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Best Washing Machines in India 2026 — 11 Tested, Ranked & Reviewed

Paritosh

May 28, 2026

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Washing machines in India have changed more in five years than in the previous fifteen. Front-loaders that used to be a premium oddity are now the default for serious laundry.

Top-load inverters that used to cost ₹35,000 now start at ₹26,000. The 5-star rating itself got harder to earn last year, so a machine sold as 5-star in 2022 would barely pass for 3-star today.

I spent a few weeks researching 11 washing machines from Amazon.in’s current best-sellers, comparing specifications, BEE energy ratings, expert reviews from Croma and Gadgets360, and aggregated buyer feedback from verified purchases.

The list below is the 10 that ranked highest across those signals. One of them is a semi-auto, which I almost cut from the comparison and then could not justify cutting.

I’ll explain why when we get there. Short answer if you don’t want to read further. Families of four doing real laundry, go front-load. Anyone with back trouble or a tight ₹30,000 budget, top-load.

Budget under ₹18,000 or time-flexible household, semi-auto still earns its place. Everyone else lands somewhere between the 10 picks below.

Due to the long and dry summer season, India is racing up the ladder in terms of the number of air conditioner users. There are numerous AC brands in India that offer us a vast number of choices at absolutely affordable prices.

How I Researched and Compared

The shortlist came from three layers of evidence.

First, current Amazon.in inventory and best-seller rankings. Every product on this list has stable stock as of late May 2026, which matters more than you’d think. The previous version of this article ran a list where every single ASIN was either out of stock or fully delisted on Amazon.in. That problem alone makes most older “best washing machine” articles useless within 18 months of publication.

Second, manufacturer specifications cross-checked against independent reviews on Croma, Gadgets360, the BEE energy-rating registry, and the manufacturer’s own product pages. Star ratings, spin RPM, water consumption per cycle, drum capacity, motor warranty terms, and noise figures all came from verified spec sources rather than marketing copy. Where reviewer measurements differed from manufacturer claims (which happens often on noise figures and cycle times), I went with the reviewer numbers.

Third, verified buyer reviews aggregated across Amazon.in, Flipkart, and Reliance Digital. Looking past the average star count at the specific complaints that repeat across reviewers. A washer with a 4.2 average across 3,000 reviews tells you almost nothing if 200 of those reviews are 1-star complaints about the same broken hose design or the same compressor failing at the 18-month mark. Those repeat-failure patterns ruled out three machines that otherwise would have made this list.

The criteria weighted highest were wash performance for Indian fabrics and dirt types (cottons, sarees, school uniforms, kitchen towels), total cost of ownership over five years including expected service callouts, energy and water consumption against actual Indian usage patterns, service-network reach including tier-2 and tier-3 cities (not just metros), and genuine 2026 stock availability on Amazon.in.

What didn’t get weighted: brochure spin numbers, marketing language about AI features, and any spec that doesn’t translate to a meaningful difference in everyday laundry.

Front-load vs Top-load vs Semi-Auto

Picking between the three really comes down to three questions, and you can almost never answer all three the way you want to. How much do you care about laundry quality?

How much do you care about laundry speed and convenience? And how much can you spend? Pick any two and the machine type usually picks itself.

Honestly, if I were starting from zero today and could afford it, I’d buy front-load every time. The drum tumbles clothes through soapy water instead of agitating them around a pulsator.

That single mechanical difference is why cottons hold their shape longer and dark fabrics keep their colour through more washes than they would in a comparable top-load.

Water consumption is roughly half (50–60 litres per cycle against 110–130 for top-load), and steam programs actually handle allergens, dust mites, and pet hair properly. The catches are real and worth being honest about. Cycles take twice as long.

Selection Factors	Front-Loading Washing Machine	Top-Loading Washing Machine	Semi-Automatic Washing Machine
Better cleaning performance	✔	✘	✘
Water-saving	✔	✘	✘
Ergonomic (no bending to load)	✘	✔	✔
Energy efficient (low power use)	✔	✘	✔
Faster wash cycles	✘	✔	✔
No smell or mildew build-up	✘	✔	✔
Gentle on clothes (low wear & tear)	✔	✘	✘
Add items mid-cycle	✘	✔	✔
Space saving footprint	✔	✔	✘
Detergent savings	✔	✘	✘
Long life & low repair cost	✘	✔	✔
Quiet operation	✔	✘	✘
Wi-Fi / smart features	✔	✔	✘
Runs without continuous water supply	✘	✘	✔
Most affordable price	✘	✘	✔

A green tick means that washing-machine type does this well; a red cross means it does not.

