Bosch Series 2 SMS26AW08G Review: The £399 Dishwasher That Takes 4h48m to Be Efficient
This is Bosch's plainest full-size freestanding dishwasher: 12 place settings, no app and no AquaStop, sold for £399 almost everywhere. Buyers rate it very highly and a repair firm calls it well built. The figures that should decide it are the E energy rating, which works out at about 24p a wash, and an Eco programme of nearly five hours.
Where the reviews line up
Our evidence comes from three places. Which? has lab-tested this model, though its scores and verdict sit behind a paywall. Appliance Repair Men, a Lancashire repair firm, has written it up. And buyers have rated it at AO and John Lewis: 4.7 out of 5 from 2,128 reviews at AO and 4.7 from 403 at John Lewis. On the points they share, they agree.
Three things come up again and again. It cleans well. That is the repair firm's main point, and buyers back it with very high scores. It is quiet for the money: AO, John Lewis and Currys all list it at 46 dB, and it has a Silence programme. It dries better than many cheap machines, thanks to heat-exchanger drying and an Extra Dry option.
The catch is efficiency. E is a low energy rating for a new dishwasher in 2026. At 92 kWh per 100 Eco cycles and the 26.32p/kWh price cap, each Eco wash costs about 24p. To reach that figure the Eco programme runs for 288 minutes, according to John Lewis. If you would rather not wait almost five hours, you will use a quicker programme, and that costs more.
Our verdict: for £399 you get a dependable, quiet basic machine with a five-year warranty, as long as you register it. Pay more only if a lower energy rating, flood protection or 13–14 place settings matter to you.
The three reviews this summary is built from
- Which?Lab-tested; first reviewed March 2025, last checked April 2026. The score is behind the paywall, so we only use the facts Which? shows publicly.
- Appliance Repair MenA Lancashire appliance repair firm's review. A trade view of the machine, but not a measured test.
- AO & John Lewis4.7/5 from 2,128 reviews at AO and 4.7/5 from 403 at John Lewis, checked 4 Oct 2026.
Before the review: which warranty is it?
Different sources quote different warranties. Bosch gives five years if you buy between 1 April 2026 and 31 March 2027 and register within three months. AO says two years as standard, extendable to five if you register. John Lewis says a five-year guarantee is included. Which? lists a two-year manufacturer guarantee. All of these can be true at once: the standard term is two years, and registering takes it to five. If you don't register within three months, you keep only two years.
Specification at a glance
| Spec | Figure | Confidence |
|---|---|---|
| Energy rating | E | Bosch's UK product page |
| Energy per 100 Eco cycles | 92 kWh | John Lewis and Currys Business. Not shown on Bosch's page |
| Cost per Eco cycle | About 24p (0.92 kWh × 26.32p) | Our calculation, using the Ofgem cap for Oct–Dec 2026 |
| Cost per year | About £67.80 over 280 Eco cycles. Which? says £62.04 | Ours uses the energy label's 280 cycles. Which? does not publish its assumptions |
| Water per Eco cycle | 9.5 litres | Bosch; AO and John Lewis agree |
| Noise | 46 dB, noise class C | dB from AO, John Lewis and Currys; Bosch's page gives the class only |
| Place settings | 12 | AO, John Lewis, Which?, Currys |
| Eco programme length | 288 minutes (4h48m) | John Lewis only. Which? quotes a 109-minute "main programme" but doesn't say which one it means |
| Programmes | 6 (AO, Currys) or 7 (Which?) | The sources disagree. Which? may be counting a separate option as a programme |
| Dimensions (H × W × D) | 845 × 600 × 600 mm (Bosch). Which? gives 842 × 600 × 611 mm | Use Bosch's figures for the space; allow for Which?'s extra 11 mm of depth |
| Door clearance | Not published | See "What we could not check" |
| Drying | Heat exchanger, Extra Dry option | Bosch |
| AquaStop / Home Connect | No / No | Bosch |
| Supply | 0.5–10 bar water pressure; 10–16 A fuse | Bosch user manual |
| Warranty | 2 years; 5 years if bought 1 Apr 2026 – 31 Mar 2027 and registered within 3 months | Bosch's terms |
| Price | RRP £399 at Bosch; £399 at John Lewis; £399 inc VAT at Currys Business | All checked 4 Oct 2026. Which? lists £399 at 14 retailers |
Which?
Which? is the only independent lab test of this model we found. Its star ratings, its pros and cons and whether it is a Best Buy are all for members only, so we don't know what the testers concluded. We are not going to guess. The public page does give some useful facts. Which? found the machine at £399 at 14 retailers, all in stock. It gives an annual energy cost of £62.04, a 109-minute "main programme" and seven programmes, including Eco 50°, Auto 45–65° and Intensive 70°.
Two of those figures don't match other sources. Which? gives the depth as 611 mm against Bosch's 600 mm, and the height as 842 mm against Bosch's 845 mm. If your gap is exactly 600 mm deep, take the bigger number seriously. Which? also confirms what the machine lacks: no anti-flood protection, no auto-opening door and no smart features. In its favour, Which? lists a child lock, delay timer, height-adjustable top rack and a machine-care programme.
