IKEA Nutid S25 S ID5HHEXWS03 25.4 Cu. Ft. / Side-By-Side / Stainless Steel Review

Introduction

The {{product.name}}—say that five times fast—proved to be a decent fridge which felt unusually familiar. Turns out, this product is almost identical to the Amana ASD2522WRD, a product we reviewed several weeks ago. Take away the Amana label and throw in one or two other cosmetic differences, and you've got yourself the Nutid. With strengths and weaknesses comparable to the Amana in virtually every way, this $1,299 fridge just isn't worth it when you consider the availability of other products that perform better and cost less. Plus, the odds of finding the Nutid on sale are slim to none: It's an IKEA-exclusive product, so you're only going to find it new in one place.

Front

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A stainless steel front makes this fridge look like nearly every other mid-range side-by-side that we've tested. It's got a sort of industrial quality to it which will either be a positive or negative aspect depending on your tastes.

Like many products with this finish, fingerprints and smears will show up in excruciating detail. If you've got lots of kids at home, be prepared to break out the cleaning rag every weekend.

Temperature controls are located inside the fridge compartment. Two dials control the fridge and freezer separately using an arbitrary scale of one to five, going from Cold to Colder.

The door handles are one of the few differences between this fridge and the aforementioned Amana. The {{product.brand.name}} uses thin rod-like handles that are easy to grip, but don't quite fit with the broad front of the appliance. With flat ends at the top and bottom, they contribute to this appliance's utilitarian exterior.

The through-the-door water and ice dispenser is set in a border of cheap-feeling black plastic that stands out for a mile from the {{product.brand.name}}'s stainless front. The cavity is just tall enough to fit an average drinking glass without a problem, but the lip is too shallow for you to set something down and let it fill.

You can switch from crushed to cubed ice using the two left switches on the oversized control panel. The switch to the right turns the cavity light on or off. Don't be fooled: these buttons give off the impression of a touch pad, but it's actually a sheet of plastic set over two old-fashioned switches.

Two paddles are used: ice on the left and water on the right.

Interior

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The inside of this fridge is—surprise, surprise—identical to the Amana we've mentioned already. If it weren't for two slight differences in the fridge section, this would be the exact same product. You can learn more about the differences later on when we take an in-depth comparative look at these two fridges.

Three adjustable shelves, a fourth fixed shelf, and two drawers offer storage inside the fridge compartment. The upper drawer has an adjustable control to change the humidity level. The second and lower one is a convertible drawer with a temperature adjust switch, making it suitable for either vegetables or meats.

The water filter is located outside of the fridge interior right below the freezer door. You have to twist and pull to get it in and out; consumers with bad knees or backs are going to grow to hate this thing.

Three adjustable bucket shelves provide varied storage space on the fridge door. These are big enough to hold two gallon-sized containers, and are complemented by a dairy bin at the top and a shallower fixed shelf at the bottom.

The freezer has three wire shelves—the upper two of which can be moved around, though there's only one other slot for them to go into—and a pull-out bucket drawer. Near the top is the large ice maker, which has enough space above it to store additional items.

All five shelves on the freezer door are fixed, including the extremely shallow one set right above the ice spout.

The ice maker is quite bulky, and a bit of a pain to remove. Luckily, the manufacturers included a small flap which can be lifted and pushed back to allow for unobstructed access to bulk ice.

Back

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The only visible tube on the back is the one that sends water up from the input spout to the ice maker. Other than that, there's not really much else to say here.

Sides

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The sides have a black matte finish that may clash with the stainless front of the appliance. Oddly enough, the sides actually complement the black plastic that borders the through-the-door ice and water dispenser. That means if the sides are visible in your kitchen, all three sides will have something that matches.

Running Cost

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Fridges of this size do tend to run up a fairly sizable electric bill, but the Nutid is even a bit pricier than usual. Using a standard rate of $0.09 per kW-h, we determined that this model will cost a consumer an average of $69.53 per year to operate.

Power Use Per Cu Ft

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Sometimes higher energy costs are justified by a very efficient rate of energy distribution across lots of usable space. Unfortunately, that's not the case with this model. This machine uses 0.14 kW-h per cubic foot of viable storage space. Regardless of size and type, this makes it far less efficient than many other fridges.

Fridge Temperature

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Almost every side-by-side we test suffers from an increase in temperature from top to bottom. The Nutid was no exception, though the temperature shift was a bit more pronounced than what we usually see. From top to bottom, we saw an increase in average temperature of five degrees. It's never ideal, but as long as you keep more perishable items like soft cheese or other dairy products near the top, you should be fine.

Freezer Temperature

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The temperature dial for this model's freezer was set to the "three" marking, and proved to be just a bit too warm. The top of the freezer compartment averaged about 2.1 degrees Fahrenheit, while the lowest portions got up to about 3.35 degrees. Turning the dial to a colder setting will lower the overall temperature, but you'll still be stuck with the discrepancy from top to bottom. Thankfully, it's not as large of a variance as what we saw in the fridge, and fluctuated less than a quarter of a degree over time. This means frozen food should be fairly well preserved here, and have only a low chance of developing freezer burn.

