Amana ABB1921WEW Refrigerator Review

Introduction

Design & Usability

Top of the line feel and function, as far as budget fridges go.

This fridge and the more expensive ABB2224WES are made on the same platform, which means they're essentially the same product with some — in this case, substantial — aesthetic differences. Some of those differences help lower the ABB1921WEW's price tag, such as its white finish. The textured matte finish on the front and sides is great for hiding smudges and fingerprints. If anything colorful splashes on the doors, though, you're going to have to do some scrubbing to get those tiny plastic rivulets clean.

The fridge interior is very basic: no deli drawer, no half-width shelves, no fancy controls. You've got three full-width shelves, two of which can be moved around, and two crispers. It's wide, well lit, and fairly accessible compartment, though the clunky shelves can make the space look and feel more cramped than it actually is.

The wide control panel has two numbers, one representing the fridge temperature and the other representing the freezer. This Amana uses an arbitrary scale from one to seven, with four listed as the recommended setting. It's easy to use, but the seven point scale restricts the ability to calibrate the temperature levels.

The fridge door is also quite wide, with plenty of movable shelves. The bottom one is the only shelf, though, deep enough to fit a gallon-sized container. In fact, it can fit up to three in a row at one time. A large dairy bin is bolstered by three smaller adjustable buckets that offer both added customization and excellent spill containment.

The Amana's bottom freezer compartment is a little odd. Typically, whether in a regular bottom freezer model or a fancier French door, you get a pull-out compartment. Not so here: this freezer opens on a hinge, just like the top section. Instead of using a typically bulky handle, Amana's designers included a small handle that makes it look like the fridge is sticking its tongue out. Despite the unusual appearance, it's easy to grip and doesn't require you to stoop to open the door.

The interior is composed of pull-out shelves and drawers. On the whole, it's a layout that I generally prefer. Sure, you still have to stoop to get at your frozen food, but with the door off to the side, you don't have to worry about smacking your elbow or head. All of the shelves are made of wire, which means a split bag of peas could turn into hours of fun for the family cat when you next open the door. There's no ice maker, either, nor does the manufacturer include an extra ice cube tray.

{{photo_gallery "Front", "Fingerprints", "Handles", "Interior", "Fridge", "Controls", "Crisper Drawers", "Fridge Door", "Freezer", "Freezer Door"}}

Performance & Features

Room for improvement, but great for a budget model.

Despite the fact that the ABB1921WEW uses the same control panel as the ABB2224WES, its temperature performance wasn't quite as accurate. Even though we had the controls set to the recommended level, both the fridge and freezer compartments were just a hair too warm. That said, temperature output from top to bottom was still quite close: just over a degree in the freezer, and just half a degree in the fridge. As such, you could try lowering the temperature setting by one level to try and make up for the slight warmth, though you'd need a thermometer of your own to check the results.

A small bit of extra warmth shouldn't harm your food all that much, and it's supplemented in this Amana by exceptional accuracy. Temperature fluctuation over time in both compartments was quite minimal, more so than usual. Consistent temperatures over time is one of, if not the, most important element of food preservation, and steadiness here means even delicate foods should be well taken care of.

Crisper drawers lost an acceptable amount of moisture over time. They were neither impressive or unimpressive, just fine. Conversely, the energy efficiency for this model was quite strong, something which should help keep your utility costs from getting too high.

The Verdict

A great fridge for folks who want something cheap(er) and consistent.

While this fridge isn't quite the best we've seen, it gets a special nod for being one of the best in its price bracket. Most online retailers are advertising the Amana ABB1921WEW for just $849, a great bargain for a fridge this good. It had no major flaws that would discourage us from recommending it, and its few imperfections are quite minimal compared to other models that are so cheap. True, there are better fridges available that could be found pretty easily, but it'd be a substantially harder task to find one this good and still spend so little money.

The Cold Truth

While the Amana ABB1921WEW had some performance issues, they were either quite minor or potentially fixable. Our thorough testing procedure left no cooling element unchecked, and the final numbers were ultimately quite favorable. This Amana bottom freezer isn't perfect, but it comes closer than usual for a product with its price point.

Temperature Performance

Flawed calibration, fantastic consistency.

