Whirlpool WRF757SDEM Refrigerator Review

It does a great job preserving food, doesn't use a ton of power, and features a familiar streamlined design that will look good in almost any kitchen. We'll admit parts of the interior felt a little cramped—but as long as you don’t plan to store enough food to feed a small army, this fridge is a great option that won’t cost you a ton of money.

Design & Usability

Playing it safe

With its stainless steel finish, adjustable shelves with silver trim, and LED lighting in both sections, this French door fridge looks good.

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What it doesn’t do is surprise, and that’s okay. Whirlpool has checked all the boxes a French door fridge should, but you'll need to pay more for that "wow factor." Considering that folks tend to hang on to appliances for upwards of a decade, we think it makes sense to play things safe when it comes to design.

Responsive controls sit above a through-the-door ice and water dispenser. Crispers slide smoothly, but are prone to slamming shut if you’re not gentle, and temperature-adjust pantry drawer comes with three different settings. The door-mounted ice maker isn’t a slim model, but it uses space efficiently and holds plenty of cubes.

We've seen marginally better implementations of nearly every individual feature—but this overall package is one that shouldn’t disappoint any consumer, especially for the price.

Down in the freezer, we encountered one element that may be divisive, so to speak. The pullout freezer has two drawers, each divided into three sections by a sliding central piece. The extra zones make for easier organization, but come at the cost of usable space.

Performance

No issues here

While our tests of the WRF757SDEM uncovered some minor flaws, they aren't likely to have much impact on your food. Take the freezer, for instance: Yes, temperature fluctuations over time were pretty wide, but the whole compartment is so cold that freezer burn shouldn't be an issue. Turn down the thermostat to -1°F to be extra-sure.

The fridge, which was cool and stable from top to bottom, should do a fine job with food preservation. Crispers, too, were fine when to came to retaining moisture. Energy efficiency was competitive with other 2015 models.

For in-depth performance information, please visit the Science Page.

Warranty

{{amazon name="Whirlpool Fresh Flow Produce Preserver", asin="B007MEY22O", align="right"}}This Whirlpool offers standard parts and labor coverage. That means if anything breaks due to the fault of the manufacturer, Whirlpool will supply the parts and labor to fix it for up to one year from the day of purchase.

A Popular Choice

This familiar-looking fridge is a safe choice

Bells and whistles aren’t for everyone, especially when you end up paying for something you never use. The perks found in the Whirlpool WRF757SDEM are subtle enough that, even if you don’t take advantage of them, they don’t hinder your experience. And you may just enjoy having a temperature-adjustable pantry drawer.

The best part: This French door fridge is available for just under $1,700. That makes it one of the best bargains on the market, excluding models that cut out the through-the-door dispenser entirely.

If you’re looking for something with a bit more pizzazz, this model also comes in Whirlpool’s Black Ice and White Ice finishes. Just remember, those two iterations don’t yet share the stainless version's low price—they're much closer to the full MSRP.

The Cold Hard Facts

The Whirlpool WRF757SDEM (MSRP $2,699) may be budget-friendly, but our tests show its performance is top-notch. In terms of raw cooling consistency, this French door is one of the best bargains out there.

Temperature Performance

The upper fridge section was more or less spot-on throughout the entire compartment. Our sensors recorded average temperatures of 37.35°F at the top, 36.06°F in the middle, and 37.31°F down by the crispers. Factor in fluctuations over time of just ±0.14, and you've got some of the most stable and accurate fresh food storage we've seen.

Down in the freezer, things were also commendable. The upper drawer averaged a chilly -1.63°F, but the lower drawer clocked in at 1.4°F. What's more, temperatures fluctuated by ±1.04°F, which is pretty wide. You can't fix the overall fluctuation, but you can force the freezer to adapt: For minimum freezer burn, simply turn the thermostat down three or four degrees.

Moisture Retention

The twin crispers in this model are quite good at retaining moisture. Over the course of three days, our test materials lost an average of just 0.12 grams of moisture each hour. That's very close to the best we've seen, and more than adequate for storing even sensitive produce.

Freezing

Freezing times were just average. This Whirlpool's freezer needed 1 hour 33 minutes to chill our room temperature test materials down to 32°F. It's not great, and may be slightly detrimental to the texture of delicate fish or steaks, but this is well within the acceptable range for the most commonly frozen items.

Storage Space & Energy Efficiency

This Whirlpool offers copious amounts of shelves and drawers for keeping track of your groceries, but extra organization comes at the cost of reduced storage. In the upper compartment, you get numerous adjustable shelves and four drawers—including twin crispers and the adjustable pantry. Add in the gallon-deep buckets on the right door and the smaller shelves on the left, and you wind up with 12.05 usable cubic feet of storage space. It's not bad, but if you're looking for pure capacity, you can find bigger fridges than this one.

The freezer is where we noticed the biggest cut in usable space. With the sliding compartments in the center of both drawers, you've got a lot of plastic on hand. Still, the two drawers—plus the pizza caddie—can accommodate 5.17 usable cubic feet of frozen food. Again, it's not bad, but we've seen bigger.

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This year we've seen fridges that offer superior energy efficiency rates, and this Whirlpool fits right in. With the ice maker running, this fridge needs just 0.09 kWh to cool each usable cubic foot. Based on a typical American rate of $0.09 per kWh, that comes out to roughly $48.97 per year in electricity costs. If you turn off the ice maker, you'll spend even less.