All of Whirlpool’s freestanding refrigerators were transitioned to the climate-friendly R600a refrigerant by the end of 2021. Senior staff writer Liam McCabe has covered home appliances since 2011, including a stint at Reviewed, and has worked on versions of this Wirecutter guide since 2014. Skip to content HUGE SALE – 50% off all retail items online and in-store. If that does not help, clean the inside of the unit by following the cleaning instructions included in the owner’s manual.
This allows you to keep an eye on your inventory and not have to stand there with the door open while fishing around or deciding what you want. As we mentioned earlier, the longer and more often you open your mini fridge door, the more you overwork the poor little built-in compressor, and the faster you shorten the appliance’s life. GE’s 3.1-Cubic-Foot mini fridge has a separate freezer and plenty of smartly-designated space for cans, food, and more. Normally $190, currently $150 which is pretty good for a 4.3 cubic foot mini fridge with a freezer compartment too (0.5 cubic feet). A mini fridge can absolutely be worth the cost, especially if you’re going off to college.
We did not physically test any refrigerators for this guide, but we think that our extensive research actually helped us identify important trends that we never would have found with testing alone. We haven’t done rigorous hands-on testing of any fridges in this guide, but we Frigidaire fridge have touched most models we mention here at appliance showrooms. We used an AI-powered analysis tool to scan 28,000-plus customer reviews across 34 fridge models for complaints and praise. Below, shop Target’s discounted mini fridge deals and enjoy the storage possibilities.
It also features a 1 gallon water tank and dispenser so you can fill your reusable water bottle with fresh, cool water whenever you like. The interior has 4.5 cubic feet of space, and the door has enough room for gallon water jugs and 2 liter soda bottles. There’s a freezer section at the top that you can either use to make ice for your drinks or to store frozen meals for quick lunches at your desk. It also has three removable glass shelves for making more room for tall items or when you need to wipe out the fridge. GE is also one of the handful of brands whose customer service seemed to generate fewer negative sentiments among our survey respondents, especially compared with LG and Samsung.
And shallower, counter-depth fridges are big enough for most households. But in the looser, more common definition, a “counter-depth” fridge is a freestanding model that’s noticeably shallower than a standard-depth fridge. You can find tons of these models for sale at any typical big-box appliance retailer, from every major brand, in most door configurations, at a range of prices.
Certain types aren’t available in certain sizes or at certain prices, so in choosing a model you don’t quite have carte blanche, but you usually have some wiggle room. GE also sells a bunch of affordable bottom-freezer models, such as the GBE21DYKFS, though we don’t have enough data on this category to have a clear picture of how they stack up against those of other brands. Top-freezer models from GE are decent and can be some of the very cheapest full-size fridges available.
This is basically destined to be a problem with most similar models, so it’s important to understand that you’re working with a very small, very inexpensively built appliance. If you don’t store 12-ounce cans, you might find that the can holder on the door becomes wasted space, and while most people agree that the freezer works well, some have found that temperature fluctuates above freezing. The back of the refrigerator compartment also tends to get colder, which you can use accordingly, but it can also be a nuisance. Compact and versatile as a fridge or freezer, Avanti’s Dual-Function mini fridge has a single shelf for easy storage and cleaning. Featuring a shelf, in-door storage, and a chiller, the Frigidaire 1.6-Cubic-Foot Compact Fridge has just enough room to store your mini fridge basics. Based on other mini fridges posted, this looks to be a pretty good deal.
Clark Howard says that with kitchen appliances, it is better to replace rather than fix, after the 3-5 year mark, which I found surprising. I just bought a slightly smaller Whirlpool for $160 at HD, though it has a separate freezer door. When you click through from our site to a retailer and buy a product or service, we may earn affiliate commissions. This helps support our work, but does not affect what we cover or how, and it does not affect the price you pay. Neither ZDNET nor the author are compensated for these independent reviews. Indeed, we follow strict guidelines that ensure our editorial content is never influenced by advertisers.