The biggest issue we had with this Amana was the average temperature output: it was just a bit too warm. Fortunately, that's a problem which could potentially be solved by adjusting the control panel. The temperature difference from top to bottom in the fridge, however, was virtually nonexistent. At the very top, temperatures averaged 40.28ºF. The middle cooled to 40.09ºF, warming up again at the bottom to 40.5ºF. That's a total degree shift of just 0.41 degrees, a variance so small that well regulated airflow is definitely being achieved. Add in an average degree shift over time of just 0.18 degrees - well below the average amount - and you've got truly exceptional fresh food preservation.

{{photo_gallery "Fridge Temperature", "Fridge Temp Graph"}}

The freezer was almost as good, though not quite. Again, the average temperature was a hair too warm: the top clocked in at 0.88ºF, while the lower portion only reached 2.07ºF. As mentioned with the fridge, that's something which could likely be changed by turning down the control setting. Either way, a degree variance of 1.13 degrees is quite good, especially when you consider the fact that a freezer's disparity tends to be greater than that of a fridge compartment. Still, it all comes down to fluctuation over time, and the Amana's freezer excelled in that regard. With an average degree shift of 0.34, temperatures are consistent enough that freezer burn shouldn't be a concern unless you're storing something for months at a time.

{{photo_gallery "Freezer Temperature"}}

Moisture Retention

Ho, hum... a regular crisper.

The least impressive aspect of this Amana was undoubtedly its crisper. That's not to say the drawers were bad... just average. Over the course of three days, our test materials lost an average of 0.16 grams of moisture per hour. That's right in the middle of the spectrum, quite acceptable without being overly impressive. For what it's worth, 0.16 grams per hour is on the strong side of average, but probably not enough to result in a large increase in the shelf life of your produce.

Freezing & Thawing

Just a little bit faster...

Much like the results of our moisture retention test, the freezing test proved to be on the slightly positive side of average. Room temperature test materials, when placed in the Amana's freezer, took an average of one hour and 35 minutes to hit a formally frozen temperature. It's no flash freeze, but 95 minutes it still pretty good. The thawed texture of meat or fish shouldn't have undergone too much of a transformation, though truly fine cuts of beef would still fair better if it didn't have to be frozen at all.

{{photo_gallery "Freezing Graph"}}

After unplugging the Amana and letting it sit with the freezer door shut for 36 hours, we went back in to check on our items. Despite having undergone a simulated power outage, all of our test materials were still quite frozen. It's possible that they could have remained that way for up to another 12 hours, but hopefully your electric company won't make you wait for quite that long to get things up and running again.

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Storage Space & Energy Efficiency

Phenomenal cooling power, itty bitty chilling space.

The wide shelves in the fridge may not offer a ton of customizable formatting, but it does serve up a fair amount of storage. Three large shelves make up the bulk of the fresh food storage, and are supplemented by two identical crispers. On the door, you've got one unusually wide dairy bin, as well as three semi-half-width bucket shelves (the door isn't evenly bisected) and one deeper full-width shelf on the bottom. In total, it all adds up to 8.7 cubic feet of usable storage. It's not overly large, but should be enough to take care of two or three people without too much trouble.

{{photo_gallery "Fridge Storage", "Fridge Door Storage"}}

The freezer is much smaller, obviously, with one pull-out shelf and one pull-out drawer serving as most of the frozen storage space. There's one shelf on the door to help out, but it's not terribly big. All told, the three unique sections combine together to form 4.56 cubic feet of chilly storage goodness.

{{photo_gallery "Freezer Storage", "Freezer Door Storage"}}

At the end of the day, some consumers care about energy efficiency with their appliances more than anything else. We're happy to report that this Amana bottom freezer is a cheap-to-run, energy efficiency beauty. Based on a fixed rate of $0.09 per kWh, we determined that this fridge requires an annual payment of just $29.02 to operate. It's somewhat cheaper than average for a fridge of its type sans ice maker; based on your local rates, prices may be slightly higher or lower than our number. What will stay the same regardless of location, however, is the amount of power required by each usable cubic foot of storage: just 0.07 kWh. That's a figure we get consistently for highly efficient products, making this a fridge that won't cost you a ton in the long term.

{{photo_gallery "Power Data"}}