Review: Samsung's four-door refrigerators are all about tech

There are three different iterations to choose from: The relatively basic RF28K9070 comes with four doors and a convertible fridge/freezer compartment, the RF28K9380 adds an easy-access Food Showcase compartment, and the RF28K9580 features the Family Hub touchscreeen. All three come in your choice of either regular or black stainless finishes.

While a four-door fridge isn't for everyone, a combination of flexibility and space make these models ideal for large families who entertain frequently and have some money to spare.

Sale prices take some of the sting out of the retail price, too: The most expensive iteration—the Family Hub fridge in black stainless—costs about $3,425 on sale, but we've seen the basic stainless model hit as low as $2,695. If it's something more luxurious you're looking for, check out the Chef Collection fridges—which keep the four-door form factor but add high-end touches.

Hidden Compartments and a Black Stainless Finish

With its recessed handles, shimmery surface, and sleek control interface, the four-door fridge looks like it's straight out of the future—especially if you get the Family Hub model, which lets you set up photo slide shows on the exterior panel. (We weren't thrilled with Family Hub overall, as you can read in our review of the technology, but it still has some strong points.)

All fridges come in optional Black Stainless finish—a fingerprint-resistant variation on real stainless steel that's been growing in popularity.

The Food Showcase version features a door-in-door design—which reveals easy access to condiments and snacks sitting in door-mounted shelves. It also has blue-tinted plastic shelves and a removable wine rack. The basic model lacks Samsung's metal cooling panels (which we found to be irrelevant to overall cooling anyway). Despite those minor differences, however, each fridge offers more or less the same hands-on experience, with plenty of adjustable shelves, a slim ice maker, and a split freezer section.

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One of the biggest perks that you get with this series is Samsung's FlexZone storage. That refers to the lower right section, which conventionally would just serve as a freezer. Here, you can actually set it to different temperature levels: Freezer (pretty self-explanatory), Soft Freezing (23°F), Chill (30°F), and Cool (41°F).

However, depending on your shopping habits, that split freezer could prove a challenge. That's because both compartments are filled with smaller pull-out drawers. We found it difficult to fit a Thanksgiving turkey or family-sized frozen pizza, and it was also hard to dig out things that get pushed to the back of the drawers.

Performance & Features

For a fridge this expensive, you should expect the best. And Samsung delivers... mostly. Average temperatures—we set all fridges that we test to 37°F in the fridge and 0°F in the freezer—were pretty much spot on, although we did track wider-than-normal temperature shifts over time. That's not unusual for a fridge of this size, as it's harder to evenly cool larger spaces.

We were fans of the crisper drawers, which did a fantastic job retaining moisture to keep produce tasting fresh. Also, despite its large size, this Samsung series turns out to be surprisingly energy efficient.

Warranty

{{ amazon name="Weiman Stainless Steel Cleaner & Polish - 22 fl. oz.", asin="B008WZ2NLY", align="right" }} All Samsung's four-door fridges come with a three-part warranty: You get one year limited parts and labor coverage on the entire fridge, which is standard for the industry. You also get five years of parts and labor coverage on the sealed refrigeration system. Samsung's digital inverter compressor gets 10 years' additional parts coverage, but only five years of labor. You can read more about Samsung's warranty coverage on the company's website.

Why We Like It

Sure, the fanciest Family Hub might not be for everyone. That said, with prices on Samsung's other four-door fridges starting to drop, the unique design (and maybe even black stainless) could soon be within the grasp of your average American. But if you want a fridge that looks, feels, and cools better than most other models on the market, be sure to check out what Samsung has to offer.