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Mini fridges come in all shapes, styles, and sizes … kind of like college dorm rooms and roommates.
If you're looking for the perfect mini fridge and you have enough space, the Danby 4.4 Cubic Foot Mini Fridge offers advanced features and enough space to hold all the perishables you could want for an affordable price.
Back to school is one of the most popular times to purchase a mini fridge, because many students want a refrigerator in their dorm rooms. But these small refrigerators also work well for offices, rec rooms, garages, and garages that have been turned into man caves.
Mini fridges aren't as energy efficient as standard-sized refrigerators, and some don't hold a consistent enough temperature to preserve food safely for long periods. However, for keeping beverages and quickly consumed items cold, it works just fine. Your student will greatly appreciate having the ability to keep sodas and snacks (and nothing else) cold for late night studying with a dorm room fridge.
The key is finding the right size and features that'll make the unit perfect for your student's dorm room while fitting in your budget. As a general rule, a larger mini fridge will cost more than a smaller mini fridge and stainless steel or glass-doored mini fridges tend to be pricier.
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A mini fridge's capacity is listed in cubic feet. This gives you an idea of the size and number of items you can place inside, although shelves and freezer space take up some of this capacity. Some companies also list capacity for a mini fridge as the number of 12-ounce cans the unit can hold.
Most dorm room fridges contain at least a small freezer compartment. However, it's not accessible through a separate door like it is with a full-size refrigerator. This causes the freezer to not be as efficient as what you'll find in a standard refrigerator. Many freezers in mini fridges are too small to even hold a large frozen pizza, for example.
Here are our picks for the best mini fridges you can buy:
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Why you'll love it: The Danby 4.4 Cubic Foot Mini Fridge is large enough to meet the needs of three or four students and it has excellent features for a nice price point, too.
You’ll appreciate the flexibility of the Danby 4.4 Cubic Foot Mini Fridge. This versatile mini fridge is at the larger end of what you’ll want in a dorm room refrigerator, but it has plenty of interior space at 4.4 cubic feet and several nice features. If you’re looking for more than a simple beverage refrigerator for the dorm room, this is a nice choice.
The Danby mini fridge measures 20.7 inches wide and 20.9 inches deep. At 32.7 inches in height, this unit may not fit well in a small dorm room. It does offer a tiny freezer unit of 0.5 cubic feet, which actually is an above average size freezer in a dorm fridge. We really like the fact that you can reverse the direction of the door, which allows you to place the refrigerator in any location in the room. It has a beverage dispensing rack, too.
One reviewer on the Danby site liked the way the company backs up its products with customer service and a good warranty. A reviewer at Best Buy said the Danby unit runs extremely quietly, which is great for a dorm room where studying is occurring (which should be all of them, of course). A couple of Best Buy customer reviewers said they experienced problems with the freezer maintaining a cold enough temperature, though.
Pros: Large capacity for a three- or four-person dorm room, good price point, plenty of advanced features for a dorm fridge, beverage dispensing racks built-in, good shelving system that’s adjustable, quiet operation
Cons: Freezer system may struggle to hold a consistent temperature, might be too large for some dorm rooms
If your college student is going to be cooking for himself or herself, buying a dorm refrigerator that’s too small is just going to encourage more pizza orders. The students won’t have enough storage for the ingredients they need to cook. But if your student is on a cafeteria meal plan, a small fridge in the dorm room for some beverages and midnight snacks is a perfect option. They may still order a lot of pizza, but at least they won’t be able to blame it on the fridge.
For a small refrigerator that’ll fit well in a tiny dorm room, our favorite is the Insignia 2.6 Cubic Foot Mini Fridge. It’s a short, almost cube-shaped model that offers measurements of just 27.6 inches in height, 19.1 inches in width, and 17.7 inches in depth, allowing you to put it in almost any area of your room.
It offers a can storage rack and adjustable shelving, which are features often not found in such a small refrigerator. It also has a thermostat control, which is a nice feature in such a low priced dorm room fridge. And the door hinges are reversible, allowing you to adjust the door to make it fit in exactly the spot you want, which is a key feature in a small dorm room.
A reviewer at the Insignia site liked the fact that this mini refrigerator included a tiny freezer area, something that’s not always found in such a small unit. Some buyers at Best Buy said the Insignia unit ran noisy, which is disappointing for a unit aimed at students in a dorm room. Another Best Buy reviewer loved the size of this refrigerator for holding beverages, and several Best Buy reviewers appreciated the bargain price they received for this Insignia unit.
Pros: Small refrigerator fits great in a small dorm room, just the right size for storing snacks and beverages, reversible door hinges, thermostat control ensures stable temperature, small freezer included
Cons: May be too noisy for some students’ liking, too small for storing food for students who cook for themselves
If you want to have milk, drinks, and other perishables in your dorm room, you'll need a mini fridge. If our first two picks are still too big for your dorm, the Midea Compact Refrigerator will be just the right size, measuring 17.7 x 18.6 x 19.4 inches.
The Midea fridge is smaller than the others in our guide, but if you really don't expect to have too much food in your dorm and saving space is key, this fridge will do the trick. It has one shelf that divides the fridge in two and more storage in the door that can hold a 1 Liter soda bottle and then some. It also has a tiny freezer for ice cubes or other small frozen items.
