Whirlpool AKZM654IX / AKZM655IX

worst oven ever – Most needlessly complex user interface ever. I dare my friends to try to turn on the oven, set temperature, and start. I have to give help several times before they can succeed. Plus everything depends on a flimsy "check" button, which of course breaks from poor quality and cheap plastics. Do not buy

Faulty – Good: Dials can be pushed in preventing children touching, various functions, no problems with uneven baking/cooking Bad: glass gets hot, have to get a replacement oven due to this one turning on and off during cooking (very inconvenient as we don’t live close to shops), all electronic - manual duals usually have less issues..  Show details

Scary experience – Our oven worked perfectly fine for many years until one day we had a scary experience. I was baking for 30mins and I smelt the food burning. I went to the oven, turned it off but the temperature kept rising to 400 degrees. The smoke alarms were going off. The oven then died. Such a scary we didn't want the oven anywhere near our house and got a new oven.  Show details

Glass shattered – Was quite happy with this oven - had it for 5 years but one night the internal glass shattered while the grill was on - very disappointing...cost of getting the glass replaced is close to the price I paid for it!!! Waste of time! I will buy another brand in the future.  Show details

Scary Consequences – We had all the other issues listed here except for its final swan song. Like a previous reviewer, I had the Sunday roast in, went for a shower and 20 minutes later came out to a kitchen filled with smoke. The oven had heated up to an extreme temperature burning the top of the roast and we later discovered , the insulating conduit on the wires at… Read more

the back. The roast was saved by the BBQ, but the oven was switched off never to go again. Had I not been around (I.e. Gone down the back to feed the animals) I am terrified of what could have happened if the oven had been allowed to continue at this Temperature burning everything down ( including the house ). The oven was 3.5 years old. Very disappointed and I won't buy whirlpool again.

Oven faulty, replaced by an even more faulty oven – Original oven suffered the 'resetting to menu' midway through cooking issue. Mainboard replaced, still faulty, whole oven replaced...no longer resets to menu! Replacement oven instead continues to heat up hotter and hotter whilst in 'residual heat' cool down mode and doesn't stop until unplugged from power. I have uploaded a video of this occurring here: [link removed]

Another Dud – Like many of the reviews my oven simply died one Sunday with the roast in. No pre-warning just completely dead. Clearly electrical as the cook top is connected to the same supply and is still working. Yes I agree with the reviews that the oven looks great but mine is 3.5 years old and I think it that's a disgracefully short lifetime. Having read… Read more

the reviews I won't be wasting my time and more money on the oven by getting an electrician out rather another oven and brand seem the best choice.

My oven keeps restarting – My oven keeps restarting during cooking (it stops and than restarts after several seconds and it continues the selected cooking program). Recently it keeps restarting even when I'm not cooking (the display disappears and the lamp inside turns on). I bought it in October 2015! I am very disappointed with this oven! Cooking has become a real challenge for me! I called the service today for an appointment.

Unreliable and faulty twice in three years! – fixed by technician after overheated with reset button during first 18 mths,now three years old has happened again but reset button does not correct the fault, grill continues to function without selecting,heats to 300 degrees plus,can only turn off by meter box.no longer safe,will have to buy a new oven

Thermostat failed internal glass smashed – Had this oven about 2 years. Had been happy with it but tonight I preheated to 160 degrees. Didnt realise that it was getting hotter and hotter until the kids yelled out that the oven had exploded. The internal glass had completely smashed. Was worried that it was on fire but was ok. Undoubtedly won't have any joy with Whirlpool but quite frankly wouldn't want another one of their appliances in the house.

Only but it if you want to replace it after 3 years!!! – When new the oven looked good and worked well, we had a fault with overheating after the 1st year that was fixed . now the grill heats up on its own and wont turn off we have to use the fuse box out side to isolate it- no help as its out of warranty- if you want one for free you can have this one!!

Shocker – Same problem as other people, only after 3.5 years using this oven, it blows up and died. Very disappointed, buy never a whirlpool oven again.

