes to performance too, so we do not recommend this machine for your household.

Amica AWCT12L Washing Machine – Technical Specification Table