Watch: Review Bosch SMS26AW08G Series 2, Free-standing dishwasher 60 cm White
The one video whose title names this exact model as a review. We confirmed it from two search listings rather than by playing it.
Watch on YouTube ↗Appliance Repair Men
This review comes from people who repair dishwashers for a living, and that is why we use it. But it doesn't publish fault rates or describe any repairs on this model, and the firm also sells its repair service on the same page. Its judgement is short and positive: solid build, dishes come out "sparkling clean", drying is excellent with Extra Dry, and it calls the 46 dB(A) running noise "whisper-quiet".
Read the reliability claim carefully. The review mentions owners reporting "over a decade of trouble-free service", but that is about Bosch dishwashers in general. This model has only been on sale for a couple of years: Which? first reviewed it in March 2025. The review's figures match the retailers': about 92 kWh per 100 cycles, 9.5 litres of water and 12 place settings. It also says the speed option can cut cycle time by up to 65%. Currys calls the same feature SpeedPerfect; the repair firm calls it VarioSpeed Plus.
Watch: Bosch Series 2 Dishwasher Review
Be aware: this video's title does not name the model. It came up in four separate searches for the SMS26AW08G, but Bosch sells several Series 2 dishwashers, so it may show a related model.
Watch on YouTube ↗AO and John Lewis
These ratings are hosted by shops that sell the machine, so we use the numbers and not their verdict. Even so, two shops with very different customers giving the same 4.7 across more than 2,500 reviews is a strong signal. There are no big doubts about this machine among buyers. The themes we could see on AO's summary are quiet running, good drying with Extra Dry, and reliable cleaning for the price. We could not read individual reviews in enough detail to quote specific complaints. That doesn't mean there aren't any.
The listings themselves are more useful than the scores. John Lewis is the only source we found that gives the Eco programme length, 288 minutes, and the space needed, 85 × 60 × 60 cm. AO lists six programmes: Auto 45–65°, Eco, Intensive, Night, Pre-rinse and Quick wash. AO also gives the warranty terms: two years, extendable to five with registration.
Watch: The BOSCH SMS26AW08G Freestanding Dishwasher - With Full 5 year warranty
From the title, this looks like a seller's walk-round promoting the five-year warranty, so expect it to sell. We confirmed it from two search listings rather than by playing it.
Watch on YouTube ↗Strengths and weak points
What holds up
- Cleaning: the repair firm's main point, and backed by very high buyer scores.
- 46 dB is quiet for a £399 machine, and there is a Silence programme as well.
- Heat-exchanger drying with Extra Dry deals with the damp plastics that cheaper machines leave.
- 4.7/5 at both AO (2,128 reviews) and John Lewis (403).
- Five-year warranty if you register within three months of buying.
- The same £399 everywhere we checked, so you don't need to shop around.
What people complain about
- E rated: about 24p per Eco wash. Newer C or D rated machines use less.
- The Eco programme takes 288 minutes. The quicker programmes save time but use more energy.
- No AquaStop flood protection and no Home Connect app.
- 12 place settings, where many rivals at this price take 13 or 14.
- No half-load or zone wash, according to Review Electricals.
- The depth is 600 mm according to Bosch but 611 mm according to Which?.
Who it actually suits
Buy it if you want a reliable, quiet, full-size machine from a major brand for a household of two to four, you are happy to run Eco overnight or with a delay start, and you will register it for the five-year warranty. At £399 that is the sensible thing to do with this model.
Look elsewhere if you run the dishwasher every day and the extra pence per wash will add up for you, if you want flood protection under a wooden floor or upstairs, or if you regularly fill more than 12 place settings. A C or D rated Series 2 costs more upfront but uses less electricity per wash.
What we could not check
- Door clearance. Bosch's UK and Irish pages don't publish the depth with the door open, and the user manual refers you to separate installation instructions we couldn't get. Before you order, measure the clear floor in front of the space and compare it with the installation sheet in the box.
- The Which? verdict. Which?'s scores and whether it is a Best Buy are for members only. We have used only facts Which? shows publicly. We have not guessed at its verdict.
- The videos. We confirmed all three from search listings, not by opening them. None of the listings named a channel. The title of the Appliance Repair Men video ("Bosch Series 2 Dishwasher Review") does not name the model, so it may show a related Series 2 machine.
- The Eco programme length. Only John Lewis gives it (288 minutes). Bosch's page doesn't, and Which?'s 109-minute "main programme" isn't clearly the Eco one.
- The energy figure. The 92 kWh per 100 cycles comes from John Lewis and Currys Business. Bosch's own page shows only the E rating, and we couldn't get Bosch's datasheet.
- The programme count: six according to AO and Currys, seven according to Which?. We couldn't settle it.
- Buyer complaints. We could read the rating totals but not individual reviews in enough detail to report recurring faults.
- Consumer prices at Currys and AO. Currys' business site shows £399 inc VAT; we didn't confirm the consumer price at Currys, and AO's page didn't show one when we checked.
Sources last checked 4 October 2026. Running costs use 26.32p/kWh, the Ofgem cap for October–December 2026. Your tariff and how often you wash will change the figures.