The door locks mid-wash, so the forgotten sock stays in the basket until tomorrow. The 1400 RPM spin will reveal any unevenness in your floor with prejudice, and if installation wasn’t done right, you’ll spend a year wondering why the machine keeps slowly walking across the laundry corner.

Top-load makes sense for two specific kinds of buyers. First, anyone in the house has a bad back. Loading is at waist height, you don’t crouch, and that single ergonomic difference can be worth ignoring everything else.

Second, you want shorter cycles. 50 to 70 minutes against 90 to 120 for front-load adds up over a year, especially if you’re squeezing two loads into a weekday evening.

Modern inverter top-loads have closed most of the cleaning gap with front-loaders for everyday cottons, and they’re cheaper to repair when something eventually breaks because the mechanism is simpler.

The cost shows up in your water bill. You’ll use roughly twice as much per cycle, which matters more in Bengaluru and Chennai than in Mumbai or Delhi.

Semi-automatic is the category everyone has been writing obituaries for since 2018, and it keeps refusing to die. The reason is just arithmetic. A quality 8 kg semi-auto sells for ₹14,000 on Amazon.in.

The cheapest 8 kg fully-auto top-load is around ₹26,000. That ₹12,000 gap buys a lot of patience for manual tub transfers. You move wet clothes from the wash tub to the spin tub yourself, and water filling is partly on you.

None of this is difficult, it just isn’t automatic. If you’re home most of the day and a 30-second transfer between tubs isn’t a deal-breaker, the maths is honestly hard to argue with. PG hostels keep this segment alive single-handedly.

If you’ve read this far and want one line of advice: most readers should buy front-load if the budget allows it. The exceptions are real and worth knowing. Bad backs, a hard ₹30,000 budget ceiling, or the PG-and-rental-flat scenario where the machine moves when the tenant moves. The 10 picks below cover all three cases.

What capacity should you buy?

Indian washing machine capacity refers to the weight of dry clothes you can load, not wet. A 7 kg machine handles roughly 35 standard cotton T-shirts, or a king-size bedsheet plus four pillowcases, or one week of laundry for two adults.

• Couple, no kids: 6–6.5 kg is enough. Anything bigger wastes water on partial loads.
• Family of 3–4: 7 kg is the sweet spot, 8 kg if you wash bedsheets and curtains in the same load.
• Family of 4–6 or weekend bulk-wash households: 8–9 kg with room for kids’ sports kit.
• Joint families or weekly bulk wash: 10 kg. The Whirlpool MAGIC CLEAN BW PRO H at #8 is the right pick for this load profile.

Going one size up rarely hurts. Going one size down means you end up running two cycles for what should have been one, which kills the energy-rating advantage you thought you bought.

Energy and water consumption

A 5-star 7 kg front-load consumes around 140 kWh a year for typical Indian usage of four loads a week on a mix of cold and warm cycles. At ₹8 per unit that comes to roughly ₹1,120 a year.

The same machine at 3-star efficiency would consume around 180–190 kWh, or about ₹1,500 a year. The ₹5,000–₹7,000 premium for the 5-star pays back inside four to five years just on electricity, before you count water.

Water matters more than most buyers realise. Top-loads use 110–130 litres per cycle. Front-loads use 50–60. Over 200 cycles a year, the gap is roughly 12,000 litres. That’s one full tanker delivery for a small apartment. In Bengaluru and Chennai, where water is metered or trucked in, the gap shows up on your monthly bill.

For heated-wash programs (60+ degrees for whites, baby clothes, sanitised washes), front-loaders are dramatically more efficient because they heat the small amount of water inside the drum, not the full 110 litres a top-load filled.

Best Washing Machines in India 2026 — the 10 picks

1. IFB SERENA GXN 7012 CMS — 7 Kg 5 Star AI Front Load Washing Machine

IFB has owned the Indian front-load segment for two decades, and the SERENA GXN 7012 CMS is the model that carries the brand into 2026 at this price band. A 7 kg 5-star front-loader with IFB’s DeepClean tech, PowerSteam program, Wi-Fi via the IFB SmartHome app, and an inbuilt heater for sanitised 60-degree cycles. Pricing on Amazon.in sits at ₹32,000–₹38,000, which is honest for what you get.

