A refrigerator is probably the most important appliance in your house. In addition to keeping your food preserved, it's also the informal hub around which your family's day is organized. And, its door serves as a message center and chronicler of important family events. So when buying a fridge, it's vital that you pick one that best suits your needs and budget. Based on our research, these are the 10 best refrigerators for families and homes of all types.
Samsung is adding some new features to its Family Hub refrigerators, including the ability to pre-heat Samsung connected ovens, mirror and control Samsung TVs and smartphones, watch YouTube, Prime Video, and Hulu, and answer calls via Bluetooth. The Family Hub will also be available in Tuscan stainless steel.
New JennAir smart refrigerators work with an app that allows you to adjust refrigerator temperatures from the car or the supermarket; if you’ve just bought a load of perishables, you can lower the fridge temp before you get home. The app also allows you to contact the JennAir call center to diagnose problems or arrange for service calls.
GE's Café Modern Glass Collection 4-door refrigerator ($4,199) has a glass front with platinum underneath that shines through and “pocket” handles. Inside, the back wall, LED lights provide excellent visibility.
This is one showy fridge. The Samsung RF28JBEDBSG Showcase refrigerator has a double door on the upper right that allows quick access to frequently used items, such as condiments and bottles, which saves you from having to fully open the refrigerator. However, reviewers were mixed about the usefulness of this feature.
There was general agreement that the FlexZone drawer was very handy for keeping select items at a temperature that's different from the one in the main refrigerator compartment. The fridge also uses large metal plates to keep things cool, and it looks like they do their job well — it consistently held temperatures in lab tests. It's available in both black stainless and regular, fingerprint-resistant stainless steel.
Essentially the Samsung Family Hub refrigerator without the big touch screen, the Samsung RF28HMEDBSR has tempered-glass shelves, gallon door bins and an exterior water/ice maker. Available in white, stainless steel and black stainless steel, this refrigerator is also available with a FlexZone drawer as well as models at counter and standard depth. While this model has a 28-cubic-foot capacity — and a spacious fridge — Samsung makes a similar 25-cubic-foot, narrow-width model that's 33 inches wide.
The best refrigerator for those on a smaller budget or who simply don't need a larger, fancier refrigerator, the no-frills GE GTE18GMHES is a good option. It has glass shelving and a sliding deli drawer and comes with an ice maker. However, this refrigerator lacks humidity controls for the crisper drawers and doesn't have independent controls for the fridge and freezer, so you'll have to pick between "colder" and coldest" for both.
While it's not huge by typical refrigerator standards, this model will have more than enough room for most bulky items. Starting at around $839, it's available in four finishes (stainless steel, bisque, silver, and white). Opting for stainless steel will increase the price by about $150.
Looks-wise, LG's LSXS26366S side-by-side refrigerator doesn't really stand out from its peers, but it hides a clever trick: A door-in-door lets you quickly access the upper two-thirds of the refrigerator section, which better helps everything else inside stay cool. Inside, it has bright LED lights, and on lab tests, it maintained temperatures very well, keeping everything cold. The ice drawer is on the small side, but that does leave more room for freezer storage.
If you don't care for the door-in-door feature, the LG LSXS26326s costs about $300 less but is otherwise the same.
Now in its third generation, Samsung's Family Hub smart refrigerator is instantly recognizable by its large 21-inch touch screen, which you can use to order groceries, play music, look up your calendar, watch TV, see who's at your front door and much more. Cameras inside the fridge let you see from your smartphone if you're running low on milk. While we're not high on Bixby, Samsung's voice assistant, it is built into the fridge, so you can ask it to control your smart home devices, such as lights, thermostats, robot vacuums and more.
The Family Hub is available in more than a dozen styles, including both counter and full-depth sizes; and three-door and four-door models (the FlexZone Drawer is a handy feature that helps you get to snacks and other frequently used items). In addition to a full-size freezer, the Family Hub is available in a "4 Door Flex" configuration, which lets you switch one compartment from freezer to fridge, depending on your needs.
A good midrange refrigerator, the Samsung RF263BEAESR French door refrigerator performed well on several reviewers' tests. While it doesn't have a huge amount of storage space, one shelf can fold up and out of the way for taller items, while another can slide out. A CoolSelect pantry lets you choose between one of three temperature presets, and it has two crispers. While reviewers noted that nothing really stands out with this fridge, it's a strong performer for the price, though some had issues with the ice maker, and others did not like the flimsy feel of the drawers. It's available in stainless steel, black stainless steel and white.
LG's premium refrigerator has a special door-in-door feature, which gives you easy access to often-used items without your having to open the entire refrigerator. Even the door itself has a small shelf where you can store small bottles and items.
A CustomChill drawer below the main refrigerator compartment lets you keep items at a different temperature; you can choose from four temperature settings, and it spans the width of the refrigerator, making it good for wide items like cakes and pizza.
In lab tests, reviewers found that the LG held temperatures cool and steady, with the exception of the door in door, which ran a little warm. Still, they praised its overall construction and design.
This French door-style refrigerator lacks an external ice/water dispenser (there's an ice maker in the freezer section), but in return, you get a relatively spacious refrigerator compartment with a full-width, temperature-controlled drawer. However, the temperature settings range from zero to 7; that's hardly definitive. Still, it held those temperatures consistently on tests. There's nothing overly flashy about this refrigerator, but what you get is solid performance at a good price.
This spacious refrigerator has a combined 24 cubic feet of storage space, which gives you tons of room to store all your foodstuffs. However, there's no water dispenser, which is a reasonable trade-off at this price. A large deli drawer spans the width of the refrigerator, and LEDs keep everything lit nicely.
It's a nice-looking fridge for the price, too: It has recessed grooves instead of protruding handles and an attractive stainless steel finish but isn't magnetic. Other review sites noted that door temperatures were on the warm side on their lab tests, but weren't bad when compared with others in its class. If you're looking for a top-freezer refrigerator with tons of space, this is the model to get.
Bottom-freezer refrigerators make it easier to access items in the main compartment: no more stooping over to reach the bottom shelf. While reviewers weren't overwhelmingly positive about this model, they did like its large interior, smooth drawers and spill-proof shelves.
While this LG refrigerator was good at holding temperatures steady, it tended to run warmer than expected in lab tests, so if you pick it up, be sure to lower the fridge's thermostat to the lowest setting.
The stainless steel model tends to pick up fingerprints, but this refrigerator is also available in black or white, which will save you $100.
