Have a bit particular question I didn't find good search results for - we are looking for new laundry machine (more like top-aligned set with drier, but wash machine is more important part), some reliable upper tier. Not that much into wifi connectivity, rather reliability and overall good modern performance. Online reviews are consistently utter rubbish for them - you read 10 of them, 10 completely different manufacturers/models are best and greatest, literally no 2 same models appear anywhere twice.
Plus they are normally for US/UK market, and model numbers are completely incompatible with what is available en Suisse.
This leads to another problem - if you think you actually find something here in CH, it has (at least online) almost always german labels. Or its tiny pictures of control console, so you can't see it properly. Sometimes its straight out gray market with EU plugs (even ie galaxus does this often shamelessly without proper indication - thats how we ended up with our last one).
So we either end up getting something random online in CH with no idea which model it is worldwide, what labels and plug it has - in such case we can go straight to France and buy from much wider selection and much lower prices.
Or go to one of few actual physical stores, ie Fust or Interdiscount, and get advised there (but the obvious drawbacks are numerous - they will offer us only from their current selection which may not be the best for us and may be dated, and the often-experienced uptick in price, so we end up paying more for worse model).
I know Miele is supposedly above the rest, but I've read few conflicting reviews that bashed their reliability after few years. And they do cost cca 2x the top tier of competition like Bosch, without offering any special functions we saw that would set them apart.
So, how did you approach this? Or simply taking something form the store and not caring about details? (obviously most forum doesn't care about DE labels part)
The biggest drawback to these washer/dryer combo units is part of the machine is designed to make everything very wet and the other part is designed to make everything very wet !!
So you end up with 2 crappy machines neither fully designed for the task in hand.
One thing to consider is size of load you can use, often i understand you can wash 5kg of clothes but only dry 3kg of clothes at a time......
I can't help in the Romandie, but from my experience:
I now go to local installers, avoiding the big retailers. I now put more weight on service. When I have a 'laundry emergency' I want to be able to call the local guy and have someone come out quickly.
The local company likely can get a nice discount on the machine, so don't just look at list prices. Buying from them is often not much more expensive than buying from the big retailer.
Out my way there are two such 'old style' local firms selling several different makes and models. You can look at different machines, talk about your needs, and if the place is 'oldl style' enough, generally trust recommendations.
Hopefully there are still similar firms on your side o' the Rostigraben.
Maybe I'm out of date, but I found washer-dryers to be terrible. I only tried two and never went for a combined unit again.
For plug sockets it doesn't matter. Either a permanent adapter is supplied, or you can buy one. Or just change the plug yourself.
I've lived in maybe 17 different places the last 20 years and experience many brands (V-Zug, Miele, Electrolux, AEG, Bosch, etc.) and replaced a few in my owned rental properties. There's only one brand I go with and that's a Turkish one: Beko. Certainly for Fridges and Freezers.
I just replaced the Meile and V-Zug washer and dryer in my own home with Beko ones.
We also have a Bauknecht washing machine from Fust and are very happy with it. I specifically avoided machines with that stupid wifi thing; my previous machine had that which was mostly useless for me since I don’t have a mobile phone. Can hang my washing up in the laundry room so don’t worry about having a dryer.
Buy as cheap as possible with energy label as good as possible. You have a good chance that a cheap machine lasts long and if it breaks down, you can easily replace.
In an independent review in the UK (Which? Consumer Association), the Bosch WDU28560GB came out best in all the machines tested (available in the U.K.) with a 75% score, a large 10Kg capacity and no cons.
Ones with a lower score were really slow to dry or had other drawbacks. It's not a new model though but was re-reviewed in late 2022.
The equivalent model here is the Bosch WDU28512 Waschtrockner available almost anywhere.
We have a Bosch at the UK flat, but not sure the model. It can only dry half a load at a time though. Does the one you mention dry the full load at once? I put shirts and t.shirts on hangers to dry spare room or balcony, sheets over the bath screen, and towels on towel dryers- and dry odds and s*ds in the dryer if needed.
When considering dryer we will definitely go for stacked solution of 2 separate units, not mix of washer and dryer into 1. We can't set them next to each other, unfortunately not enough room for that in bathroom so wash machine on the bottom and dryer on top. 9-10 kilos load (family of 4).
Not very good experience with Bauknecht appliances here en Suisse, seeing it as part of Whirlpool it couples with another brand I have bad experience with (different products and different decade, but one can hardly ignore this kind of experiences).
One question from browsing eshops - sometimes they have dedicated section for "tours de lavage" - is it fine to combine any front loaded wash machine with any dryer as long as dimensions are the same?
Usually if you buy both the same brand there will be some form of fixture to fix the two together and make them stable when stacked.
If you buy two different brands you will need to find a way to fix the two together when stacked so they are safe.
We had the first option but when our cellar flooded and cause our washing machine to go kaput we needed up with a different brand washing machine due needing a machine fairly quickly and have a different fixation system to hold the two together but it works really well.