Hisense KitchenFit 5i Series WD5I1245BBRH Review

Design and features

• Large capacity: 12kg wash, 8kg dry
• Compatible with HomeConnect
• Simple interface with full-colour screen

I’ve got the Hisense WD5I1245BBRH on review, which is the black model. There’s also the Hisense WD5I1245BWRH, which is the same product but in white. 

Unboxed and ready to go, a quick first glance doesn’t show much difference between the Hisense WD5I1245BBRH and a regular washer-dryer. Look a little closer, and there’s a push-to-release compartment on the front, to the right of the detergent drawer.

Here’s where the lint filter sits for the tumble dryer. With a regular washer-dryer, lint gets sucked up and pulled into the condenser chamber, where it can fill up and clog the water outlet. 

With the Hisense WD5I1245BBRH, this kind of issue should be avoided, as lint collects on the filter. A quick wipe-down after every load will help prevent future issues.

Impressively, the Hisense WD5I1245BBRH doesn’t sacrifice space or features in order to move from a condenser dryer to a heat-pump one. There’s a massive 12kg drum for washing, which easily fits bigger loads or larger items, and there’s capacity for 8kg of wet clothes for drying. 

It’s good to see an internal light, as it makes loading and unloading the washing machine easier, and means I’m less likely to leave a stray item behind.

That’s the same drum design as the condenser version of this product, the Hisense WD5I1245BBR. And, just like that washer-dryer, the Hisense WD5I1245BBRH is also a KitchenFit model, which means it’s no deeper than a standard kitchen counter, so it won’t protrude. That’s handy in a smaller space, and it’s equally good for anyone who likes a flush finish.

Aside from the heat pump, the Hisense WD5I1245BBRH has a very similar interface to the company’s more recent products, with a full-colour screen. Use the control dial to switch between the options, and the screen clearly shows the core information: maximum load, default temperature and estimated run time.

It’s possible to override most of the options using a combination of the dedicated buttons on the right of the screen, and also in the additional menu. Some cycles support a QuickBoost feature, which cuts washing time at the expense of some efficiency.

Drying can be added to most cycles as an extra, but there’s also a dedicated drying mode, too. My only real complaint is that the level of drying (Cupboard, Iron, Extra Dry, etc) is hidden in the sub menu, rather than having its own dedicated button.

For those who don’t want to wait, there’s a 15-minute wash cycle for 1kg of clothes, and you can extend this to a 49-minute cycle if you want your clothes dry at the end. There’s also a full-wash of 39 minutes, which is perfect for lightly soiled items.

Detergent and fabric softener can be dispensed automatically, with reservoirs for both available by the drawer at the front. If you prefer, the softener holder can be used for additional detergent.

If you do want to use something different, say handwash liquid or regular powder, there’s a manual detergent holder, too.

ConnectLife gives remote control of the Hisense WD5I1245BBRH. It’s a neat app: the wash cycles are explained in detail, and getting notifications for errors or when a cycle is finished is very handy.

Performance

• Excellent stain removal
• Low washing costs
• Much cheaper to run than a condenser washer-dryer

I put the Hisense WD5I1245BBRH through all of my regular tests, starting with my regular wash tests, and the Eco 40-60 wash cycle. Using my standard 5kg load, I estimated that this wash cycle would cost 24p, which is very similar to the result from the Hisense WD5I1245BBR (the standard condenser version of this product). That’s a good result and shows that the Hisense WD5I1245BBRH is reasonable to run.

My clothes came out just 28.27% heavier than they went in, which is an excellent result and cuts down on the drying time.

Wash performance was excellent, too. My standard stain strip has (left to right) red wine, cooking oil, ketchup, orange juice and gravy. After the wash, most of the stains were completely gone, and the red wine stain was very faded.

Next, I moved on to the 20°C test. This actually cost a little more to run (30p for the cycle). My clothes came out 39.78% heavier than they went in, which is good: I like a result under 40%.

Cleaning results were similar to the Eco 40-60 wash: most of the stains gone, bar a bit of red wine left behind. If you want to wash clothes on a cold cycle, it’s good to know that they’ll be properly washed.

I then used the AI cycle, which analyses dirt levels and adjusts settings automatically. This cycle cost 27p to run, and my clothes came out 42.56% heavier than they went in. Cleaning performance wasn’t quite as good here, with the stain strip twisting, so chunks of ketchup were left behind.

I then moved to a Cotton 60°C wash, using the intensive option and adding in steam. This increased the running cost to 70p for the cycle. Cleaning was excellent, although the red wine stain was still quite visible. 

If you’ve got lightly soiled items, the 49-minute fast wash is there. This cost 22p, and the only real downside was that my clothes were a little wet, gaining 45.87% through water retention.

It’s with the tumble drying that the Hisense WD5I1245BBRH really pulls away from the competition. Setting the machine to cupboard dry, the machine did slightly over-dry my clothes (102.11% of moisture was removed, which means some fibre loss), but the cycle cost just 29p to run.

With the Hisense WD5I1245BBR, the condenser-based washer-dryer, the same test cost 74p to run. With a standalone tumble dryer, such as the Hisense DH5I104BWAB, the same cycle cost 20p to run.

I normally run a hanging dry test, but the Hisense WD5I1245BBRH only has an iron dry option, so I used this. This removed 98.78% of water from my clothes, at a cost of just 23p. In comparison, the Hisense WD5I1245BBR cost 56p and the DH5I104BWAB cost 18p.

In general, then, the Hisense WD5I1245BBRH is a touch more expensive than a regular heat pump tumble dryer, but significantly cheaper than running a condenser washer-dryer. 

That difference is less when used with very small loads. Running 1kg of washing on the fast wash and dry cycle, the Hisense WD5I1245BBRH cost 19p with 92.59% of water removed; the Hisense WD5I1245BBR cost 25p with similar water removal.

Should you buy it?