Best Smart Fridge

OUR TOP PICK

Summary

First off, we’re looking at a refrigerator made by an extremely well-known company that has been making high-quality technology such as phones and tablets for decades. It’s a refrigerator for your average family-on-the-go, a development from the common french door style of fridge - it’s the Samsung 27.7 cu. Ft. Family Hub 4-Door Smart Refrigerator.

The feature that most user’s eyes will be drawn to is the integrated 21.5-inch touch screen in the right-hand door. This fridge comes with a plethora of apps, including a camera that lets you see what’s on the inside of your fridge! 

Firstly there’s a shopping list app, which allows you to itemize what you need and what you don’t need, allowing you to consult your fridge before zapping the list to your phone. There is also an app for displaying photos, meaning you’ll save plenty of money on fridge magnets!

There is also a very useful calendar app that allows you to collate each family member’s individual calender into the family fridge unit, which will allow you to coordinate your schedule better. There is also a whiteboard app, so you can make a quick note to another member of the family before leaving the house.

This fridge basically utilizes modern technology to enhance the communal aspects that have been the functions of refrigerators for generations, usually using post-it notes and fridge magnets.

The one feature that makes this fridge particularly unique is the camera function built into the door. The camera simply takes a picture of the inside of your fridge every time you close the door. Once you push the ‘see inside’ button, it’ll give you a view of what’s in your fridge, allowing you to tag them with countdowns, so you can see when they’ll expire. You can even look at these images on your phone whilst you’re out at the store.

Pros

• The Samsung Family Hub is exactly that - the perfect fridge unit for busy families. This fridge is highly customizable and adaptable, with a touch screen that allows you to organize the day-to-day of your family’s lives.

• This fridge’s touch screen comes with a wide range of apps that includes: calendar, whiteboard, weather monitoring, time, photo album, shopping list, TV playing, View Inside, web browsing and an app for instructional recipes and cooking videos.

• An incredibly attractive model, this fridge will elevate the look of even the most modest of kitchens.

Cons

• The price - expect this smart fridge to set you back a few thousand dollars.

• The touch screen might contain some bells and whistles that a lot of families might prefer to replicate with traditional pencil, paper and magnets.

EDITORS CHOICE

Summary

Our second fridge is packed full of innovative concepts and ideas, with a compartmentalized pantry-style layout on the inside that utilizes much more of the average refrigerator space, with modulating shelves, this certainly is an adaptable cooler. It can also be connected to your mobile device so you can monitor the temperature and power outage - introducing the Whirlpool 25 cu. Ft. French Door Refrigerator.

This refrigerator also features an app called Party Mode, which will mean that the ice bucket will automatically fill itself in anticipation of entertaining multiple guests. You can also alter the temperature of the Whirlpool fridge remotely.

This refrigerator focuses more on the interior than the integrated technology, with french door style openings, the manufacturer boasting that this unit increases storage capacity by over 30%, mostly by having shelves that can be retracted to create more room as and when needed.

This fridge also synchronizes with a Nest Rush Hour feature that ceases your refrigerators defrost time until off-peak hours to save on power.

Pros

• This fridge offers remote control and wifi adaptability for its inside temperature controls, also giving you alerts to your phone in case of errors such as power outages.

• The price - in terms of smart fridges, this is one of the cheaper models, as it offers the most basic, some might say essential, features such as temperature control and power-saving attributes.

• With increased storage space, you can really load up with Whirlpool with as many ingredients as you want, with adaptable shelves on the inside, this fridge is perfect for those who host parties or gatherings of multiple people on a regular basis.

Cons

• This does not come with any of the fancy flourishes - like a touch screen interface or app downloads - that features on some of the higher-end smart fridges. This might lose it points amongst some of the technology-minded.

BEST VALUE

Summary

Next up we’ve got a smaller version of our earlier Samsung Family Hub. But what are the benefits of the diminutive model? Well, there are two different styles of the smaller family hub, french door (three or four-door) or flex door (a four-door version of a conventional side-by-side fridge) and come in a wide range of colors - stainless steel, black or Tuscan stainless steel. Whatever you pick, the Samsung 26.5 cu. Ft. Family Hub French Door Smart Refrigerator is definitely a must-have for the modern family.

This one, like the larger model, has a 21.5 touch screen integrated into the door. This touch screen acts as an organizer, a bulletin board for the family, containing a smart speaker, as well as remote fridge-control settings and an app-powered operating system.

