Bosch pressure washers
Bosch’s home range is smaller than the yellow shelf next to it, which makes this an easier decision than it looks. For a house with a garden tap and a 13A socket, the machine to buy is the UniversalAquatak 135. It’s a light mains washer that makes 135 bar, weighs 7.9 kg and sells at £114.98, and that combination covers a car, a patio and the garden furniture without asking much of you.
The other Bosch worth owning solves a different problem entirely. If there’s no outdoor tap where you need to clean, the Fontus Gen II carries its own 15 litres and runs off a battery. It is not a quieter Aquatak. It’s a 20 bar rinse on wheels, and buying it expecting mains cleaning is the one mistake people make with this brand.
The two to consider
Bosch UniversalAquatak 135
135 bar, a metal three-cylinder pump and 7.9 kg. The everyday Bosch, and the one to buy if you’ve got a tap and a socket.
Bosch Fontus Gen II
20 bar from a 15 litre tank on a battery. Fill it indoors and wheel it out. A rinse rather than a wash, and the right tool when there’s no other option.
- UniversalAquatak 135
- Fontus Gen II
- Compared
- Bosch or Kärcher
- When Bosch isn’t the answer
- On paintwork
- FAQs
Compared
The row that matters is the middle one. These two Bosch machines are not two sizes of the same thing, they’re answers to different questions, and the gap between 135 bar and 20 bar is the whole story. The Kärcher is in the table so you can see the mains fork, not because we think of the Bosch as a cheaper K4.
| Model | What it is | Max pressure | Flow | Hose or tank | Weight | Typical UK price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bosch UniversalAquatak 135 | Lightweight mains | 135 bar | 410 to 450 L/h | 7 m PVC | 7.9 kg | £114.98 |
| Bosch Fontus Gen II | Cordless trolley with a tank | 20 bar | 90 to 186 L/h | 15 L tank, 4 m PVC | 6.4 kg without battery. About 22 to 25 kg full | £179 bare, £198 kit |
| Kärcher K4 Power Control Flex | The usual mains alternative | 20 to 130 bar | 420 L/h | 8 m PremiumFlex | 11.5 to 12.1 kg | £169 |
1. Bosch UniversalAquatak 135: the everyday one
The metal three-cylinder pump is the part that justifies buying this over the cheapest thing on the shelf. Plastic pumps are what fail first on budget machines, and at £114.98 a metal one is not a given. Behind it sits a 1.9 kW motor and 135 bar, which is all the pressure a domestic job needs and about the same territory as the mains Kärcher people usually compare it to.
What you really notice is the weight. 7.9 kg comes up a flight of stairs in one hand and lives in a hall cupboard rather than needing a garage. If the machine has to be carried to and from a parking bay every time, that number matters more than any spec on the box.
The 3-in-1 nozzle puts fan, rotary and pencil in one part, so there’s no bag of attachments to lose. Fan is the setting for paint, rotary is for stone, and pencil should never go near a car. Detergent sits on the lance in a 450 ml bottle and runs at high pressure, so soap actually goes on rather than dribbling out. On price, Bosch lists it at £184, which is not the street price and never has been. It’s also sold direct from Bosch, and the Amazon listing has not always carried a featured offer, so check both. More detail in our full review.
Buy it for
- Flats with a parking bay
- Smaller cars
- Carrying up and down steps at 7.9 kg
- A house that already has a tap and a socket outside
Skip it if
- You want an 8 m Flex hose and a gun that shows the pressure step, which is the K4
- You already own Kärcher lances and bottles
- There’s no outdoor tap, in which case it’s the Fontus
2. Bosch Fontus Gen II: the one for a place with no tap
Twenty bar is a rinse, not a quieter 135. That’s the sentence to hold onto, because the Fontus looks like a small pressure washer and behaves like a very good hose. It’ll take mud off a bike, freshen up garden furniture, clean walking boots and give a small car a careful rinse. It will not lift ingrained road film or touch a mossy slab, and no amount of trigger time changes that.
Where it earns its keep is water independence. Fill the 15 litre tank at the kitchen sink, wheel it to wherever you’re working and there’s no hose through the house and no lead across the path. Bosch quotes up to 60 minutes on the 2.5Ah pack, and that figure is battery time, not tank time. At the higher end of the flow range the water is gone in well under ten minutes of actual trigger time, so plan around refills rather than the headline number.
Weight needs care too. Bosch quotes 6.4 kg without a battery and Wickes prints 9.43 kg, and once the tank is full you’re pushing something in the region of 22 to 25 kg. It’s a machine you roll, not one you carry, and it’s worth draining before it goes in the boot. Bare tool makes sense only if you already own Power For All packs, and Bosch wants 2.0Ah or larger. There’s a smaller 6 litre Fontus in the range as well, which is worth knowing about if a bike rinse is genuinely all you need. Our Fontus review goes further, and there’s more context in our guides to tank machines and cordless washers generally.
Buy it for
- Anywhere with no outdoor tap
- Bikes, garden furniture and muddy boots
- A careful rinse of a small car
Skip it if
- There’s already a tap and a socket, where the Aquatak 135 does far more
- You’ll be carrying a bucket anyway, since a handheld is usually lighter
- Six litres would cover it, in which case the smaller Fontus is the cheaper answer
Bosch or Kärcher?
