> I’ve come to the conclusion that buying “consumer” or even “prosumer” appliances is a lost cause, all the brands use the same 3 white label Chinese manufacturers and you get the same quality no matter what you buy, you can expect to be shopping for a new appliance in <5 years time.

In general that's very true across industry now. For more information on this white labeling phenomenon this documentary is great:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oeTgLKNb5R0