There are three cameras built into this smart fridge, which you can either view from the in-door touch screen interface or via your mobile app. Again, this is extremely useful if you are out shopping and what to check the contents of your fridge with the utmost accuracy.

Inside the fridge is obviously smaller than the 27.7 model, but this one has two doors and a retractable third drawer which actually has an adjustable temperature control all of its very own, so you can keep the temperature of whatever is in that drawer at a different level than the rest of the contents.

Pros

• The sheer flexibility of this cooler is amazing. The flex version of the Samsung fridge doesn’t contain a storage drawer but instead has a drawer that can be used as a freezer or a wine cooler, depending on your preference.

• This fridge comes with built-in water and ice dispenser on its outside left-hand door, which can once again be operated manually or with the touch screen in the right-hand door.

• The inside is adaptable to all kinds of storage situations, whether you’re a family who needs plenty of room for the usual fruit, meat and veggies or you’re a bachelor who simply wants a cool-looking fridge he can store wine and beers in for his parties.

• The inside storage is both easy to clean and extremely malleable. You can withdraw or fold-in the tempered glass shelves and side doors in order to customize the fridge to your unique specifications.

Cons

• The touch screen can be a little laggy and unresponsive.

• The price - like its bigger brother, this will set you back a few thousand dollars. It won’t be appealing to those who just want simple fridge functions.

RUNNER UP

Summary

Our fourth fridge comes from another highly respected retailer in the electronic gadgets market. LG has been producing innovative products for decades and this one comes high-rated amongst its users, blending state-of-the-art technology with those reliable and familiar refrigerator functions - introducing the LG Electronics 27.8 cu. Ft. 4-Door Smart Refrigerator.

These refrigerators are known for their reliability, featuring Linear Cooling that helps to keep the temperature within 1-degree of your designated setting. This means that you can keep the food within the temperature boundaries set by the food manufacturer. It will also keep the temperature consistent throughout the entire unit, with a wide variety of digital sensors and vents to maintain this temperature.  

The connectivity of this refrigerator is what sets it apart from a lot of the other units, using an app called ThinQ which connects the user with their fridge wherever they are.  

ThinQ allows the user to issue voice commands to their fridge - now that really is like something out of 2001: A Space Odyssey! Using Alexa or Google Assistant, you can alter the temperature of your fridge or even open the door by issuing a voice command into your smartphone or tablet. It will also adapt itself to your particular preferences over time, lowering energy consumption during the times when you are less likely to use it, etc.  

Using ThinQ, the refrigerator will be able to tell when your door is open for too long or whether you have a lot of food in your fridge, adapting itself accordingly. It will also run a fresh air filter to keep the food fresh and run the compressor in high-efficiency mode when required.

Pros

• This is a refrigerator like no other - with highly smart predictive technology, it will change its settings to give you the fridge you need. Whether it’s low power or a longer LED light running time, the fridge will augment its behavior over time.

• These machines are also very energy-efficient and ultra-quiet. With an EnergyStar label, it will help save the planet while reducing your monthly energy bill by some margin.

• With a LoDecibel technology, this refrigerator will ensure you and your family a solid night’s sleep, the additional touch screen and smart features won’t drain your energy unnecessarily.

Cons

• The sheer range of technological innovation on the LG Smart Fridge might seem unnecessary for those who want something that will simply keep their food chilled.

• This large unit might overwhelm a smaller kitchen and you might even struggle to find a place to house it.

RUNNER UP

Summary

Our final smart fridge is a gorgeous high-end product with a fingerprint-resistant stainless-steel exterior that will undoubtedly give most kitchens that added class and futuristic gloss - introducing the GE Profile 27.9 cu. Ft. Smart French Door Refrigerator.

For its premium price, you can expect every innovation that a smart fridge has to offer. It has sleek sliding doors, with an ice and water dispenser that comes with an auto-fill feature that ensures that you and your guests are never thirsty. 

What makes this fridge a smart one is the independent digital controls on the fridge and freezer compartments. These completely separate drawers can be used to chill things such as wines at completely different temperatures to the rest of the fridge. These drawers are perfect for storing beers or food platters.

Pros

• The crisper in this fridge seals the veggies inside, meaning that your they won’t wither and wilt as quickly as in more standard fridges.

• Whereas it might lack some of the bells and whistles of the more advanced fridges on this list, it does streamline and improve upon the traditional fridge functions using smart technology. Where else would you find a fridge that knows when to refill itself?

Cons

• Consider the modest amount of features it has to offer, this fridge is still remarkably expensive. You can get a lot more technological features for a lot less money with some of our other units.