Side by side
| | Sun Joe SPX3550 Brushless Induction Pressure Washer | Greenworks 2700 PSI Brushless Electric Pressure Washer | Westinghouse ePX3050 Electric Pressure Washer |
|---|
| What it is | Cold-water electric pressure washer | Cold-water electric pressure washer | Cold-water electric pressure washer |
| Published output | 2350 max PSI / 1.8 max GPM (2000 / 1.1 rated) | 2700 PSI / 2.3 GPM max, brushless | 2100 max PSI / 1.76 max GPM (1800 / 1.2 rated) |
| Size / what ships | 20 ft hose, 40.6 fl oz detergent tank | Not listed | 14 lb, 35 ft GFCI cord |
| Best for | Buyers who care about motor longevity and noise as much as output | One washer covering the car, the patio and the siding | A first pressure washer, bought to run a foam cannon on a budget |
| Price band | Mid | Premium | Budget |
Every figure above is read from the product listing on the date recorded under each write-up below. Where a maker does not publish a figure, this table says so rather than estimating one.
Both brands quote a max. Only the rated figure describes a wash
This is the part that makes the comparison look closer than it is. A pressure washer has two output figures and manufacturers are free to lead with either. A max(or “peak”) figure is what the pump can touch momentarily, typically at the instant the trigger closes under no real load. A ratedfigure is what it holds while you are actually spraying something. Pro Tool Reviews has made exactly this point about the category’s headline claims, bench-testing units against their PWMA-certified rated performance rather than their “PSI Max” stickers.
Line these two up properly and the marketing collapses:
- Sun Joe SPX3550:2350 PSI / 1.8 GPM max — 2000 PSI / 1.1 GPM rated.
- Greenworks 2700 brushless:2700 PSI / 2.3 GPM max — 1.2 GPM rated flow.
On flow — the figure that carries soap onto a panel and rinses it off again — they are within a rounding error of each other, and both sit at the bottom of the usable range. On pressure, Greenworks wins by 700 PSI of capability you have been told not to point at your car. To its credit, each manufacturer does publish its rated figure somewhere; neither leads with it.
Our pressure washer roundup sorts the whole category on rated flow for this reason, and what PSI to pressure wash a car covers the other half of it.
Where the Sun Joe genuinely wins
Noise and motor life.Both machines are brushless, so this is not a Sun Joe exclusive — but the SPX3550 is the smaller, lighter body of the two running that motor, and in practice a smaller frame with an induction motor is the quieter machine on a Saturday morning in a shared driveway.
The detergent tank. 40.6 fl oz onboard is a large tank by the standards of this price band, and Greenworks publishes no tank figure for comparison. It is worth being clear about what that tank does, though: an onboard siphon produces soapy water, not foam. It is not a substitute for a foam cannon.
Footprint.The SPX3550 stores in less space than the wheeled Greenworks frame. That sounds trivial and it is the most common reason a pressure washer stops getting used — a machine you have to excavate from behind the lawnmower is a machine you skip.
Where the Greenworks genuinely wins
Everything that is not a car.2700 PSI is the most headroom of the three machines here, and on a concrete driveway, a wooden fence or vinyl siding, pressure is the spec that matters. If one purchase has to cover the car and the house, this is the honest pick — you just have to be disciplined about tips when the car comes round.
It rolls. A wheeled frame is easier to reposition around a full-size vehicle than a unit you carry, and repositioning is unavoidable: every machine in this class ships a hose short enough that you will move it at least once per wash.
Nozzle range. 15, 25, 40, turbo and soap covers every job a homeowner has. Two notes: the 40-degree tip is the one for paint, and the turbo nozzle should never be pointed at a car. The same warning applies to the 0-degree pencil jet in the Sun Joe box.
The third answer: you may not need either
Here is the uncomfortable part. The Westinghouse ePX3050 in the table above is the cheapest pressure washer we list, and Westinghouse publishes a rated 1800 PSI / 1.2 GPM— which is the same rated flow as the Greenworks and marginally more than the Sun Joe. It also ships a foam cannon in the box.
So for the specific job of washing a car, the extra money on either brushless machine does not buy you more water. It buys a motor that should last longer, a bigger detergent tank, and in the Greenworks’ case pressure for jobs that are not cars. Those are legitimate reasons to spend more. “It will wash the car better” is not one of them.
And if flow is what you are actually after — if the reason you are buying a machine at all is thick foam and a fast rinse — none of these three is the answer. That is a 2.0 GPM conversation, and it is covered in the full roundup. The Kärcher vs Sun Joe comparison takes the same two-figure problem apart against a machine that publishes a single certified number instead.
What neither machine changes
Both run on a standard 15-amp household circuit, which is the physical ceiling on this entire category: no electric washer at this price produces both high pressure and high flow, because the outlet will not supply it. You are choosing which side of that budget to spend, every time.
And neither machine washes the car. The two-bucket contact washdoes that — the washer handles the pre-soak and the rinse, which is the half of the job that keeps grit off your mitt. If you are still deciding whether to buy a machine at all, pressure washer versus garden hose is the page to read first; for plenty of people a hose, two buckets and a grit guard gets the car just as clean.
Our call
Sun Joe SPX3550 between these two if the car is the main job: smaller, quieter, bigger tank, and the tenth of a gallon it gives up is invisible in use.
Greenworks 2700 brushless if the washer has a second career on concrete and siding. Buy it for the driveway and accept that the car only ever sees the 40-degree tip.
Westinghouse ePX3050if you want the car washed for the least money. Same rated flow as the Greenworks, a cannon in the box, and a universal motor that will not last as long — which is an honest trade, not a trap.
