INTERGREAT Twin Tub vs Auertech Fully Automatic Portable Washer: Two Kinds of 18 Pounds
Two portable washers that both state an 18-pound capacity, one a twin tub with a title that says 25.3 pounds and one a fully automatic with a 1600 rpm spin.
The two listings at a glance
Semi-automatic, separate wash and spin tubs
Read our review · Check price on Amazon
Fully automatic, LED display, drain pump
Read our review · Check price on Amazon
Both of these portable washers state an 18-pound capacity, in Amazon’s specification table and in our reviews. That is the only thing the listings agree on, and it is why the pair is worth reading: two machines that look alike on the one figure a shopper compares first are different kinds of machine, and the difference is the thing the 18 pounds hides. One is a twin tub, with a wash tub and a separate spin tub and a person who moves the wet clothes between them. The other is fully automatic, washing and spinning in one drum with no one standing by.
| Figure | INTERGREAT twin tub | Auertech fully automatic | Portable washer class |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capacity, Amazon field | 18 lb | 18 lb | 16 of 31 state pounds |
| Capacity, title | 25.3 lb | 18 lb | — |
| Type (Amazon) | Semi automatic, twin tub | Fully automatic | 10 semi-automatic, 15 fully automatic |
| Weight | not stated | 21 kg, 46.3 lb (both sources) | 13 kg twin tubs, 26 kg fully automatic |
| Footprint, W x D x H | 22″ W x 13.4″ D x 25.2″ H | 20″ W x 20″ D x 33.7″ H | — |
| Max spin speed | 1300 rpm | 1600 rpm | median 1300 twin, 840 fully automatic |
| Stated noise | not stated | 60 dB washing, up to 70 dB spinning (review) | 15 of 31 state one |
| Cycles | Gentle, Normal, Drain (3) | 7 programs, quick wash 26 minutes | — |
| Price band | $75-200 | $200-500 | — |
Eighteen pounds, or twenty-five point three
The INTERGREAT’s title says 25.3 pounds. Its Amazon specification table, and our review, say 18. There are two machines in our catalogue with that title and the same pattern, at 25.3 and 25.4 pounds in the title and 18 in the field. The Auertech’s title and field agree, at 18. The difference on the INTERGREAT is 7.3 pounds. We do not have the manufacturer’s explanation, but there is an arithmetic one that fits: a twin tub has two tubs, a wash tub and a smaller spin tub, and a listing that adds the two capacities together states a number larger than the wash tub alone can take. If that is what 25.3 means, the machine washes 18 pounds at a time and the title advertises the sum.
It is not a one-off. The Auertech’s own twin tub, which we also review, states 28 pounds in its title and in Amazon’s field and 18 pounds in our review; a VCJ twin tub states 14 in the title and the field and 9 in our review; and a COSTWAY twin tub states 12 in its title and in our review and 20 in Amazon’s field. Of the 9 twin tubs in the catalogue that give a pound figure in at least two of the title, Amazon’s field and our review, 6 give two different ones. That is twin tubs listing two capacities, and a catalogue, ours included, that has not always said which. The fully automatic machines in the class do not show the pattern: one drum, one number.
What the machines ask of you
The twin tub’s listing describes the work plainly. You fill the wash tub, set a wash time of up to 15 minutes, lift the clothes into the spin tub, cover them and set a spin of up to five minutes, then drain. Its bullet gives 250 watts for washing and 140 for the spinner and a 1300 rpm motor, with three modes, Gentle, Normal and Drain. The Auertech’s listing describes a 380-watt motor, a 1600 rpm spin, seven programs including a 26-minute Quick Wash, four water levels, a drain pump, a tub clean function and a child lock. One of them is a washing machine you operate, and the other is one that operates itself, and the second is the one that tells you its noise: 60 dB washing and 70 when spinning, in our review.
What comes in the box differs too. The Auertech’s listing names a drain hose, a faucet adapter, a fill hose and a protective rat mesh among its included components, and says a built-in drain pump lets it empty from any height. The INTERGREAT’s text that we read lists no included components and describes a built-in gravity drain, which empties downhill into a sink or a bucket and not up and over. Neither fact changes what the 18 pounds means, but both change what you have to buy and where you can put the machine.
Size is where the twin tub gains. It is 22 inches wide, 13.4 deep and 25.2 tall, a floor footprint of 295 square inches, against the Auertech’s 20 by 20 by 33.7, 400 square inches. The twin tub stands 8.5 inches lower and takes 26 percent less floor. The twin tub lists no weight at all. Across the 8 twin tubs that do, the median is 12.9 kilograms; the Auertech is listed at 21 (46 pounds), lighter than most fully automatic portables, whose median is 26.
Where the price bands fall
8 of the 9 twin tubs with a price band on record are in $75-200, and 7 of the 10 fully automatic portables are in $200-500. The pair follows the pattern: the INTERGREAT is $75-200 and the Auertech $200-500. A band is a range, not a price, and it moves; it is enough to say that the machine that does less of the work costs less, which is what you would expect and the listings do not dispute.
Which suits which
The INTERGREAT twin tub suits you if
- floor space and height are the constraint: it is the smaller of the two on every dimension the listings give;
- you are content to move clothes from one tub to the other and to keep an eye on a timer;
- you have read the capacity as 18 pounds, the figure in the specification table, and not 25.3;
- the lower price band matters more to you than the labour.
The Auertech fully automatic suits you if
- you want a machine you can start and leave, with a drain pump and a 26-minute quick wash;
- a stated noise figure, even a claim, is something you want to plan around;
- you have the 400 square inches and the 33.7 inches of height, and a faucet adapter to connect it.
What this comparison cannot tell you
Nothing here was tested, and the arithmetic about the twin tub’s two capacities is our inference, not the listing’s statement. We cannot say how clean either gets a load, how dry the twin tub’s spin leaves it or how loud the INTERGREAT is, since it states no figure. For the machines in full, read our INTERGREAT review and our Auertech review; the portable washer class report sets both against the other 29 machines.
Figures are the manufacturers’, as published on each listing and quoted in our reviews; none was measured by us. How we work · Affiliate disclosure