5 Popular Beverage Refrigerators Reviewed: Chilly Enough?

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Beverage refrigerators, or beverage coolers if you prefer, come in many shapes and sizes. Well, mostly in many sizes. They almost all have the pretty much the same shape.

A beverage refrigerator is generally sized by how many 12 ounce cans of liquid it can hold. In this overview and review, I’ll take a look at 5 coolers of various sizes that are currently among the most popular in the market, especially at Amazon.

If you are in a hurry and just want to check the availability and current pricing of a beverage refrigerator at Amazon, you can click (or tap) each of the links below.

• Whynter BR-091WS Beverage Refrigerator
• Phiestina PH-CBR100
• NewAir ABR-1770
• Avallon ABR241SG
• NewAir AWB-360DB Dual Zone Wine & Beverage Cooler

If you want more details, you can keep reading as usual. If you want to skip ahead to a specific section of the article, you can click a link in the box below.

Each beverage refrigerator uses a compressor cooling system, just as (I assume) most modern units do. This makes them more efficient and quieter than old style systems which you will probably find mostly on the secondary market these days.

They also sport LED lighting on the inside. LEDs are used because they produce virtually no heat that would otherwise warm up your beverages.

As you’ll soon see, these are virtually the only similarities among these coolers. Let’s take a look at them side by side first. After that, you’ll get a closer look at each one individually.

Comparison of the Main Features of the Coolers

Check out the table below to see at a glance which features each of these 5 beverage coolers has that might be of significance to you.

Mfg.	Whynter	Phiestina	NewAir	Avallon	NewAir
Model	BR-091WS	PH-CBR100	ABR-1770	ABR241SG	AWB-360DB
Capacity*	90 cans	106 cans	177 cans	152 cans	18 bottles; 60 cans
Racks	3	6	6	3	6 and 4
Temp. Range (deg. F.)	30 – 60	38 – 50	36 – 64	34 – 50	36 – 72
LED Lights?	Yes	Yes (blue)	Yes	Optional (blue & white)	Yes
Door Lock	Yes	n/a	Yes	Yes	Yes
HxWxD (in.)	25 x 17 x 18.5	33 x 15.5 x 22.5	33.75 x 23.4 x 22.5	34.5 x 23.9 x 23.7	23.25 x 24 x 23.5
Weight (lbs.)	48.5	n/a	104	114	107

*Cans are 12 ounce size

If you don’t need a huge storage space but want flexibility; that is, several removable racks, I would recommend the Phiestina. On the other hand, if you need a locking unit, you’ll have to choose one of the other models.

Whynter BR-091WS Beverage Refrigerator

The Whynter BR-091WS cooler sports a 90 can capacity and a lock to keep out prying hands. If you have this unit at home, those hands would likely belong to your children or grandchildren. If you have it in your place of business, the hands could belong to just about anyone.

When you set the mechanical temperature control to high, the fridge will cool down to 30 degrees Fahrenheit. The setting Whynter calls “mid” will cool just to 60 degrees.

Whynter Inside and Out

You get 3 wire, slide out shelves in the BR-091WS fridge. The top has a 15 can capacity. The second, third, and the bottom gate each hold 25 cans.

The cabinet is white, and stainless steel surrounds the glass door. (The “white” and “stainless steel” may be where the “WS” in the model name comes from.)

The door is reversible so you can locate it virtually anywhere in the room. The handle is flush with the door, unless you choose to reverse the swing of the door.

Overall the cabinet measures 25 inches high by 17 inches wide by 18.5 inches deep. It weighs just over 48 pounds. It comes with one year limited warranty.

Check out this video to see these features in action.

You can also read more about the Whynter in this full review.

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Phiestina PH-CBR100 Beverage Cooler

Phiestina is an unusual brand. Even though it’s only been around since 2016, this model is already quite popular.

There is no Phiestina website (that I could find). There is a Facebook page with a link to the Kalamera site. However, that site makes no mention of Phiestina.

