Mini Fridge Buying Guide: Best Picks (2023)

Best Mini Fridge: Buying Guide To Select The Best Mini Fridge (2024)

This is a detailed guide of mini-fridges available in India which talks about their pros and cons, features, price, why you should buy a mini fridge and how you can maintain your mini fridge.

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A mini fridge is an appliance that is portable and handy and is used in hotel rooms, dorms, offices or homes, and shops. Imagine while sleeping you feel thirsty and you have to walk all the way to your kitchen. That’s when a mini fridge comes in use.

You can keep it in your room or bedside and you will not have to take the walk to the kitchen in the middle of the night to drink water. Imagine if you live in hostel and you have to shift to a new dorm. If you have a small fridge, you can easily shift from one dorm to another. Also, every time you check-into a good hotel, you will find a small refrigerator with beverages and candies.

A mini fridge can also be called a small fridge, a small refrigerator, a compact refrigerator, a portable refrigerator or a mini cooler.  Read on to know more about the best mini fridge in India, mini fridge buying guide, mini fridge price in India and more.

open mini fridge
A mini fridge is an appliance that is portable and handy and does the same work as a regular fridge.

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1. Best Mini Fridge With Optimum Cooling: Haeir Single Door Refrigerator

2. Best Mini Fridge With Compact Size: Godrej Personal Cooling Solution

Related Products
*Based on Mishry's internal reviews and ratings

3. Best Mini Fridge With Steel Material: LG Direct-Cool Single Door Refrigerator

4. Best Mini Fridge With Cooling Technology: Tropicool PortaChill Refrigerator

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Best Rated Mini Fridges – Quick Glance

List of Top Mini Fridges in India

A mini fridge is an efficient appliance. If you’re looking for one, check out our picks of the best mini fridge in India :

1. Haeir Single Door Refrigerator

This mini fridge has an elegant and sleek design and occupies very little space. It has a capacity of 52 L with a 3-star rating. It has a stabilizer free operation to protect the mini fridge from power fluctuations. It makes no noise, so even if you keep it in your room, your sleep will not be affected.

It has a powerful performance with efficient cooling. The handle which is used to open the mini fridge is a recessed handle that is easier to get a grip of. It has a separate freezer to make ice.

Haeir Single Door Refrigerator

Product Features:

  • Sleek design
  • Wired shelves
  • Efficient cooling

2. Godrej Personal Cooling Solution

This mini fridge from Godrej is a perfect food, beverage and cosmetic cooler. It has a capacity of 30 L with no compressor and no refrigerant. It equips with advanced solid state technology that delivers energy efficient cooling. It also includes dual LED lights that illuminate the interior portion of the fridge. It is easy to clean and maintain as it does not consist of any moving parts. Moreover, it offers a silent operation since it has no compressor.

Product Features: 

  • No defrosting needed
  • Perfect hotels, offices and homes
  • Maximum storage space

3. LG Direct-Cool Single Door Refrigerator

This mini fridge comes with a capacity of 45 L. This appliance does not consist of a freezer and offers a fresh experience. This can also be used as a small bar fridge. The refrigerator offers optimum cooling and can store small items such as medicines, cans, fruits, water bottles, small juice bottles and more. It has an exquisite metallic body and includes a reciprocating compressor.

LG Direct-Cool Single Door Refrigerator

Product Features:

  • Available in white color
  • Does not include a freezer
  • Can store small items like fruits, bottles and more

4. Tropicool PortaChill Refrigerator

This mini fridge from Tropicool comes with a capacity of 5 L. This mini fridge is compact in size. It also includes removable shelves so that you can adjust them and make space according to your requirement. This electronic appliance uses single thermoelectric cooling technology. Also, it does not contain a freezer and compressor. This fridge can be used for cars and homes.

Product Features:

  • Includes two modes – hot and cold switch
  • No freezer and compressor
  • Compact size

5. Koolatron Mini Fridge

This attractive mini fridge is solely for the purpose of storing 6-12 ounces of soda cans. It has a capacity of 4 L. It has a recess door handle that has the ability to self-lock. It has an exterior of vibrant red color with the trademark of Coca-Cola on top. You can also store small water bottles in this charming mini fridge.

Product Features:

  • Can store 6 cans of 12 ounces
  • Recess door handle
  • Self-lock

The various types of compact/mini refrigerators are:

1. Drinks Mini Fridge

This portable refrigerator can only store drinks, beverages or water. It has a temperature setting that can only keep drinks cool, you can’t store vegetables in it.