Only three years old and broken already – Worked fine for first three years. Only criticism was when turning the program selector knob there was always a lag of a couple of seconds for the display to dispense with the default "Whirlpool" logo and to then tell you what program it was you had selected. Also, often after turning it on it just displayed a single word "STOP" and you would have… Read more

to twiddle the program selector for five or so seconds before it responded. Not big deals but annoying nether the less. However, a recent event has me very concerned about ever leaving it unattended ....even when turned off.

I had removed dinner and switched it to OFF at the front. At this point it just shows the amount of residual heat as the oven cools. After delivering the meal to the table and returning to the kitchen I heard a "cracking" noise and there was a burning smell. When I glanced at the oven, the residual heat indicated it was past 300 degrees and rapidly climbing at about 1 degree per second. I opened the door and found that even though the oven was completely switched off (at the front), the element around the fan was bright red. No amount of knob twiddling was able to turn it off and I was forced to disconnect it at the wall.

Further investigation now reveals, turning it to "Conventional" heating allows it to operate normally but any time it is switched to "Fan Forced", the problem returns where it can only be shutdown by disconnecting it.

Now waiting to get someone out to repair it but imagine it will be an expensive controller. Not happy with what will undoubtedly be a large expense on a three year old oven and even less happy that you can't trust being able to turn it off. I hate to think what might have happened that night if I hadn't returned to the kitchen and noticed it.

**UPDATE**

The problem became intermittent and we did not trust the product. My wife started shopping around for a replacement.

I contacted Whirlpool to express my concerns about this. To their credit, they volunteered to send out a repairer at no charge to us. This was despite the oven being over one and a half years out of warranty and also not being able to demonstrate the problem to the repairer. The main circuit board was replaced and the problem has not recurred thus far. Full marks to Whirlpool and for this reason, I have changed my rating from the original one start to three stars

Don't waste your money – The Whirlpool AKZM655 has a large oven capacity that attracted me. We purchased our oven in Aug 2011. It looked great and was wonderful to use. It heated evenly and the browning function was a nice touch. Recently, it died midway through my casserole. Simply blanked out and died. It was less than 3 yrs old, but the 24 month warranty had lapsed.… Read more

I rang up the designated Whirlpool call centre, which got me an OS person who simply passed me onto the local company that Whirlpool use for their servicing. I would need to pay for the repairs myself.

For a product that I have spent $$$$ on, I expect it to last a lot longer than 3 years! I am completely dissatisfied with the after service and lifespan of this product. I don't think I would ever buy a whirlpool product again. Sleek looking, browning feature, keep warm option. Short lifespan, Unhelpful after service.

Shocker....hard to turn on and button broke after four years....not good enough – Too hard to turn to correct type of cooking and very weak buttonsbroke after only four years. Not good enough

Very disappointing – I especially sought out this oven after reading reviews from this site. We started having problems within warranty time with it turning itself off all the time, needing me to go and reset the temperature and then restart the oven. This happened over and over. In the end I used to sit on a stool in front of the oven to do this every few minutes… Read more

to cook something! Procrastinated and now out of warranty, it needs new mother board which Technician is not sure will even fix the problem, but the most annoying thing is when he came to do this, Whirlpool have changed the motherboard needing an adapter which does not come with the mother board (you only find out when you try to put it in!) and then charge you $60 more and make you wait another 2 weeks for that part!!!! We live in the hinterland so am charged and extra $70 fee for just coming to us on top of everything else! He is coming today. Looking at nearly $500 to fix with no guarantee it will solve our problem. If I could I would scrap this oven and buy a Miele! When working, cooked beautifully Unreliable, Timer bell function cannot be used when cooking! It can only be used when oven is not. You have to use an external timer!

This oven broke 3 weeks after the warraty ran out – This oven broke 3 weeks after the warraty ran out and Whirlpool refused to repair replace or refund, called then numerous times and they said that if i paid to get it 1 looked at 2. repaired 3 serviced and a fault was found they would refund the almost $500 it would cost to fix, if not too bad. Great oven for the first month It broke!! and its a joke that they dont back thier products.

