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Companies increasingly require full-time workers to spend more days in the office, which means leaving behind the convenience of just wandering to the fridge when the mood strikes. Even just a hybrid work schedule means more commuting, and more commuting means considering costs. One of the easier ways to save money is skipping meals out and bringing your lunch from home. That means it might be an ideal time to consider keeping a mini fridge at the office, which allows you to keep your meals and drinks fresh and tasty and secure from that one coworker who acts like anything in the shared kitchen is for everyone.
Like their full-size siblings, mini refrigerators come in different sizes (although they’re at least half the size of most standard models) and include various features. Some budget models only give you the bare minimum. And in some cases, that means excluding a freezer. But there are mini fridges that include more bells and whistles. And if you aren’t worried about price, you could even find distinctive models among the best mini fridges for offices that are designed to be noticed—almost like a work of art—much to the envy of your colleagues and associates.
Best overall: Danby Diplomat Compact Refrigerator
Best value: Magic Chef MCAR32BE Compact Refrigerator
Best splurge: Rocco Super Smart Fridge
Best budget with a cube design: Midea WHS-65LB1 Mini Fridge
Best budget with a tall design: Costway Compact Refrigerator
How we chose the best mini fridges for offices
Our recommendations for best mini fridges for offices are based on experience, analysis, and research into the best options to accommodate the most common use cases. With the exception of the splurge choice, we focused on general-purpose mini fridges rather than a beverage cooler, which is a similar but specialized appliance.
A mini fridge for your office performs much like a mini fridge in any other location: It has one purpose—keep drinks and food cold for an extended period of time. Some have a particular feature, like a built-in freezer, differentiating them from the pack, while others are more portable and easier to move around. Mini fridges can also vary some in price, so we included a more premium and cheap mini fridge to cover the widest budget range.
The best mini fridges for offices: Reviews & Recommendations
Whether you’re an office manager or an employee, shopping for a cubicle or the mother-in-law suite that you’ve turned into a work-from-home oasis, these are our top picks for mini fridges for offices.
Best overall: Danby Diplomat Compact Refrigerator
Specs
Size: 19.3 x 33.1 x 21.9 inches
Capacity: 4.4 cubic feet
Weight: 49.6 lbs.
Design style: Tall
Pros
Offers lots of storage space
Adjustable glass shelves
Full-width freezer
Storage space on the interior of the door
Includes an interior light
Cons
Relatively pricey
Might be a bit big for some smaller-sized office
This model is a little more expensive and a little larger than others in its class. Nevertheless, this mini fridge is worth it. For starters, it provides you with 4.4 cubic feet, which offers more capacity than many in its class. It also has adjustable glass shelves, making the interior a tad brighter. It’s smartly designed, too: The integrated door shelving allows you to store tall bottles (like water, juice, and soda). Its reversible door hinge provides more options in positioning your mini fridge in your office. It’s a small refrigerator with freezer. Plus, it has a manual defrost control and a mechanical thermostat.
Best value: Magic Chef MCAR32BE Compact Refrigerator
Specs
Size: 17.5 x 33.4 x 18.5 inches
Capacity: 3.2 cubic feet
Weight: 49.5 lbs.
Design style: Tall
Pros
Ample storage space
Comes with glass shelves
Adjustable thermostat control
Interior light
Cons
Doesn’t include a freezer
Might be a bit big for some smaller-sized office
If having a freezer isn’t essential, this Magic Chef brand mini is an ideal model for your office. For starters, the interior has more room to store items since it doesn’t have a freezer. It comes with an adjustable thermostat control and adjustable glass shelves, too. It also includes in-door storage, for bottles and beverages. It even has a designated spot for storing a 2-liter bottle of soda. There’s also an adjustable temperature thermostat control and an interior light. However, its tall design may be too large for tiny offices.
Best splurge: Rocco Super Smart Fridge
Specs
Size: 24 x 34.5 x 16 inches
Capacity: N/A
Weight: 128 lbs.
Design style: Tall
Pros
Beautifully designed
Can be controlled via a mobile app
Great for storing beverages
Comes with a multi-year warranty
Cons
Limited to storing beverages
Pricey
Heavier than most mini fridges
It may not be the most practical mini fridge to have in your office. For instance, it’s only for beverages. It’s also very pricey at $1,500. However, its bold design might help you make a bold impression, depending on where you place it in your C-suite or cubicle.
One feature that makes Rocco’s Super Smart Fridge distinctive is that it has five pull-out shelves, which can be adjusted to accommodate differently-sized bottles and cans. These shelves can be separated into different “temperature zones” by pushing buttons on a control panel inside the fridge. For example, if you have white wine or red wine, it can be chilled at a different temperature than your seltzer bottles.
There are other impressive features, too, like its model app (iOS only, for now), which allows you to adjust the temperature from your phone. If you’re into assembling smart-home systems, this is the chiller you’ll think is cool.
Best budget with a cube design: Midea WHS-65LB1 Mini Fridge
Specs
Size: 18.6 x 19.4 x 17.7 inches
Capacity: 1.6 cubic feet
Weight: 30 lbs.