2. Counter High Compact Mini Fridge

This type of mini fridge is also known as an under the counter fridge which means they can be fitted under the counter. They come in two types: single door or double door. These fridges have a lot of storage space and you can store anything from beverages to food in this compact refrigerator. They generally come with a lock, freezer, dispenser, and light. Ideally, a small fridge must be fitted in the kitchen or in the dining hall. Since they are bigger in size and capacity, this type of mini fridge is costlier as compared to other mini fridges.

 open mini fridge
Image Credit: lg.com| Mid sized storage mini fridge have more storage as compared to a cube mini fridge.

3. Mid Sized Mini Fridge

These small fridges have more storage as compared to a cube mini fridge. The number of shelves is more and it has an increased storage capacity. It also has a freezer in it and can be cleaned easily. Since they have more storage capacity and are better than cube mini fridges, they are also costlier than them.

4. Cube Mini Fridges

Cube mini fridges are commonly used mini fridges as they are very compact and not costly. As they are compact they have fewer compartments and they don’t need a lot of space to be placed. They generally have a reversible door which means the door can be opened from left to right or right to left.

5. Travel Mini Fridge

Travel mini fridges are portable refrigerators as they can be easily carried from one place to another. You can carry them while traveling such as for picnics, camping, etc. These mini fridges are not durable, even though you can store both food items and beverages in them. Travel mini fridge price is way less than other mini fridges.

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Working Of a Mini Fridge

You must be wondering why you need to know how a mini fridge works. If you will know the technology used in a certain mini fridge, you will be able to decide easily, which one suits the best for you, based on your needs. All mini fridges don’t allow the temperature on the outside to mix with the inside temperature which means the food or drinks stored stay cool. Unless you open the door of the mini-fridge, the temperature stays static.

A small refrigerator works on 3 technologies: thermoelectric, compressor and absorption technology. All 3 models work in different ways.

Let’s find out the difference between the 3 technologies in a Mini Fridge:

1. Thermoelectric Mini Fridge

A mini fridge that works on the thermoelectric principle is not durable. This type of compact refrigerator can both chill and warm the food items stored in them. There is a heat pump fitted in them which transfers the heat or energy from one end to the other. These mini fridges don’t make any noise. The only sound you will hear is the sound of the fan. These mini fridges weigh less and are small in size which makes them portable and the mini fridge is cheaper as compared to those mini fridges which don’t use the thermoelectric technology.

2. Compressor Mini Fridge

This type of mini fridge can be placed in the kitchen, bedroom, dining hall or offices. They have tubes and coils fitted in them which play a very vital role in the working of the compressor of the mini fridge. There is vaporized liquid that flows through the tubes and coils of the mini fridge that helps in keeping the food items cool and healthy. These small refrigerators don’t make much noise.

3. Absorption Mini Fridge

This type of mini fridge has a heat source fitted in them which keeps the food items and beverages cold. These are the best mini fridges as they don’t make any noise and they are durable as compared to others. They can even be placed in a remote location.

Mini Fridge: Pros And Cons

Every electrical appliance has some benefits and some drawbacks. The same applies to the mini fridge. Read on to find the various pros and cons of using a mini fridge.

The pros of using a mini fridge are way more than the cons of using it. The disadvantages that are mentioned below can be easily ignored depending on the reason you are buying the mini fridge.

PROS

CONS

Compact in size and can be placed anywhere in the room or hotel or office. As the name suggests, a mini fridge is smaller in size and can’t store a lot of items.
Compact as they occupy very
less space.
Some mini-fridges can barely store a
liter of milk.
Portable and convenient and
they can also be utilized while travelling.
No temperature settings. The freezer will have the temperature setting by default and the same is the case with the fridge section.
Lightweight and can be
carried around easily from
one place to another.
Some mini fridges don’t even have a
freezer in them.
Can be placed in offices,
meeting rooms, parties, shops
and bedrooms.
Can be used for outdoor
parties as well.
Ideal for storing food snacks,
juices or beverages.
Quick freezing
Less maintenance required,
hence easy to clean
Also available with a reversible door making it easier to use the mini fridge based on the food setting.
Cools beverages for a longer
period.
Some mini fridges have ice
maker or ice dispenser which
is an added advantage.