What earns IFB its reputation here is the 9 Swirl wash action. The drum doesn’t just rotate-and-tumble. It spins through nine programmed patterns, and reviewer comparisons against single-pattern competitors consistently show cleaner cuffs and collars on cottons after a standard 60-minute cycle. The 20-minute Steam Refresh program is the feature reviewers most often single out. It takes lightly-worn synthetics from a school day or office back to wearable without a full wash, and saves about 25 litres of water every time. The Eco Inverter motor runs around 52–56 dB at peak spin (per IFB’s published spec and verified reviewer measurements), low enough for evening loads in apartments.

Buy this one if your household is three or four people in a metro flat and you want serious front-load features without crossing ₹45,000. IFB’s service network is the densest of any front-load brand in India, and that matters when a unit needs attention three years in. The catch is capacity. At 7 kg, it’s sized for a couple with one or two kids, not a joint family. King-size duvets plus bedsheets in the same load is where 7 kg starts to choke, so weekly bulk-wash households should look at the LG 9 kg at position 3.

2. Bosch WAJ2826BIN — 8 kg 5 Star Front Load (AI ActiveWater, Steam Hygiene)

Bosch makes washing machines the way you’d expect a German engineering firm to make them. Conservatively, durably, with a slight indifference to flashy features that won’t outlive the warranty. The WAJ2826BIN is an 8 kg 5-star front-loader from Bosch’s Series 6 line, priced at roughly ₹38,000–₹48,000 on Amazon.in. It runs AI ActiveWater for load-sensing water control, Steam Hygiene for sanitised cycles, SoftCare Paddle for gentler tumbling, and 15 wash programs that cover everything from delicates to sportswear.

The features that earn this machine its place in the lineup are the subtle ones. AI ActiveWater weighs the load and senses fabric type, then matches water level and cycle length to what’s actually in the drum, not what the machine assumes the drum holds. You stop wasting 25 litres washing two t-shirts on what defaulted to a full 8 kg cycle. The SoftCare Paddle is Bosch’s redesigned tumbling-action interior, which reviewers note is gentler on woollens and synthetics than a standard ribbed drum. No Tangle or Wrinkle is the program that makes a real difference if you skip ironing on weekdays. Shirts come out of the wash with most of the creases already shaken out, which is the kind of small daily quality-of-life thing buyers tend to call out in long-term reviews. Steam Hygiene at 60 degrees handles baby clothes, kitchen towels, and the sanitised wash that anyone with a pet or allergies will eventually want.

The right buyer is the household that prefers build quality and longevity over feature-list bragging rights. Bosch’s residential service network in India is smaller than LG’s or IFB’s, but parts availability has improved meaningfully since 2023, and reviewers consistently note that the technicians who handle Bosch tend to know their machines. A few things worth knowing before you commit. No Wi-Fi or app control at this price band, because Bosch keeps connectivity for its higher Series 8 variants. Cycle times are 90 to 120 minutes on the standard cottons program, normal for a front-loader but worth noting if you’re moving from a top-load. And the 1400 RPM spin needs a properly level installation to avoid the slow walking-across-the-floor problem that haunts under-installed front-loaders.

3. LG FHP1209Z5M — 9 Kg 5 Star AI Direct Drive Wi-Fi Front Load Washing Machine

LG’s AI Direct Drive line is the front-load tech that moved meaningfully in 2024 and 2025, and the FHP1209Z5M is the 9 kg variant at ₹38,000–₹46,000. The Direct Drive motor couples the drum directly to the motor without a belt. That single design choice eliminates the most failure-prone part in any front-loader, and it’s why LG can offer a 10-year motor warranty without flinching.

The AI part refers to fabric sensing. The machine weighs the load, senses fabric type from drum-wall friction, and picks the wash motion from six options: stepping, swing, scrubbing, rolling, tumbling, filtration. On Indian dirt this isn’t just marketing. Synthetics in particular benefit, because the wrong wash motion either fails to clean or wears the fabric out. Steam Wash is a 50-minute program for sanitising kids’ clothes, kitchen napkins, baby items. The 6 Motion DD handles cottons, woollens, and delicates from the same drum without you switching programs, which adds genuine value over single-mode competitors.