All show and no go – Oven is not reliable. The temperature ran away, even when not in use the oven would heat up without being switched on. Had to switch the oven off at the safety switch. It has poor electronics and repairers were unable to fix them. I had two of them, the first lasting six months and had to be repaired just to breakdown completely twelve months… Read more

later. Had a fight on my hands to get it replaced by Whirlpool. The replacement oven did not even lasted a year, this one could not be fixed either. Now I have a great looking oven that's useless. Clean looking, attractive and lots of features.

AKZM654IX I love it! – I have to confess I mainly chose this oven based on it's look but also on the internal capacity size and the number of features it had. My model doesnt have the 6th sense feature (which sounds like a great feature) but I love everything about it. It heats up quickly, I love the browning option when cooking time is reached, food cooks very… Read more

well in it and I also like the fact the display continues to tell you how hot the oven is, even once turned off. This oven completed my kitchen renovation and I enjoy cooking much more because I know the result is going to be good.

Oh and I also like that if you haven't set a cooking time, it displays how long it has been cooking once the oven reaches temperature. I haven't experienced any of the issues some others have, and would highly recommend this oven. Stylish, reliable, great functions, inexpensive, large capacity, fast heat up

Love the look and cook of this oven – This oven looks sleek and stylish when compared to some other ovens on the market. The internal handle and push in knobs are a plus as it gives the oven a streamline look. (You don't knock your legs on the oven handle or knobs) As with anything you purchase these days, it can be luck of the draw regarding the quality of the actual item. The… Read more

parts and the finish of this oven is of a high standard. It's not a cheap oven and it's not overly expensive, however does a great job of cooking.

With the functionalities of pre set cooking times for things like a roast lamb or a cake, you have to be sure to follow the recommendations provided within the booklet. If you don't follow the correct weights or instructions, I dare say the food you are cooking won't turn out like it actually should. I'm still figuring out exactly what the 6th sense does though. When cooking things like roast potatoes, it is handy that the oven beeps to let you know that it is time to give them a bit of a turn to avoid burning and cooking them evenly.

The only real issue I have is the metal on metal thing with the racks/tray on the interal enamel coating. It's silly that in this day that you would actually product an oven with a enamel coating, only to be scratched off with moving a part of the oven you need too inorder to cook different foods.

Neither the less, I'm really happy with the cooking performance, here is to hoping that the scratches doen't destroy the oven and make it look like a metal junk box after a short time.

If your concerned about stainless steel, easily being dirtied and finger prints all over it, I must say that the quality of the stainless used is high. I've stuck my greasy fingers over it when cooking, a wipe with a damp cloth and they came off without any scrubbing. I was suprised as my other stainless steel products need more than just a damp cloth to get finger prints off.

I'd consider this oven as an option, however if you are concerned with the metal on metal scratching on the inside of the oven, I'd say perhaps go for one with the metal guide racks on the inside. The look is sleek and stylish and the cooking functionalities are an added bonus. The overall quality of the oven appears to be to a high standard, as in the finishes and quality used. The first thing I cooked in the oven was a roast and must say that the cooking of this oven is second to none. I've used a lot of ovens (ex cook) and cooked evenly and quickly.Having the digital display certainly assists when cooking as older ovens usually have a light on the side to let you know when the oven is at temp. When opening the door of the oven the temp can drop quite quickly, this oven has no issues with getting back up to the selected temp very quickly. The inside of the oven doesn't have any wire rack guides. When inserting or changing the wire racks or grill tray, it is a case of metal on metal on the inside of the oven. This isn't the smartest idea to say the least as the enamel coating on the inside of the oven is scratched to pieces. When doing some further reading up on how companies classify their ovens, it comes down to 'how big the oven is'. With guide rails on the inside of the oven, the oven ltrs are reduced, thus having to promote it as a smaller ltr oven. Once I had the oven installed, I was looking at it and noticed the front stainless steel pannel that surrounds the digital display had come unstuck. Upon closer look, the pannel had not been glued into place correctly. I had to call the warranty repair number even before I got to use the oven. Needless to say, this was attended to promptly and will be replaced.

