Washing Machines · Product analysis
Panda 1.70 cu ft Portable (PAN50SWF2)
The Panda 1.70 cu ft Portable (PAN50SWF2) is the highest-scoring portable washing machine in this catalog, at 7.3 out of 10: Practical 9, Features 7, Capacity 6. It hooks to a kitchen faucet, drains to the sink, and rolls into a closet between loads - no plumbing, no installer, no freight. That is the entire reason to buy a portable, and it is the reason this one exists. It is built for apartments, rentals, RVs and dorms that have a sink but no washer hookups. The one thing that decides it: if you already have real washer hookups, a portable throws away capacity you paid for - buy a full-size machine instead. If you do not, the only question is which portable, and this is the premium end of that shelf.
Panda
1.70 cu ft Portable (PAN50SWF2)
High-end portable with a folding window lid
Typical price
$340
Strengths
- excellent Practical (9/10) — portable
- solid Features (7/10) — 8 cycles
Worth considering
- Capacity could be better (6/10) — 1.7 cu ft
Habilytics Score
A 1.7 cu ft drum - roomy for a portable, far under a full-size 4.5.
Eight wash cycles and a folding window lid, but no Wi-Fi and no steam.
Portable: hooks to a faucet, drains to the sink, no freight and no installer.
Key specs
| Capacity | 1.7 cu ft |
| Type | portable |
| Wash cycles | 8 |
| Wi-Fi | No |
| Steam | No |
| Street price | $340 |
| Typical price | $340 |
Prices are typical US street prices (approximate) and move often — check Amazon for the live price.
A 7.3 that a portable earns by winning the easy dimension
The 7.3 is the highest overall score of any portable in this catalog, and it is worth understanding how a portable reaches it. Practical does the heavy lifting at 9 out of 10; Capacity sits at 6 and Features at 7, both mid-pack. Read alongside the full-size machines here, that shape tells the story. The Samsung WF45K6500 AddWash also scores 7.3 overall - but it gets there the opposite way, with Capacity 9 and Practical 5, on a 4.5 cu ft drum that costs $900 and needs standing hookups. Same number, entirely different machine. A portable cannot score like a front-loader on capacity or features, because a 1.7 cu ft drum with no Wi-Fi or steam is not competing on those axes. So the engine rewards what a portable is genuinely good at: getting running in any apartment with a sink. Read this 7.3 as the ceiling for a faucet-hookup washer, not as parity with the full-size machines that happen to land in the same range.
Capacity is the 6, and 1.7 cu ft is the honest reason
Capacity is the low score at 6 out of 10, and 1.7 cu ft is the honest reason. Panda states an 11 lb load, which is enough for one or two people running laundry a couple of times a week - not a family's daily volume. The full-size machines in this catalog run 4.5 to 4.6 cu ft, so the gap is real and the score reflects it. Inside the portable class, though, 1.7 cu ft is generous. Only the 2.0 cu ft Panda and the 2.0 cu ft BLACK+DECKER hold more, and both still score Capacity 6 - so paying up for the extra half cubic foot buys you fewer loads per week, not a better score. The mistake to avoid is undersizing: if your laundry volume is high and you have hookups, a portable is the wrong class no matter how convenient. But for the buyer this machine is built for - a sink, no hookups, one or two people - 1.7 cu ft sits in the sweet spot above the 0.9 cu ft starters that score Capacity 4 and below the pricier 2.0 cu ft units that do not score any higher.
Eight cycles and a folding window: what the Features 7 buys
Features scores 7 out of 10 on eight wash cycles, no Wi-Fi and no steam. Within the portable class, eight cycles is near the top - only the 1.34 cu ft Panda, with its built-in drain pump, goes to ten. The fold-open window lid is the premium touch and the whole pitch of the tagline: you can watch the wash and reach into the drum without stopping it. Measured against a full-size front-loader, this feature set is basic - the LG TurboWash 360 runs 14 cycles with steam and Wi-Fi and scores Features 10 - but that machine is $1,100 and needs hookups, so it is not the real comparison. The comparison that matters is the BLACK+DECKER 1.70 at Features 6: the same eight cycles, no smart features on either, the visible difference being the Panda's window against the BLACK+DECKER's LED display. That single point is the entire 7.3-to-7.0 gap between the two. Be clear-eyed about it - if you will not use the window and do not need a fuller cycle menu, Features is not, on its own, a reason to pay the Panda's premium.
