Yes, the one people recommend most, the top loading TC5, has an old fashioned agitator and will accelerate wear and tear but that's the trade off for getting clothes really clean in about 35 minutes per load.

Yes. Compared to a quality front loader like a Miele, they wear out the clothes very quickly.

I did a big outback road trip, and using the coin laundries in caravan parks and like (almost all speed queen), pilled, faded and thinned my clothes drastically faster than my front loader at home.

It was an outback trip too, so it was 90% cotton shirts and shorts. I wasn’t washing fine silks or delicate synthetics.

I had a couple of sets of ‘nice’ clothes for the odd dinner in a town, and those speed queens flogged the shit out of them too.

Until you have owned a quality front loader, you don’t realise how long clothes can actually last.

My research suggested the same thing.

If true it is unfortunate, but that did not deter me from buying a Speed Queen.

I took an inventory of the number of "delicate" items my family washes. I found that I was concerned about a very small percentage of my clothes.

I am not concerned with the washer being rough on jeans and t-shirts.

The bigger problem would be the size depending on what your needs are. Even their own page highlights this.

https://speedqueen.com/top-load-vs-front-load/

So if you are doing a load a week then it might not be a big deal. But a family doing lots of laundry that might become an issue. Then there is cost. Depending on where you are water costs might be very important or not at all. So you might need to make a choice based on that. There is no perfect machine only the one that will work best for you based on your needs.

all i know is they last forever and are still made in the US

Completely untrue. Mine is as gentle as a lamb.