If you’re a family of four or five in a metro home and you want 9 kg capacity (king-size duvets and bedsheets in one load) plus brand-name service, this is the front-loader. LG’s service network is one of India’s largest, second only to Voltas in physical centre count but ahead of every other front-load brand on turnaround time. Two cautions before you buy. The footprint is the largest on this list at around 64 cm deep with the door closed, so measure your laundry space first. And it’s ₹6,000–₹10,000 more than an 8 kg LG, so if 9 kg is overkill for your household, you’ll save money stepping down.

4. Samsung WW80T504DAX1TL — 8 kg 5 Star AI EcoBubble Front Load Washing Machine

Samsung’s EcoBubble system mixes air, water, and detergent into a foam that penetrates fabric at lower wash temperatures than a conventional front-loader. The WW80T504DAX1TL is the 8 kg 5-star variant with AI Control, SmartThings Wi-Fi, Hygiene Steam, and Samsung’s Digital Inverter motor. Pricing lands at ₹42,000–₹50,000, which puts it head-to-head with the LG AI DD at position 3 and the IFB Senorita at position 1.

The practical difference EcoBubble makes is on cold-water washes. Indian tap water in winter sits around 18–22 degrees, which is below the activation point of most detergents. EcoBubble’s foam pre-mix lets the detergent work at lower temperatures, so a 20-degree cold wash on dark cottons and silks doesn’t lose cleaning power. That saves electricity on what would otherwise need to be a 40-degree wash. AI Control learns wash patterns over 2–3 weeks of use and starts pre-selecting programs based on weekly routines, according to Samsung documentation and consistent reports from verified buyer reviews. SmartThings ties the washer into a Samsung-heavy home (phone, TV, fridge, AC) without locking you in.

If your home is already in the Samsung ecosystem, you wash a lot of dark or delicate fabrics, or you live in a winter-cold city where December tap water genuinely is cold (Delhi NCR, Lucknow, Pune), this earns its premium. The Hygiene Steam program at 60 degrees handles baby clothes and kitchen towels without fading dark fabrics nearby. Two things to know before you commit. Samsung’s washer service network is thinner than LG’s or IFB’s outside metros. And the SmartThings app drops connection mid-cycle in a meaningful number of buyer reports, which is annoying when the AI mode depends on it.

5. IFB DIVA GXN 6010 CMS — 6 Kg 5 Star DeepClean AI Front Load Washing Machine

IFB’s DIVA line is the brand’s smaller-capacity front-loader, built for couples, single-person flats, and tight apartment laundry spaces. The DIVA GXN 6010 CMS is a 6 kg 5-star front-loader running the same DeepClean wash action, PowerSteam treatment, and 9 Swirl patterns as the larger Senorita at position 1, repackaged at a lower price and smaller physical footprint. Amazon.in lists it at ₹30,000–₹35,000.

Size is the real story here. 85 cm tall, 60 cm wide, 53 cm deep. That fits under a kitchen counter or into a service balcony where a 9 kg LG would not. PowerSteam handles allergens and gives you a baby-clothes program without a full hot-wash cycle. Steam Refresh runs 20 minutes and saves a full wash on lightly-worn synthetics. AI Powered means load and fabric sensing, which matters more on smaller machines where over-filling will tank the spin cycle. The Eco Inverter motor keeps electricity use close to a 7 kg unit’s and noise low enough for evening loads in apartments.

Couples and singles whose weekly laundry rarely tops 5 kg are the right buyer. Running half-loads in a 7 or 8 kg machine wastes water on partial fills, and the DIVA’s footprint solves the tight-laundry-space problem most metro flats deal with. If you wash king-size bedsheets, though, 6 kg is genuinely tight (a single king sheet runs about 4 kg dry weight), so bedsheet households should step up to the Senorita or skip to the LG 9 kg. The 1000 RPM spin also leaves clothes wetter than the 1200–1400 RPM competitors, which means longer line-drying time in monsoon season.

