Skip to main content
  • Design & Usability

  • Features

  • Performance

  • Before You Buy

  • By the Numbers

  • Performance

  • Efficiency

  • Capacity

  • Design & Usability
  • Features
  • Performance
  • Before You Buy
  • By the Numbers
  • Performance
  • Efficiency
  • Capacity

The 13693 has many of the familiar qualities of a decent, upscale dishwasher. However, repeated tests in our labs proved that PowerWave is not as effective as we'd like: items in the back corners of the upper rack simply didn't come out as clean as others. Electrolux’s SatelliteSpray and Samsung’s WaterWall delivered better results.

Since it’s a Kenmore, you can expect to snag the 13693 for far below the listed MSRP. But even with prices as low as $799, we’d recommend shopping around first.

Design & Usability

The color of the day is race car red.

From a purely design perspective, the 13693 is quite the looker. The logo-free, stainless steel front with thick, protruding handlebar makes the appliance indistinguishable from other brands, lending it a minimalist look. A small LED above the handlebar is the only pockmark that interrupts its otherwise-plain appearance.

The beauty of the 13693 is that once you crack open the door, the stark exterior gives way to a beautiful stainless steel interior. The Turbo Zone spray jets, the little nozzles on the spray arms, and the cap on the rinse aid dispenser are all painted an eye-catching race car red. The extra-wide PowerWave spray arm looks ready to dole out some heavy-duty water jets from its location at the bottom of the tub.

When it comes to usability, however, the 13693 is a mixed bag. The hidden control panel features responsive buttons and a useful LCD screen. We found space for 11 of our standardized place settings and a serving setting. However, the long, unadjustable cutlery basket takes up much of the real estate on the bottom rack, and there’s only one row of collapsible tines to make space for larger items. On the plus side, the top rack’s height can be adjusted, offering a small level of flexibility.

{{ photo_gallery name="Design Gallery" }}

Features

Highway to the Turbo Zone

It’s only fitting that a dishwasher with red trim would have a feature called Turbo Zone. Turbo Zone is a series of high-intensity spray jets meant for cutting through the toughest messes, and it’s available as a customization option on most cycles. It adds a bit of time and water consumption to the cycle, though.

Kenmore 13693 control panel
Credit: Reviewed.com / Johnny Yu

The 13693's hidden control panel features a digital timer.

Other, more familiar options are also available: Sani Rinse for adding a high-temperature rinse at the end of the cycle, High Temp to increase the overall wash temperature, Turbo Heat Dry to act as a regular heat dry cycle, and a Delay option that can postpone a wash start for 1 to 24 hours.

Cycle choices are also pretty standard. The usual Normal Wash, Pots & Pans, China Gentle, and 1 Hr Wash all do what their names suggest, but if you don’t feel like guessing which cycle best matches your load, the Smart Wash cycle uses the dishwasher’s soil sensors to figure out what your dishes need. Finally, Quick Rinse just sprays water on your dishes without any detergent—good for freshening up plates that have been gathering dust for a while, or keeping dirty dishes from getting smelly if it's a long time between washes.

Performance

The power is lacking.

Even though the PowerWave wash arm is supposed to ensure water coverage for the entire tub, we found some items that didn't come out quite clean. Across all the cycles we tested, glasses of dried milk stains loaded in the back of the top rack came out covered in soggy, gooey stains, while other glasses were virtually spotless. A similar story played out with the utensils we loaded in the cutlery basket.

We also noticed frequent instances of redeposit across all cycles. During a wash, all dishwashers repeatedly cycle the same supply of water over and over, filtering out food particles each time. In a perfect world, filters would catch every impurity and prevent the dishwasher from circulating dirty water. In the 13693’s case, we were left with spinach that had been sprayed onto other dishes instead.

Even though the Pots & Pans cycle did an above-average job tackling our tough burnt cheese and burnt sugar stains, there were still signs of redeposit. If you want the 13693 to turn out cleaner dishes, you’ll need to pre-wash a bit.

In terms of water and energy use, we found the 13693 to be average pretty much across the board. With an estimated annual cost of about $29.92 a year, this dishwasher is about as efficient as everything else on the market.

For in-depth performance information, please visit the Science Page.

Before You Buy

Bold, but disappointing.

The 13693 has a lot to offer, but ultimately falls short in many ways that count. It includes some nifty mid-range features like Turbo Zone and upper rack height adjustment, but simultaneously disappoints with a crude, cheap cutlery basket and weak cleaning performance. Even if you find this particular Kenmore for $799, a hefty discount off MSRP, you still might want to consider other dishwashers in that price range.

It might be hard to find another stainless steel Kenmore with a hidden control panel unless you're willing to shell out a little more cash. But if you’re not particularly loyal to the brand, the Frigidaire Gallery FGID2474QS pretty much solves every problem this Kenmore has. Featuring a similarly logo-free front, the Frigidaire also offers an OrbitClean spray arm, which left no dish unwashed during our testing. Plus, its cutlery basket can be split into three for extra loading flexibility.

By the Numbers

If we could score on looks alone the Kenmore 13693 would rank high in our reviews. Unfortunately, when it came to the stuff we could test using standardized methods, this dishwasher lagged way behind the competition.

Performance

Redeposit and poor water coverage tag-teamed to bring the 13693’s performance scores way down. In every cycle we tested, we found specks of spinach littering the items on the bottom rack, and the glasses loaded in the rear of the upper rack were still covered with milk stains. Additionally, spoons we coated with a thin layer of egg and baked until dry did not fare so well when we ran them through a wash cycle. Some of them emerged perfectly clean, while others weren’t so lucky.

Even though the Pots & Pans cycle did a great job with burnt cheese, burnt sugar, and baked-on lasagna stains, it wasn’t enough to pull the scores up. This cycle suffered the same redeposit and water coverage problems as the Normal Wash, despite using more water and lasting close to 40 minutes longer.

In terms of speed, this Kenmore is about average. Normal Wash finished in a little under 2 hours, making it possible for users to squeeze in a second load in the evening if they really need to, while Pots & Pans averaged around 2 hours and 36 minutes. The 1 Hr Wash lived up to its name.

Efficiency

Most dishwashers today have a combined water and electricity cost between $29 and $30 a year. The 13693’s estimated annual cost is $29.92 a year, putting it right on target. Broken down by cycle, the Normal Wash used 0.78 kWh of power and 2.74 gallons of hot water, Pots & Pans used 0.80 kWh and 7.55 gallons, and 1 Hr Wash used 0.40 kWh and 7.86 gallons.

Capacity

There was enough room in this Kenmore to fit 11 of our standardized place settings and one serving setting. However, buyers might be frustrated by the lack of loading flexibility, as there is only one row of collapsible tines on the bottom rack and none on the upper rack. The long cutlery basket takes up much of the space on the bottom rack, making it difficult to fit large and unwieldy pots and pans in there.

{{ photo_gallery name="Capacity Gallery" }}

Meet the tester

Johnny Yu

Johnny Yu

Staff Writer

@ReviewedHome

Johnny Yu writes news, features, and reviews for Reviewed.com. He graduated from U-Mass Boston with a Bachelor's in Social Psychology and spends much of his free time expanding his gaming horizons. Sometimes, he does his laundry at work.

See all of Johnny Yu's reviews

Checking our work.

Our team is here for one purpose: to help you buy the best stuff and love what you own. Our writers, editors, and lab technicians obsess over the products we cover to make sure you're confident and satisfied. Have a different opinion about something we recommend? Email us and we'll compare notes.

Shoot us an email

Up next