Finding the right temperature setting can be tricky since the temperature dial has no markings. Freezer burn is inevitable if you leave anything in there for more than a few days. They’re all built around similar parts, just in different capacities with different shelves. Most manufacturers measure the interior of a fridge by essentially flooding it with water and accounting for every empty inch inside the fridge. We don’t use these measurements for our testing, because they would suggest you could store items in the area between the shelves and the door bins, or floating up against the ceiling.
They are ideal for keeping your favorite beverages stocked for your next big get together and vary from 20 to 24 inches in width and 18 to 26 inches in depth. Yes, most college dorms allow you to have a mini-fridge inside your room. Be sure to check size regulations at your particular college, and coordinate with your roommate to see if they want to share. We exclude all claims for special, incidental, and consequential damages caused by breach of express or implied warranty. All liability is limited to the amount of the purchase price.
A mini fridge is a great addition to small space dorm rooms while an apartment sized fridge may be a better option for larger dorm rooms or small shared kitchen spaces. We used a low-temperature digital thermometer to take readings in each appliance. For the fridge compartment, we recorded the maximum and minimum temperatures it reached over a period of half an hour. After whirlpool mini refrigerator narrowing down the group to our top two picks, we recorded overnight temperature readings to be sure that they worked well. For now, we’ve decided to ignore two-door mini fridges, but we may test them in the future. In the Good Housekeeping Institute Kitchen Appliances and Innovation Lab, Eva Bleyer has tested all types of kitchen products from blenders to kitchen scales.
My pick for the best mini fridge is the Hisense LCR44D6NSE with its reversible door hinge, 4.4 cubic feet of interior storage, and stainless steel design that will complement almost any kitchen or garage decor. The Midea WHS-160R is a tall mini fridge with a slightly larger raw fridge capacity whirlpool mini refrigerator than the Danby, but in practice the difference is negligible. As far as temperature performance, it hit similar marks as the Danby did once we adjusted the dial. But the lettuce we stashed near the freezer frosted slightly after a few days of testing—not an issue we ran into with the Danby.
We updated this story in November 2022 to ensure all picks tested and vetted by the Good Housekeeping Institute Kitchen Appliances and Innovation Lab were available, in stock and correctly priced. Kyle Hamilton is a product tester at Reviewed, specializing in home appliances and technology. Though it does have some performance and usability issues, the Galanz GLR31TBEER still looks great and offers a ton of usable storage area. If you’re not planning on keeping anything particularly perishable in your freezer, it may still be a good pick-up. Learn more about how our team of experts tests and reviews products at Insider here.