Most people shopping for a mains washer at this money end up holding a Bosch in one hand and a Kärcher K4 in the other, so it’s worth being clear about what actually separates them.
Bosch is lighter, simpler and often cheaper on the street. 7.9 kg against 11.5 to 12.1 kg is a real difference if the machine gets carried, and £114.98 against £169 is a real difference full stop. On pressure there’s very little in it, and cars do not need 145 bar. What they need is hose and flow.
Buy the K4 instead if you want the 8 m PremiumFlex hose rather than 7 m of PVC, if you want the LED on the gun telling you which pressure step you’re on, and if you already own yellow bottles and lances that would otherwise go to waste. That’s a coherent set of reasons, and it’s worth £54 to some people. It’s widely available at £169, and we’ve written it up in our K4 review and the Kärcher hub.
When Bosch isn’t the answer
You still need a tap and an outdoor socket. A mains Bosch wants a garden hose and an outdoor-rated 13A lead. Don’t park an Aquatak in the kitchen and run a lead through the hall, because that’s how a cheap job becomes an expensive one.
No outdoor socket, but a tap or a bucket within reach? A handheld from the cordless set is usually lighter than a 15 litre trolley and easier to live with.
A patio head is why you’re here? You’re on the wrong brand page. A T 5 will not clip onto a Bosch gun, and the connections are push-fit rather than the yellow bayonet, so accessories don’t cross over.
Two other Bosch names come up when people search. EasyAquatak is a different, lighter class of machine, and Bosch DIY also lists a heavier AdvancedAquatak. Until there’s a clear street price sitting next to the UniversalAquatak 135, we’re not sending anyone to either of them. If the 135 is out of stock, the honest move is to look at the mains hub or the budget guide rather than up the Bosch range for the sake of it.
Using a Bosch on paintwork
Wide fan, and at a distance. That’s most of it. Leave the rotary and pencil settings off lacquer, glass, sensors and tyres, because damage on a car nearly always comes from the nozzle rather than the machine. The 450 ml bottle is the soap step, not a reason to skip the mitt: foam softens the dirt, the mitt lifts it, and the jet only rinses. The full order of work sits on our car guide, and the walkthrough covers technique in general.
FAQs
Which Bosch pressure washer should I buy?
The UniversalAquatak 135 at £114.98, as long as you’ve got a garden tap and a 13A socket outside. It gives you 135 bar, a metal three-cylinder pump and a 7.9 kg body that’s easy to carry and store. If there’s no outdoor tap, the Fontus Gen II is the one, because it brings its own 15 litres.
Is the UniversalAquatak 135 powerful enough?
For a domestic job, comfortably. 135 bar with 410 to 450 L/h handles a car, garden furniture and a patio, and it’s in the same pressure territory as the mains Kärcher most people weigh it against. The limits are the 7 m PVC hose, which is a metre shorter and stiffer in the cold, not the pump.
Is the Fontus just a cordless version of the Aquatak?
No, and this is the mistake to avoid. The Fontus makes 20 bar against the Aquatak’s 135, so it’s a rinse rather than a wash. It’ll clean bikes, furniture and boots and rinse a small car carefully. It won’t lift ingrained road film or clean a mossy slab, whatever else it has in common with the badge.
How long does the Fontus tank last?
Less time than the battery does. Bosch quotes up to 60 minutes on the 2.5Ah pack, but that’s battery life, not water. At the higher end of the flow range, 15 litres is gone in well under ten minutes of actual trigger time, so think in refills rather than in minutes.
How heavy is the Fontus really?
It depends what’s being counted. Bosch quotes 6.4 kg without a battery and Wickes prints 9.43 kg, and with the tank full you’re moving somewhere around 22 to 25 kg. Treat it as something you wheel rather than carry, and drain it before it goes in the boot.
Bosch or Kärcher for a UK home?
Bosch is lighter, simpler and often cheaper on the street, and the pressure difference is not meaningful for a car. Go Kärcher K4 if you want the 8 m PremiumFlex hose, the LED on the gun showing the pressure step, and you already own yellow bottles and lances.
Do Kärcher accessories fit a Bosch?
No. Bosch uses push-fit connections rather than the yellow bayonet, so a T 5 patio head will not clip onto a Bosch gun. If you already own a shelf of Kärcher accessories, that’s a genuine reason to stay with the brand you’ve got.
What about the EasyAquatak and AdvancedAquatak?
EasyAquatak is a lighter class of machine and AdvancedAquatak is a heavier one. We’re not recommending either until there’s a clear street price next to them the way there is for the UniversalAquatak 135. Right now the 135 is the Bosch that makes sense on price and specification together.
The short version. Tap and socket outside? Buy the UniversalAquatak 135. No tap? Buy the Fontus Gen II and treat it as a rinse rather than a wash. Bosch is the lighter, simpler, usually cheaper route, and the K4 earns its extra £54 only if you specifically want the longer Flex hose, the gun LED, or you’re already invested in yellow accessories.
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