Practical is the 9, and it is the whole point
Practical is the 9, and it is the whole reason a portable exists. This machine quick-connects to a kitchen faucet, drains to the sink, and rolls into a closet between loads - no freight delivery, no installer, no standing hookups. That earns the top of this dimension, a 9 it shares with the other well-built portables here. Two caveats the engine flags before you order. First, the faucet: the quick-connect adapter needs a spout with a removable aerator, so check yours against the machine's fitting before buying. Second, drainage: this is a gravity-drain unit, so the hose relies on water falling into the sink or a floor drain rather than being pumped out. If your only option is to drain up into a raised sink, the one model in this catalog built for that is the Panda 1.34 cu ft, which has a built-in drain pump - though it is a smaller drum scoring 6.7 overall. For the ordinary sink-and-counter setup, gravity draining is a non-issue, and this is about as painless as owning a washer gets when you have no laundry hookups at all.
The $10 question, and when the cheaper pick wins
At $340, the Panda 1.70 sits just $10 above the BLACK+DECKER 1.70 at $330 - and that $10 is the whole decision. The two share a 1.7 cu ft drum, eight cycles and a Practical 9. The Panda wins Features 7 to 6 and overall 7.3 to 7.0 on the strength of its folding window; the BLACK+DECKER answers with an LED display. This is not a gap to agonize over. If the window does not sell you, the BLACK+DECKER is effectively the same machine for $10 less, and buying it is the sensible call. In the other direction, the Panda 2.0 costs $400 for the largest portable drum here, 2.0 cu ft, but its Practical drops to 8 and its overall to 7.0 - more capacity, a slightly lower score. And if your weekly volume is genuinely small, the Panda 1.54 at $300 or the drain-pump 1.34 at $260 give up little that a one- or two-person household would feel. The 1.70 is the premium pick of the portable shelf. Buy it when you want the roomiest window-lid portable and the $10 over the BLACK+DECKER is noise - not because the cheaper models fall short.
Who it's for / who it's not
Who it's for
- Apartments, rentals, RVs and dorms with a sink but no washer hookups - the exact situation portables exist for
- One or two people whose weekly laundry fits an 11 lb, 1.7 cu ft load without daily washing
- Renters who want the roomiest window-lid portable and will use its eight cycles
- Buyers without hookups who would rather add a washer than haul clothes to a laundromat
Who it's not for
- Homes with real washer hookups - a portable throws away the capacity a full-size 4.5 cu ft machine gives you
- Families doing daily laundry: 1.7 cu ft means several loads a day, not one big wash
- Anyone who must drain up into a sink - this gravity-drains; only the Panda 1.34 has a pump
Alternatives in our catalog
BLACK+DECKER 1.7 cu ft Portable (BPWM16W) — $330
Take the BLACK+DECKER 1.70 to save $10: the same 1.7 cu ft, eight cycles and Practical 9, plus an LED display. It scores 7.0 - you give up the folding window.
Head-to-head comparisonPanda 2.0 cu ft Portable — $400
Take the Panda 2.0 for the biggest portable drum - 2.0 cu ft for $60 more. Its Practical slips to 8 and it scores 7.0, but you fit more per load.
Head-to-head comparisonSee how it ranks against the rest
We score every washing machine in our catalog on the specs that matter.
Best washing machines of 2026This 7.3 comes from a deterministic engine reading published specs - a 1.7 cu ft drum, eight cycles, portable faucet hookup, no Wi-Fi and no steam - and applying the same weighted rules to every washing machine in the catalog. The Habilytics team does not test units, and affiliate links never move a score.
Amazon links are affiliate links (tag: habilytics-20). As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases at no extra cost to you. This never influences our scores or picks.