Whynter BR-091WS Beverage Refrigerator Review: For Work or Play?

Note: I get commissions for purchases made through links in this post.

The Whynter BR-091WS beverage refrigerator is from a maker you may not have heard of before. Don’t let that scare you away. Remember, at one time Coke wasn’t a well-known name either. They all have to start somewhere.

Whynter advertises this beverage cooler as being good for “entertaining and retail merchandising” – in other words, for work or play. Let’s take a look at its features and specifications to see if we agree with that assessment.

If you don’t really have time right now and just want to check the pricing and availability of the BR-091WS beverage cooler at Amazon, you can click the link just below.

• Whynter BR-091WS Beverage Refrigerator

If you want to examine the details first, just keep on reading. Otherwise, you can skip ahead to a certain section by clicking a link in the box below.

What Are the Main Features of the Whynter BR-091WS Cooler?

The BR-091WS only comes in one color – white. If that doesn’t fit well with the rest of your decor at home or at work, you’ll have to look elsewhere for one that does.

This 2.5 cubic foot unit holds up to 90 12-ounce cans inside. Obviously, if you have larger or smaller cans or bottles, your capacity will differ. 12-ounce cans are generally the standard for comparing one cooler to another.

The BR-091WS fridge wasn’t made to hold solid foods, but some owners have stored things like desserts in them successfully.

Like most modern coolers, this Whynter refrigerator uses a compressor cooling system. This should make them more efficient and quieter than old style systems.

Most coolers these days also have LED lighting inside, as opposed to incandescent bulbs. Manufacturers use LEDs because they produce virtually no heat that would otherwise warm up your beverages.

You get a lock (and 2 keys) that is intended 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.

Note, however, that as one owner stated, “The ‘lock’ is not a real key lock. Instead it is an allen wrench hole/lock which any teenager can open with an allen wrench. If you want a ‘key’ type locking fridge, this is not it.” I would go a step further and say that even youngsters could figure out how to open it. Your task would be to keep the wrench keys out of their possession.

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 to 60 degrees. (More on maintaining temperatures later.)

You get 3 wire, slide out shelves in the BR-091WS cooler. The top has a 15 can capacity. The second, third, and the bottom gate each hold 25 cans. If you do the math, that adds up to the 90 can capacity mentioned earlier.

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.

Another caution is in place here. One owner states the following.

“The ‘reversible door’ is not 100% reversible. You can flip the door to the other side and the hardware all flips too, but the lock doesn’t work because the door is upside down now, and the the logo on the door is upside down. The handle is on the lower part of the fridge too when the door is reversed.”

My suggestion would be to locate the fridge in a place where you don’t have to flip the door. If you have no such place, you might want to look for another cooler.

What Are the Specifications of the Whynter BR-091WS?

There are just a few specs remaining worth mentioning.

Overall the cabinet measures 25 inches high by 17 inches wide by 18.5 inches deep. It weighs just over 48 pounds.

You get a one year limited warranty.

Check out this video to see these features in action.

What’s the Verdict on the Whynter BR-091WS?

Several owners complained that they couldn’t get the unit to cool to the maximum it is rated for (30 degrees). At the same time, others apparently had no problem doing so. In fact, some said they had to dial back on the temperature setting to prevent contents from freezing. Most of the time, you likely wouldn’t want the temperature to dip below 32 degrees anyway.

If you can’t get this refrigerator to cool like you want it to, you might not be following the directions stated by the manufacturer. You do have to give it some space so the air can flow around it properly. Also, you initially have to wait at least 4 hours before starting it up to allow the coolant to settle correctly. This avoids damage to the cooling system. If you didn’t wait, you might have caused such damage resulting in the system’s inability to cool to the temperature you now want.

If you did follow all the directions and still can’t get it to cool properly, you might have a defective model. It happens.

Another user said…

“I only wish the light had an option of always on and on when the door is open. As it is, you turn it on and it stays on. The bottom shelf is a little difficult to get pop cans in and out of.”

There are some units from other manufacturers that do have such a lighting option. Note that you can turn this light switch off, but that could become a hassle turning it on and off each time you use it.

I think the BR-091WS is intended as a display unit where the light is always on. If you are using it at home, maybe you want to turn the light off before bedtime, just as you would turn other lights off in the house.

If you are using it at work, you probably would just leave it on all the time. The LED is not going to draw so much power that it would become too expensive to keep it lit.

Whether you install this cooler at home or at your place of business, you should find it a good place to keep those beverages everyone wants throughout the day.

Get your Whynter BR-091WS beverage cooler at Amazon now.

If you don’t think the Whynter cooler is what you’re looking for, check out these other popular fridges. You’ll probably find one you like better.