Design style: Cube
Pros
Relatively lightweight
Compact size
Includes a freezer compartment
Door is reversible
Cons
Doesn’t offer as much capacity to store items as others in its class
If your workspace isn’t very spacious, you’ll most likely want to choose a mini fridge with a cube design since it’s smaller, more compact, and has a smaller footprint than those with tall designs. What’s nice about this Midea mini fridge is that despite having a small footprint, it still comes with a freezer compartment (which, not surprisingly, isn’t very large). It also comes with adjustable legs and a reversible door, which, again, will be important if you don’t have a large office and a lot of space to work with. Includes a mechanical temperature control and a manual defrost setting.
Best budget with a tall design: Costway Compact Refrigerator
Specs
Size: 19.5 x 34 x 19 inches
Capacity: 3.2 cubic feet
Weight: 52 lbs.
Design style: Tall
Pros
Separate freezer compartment
More freezer capacity than most in its class
Comes with glass shelves
Adjustable thermostat
Cons
Might be a bit big for some smaller-sized office
One distinctive feature is that it has a separate freezer compartment, with its own door, for chilling everything from ice cubes to ice cream. Both doors come with magnetic door seals, which helps prevent users from accidentally leaving either door open and spoiling food and drinks. It also comes with an adjustable thermostat, two removable shelves, and a built-in light.
Whether you’re set up in a spacious corner office or in a tiny cubicle that barely has room for a red stapler, you’ll want to make sure you have enough room for a mini fridge. That’s why you’ll want to check out the following features to ensure that you get the model that’s right for you:
Size and capacity
Most mini fridges have capacities that range between 1.5 to 4 cubic feet. They also come in one of the following two design styles:
Cube: These models are also sometimes called countertop mini fridges. In general, they have capacities of less than 2 cubic feet, and measure between 17 and 21 inches tall.
Tall: These mini fridge models have capacities between 3.5 and 4.5 cubic feet and measure between 30 to 35 inches tall
Freezer compartment
Another consideration when buying a mini fridge is whether or not you need a freezer compartment. If you decide to forego the freezer, you’ll generally gain additional storage space.
Other features to consider
When you’re in the market to buy a mini fridge for your office, don’t forget to consider the following features, too:
Interior light: Many models are now built with interior lights, which is nice if your office is dimly lit.
Temperature Control: You can use this control to adjust the fridge’s internal temperature using a built-in thermostat.
Adjustable Shelves: This feature lets you configure your fridge to suit your specific needs best.
Two-Door Design: Two-door mini fridges have a separate freezer that offers higher performance and can maintain lower temperatures.
FAQs
Q: What’s a good size for a mini fridge?
The type of design of your mini fridge, either cube or tall, will more or less determine its size. In most cases, models with Cube designs are the shorter of the two—generally measuring between 17 and 21 inches tall. Models with Tall designs, however, are roughly a foot taller, measuring between 30 and 35 inches tall. You’ll want to look at your office’s design to see which model fits best.
Q: Where shouldn’t you place a mini fridge?
Many experts say that you should keep your mini fridge away from windows and direct sunlight, as well as heat sources, such as radiators—all of which can adversely affect the efficiency of your mini fridge. Additionally, it’s not ideal to place your mini fridge directly on a carpet, since it can reduce airflow. Instead, place it on a flat, uncarpeted surface. But if that’s not an option, position a piece of plywood, and then place the mini fridge on top of it.
Q: Will a mini fridge heat up a room?
Most mini fridge models do produce some heat. However, by and large, most models won’t significantly increase the overall temperature of your office space. (Of course, smaller office spaces will be affected more than larger office spaces.)
Final thoughts on the best mini fridges for offices
Best overall: Danby Diplomat Compact Refrigerator
Best without a freezer: Magic Chef MCAR32BE Compact Refrigerator
Best splurge: Rocco Super Smart Fridge
Best budget with a cube design: Midea WHS-65LB1 Mini Fridge
Best budget with a tall design: Costway Compact Refrigerator
If you’re considering a small refrigerator for office, you might be wondering what the best time of year to buy is. In our experience, you should always keep an eye on your prospective mini fridge model on Black Friday or Cyber Monday (in November), as well as Amazon Prime Day events. However, some experts suggest that you shouldn’t just limit your search for sales during Black Friday or Cyber Monday. In fact, they say that mini fridges sales could occur throughout November (and some suggest those sales might even begin in October). Whenever you invest, any of our picks will perfectly complement your coffee machine, ergonomic chair, headphones, and other accessories that increase your workday comfort.
Why trust us
Popular Science started writing about technology more than 150 years ago. There was no such thing as “gadget writing” when we published our first issue in 1872, but if there was, our mission to demystify the world of innovation for everyday readers means we would have been all over it. Here in the present, PopSci is fully committed to helping readers navigate the increasingly intimidating array of devices on the market right now.
Our writers and editors have combined decades of experience covering and reviewing consumer electronics. We each have our own obsessive specialties—from high-end audio to video games to cameras and beyond—but when we’re reviewing devices outside of our immediate wheelhouses, we do our best to seek out trustworthy voices and opinions to help guide people to the very best recommendations. We know we don’t know everything, but we’re excited to live through the analysis paralysis that internet shopping can spur so readers don’t have to.
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