Enjoy cooking in it!! – Purchased my first AKZM655IX because I liked the look of it especially the push pull knobs / no handle and all the extra cooking functions. Unfortunately there was some fault with the 6th sense option but the remaining functions worked. Waited nearly 4 months for part then service agent attempted 3 times and still couldn't fix it and in the… Read more

process buggered the oven so couldn't use it at all. Eventually Whirlpool agreed to replace it but said they didn't have stock of that model and wouldn't have any more till the end of the year. Wasn't prepared to wait so agreed to refund (but still waiting on refund - that's another story). Anyway went to my local good guys store and because I liked the oven so much (and partly because i didn't have time to do any more research on other brands) brought myself another AKZM655 which was on sale. Let's hope I have better luck with this one. Recommend the oven itself and how it cooks. But a little reluctant to give anymore than 3 stars due to fault and length of time it took for Whirlpool to get parts and to come to a resolution.

Not impressed – Oven just over a year old and it is not working and has not worked for the last month. Still waiting on Whirlpool to get spare parts. We had only had it for a matter of months when the chrome on one of the buttons started to peel off. We had that repaired. The oven does not heat up instantly as other reviews have stated, but I also believe… Read more

whirlpool do not claim that. It is supposed to be fast preheat but having come from a gas oven it is still painfully slow. No visibility when use as a griller meaning you have to keep opening the door every 30 seconds to check to stop food from burning. Temperature sensor seems inaccurate. It can be at 150C and you turn it up to 250C and it instantly says it is at that temp..........doubt it. Looks great everything else

Great oven - poor service – I bought an AKZM655IX in March 2012. This is a good oven: has accurate temperature control and we've had great results with baking and roasting. It is let down by poor support: after a couple of weeks of use the display developed a couple of dead pixels. Whirlpool has sent their service agent twice and the problem has not been resolved - first… Read more

time the tech said they'd need additional parts and the second time the service agent did not receive all of the required parts to complete the job. Poor service means I am hesitant to recommend Whirlpool to friends. Features good for price Poor warranty service

Excellent – I would recommend this oven to anyone who is looking for a new oven. We spent a while looking at ovens and that eveyone in the stores had a different idea on what I should buy, but when a freind of mine told me about this oven I thought it was work a look at. With out a doudt I would recommend this oven over all other ovens. It offers so much,… Read more

including instant heat up, non stick enamel, large capacity, sensor cooking, great looks, made in Italy, well priced and so much more. I can't image there is anything better out there. I have owned my oven for a couple of months now and really fallen in love with it. It's become the talking peice in our kitchen because it cooks so well and looks great. It has made my life in the kitchen a breeze because it is so easy to use. My husband say's it's improved by cooking because it's taken all the guess work out of cooking with the 6th sense. I haven't found any down sides with my oven.

Great oven - it does what it says it will – It's so hard to pick an oven - found reviews on this one and thought I'd give it a go. It looks great, it's easy to use and, most important of all, it cooks like it's supposed to. And it's also quiet. I would highly recommend this oven, especially for the price. It;s cooks brilliantly and looks great Haven't found one yet

Highly recommend it, I know you will just love it as much as I do – I am a fussy cook in the kitchen because i am not a master chef, so I expect my oven to cook it perfectly every time, which this oven does really well. I so love that there isn't any heat up time. I find myself cooking in the oven more than I ever use to because it's quicker, I can just put my food in and cook. I have fallen in love with the 6th… Read more

sense, it has a lot of sensor cooking options. Which include, whole roast chickens, dishes with chicken pieces, for 4 different ways to cook fish, it has leg of lamb, pork chops, pork shanks, kebabs, for casseroles it has fish cannelloni, crapes, aubergine casseroles, lasagne, it has sensor functions for pies of all kinds including meat, apple, quiche, there is also sensor modes for pizza, and my favorite it has sensor functions for desserts which include sponge, tarts, cheese cakes, strudels and yoghurt cakes. There is nothing that I have come across that it can't do on sensor modes. But it still has all the usual cooking functions to.