UK Edition
The best mini fridges for cool drinks and small spaces, including mini fridge freezers
Keep cold drinks on hand in the heatwave with our pick of the best mini fridges
Which is the best mini fridge? It’s an important question when a heatwave arrives and you want to have cold drinks on hand. Use them like a hotel mini-bar and they’re great for entertaining. But they can also be a smart solution for smaller kitchens, or for people who simply don’t need a large, energy-hungry refrigerator.
There are two main types. Thermoelectric fridges (employing the Peltier effect) are only suitable for chilling drinks and non-perishable goods. Compressor fridges are designed for refrigerating foods including vegetables, meat and dairy. They make more noise, which is something to remember if anyone will be sleeping near the unit.
When buying, check the capacity: go smaller for an easy-to-access table top fridge, or larger for an under-the-counter mini-fridge. (If storage is an issue, we recommend checking out our guide to the best fridge freezers.)
There are also specialist wine fridges, wine coolers and wine conditioners designed to keep bottles of fizz and white wine in the right conditions to preserve the taste. But here we’ve concentrated on the best all-rounders.
The best mini fridges, at a glance
- Best overall – Smeg 50s Retro
- Best mini bar fridge – Russell Hobbs
- Best mini fridge freezer – Inventor Appliances A+
- Best outdoor mini fridge – Husky Rubiks Cube
- Best mini fridge for bedroom – ChillQuiet
Read on for the reviews in full
The best mini fridges
1. Smeg 50s Retro Mini Bar Fridge Cream FAB5LCR5
Best overall
Very expensive, but worth every penny, this 74cm-high 50s style model from Smeg is every household’s dream mini fridge. We can’t resist the pastel colours on offer, but there’s also classic cream, red, black and a Union Jack design to choose from. It’s a low-noise design with an effective compressor cooling mechanism, two door shelves and two adjustable interior shelves.
This mini fridge from homeware experts Russell Hobbs is the type you’ll find in many hotel bedrooms. (If you’re specifically kitting out a home bar, by the way, it’s worth checking out our guides to the best juicers and best cocktail shakers.) Despite its small size, it boasts an impressively large capacity of 43 litres and comes with an ice box, bottle rack and a removable wire space, allowing you to customise the fridge to suit your needs. Russell Hobbs also do a matching mini freezer at a similar price.
With a massive 66 litre capacity, this mini fridge is big enough to refrigerate several days’ worth of food, so it could even be a decent main fridge for anyone who shops daily rather than weekly.
It has won plenty of fans across the internet thanks to its quiet running, energy efficiency and reversible door, allowing it to fit into any room almost unnoticed. There’s also a little freezer compartment on the top shelf (though buyers have offered varying reports of the quality of that particular part.)
Like many of the best regular-sized fridges, this one has air circulating technology that helps prevent ice build up at the back, which should mean you don’t have to do any messing around with this one to get it to work.
One of the main attractions of the mini fridge is the novelty, and the Husky Rubiks Cube Table Top Chiller has the novelty factor in spades. The official Rubiks Cube design makes it a great hit with kids at barbecues and garden parties. Adults may be interested to know that it holds a not-insignificant amount of wine (12 bottles, to be precise). If throwing a garden party, by the way, check out our latest review of the best ice cream makers.
Ideal for storing drinks and other smaller snacks (such as fruits and chocolates) this compact 17 litre ChillQuiet mini fridge from Drinkstuff comes with a whisper-quiet cooling fan - no need to worry about annoying noises and overheating - a removable shelf and a lockable door. The small size makes it perfect for taking on caravanning trips this summer. Available in white and black.
Stuck in a flat share with very little space to call your own? This counter top mini fridge from Igenix might be the solution to all your problems, since it has a lockable door. Compact, contemporary, stylish and equipped with a reversible door, it’ll sit nicely in any room in your home without you having to worry about it taking up too much space.
It has a whopping storage capacity of up to 47 litres, and comes with an adjustable thermostat, one wire shelf, two balcony shelves and a locking door.