Midea is known for its great mini fridges, and reviews on Amazon are highly positive. Wirecutter also chose it as its top small mini fridge pick.
It's also very affordable at around $100 on Amazon. The fridge also has a one-year warranty.
Why you'll love it: The Frigidaire 3.3 Cubic Foot Mini Fridge is just the right size to hold food and beverages, but it's small enough to fit almost anywhere inside the dorm room.
For a dorm room fridge, think of the mid-sized Frigidaire 3.3 Cubic Foot Mini Fridge as the porridge that’s just right in Goldilocks and the Three Bears terms. A large mini fridge may not fit well in a dorm room that’s usually cramped for space before you try to jam a mini refrigerator into the room. And a small mini fridge may not offer the capacity a student needs for ingredients to cook meals. But a mid-sized mini fridge can be just the right size for food capacity and for fitting in the dorm room.
One of the best things about the Frigidaire 3.3 Cubic Foot refrigerator is its small footprint versus some other mini fridge options. It measures 18.6 inches in width and 17.8 inches in depth. It does have a 32.8-inch height measurement, meaning it’s a tall but thin dorm room fridge. With its reversible door hinge, you can place this unit almost anywhere in the dorm room.
At 3.3 cubic feet, the Frigidaire mini fridge has plenty of room for food and beverages for a single or two-person dorm room. The Frigidaire 3.3 Cubic Foot Mini Fridge offers both an area for cans and an area for taller bottles. It even includes a tiny freezer area. If you want a larger freezer, there's another version that has one, but it costs more.
The Small Fridge Blog review calls the Frigidaire a great value, while also praising the reversible door that helps the unit squeeze into just the right space in a tight dorm room. One Best Buy customer reviewer loved how this refrigerator holds its temperature steadily. Several Best Buy reviewers mentioned the great price point of this mid-sized dorm fridge.
A reviewer on the Frigidaire site was disappointed with customer service, but said the unit has a lot of capacity. Another Best Buy reviewer wished the shelves were adjustable in the Frigidaire 3.3 Cubic Foot Mini Fridge.
Pros: Great mix of size and price point, reversible door increases usefulness, tall mini fridge with small footprint, includes a small freezer area, works best in a single or two-person dorm room
Cons: Shelves are not adjustable to make the most of the capacity, some problems with customer service response
Most mini fridges aimed at students don’t offer much in the freezer department. They’re meant to keep food and beverages cold. But if your student is addicted to ice cream or, for whatever reason, just needs a lot of room for ice, the ability to have a big freezer is important.
The intriguing EdgeStar 1.1 Cubic Foot Convertible Refrigerator/Freezer converts back and forth between a freezer and a refrigerator, depending on what you need at the time. Compact Appliance loves the versatility of this convertible unit, as well as the fact that you can set the temperature to between 0 and 40 degrees Fahrenheit. Understand that you cannot use this device as a refrigerator and a freezer at the same time — It’s one or the other.
It even has a sharp looking stainless steel door design that’ll give your dorm room a quick dose of style. The Best Refrigerator Central review calls this unit one of the best stainless steel mini fridges on the market. The door on the convertible refrigerator has reversible hinges and contains a lock to keep your items protected. The Best Appliances Review mentioned the small cube-style size of this refrigerator/freezer, making it the perfect size for a cramped dorm room. It measures 18.5 inches in width, 17.8 inches in depth, and 19.3 inches in height.
An Amazon customer reviewer said the EdgeStar 1.1 cubic foot model held its temperature well, even at the coldest setting. However, a couple of Amazon reviewers said the combination freezer/refrigerator creates a lot of condensation.
Pros: Ingenious design of convertible refrigerator/freezer, offers far more freezer space than typical dorm room fridge, holds temperature well, extremely small footprint, stainless steel door looks great
Cons: Expensive for only 1.1 cubic feet of capacity, only works as a refrigerator or a freezer at one time
Why you'll love it: The glass door on the Danby 120-Can Beverage Center lets you can see what’s inside from the comfort of your futon.
Let’s be honest: When some kids go to college, they like to have a cold beverage from time to time. The university meal plan provides all the food, so all they need in their dorm room is a refrigerator dedicated to beverages. The Danby 120-Can Beverage Center is built with them in mind, thanks to the glass door that makes the contents of the refrigerator visible at all times.
As you can tell from the name, this mini fridge is larger than you might think, as it’s able to hold 120 cans of beverages. But it’s not only for cans. You can fit bottles and even some food in this stylish refrigerator by adjusting the location of the shelves, which is a great feature.
The Danby 120-Can Beverage Center measures 33.70 inches high, 17.87 inches wide, and 19.75 inches deep. It weighs 68.90 pounds and has 3.3 cubic feet of space inside.
Perhaps the biggest drawback to this unit is the high price versus other dorm mini fridge options. You can pick smaller versions of this same refrigerator if you need to squeeze the device into a smaller price point. — Kyle Schurman and Malarie Gokey
Pros: Sharp looking design with a glass door, offers capacity for 120 12-ounce cans, holds consistent temperature, good size for a multiple-person dorm room, shelves and door hinges are adjustable
Cons: Price is higher than similar capacity dorm fridges, no freezer area
