Samsung’s recently announced high-end Chef Collection line includes a dishwasher with several features that might change what you expect from dishwashers of the future. A unique water delivery system, display, and third rack enhancements make this one a potential game-changer. In fact, we were so impressed, we named it our Best of CES 2014 award for home appliances.
On the surface, the Chef Collection dishwasher looks like most other premium dishwashers, with a solid stainless front and top-mounted controls. A close-up look reveals a series of tiny holes drilled into the front corner. They light up in soft blue to reveal a microdot display that appears to float on the stainless steel face, showing the remaining cycle time while the dishwasher is running, but a clean stainless surface when idle.
Inside, the jetted rotary spindle that’s been in the bottom of every dishwasher for the last 50 years has been replaced with Samsung’s new WaterWall, a water-powered sliding bar that shoots a plane of water back and forth through the entire tub. The WaterWall’s liquid sheet improves water coverage throughout the wash tub compared to a rotary spindle, which flings water in a circular pattern that can’t reach the corners. Seeing it in action, it’s such a “well, duh” idea, but we’re sure there was lots of clever engineering required to make it work reliably. Samsung’s probably patented the hell out of it too, but if the real-world performance is significantly better, expect other manufacturers to come up with their own versions of WaterWall. Note to Samsung lawyers: imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, right?
Samsung also made a simple but awesome functional change to the dishwasher’s third rack. They’ve included a soft rubber net with handles that lays inside the rack. Silverware and other small items can just be tossed into the rack on the net, instead of being carefully threaded into individual slots in a tray. After they’re clean, the net and its contents can be lifted out and hauled off to your silverware drawer for easy storage.
Samsung has not shared retail availability or pricing information just yet, but you don’t necessarily have to shell out for Samsung’s most premium dishwasher to have these killer features, either. We got a sneak peek at Samsung’s full 2014 line at CES, and several dishwashers have some combination of them. Be sure to check out the video, where we got our hands on the top-of-the-line model at CES 2014.
