When shopping for mini fridges, the most important features to consider are shelf configurations (and adjustability), design aesthetics, and whether or not you want a freezer. Mini fridges aren’t generally built to last the way that full-sized ones are, so keep in mind that a good one will need to be replaced around the five-year mark, depending on how much you use it. Learn more about how Insider Reviews tests and researches home products. Just like full-size fridges, we tested mini fridges in laboratory conditions and used them normally over the course of a week. This combination of approaches gives us a great sense for how these appliances behave, both in terms of raw performance and overall user friendliness. A product must have both of these qualities in order to earn our recommendation.
First we fill the fridge with water ballast, because (fridges operate better when there’s less empty space). The Galanz GLR31TBEER features a 1950s classic car aesthetic and comes in a variety of different colors. This mini fridge offers the most storage area out of all the models we tested, measuring a whopping 3 cubic feet—about 0.5 cubic feet larger than the rest of the pack. A mini fridge is a dorm bedroom must, the perfect addition to your home coffee bar and a great tool for storing beauty products in the bathroom. And keeping a mini fridge at your desk is always a great idea if you have food allergies or someone keeps on stealing your lunch from the office fridge.
To help you find the perfect mini fridge for your budget and needs, I put together a list of the five best models you can buy. I’ve broken down their features and price points so you can compare and choose the one that is the best fit for your home, office, or dorm. Mini fridges are almost synonymous with college dorm life, but they can be helpful around your home or office as well.
This might make it a good choice if you’re big on frozen foods or use a lot of ice cubes. If you expect to store perishables like leftovers or milk, add a thermometer inside to monitor the temperature and ensure it stays below 38°F. It’s a good idea to buy a refrigerator thermometer and check the temperatures periodically. To keep foods safe, the fresh food compartment should be no higher than 40 degrees F and 37 degrees F is optimal.
They maintain more even temperatures and give you more storage for frozen goods — at the cost of refrigerated space. This mini fridge from KitchenAid is a high-end model with lots of premium features that make it well worth the almost $2,400 price tag. It comes in either silver or dark stainless steel, with a design that mimics wine chillers and commercial refrigerators, which means this model will be right at home in any chef-quality home kitchen or home bar. The door features a glass panel for easy identification of what you have inside and to help take stock of beverages and snacks at-a-glance.
Keep frozen items ice cold with controls that allow you to adjust the temperature level in the freezer compartment. Most manufacturers measure the interior of a fridge by essentially flooding it with water and accounting for every empty inch inside the fridge. They would suggest you could store items in the area between the shelves and the door bins, or floating up against the ceiling. We tested mini fridges the same way we test full-size fridges—just scaled down to size. The Costway EP22672BK offers an average amount of storage space, but with a slightly smaller fridge and a slightly larger freezer.
After taking apart fridges and talking to expert technicians, we found that there’s little difference between mini fridges. If we haven’t tested a specific mini fridge model yet, we rely on our knowledge base from in-Lab and at-home consumer testing, as well as our product experts’ extensive research and industry experience. We’re also able to recommend models based off of full-sized fridges that tested well for Arctic King us and recognize models with the details that stand out most. In addition, we evaluate each refrigerator’s ease of use, including the helpfulness of the manual, the type and ease of use of the controls and the comfort of grasping or using the door handles. If you’re looking for a spot to store extra drinks, the Frigidaire 6-Can Mini Retro Beverage Fridge’s 14-cubic foot construction is the perfect choice.
Eva (she/her) is a reviews analyst in the Kitchen Appliances and Innovation Lab, where she tests kitchen gear, home appliances and culinary innovations. She graduated from NYU with a bachelor of science in food studies, Arctic King nutrition and public health and is a trained chef through the Natural Gourmet Institute. Eva has more than 10 years of experience in the food industry, working as a food stylist, personal chef and marketing manager.