The old Askos were bulletproof, stainless everything, 15-20 year lifespans, the kind of appliance you'd mention in a will. Current models still have that hardcore construction and a 10-year warranty that suggests the company believes in them. The problem is Hisense bought the brand in 2020, and while it's early, the cracks are showing: one owner's new unit died on the first wash and took a month to replace through warranty. At Miele-level pricing with a thinner service network and a corporate parent known for budget appliances, you're gambling that the Swedish engineering survives the transition. If you find a steep discount and have a reliable local tech, the build quality is legitimate, but at full price Bosch or Miele give you similar performance with better service infrastructure and no ownership question mark.
Two independent drawers that each run their own cycle, solving a real problem if you cook daily but hate waiting for a full load or bending to unload. The top drawer sits at counter height, owners with bad backs or aging knees swear by it, and the ability to run just one drawer for breakfast dishes while saving the bottom for pots is genuinely useful. The plastic tub at this price is hard to swallow, and the flood sensor trips if you load something tall and water splashes during the cycle, forcing a manual reset. The real dealbreaker is service: authorized techs are scarce in the US, so when something breaks you wait weeks. If you have reliable local service and the ergonomics solve a daily pain point, it's a clever tool; if you just want dishes clean without fuss, a traditional Bosch costs less and breaks less often.