Jun 10, 2013 01:21 PM
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While European & Japanese appliances are expensive & every additional feature comes at an extra price, Indian & Chinese appliances come cheap & seem eager to offer more features. Often it seems difficult to make the right choice at first glance, however differences become clear after few uses. The choice then becomes simple – Quality over Quantity.
Two years back, I bought a Philips Steam Iron & recently a week ago, I bought a Bajaj MX-7 Steam Iron. While, the Philips Iron was purchased on recommendation from a knowledgeable electrician friend, I chose the Bajaj Iron myself. My savings was approximately Rs.200/-, as Bajaj was cheaper, however, very soon I discovered that the difference in performance quite made up for the cost.
Steam Feature - The Philips Iron gives a tough commando-like performance, the moment it reaches its temperature, the Iron gives out a spontaneous & heart warming burst of steam, which is an assurance that the device, will take care of your ironing. This Iron neither has the burst of steam feature & nor the water spray. So while we have to spray the water on the clothes by hand, the absence of burst of steam feature is never felt.
Quite in contrast, the meekness of the Bajaj MX-7 Steam iron seemed to affect me right from the moment I switched on the Iron. Neither was the burst of steam as powerful as I was expecting, nor was the temperature. My disappointment at my latest purchase was getting gradually apparent.
Water Beaker - The Bajaj Iron comes with a free Plastic Glass with beaker nose with which you can fill water into the water tank without spilling outside. This is a good handy feature when you are doing your ironing job in a hurry as you are preparing to go for your office.
Here, the steam flow is much much gentler as compared to the Philips Iron even at the maximum steam settings. Half of the reason for buying a steam iron therefore is itself defeated as a strong burst of steam is needed to eliminate the most stubborn creases.
Movement over Clothes - The movement of the Bajaj Iron over the clothes is also not quite as smooth compared to the Philips one. The Philips Iron effortlessly glides on my cloth & overcomes the nastiest creases.
Power Cable - The rotating Swivel Cable is one useful feature which is helpful while ironing shirts. It is easy to move the iron from any direction as the power cable does not get entangled.
Water Spray - The water spray button is also another advantageous feature, which decreases both time & effort during ironing number of clothes. This feature is not there in the Philips Iron which I bought, but may be present in other versions of Philips.
Temperature Settings - The maximum temperature reached by Bajaj Iron seemed far lesser than Philips, which simply is not enough to tackle completely crumpled Pure Cotton Shirts. The temperature settings of both irons are similar for nylon, wool & cotton.
Size & Weight - The Iron is light-weight & suitable for handling by ladies. The scale cleaning operation in both Philips & Bajaj are similar. Size is similar.
Instructions Manual - The accompanying operation manual is not very helpful & many things were not immediately clear from the instructions. The Manual is just a Single page printed material & the main drawing is overlapping.
Price - The difference in prices does not affect much, when both prices vis-a-vis performance are viewed together.
Overall Performance - Therefore, overall while the Philips Iron is a rough & tough personality, non-compromising in performance even when it comes to tackle defiant creases, the Bajaj Iron is cheap, loaded with all the necessary features but lacks the raw masculinity needed to overcome stubborn creases.
