Bosch SMV4EVX02F (dishwasher Built-in with 14 place settings): our review

The plates from Sunday lunch might stack neatly enough, but the serving bowls and saucepan lids usually complicate matters. With 14 place settings, the Bosch SMV4EVX02F offers a large capacity that leaves room for dishes and saucepans. Place settings are a standardised loading measure covering crockery, glasses and cutlery, rather than an exact guest count. The gravy boat has never read the seating plan.

The adjustable upper basket and cutlery drawer make that space more useful. Raising or lowering the upper basket gives you flexibility when differently sized items compete for room, while the drawer gives cutlery a separate home. Neither feature removes the need to arrange awkward cookware thoughtfully.

We rate this model as well placed overall. Its strongest argument is practical: generous loading space, useful basket adjustment and a half load option for occasions when waiting for a full machine does not suit the household routine.

Planning to run the dishwasher while someone watches a drama in the adjoining sitting room? The declared eco noise level of 46 decibels sits around the average. That average noise level is our main reservation for an open-plan kitchen. The figure gives you a reference for choosing, without promising how the appliance will sound from your sofa.

A kitchen behind a closed door gives sound a different weight from a flat where cooking, eating and relaxing share the same space. Think about when the machine would run and where you would spend that time. A bedtime routine and a film night make different demands on the same appliance.

The Beko BDIN18441 is better suited to a kitchen open to the living room because its declared eco noise level is lower, at 42 decibels. The Beko BDIN18441 has a similar overall score. If the sofa sits close to the kitchen cabinets, that lower declared figure gives the alternative a clear reason to join your shortlist.

For a couple who let dishes accumulate until the machine is full, eco is likely to become part of the weekly rhythm. Water consumption of 9 L/cycle puts this model around the average on the declared eco cycle. Its large capacity matters when interpreting that figure: consumption comparisons make more sense between machines with similar room for dishes.

Electricity consumption is less convincing. At 75 kWh/100 cycles, the declared eco figure is among the highest. Energy class C belongs in the same conversation, but it does not erase that concrete electricity requirement.

The programme lasts 3 h 35 min, so allow a substantial stretch between loading and unloading. A long eco cycle is normal: taking more time is part of how this programme saves resources. The declared consumption and sound figures describe eco, rather than every programme. The half load option adds flexibility, but there is no basis here for attaching a particular saving to it.

After dinner with friends, the glasses can wait until morning even if you would rather finish clearing the kitchen tonight. Automatic door opening gives steam a way out at the end of the cycle, helping drying without promising that plastic containers will emerge dry. Keep a tea towel within reach for those awkward hollows that collect water.

We like the combination of automatic opening and flexible loading. It addresses the beginning and end of the job: finding room for the washing-up, then helping moisture escape once the programme finishes. That is a useful combination for ordinary household routines.

There are 6 programs, a typical programme choice rather than an unusually broad selection. Eco is confirmed, alongside the half load option. Those facts support a straightforward domestic role; they do not establish specialist treatment for delicate glasses or stubborn roasting dishes. Check the cookware's own care instructions before giving a cherished dish a place in the basket.

Already know your kitchen recess measurements by heart? Bring them back out anyway. This is a fully integrated dishwasher: a kitchen furniture door covers the front, and that furniture door is not supplied. Its width is 59,8 cm, height 81,5 cm and depth 55 cm. Together, those measurements give you the appliance envelope to compare with the intended opening; width alone cannot settle installation.

Confirm the furniture door arrangement before ordering. The automatic opening at the end of the cycle also makes the surrounding cabinetry worth discussing with the installer, so the finished kitchen can accommodate the door's movement.

The published repairability index is 9,4 out of 10, a useful reference when considering future repairs, rather than a promise about an individual fault. Confirm delivery, old appliance removal, warranty cover, after-sales support and returns with the retailer before ordering. Get those practical arrangements settled before the old dishwasher leaves its cabinet: a clear space is much less useful when the replacement cannot yet be installed.