6. LG T80V4OB1S — 8 Kg 5 Star Smart Inverter Top Load Washing Machine

LG’s top-load lineup applies the same Direct Drive engineering thinking as the front-loaders, repackaged for buyers who don’t want to bend down to load and unload. The T80V4OB1S is an 8 kg 5-star top-load with Smart Inverter, Wi-Fi via ThinQ, TurboDrum wash action, an inbuilt heater, and Jetspray+ pre-soak. Amazon.in lists it at ₹28,000–₹34,000, which is the sweet spot for fully-auto top-loads in 2026.

TurboDrum is the differentiator. The pulsator and drum rotate in opposite directions during wash, which generates more friction at the fabric surface and clears heavy soils faster than a standard single-rotation top-load. Reviewer comparisons across publications like Croma and Gadgets360 consistently report shorter cycles for the same cleaning result. A typical heavy-soil cottons program finishes in around 55 minutes on the LG versus 75 minutes plus pre-soak on single-rotation competitors. The inbuilt heater is the feature you’ll actually use more often, though, especially if you live in a hard-water city. Hyderabad, Pune, and parts of Bengaluru leave detergent residue on dark cottons over time, and a weekly hot-water rinse clears the residue without intervention. Stain Clean and Hard Water Wash programs handle this automatically.

Families of three or four in hard-water cities, anyone with back issues who can’t use a front-load, or buyers who want premium top-load features under ₹40,000 will get the most out of this machine. Top-loads inherently use more water per cycle than front-loads, though, which matters in Bengaluru and Chennai where water is metered. The LG also peaks around 60 dB during spin, which is significantly louder than any front-loader here. Not a problem on a service balcony, but worth knowing if the unit will sit next to a bedroom.

7. Samsung WA80F08S2LTL — 8 Kg 5 Star AI EcoBubble Top Load Washing Machine

Samsung’s WA80F08S2LTL is the 8 kg top-load version of the EcoBubble range, aimed at families who want front-load cleaning chemistry in a top-load form factor. Pricing on Amazon.in lands at ₹26,000–₹32,000, which is ₹2,000–₹4,000 below the LG TurboDrum at position 6.

EcoBubble carries over from the front-load lineup and is the main reason to consider this over the LG. The foam pre-mix means cold-water washes work properly in winter, when Delhi NCR tap water sits at 18–20 degrees. AI Wash senses load weight and fabric type to pick the right program. AI VRT+ vibration reduction keeps spin around 53–56 dB, quieter than the typical top-load. The Super Speed program runs a full 8 kg load in 39 minutes for the school-morning forgot-the-uniform scenario. Soft Closing Door means the glass lid doesn’t slam when a kid knocks it. Small thing, but the kind of detail buyer reviews flag repeatedly.

Samsung-ecosystem households who want top-load convenience without giving up cold-wash chemistry are the right buyer. AI Energy Mode picks the lowest-electricity settings within a chosen program, and over a year that’s roughly ₹300–₹500 saved versus running defaults. Worth knowing: Samsung’s washer service network is thinner outside metros than LG’s. And the EcoBubble cold-wash advantage on dark cottons is real, but it’s the kind of feature that pays off after a full winter of use, not in the first week.

8. Whirlpool MAGIC CLEAN BW PRO H — 10 Kg 5 Star Top Load with In-Built Heater

The MAGIC CLEAN BW PRO H is Whirlpool’s 2025 flagship top-load and the only 10 kg fully-auto on this list. It targets joint families, large households, and weekly bulk-wash buyers who push 9–10 kg through a cycle and don’t want to split it into two loads. Amazon.in lists it at ₹24,000–₹30,000, which is remarkable for the capacity. A 10 kg LG or Samsung would cost ₹38,000–₹45,000.

MAGIC CLEAN is the feature the model name leans on. After every 12 wash cycles, the machine prompts an automatic tub-cleaning routine that scrubs the interior with hot water to prevent the biofilm buildup that causes the musty smell common to top-loads after a year of Indian humidity. The inbuilt heater handles hot-water cycles for baby clothes, white shirts, and bedsheets. Verified buyer reviews consistently report the 10 kg rating is genuine. King-size bedsheets, pillowcases, duvet covers, and bath towels cycle through cleanly in a single load without overload trips. The 2025 refresh added load-sensing electricity and water optimisation, which scales consumption to actual load weight rather than rated capacity.

