Verdict
Considering its low cost, the Candy CF 57CF0W-80 is something of a bargain: it has tons of room inside, washes standard dishes well and has a smart app that can help those with a smart meter to save money. I’d like to see a bit more flexibility in the racks, but at this price, it’s hard to complain.
Pros
- Helps those with a smart meter save money
- Solidy built
- Good standard wash performance
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Place settingsThis freestanding dishwasher has space for 15 place settings, making it one of the biggest available. -
Smart appWorks with the hOn app for remote control, plus Eco scheduling which can save you money if you have a smart meter and tariff.
Introduction
It used to be that smart controls were the preserve of high-end appliances, but the Candy CF 57CF0W-80 proves otherwise.
Despite clearly falling into the budget category of dishwashers, this model has full app control with some very smart scheduling, and a Maxi TUB that provides more room inside the tub when compared to a standard model.
Design and features
- Lots of internal space
- Clever app with useful scheduling
- Racks are a little basic
Although it’s one of the cheaper full-size freestanding dishwashers, the Candy CF 57CF0W-80 doesn’t look or feel like this. Its door folds neatly down and feels robust and well-made. On top of the door is a list of all the available wash cycles, which is a handy quick reference.
Wash cycles are selected using the controls on the front, with buttons to select a half load or to turn off the automatic door opening system used to dry dishes at the end. Once a cycle has been selected, the LCD shows the run time.
Inside, the Maxi TUB provides plenty of space, with more room than you get on a traditional dishwasher, hence the 15-place-setting rating of this model. It’s a similar concept to the Maxi Space tub as used on the Hotpoint HF7HP33UK dishwasher.
The main difference is that Hotpoint has used the extra space to fit a large third rack for cutlery, whereas the Candy CF 57CF0W-80 has a more standard layout with just the two racks, and a lift-out cutlery basket.
With the lower rack, there’s not quite as much flexibility as you get with some rivals. For example, only half of the right-hand tines fold down, which means that large items, such as roasting dishes, can’t quite fit right to the edge of the rack. It’s more normal to have a rack where a set of tines folds flat out of the way.
Still, I can’t complain about the space. There’s a load of room in this rack, and the tines are well spaced to keep plates and bowls separated from each other.
The top rack is height adjustable with a choice of two positions. On more expensive models, this rack usually has clips, so that the height can be adjusted in-situ; on the Candy CF 57CF0W-80 I had to undo the clips on the runner, remove the rack and then reinsert on its alternative set of wheels.
This rack has a set of non-adjustable tines for smaller plates and clever fold-down utensil holders on the side, with wine glass stem holders. Overall, I was able to fit in my very tall wine glasses, which can cause problems for dishwashers.
There’s a clip-on utensil holder that goes on the top rack. I found this very fiddly to get into place and found that I didn’t use it often, meaning it was just a bit of plastic that needed storing somewhere else.
Using the hOn app, which is the home for all of the Haier, Hoover and Candy appliances, the Candy CF 57CF0W-80 can be connected to Wi-Fi. With this app, there’s remote control over the wash cycle to use, with a longer description of what each cycle does.
If you have a smart meter, the app’s Eco Scheduling feature is what you need. This lets you set the hourly time slots when power is cheaper. Then, based on the wash cycle selected, the app will programme the dishwasher with the ideal start time, so that you can save money on a wash. It’s a very thoughtful idea and one that can genuinely save money.
Performance
- Good basic cleaning
- Decent running costs
I started the Candy CF 57CF0W-80 off on its Eco wash cycle, measuring it with a total running cost of 29.91p per cycle, which is 2p more than the Hotpoint HF7HP33UK costs in the same test. Overall, that running cost is about average for the dishwashers that I’ve tested, and the large tub here means that you can wash more dishes per cycle than a standard-size model.
Running in Eco mode, the Hotpoint HF7HP33UK handled most of the stained dishes well. I found that my well-stained coffee mug was returned to its original state.
My red-wine glass was brought up to be nice and shiny. And, as there’s enough room in this dishwasher to stand the glass up, it didn’t have any pooled water inside it.
I found that my mac-and-cheese plate was fully rinsed, removing all traces of food from it. For everyday messes, then, this dishwasher does a great job.
I found that it couldn’t fully clean my bowl that had been used for microwaved scrambled eggs, so I upped the cycle to the Auto mode, which adjusts temperature and water flow automatically.
This increased the running cost to 54.43p for the cycle, which is fairly reasonable. However, even on this mode, my eggy bowl still had traces of dirt on it, and it needed a bit of a hand clean to finish it off; a rinse before it went in would have done the trick, too.
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Should you buy it?
You want a cheap dishwasher that doesn’t skimp on features
With its smart app control, large tub and decent performance, this is a great dishwasher for those on a tight budget.
You want more flexibility or deeper cleaning
If you’d like more flexible racks (or a third one) and a dishwasher that can cope with the dirtiest of dishes you’ll have to spend a bit more.
Final Thoughts
At this kind of price, the Candy CF 57CF0W-80 does have some compromises: there are only two racks, the folding tines aren’t that flexible, and it doesn’t quite cope with the toughest stains as well as the competition.
However, this dishwasher has a very low price, decent running costs, cleans regular dishes well and has smart scheduling that can save those on smart tariffs money. If you’re looking for a budget full-size dishwasher, this one offers exceptional value; if you want a few more features, then check out my guide to the best dishwashers.
How we test
We test every dishwasher we review thoroughly over an extended period of time. We use industry standard tests to compare features properly. We’ll always tell you what we find. We never, ever, accept money to review a product.
We measure water and energy usage for each dishwasher to see how efficient they are.
We use real-world mess to test a dishwasher’s ability to clean.
FAQs
Yes, if you’re on a smart tariff and have periods of cheaper electricity. Setting the cheaper schedule in the app lets it automatically run your dishwasher when electricity is cheapest, saving you money.