So the following information is what I was able to glean from Amazon descriptions.

Phiestina Particulars

The PH-CBR100 cooler holds up to 106 cans. Its lowest temperature is 38 degrees. You get an LCD screen for making temperature adjustments.

You get 6 removable wire shelves in this 73 pound cabinet. The unit is frost free, which nowadays should mean you really never need to defrost it.

The stainless steel cabinet measures 15.6 inches by 33.1 inches by 22.8 inches.

You can see my more complete review here.

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NewAir ABR-1770 Beverage Refrigerator

NewAir is good enough to be awarded two slots in this 5 most popular beverage refrigerators review.

The ABR-1770 holds 177 cans in its 22.5 inch by 23.4 inch by 33.75 inch black, frost free cabinet. (You can see the “177” buried in the middle of the model number.)

You can cool the interior down to 36 degrees. There is a fan that attempts to keep the temperature uniform throughout. The plastic tubs are there to increase humidity control.

The triple paned glass door adds to the ability of this fridge to maintain a steady temperature and humidity setting.

You can set the interior light to full on, half power, or totally off. Where you place this unit will probably determine which setting you use most often. The reversible, locking door lets you locate it pretty much anywhere you like.

There are 6 removable wire racks. NewAir makes a point in describing this fridge (and the one below) saying that there is no space for stemware storage here.

You get a 1-year limited warranty on this unit.

Click here to check out the full review of the ABR-1770 fridge.

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Avallon ABR241SG Beverage Cooler

Avallon makes a big deal about the ABR241SG fridge’s “state‐of‐the‐art argon filled double paned Low-E glass”.

They claim that it “filters harmful UV rays away from your beverages, acts as a thermal barrier, reflecting unwanted heat and making the unit more energy efficient”. All of that may be true, but I’m not sure how much it matters.

You may see the model number with an “RH” or “LH” appended to it. This designates right hand and left hand door openings respectively.

The Avallon ABR241SG holds 152 cans in a temperature range from 34 to 50 degrees on 3 sanded glass shelves. The cabinet measures 34.5 inches high by 23.9 inches wide by 23.7 inches deep.

Lighting is apparently optional. If you choose to get it, you can have blue and white surround LED lights. I’m not sure how much extra this would cost, but it is probably worth adding to your purchase.

This is another unit that you can lock to keep unwanted hands out.

You get a 1 year warranty on this unit and a 5 year warranty on the compressor.

Learn more about the Avallon cooler here.

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NewAir AWB-360DB Dual Zone Wine & Beverage Cooler

Finally we come to the NewAir AWB-360DB which is quite different from the rest and may be just what you were looking for.

This cooler is designed to hold up to 18 wine bottles and 60 cans at the same time – thus the “dual zone” designation.

According to NewAir, “Dual cooling zones mean that the cabinet’s side by side storage areas are specialized and independently operated for chilling different beverages at your desired temperature ranges.”

You can independently set the temperature range between 36 and 72 degrees for each section. There are 6 adjustable wine racks and 4 adjustable beverage (can) racks. As with the other NewAir model above, you cannot store stemware in this unit.

This 23.5 inch by 24 inch by 34.25 inch cabinet has locking doors and comes with a 1 year warranty.

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Conclusions about These 5 Popular Beverage Refrigerators

While there are many similarities and near similarities among these beverage refrigerators, there are also some significant differences.

Obviously the capacity of each is different, so how much liquid you intend to store will largely determine which one is best for you. If your needs are modest, perhaps the smaller Whynter model is what you want.

If you want to store both wine and other beverages at different temperatures, you only have one option here – the NewAir AWB-360DB.

If you need more physical internal storage options, then one with more racks or shelves is probably a better choice, like the Phiestina or the NewAir ABR-1770.

Decide which works best for you, and then go for it!

If none of these fits your needs or budget, maybe this hOmelabs model will look better to you.