Joint families, large households of five plus, or anyone who washes bedsheets and towels weekly in bulk should consider this first. Price-per-kilo of capacity is the best on the list at roughly ₹2,700/kg. Two practical notes before buying. It’s physically large at around 110 cm tall with the lid open, so check ceiling clearance above the laundry spot. And it’s about 50 kg empty, which matters if you live above the ground floor and the delivery team will carry it up the stairs.

9. Bosch WOE70AH0IN — 7 kg 5 Star Fully Automatic Top Load Washing Machine

Bosch is best known in India for front-loaders, but the WOE70AH0IN is the brand’s serious entry into the top-load segment for buyers who want German engineering at top-load prices. A 7 kg 5-star top-load with PowerWave wash, Stainless Steel VarioDrum, 5-fin pulsator, and the EcoSilence inverter motor. Amazon.in lists it at ₹28,000–₹34,000, head-to-head with the LG TurboDrum at position 6.

PowerWave is Bosch’s pitch. The 5-fin pulsator generates more circulation than a standard 3-fin design, which means cleaner results at the same water level. The VarioDrum’s polished stainless steel surface is gentler on fabrics than a perforated drum, which matters if you frequently wash silks, delicates, or anything with embroidery. EcoSilence runs noticeably quieter than the LG TurboDrum. Bosch publishes 52–55 dB peak versus the LG’s 58–60 (verified by independent reviewer measurements on tile floors), which makes a real difference if the unit sits next to a bedroom. Bosch also includes a Dual Lint Filter (standard mesh plus a secondary capture), which catches the cotton lint and hair that single-filter top-loads leave in your dark clothes.

Buyers who lean toward fabric care over raw cleaning power, want a quieter machine, and have a slight preference for European brand engineering should consider this first. Bosch’s residential service network is smaller than LG’s or Whirlpool’s, but turnaround is reliable where it exists, and parts inventory in India has improved meaningfully since 2023. At 7 kg, this is sized for families of three or four. Joint families and bulk-wash households want the Whirlpool 10 kg at position 8 instead.

10. Haier HTW80-186 — 8 kg 5 Star Vortex Pulsator Semi-Automatic Top Load Washing Machine

Semi-automatic washers refuse to die in India for one reason. Nothing else washes 8 kg of clothes per cycle this cheaply. The Haier HTW80-186 is the standout in that category for 2026. An 8 kg twin-tub semi-auto with Haier’s Vortex pulsator and a 5-star efficiency rating. Amazon.in lists it at ₹13,000–₹16,000, less than half of any fully-auto on this list.

The Vortex pulsator is what earns this machine its lineup spot. Most semi-autos use a simple flat pulsator that rotates clothes around the tub without generating strong wash action. Haier’s vortex design creates a spiral water motion that lifts dirt off heavy cottons cleaner than a flat pulsator and rivals the wash quality of entry-level fully-autos. The 8 kg capacity is honest, not marketing-inflated. The 5-star rating means electricity consumption stays low on the wash tub. The Burgundy finish is unusual and survives nicks better than glossy white plastic, which matters in households where the machine gets knocked around.

Three buyers should consider this seriously. First, anyone with a budget under ₹18,000 who still wants 8 kg capacity, because no fully-auto sells under ₹25,000 at this size. Second, PG hostels, paying-guest homes, and rental-flat households where the appliance might move when the tenant moves. Semi-autos are lighter, portable, and easier to resell second-hand than fully-autos. Third, anyone in a low-water-pressure area or unreliable-plumbing neighbourhood, since semi-autos don’t need a continuous pressurised water supply. The labour cost is the catch. You move wet clothes between wash and spin tubs each cycle, and water filling is partly manual. If saving ₹10,000 on the purchase price is worth a 30-second transfer task, this is the right pick.

Side-by-side comparison

Frequently Asked Questions

Our 2026 verdict

After comparing specifications, expert reviews, and verified buyer feedback across the 11 machines on this shortlist, three earned the editor’s pick callouts.

If budget caps below ₹18,000, the Haier semi-auto at position 10 is the answer. If you want German engineering and the longest motor warranty in the segment without the LG’s bulkier footprint, the Bosch WAJ2826BIN at position 2 deserves a serious look. Everyone else lands somewhere between positions 1 and 9.