Vegetable Drawer

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The Nutid's designated vegetable did an adequate job retaining moisture. Losing an average of 0.18 grams of water per hour over time, this rate is neither mind-blowingly awful nor drool-inducingly excellent. It's adequate, and vegetables placed in here should remain fresh and moist for about a week.

Power Loss

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Like the Amana, this fridge also failed our power loss test. After unplugging the Nutid to simulate a power outage, our frozen items had defrosted in just under 20 hours. A decent freezer should at least remain frozen for 36 hours, and really good ones can remain chilled for more than two days. If you do have a problem with your power supply, though, hopefully your electric company will respond quickly, otherwise you'll be throwing out a lot of food.

Freezing Performance

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Taking one hour and 46 minutes to freeze a room-temperature item isn't great...but it isn't bad, either. Like the Nutid's moisture retention rates, it's freezing rates are about average. There are some freezers that take over two hours, while some of the best can freeze food in half that time, placing this model on the poor side of adequate.

Usable Space

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The fridge is actually quite spacious. We measure the usable amount of storage, subtracting the room taken up by items such as light bulbs and the actual shelves. As such, we determined that the four shelves and two drawers inside the Nutid's fridge can hold up to 10.1 cubic feet worth of items. This is actually quite good for a side-by-side, making it larger than your average fridge.

A dairy bin, three adjustable bucket shelves, and a fourth fixed shelf on the bottom add to overall storage capacity for the fridge compartment. The larger bins are big enough to hold two gallon-sized containers, and the adjustable heights make them ideal for storing tall items like soda bottles.

In many side-by-sides, a large fridge means freezer space takes a hit. Not so for the Nutid: freezer storage is surprisingly ample. 5.13 cubic feet of viable space is spread out over the three shelves, the pull-out drawer, and the cavity above the ice maker.

The five fixed shelves (one of which is incredibly shallow) offer some additional freezer storage, but not a ton. Door shelves are suited for a pint or two of ice cream, or some loose bags of frozen vegetables, but their low height means they're not incredibly versatile.

Below are the manufacturers own figures for capacity, and our own measurements for usable capacity. The manufacturers figures do not take account of the shelves, drawers and other removable features, but our measurements do account for the space these take up.

Ease of Access

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Fridge shelves and drawers slide out for easy access to items located at the back, but they don't move all that smoothly. Luckily, there's plenty of vertical space between shelves, so getting at items regardless of where they are shouldn't be a problem. You're really only dealing with the problems inherent in every side-by-side here: since the fridge and freezer run the full height of the appliance, items at the very top or bottom may be difficult for certain consumers to reach, but no more or less than any other fridge of its kind.

Controls

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Temperature controls are located inside the fridge compartment. Two dials control the fridge and freezer separately using an arbitrary scale of one to five, going from Cold to Colder.

Controls are easy to use, if somewhat vague. The dial doesn't correspond to any degree scale, so you'll want to invest in an external thermometer if you want to double check what temperature you're actually storing your food at. Also, the external controls for the water and ice dispenser is just a glorified switch with a plastic cover over it. It feels cheap, but at least it gets the job done.

Water Dispenser

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The water dispenser itself is fine. The real problem here is the water filter. It's located at the absolute lowest point on the fridge, just underneath the freezer door. It's a pain to get in and out, and will prove to be especially difficult for consumers with bad backs or knees. Make sure you sweep before you change it, because it's likely that you'll be down on the floor every time you need to tackle it.

Ice Maker

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The ice maker is quite bulky, and a bit of a pain to remove. Luckily, the manufacturers included a small flap which can be lifted and pushed back to allow for unobstructed access to bulk ice.

Cleaning

Noise

Other Features

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Conclusion

Energy Efficiency

Environmental activists, beware! This fridge is going to cost you more than the average side-by-side. Its high electric bill isn't even being put to very good use, as its rate of consumption proportional to usable storage wasn't all that good, either.

Performance

Performance was average at best—decent temperature consistency over time, mediocre moisture retention in the crisper drawer—and disappointing at worst—this is one of the few fridges we've tested that failed the power outage simulation. Most side-by-sides suffer from temperature increases from top to bottom, but the Nutid's shift was particularly pronounced.

Storage Space

You've got yourself a fairly well-balanced fridge here, with plenty of storage space in both compartments. Normally you find that side-by-sides have one large section at the expense of the other, or two undersized compartments. The Nutid actually balances storage needs quite well.

Usability

Wire freezer shelves offer no spill protection, and good luck to anyone who wants to try and tackle the water filter. Otherwise, storage access is quite sufficient, and the controls are simple to use.