Tips To Keep In Mind Before Buying a Mini Fridge

Before you buy the best mini fridge according to your needs, you must keep in mind the following things:

1. Size

The size of the mini fridge is obviously small compared to a regular refrigerator. But choosing the perfect size of a mini-fridge depends on what you want to use it for. If you only want to use it for cooling drinks, then you must buy a mini fridge of smaller size which has only shelves for cooling drinks, else if you buy the regular sized mini fridge, that will be a waste of money and storage.

2. Adjustable Shelves

In order to make the best use of a mini fridge, you must look for one with adjustable shelves. The advantage of adjustable shelves is that they allow you to organize different food items in a better way by giving you more space.

3. Type of door

A mini fridge comes with 3 types of doors which are single door, double door, and reversible door. You must buy a double door mini fridge if you want to make ice in it because in a mini fridge with a single door, you have to change the temperature of all the items in order to make ice. Reversible door mini fridge is more convenient to use as you can store the food based on which side of the door you want to use. If you plan to change, where you place the mini-fridge, you can do that without thinking twice about any wall as you will be able to use the mini fridge from either side.

4. Warranty

Warranty is a major feature in any electrical appliance that you can’t ignore. What if your mini fridge starts to show some faults, then instead of spending money and getting it fixed, you must buy a mini fridge which has a warranty so that you don’t have to pay for it.

5. Noise

Some mini fridges make a lot of noise after some time. Make sure you check where you have placed the mini fridge. Sometimes it makes noise if it is not placed on a level floor.

6. Locks

If you are buying a mini fridge to keep in your dorm, then a mini fridge that can be locked keeps your snacks safe!

7. Supplementary Features

These features are not available in all the mini fridges but they are available in some. Automatic defrost is a helpful feature as it defrosts the fridge automatically even if you forget to do so. Some mini fridges are built in the shape of a can, which is very attractive. Alarms and 3D doors are also available in the market in some mini fridges.

How To Maintain a Mini Fridge?

Even though it is mentioned in the pros of using a mini fridge that it requires less maintenance, but in order to use a mini fridge more efficiently and to make it long lasting, you must take care of it properly. Here are a few easy-to-follow dos and don’ts while using a mini fridge.

DO’S

DONT’S

Place the mini fridge in an upright position. Never place the mini fridge flat.
Place the small refrigerator in a cool
place.
Never place the small refrigerator near a heat source or sunlight or in a garage.
Place the mini fridge on an even surface. Never place the mini fridge on a slant or leaning on anything.
Organize the mini fridge properly for proper air flow. Never overload the mini fridge, else it will not work properly.
After plugging, make sure medium settings are changed accordingly. Don’t store items which are expired or rotten.
Defrost mini fridge regularly. Don’t use the mini fridge for a long time without defrosting, else it will not work efficiently.
Clean the mini fridge regularly. Never clean a mini fridge while its plugged or fully stored.
To clean the outer surface, soapy water can be used. Never use soapy water for cleaning the inside of the mini fridge.
After cleaning the trays allow them to dry outside. Never put wet trays or compartments back in the mini fridge.
After cleaning the mini fridge from the inside, leave the door open to let it dry, else, molds will grow in it. Never store food items if after cleaning there is moist in the mini fridge.
Keep the mini fridge free of odor. Never leave the mini fridge with rotten food items as it may cause
odor.

Steps To Clean a Mini Fridge

  • Not to mention, you must remove all the items stored in the mini fridge before you start cleaning. Make sure the portable fridge is empty as it will be much easier to clean an empty mini fridge and there will not be a possibility of contaminating the food items stored in it.
  • Usually, in a mini fridge, the shelves can be removed, so the next step is to remove these shelves and soak them in hot water mixed with a regular dishwasher.
  • To clean the inside of a mini fridge, you can use commercial wipes, microfibre cloth or a sponge of good quality as they have the ability to clean the mini fridge thoroughly.
  • If there are stains that you are unable to clean with the wipes or the sponge, then you can use baking soda to clean them. All you have to do is mix the baking soda with little water, making a thick paste then apply it on the stain and leave it for an hour. Then you can clean it with a fresh damp cloth and the stain will be gone.
  • To clean the outside of the fridge, you can mix dishwasher with water and use it to clean the outside of a fridge using a fresh cloth or sponge.
  • Even after cleaning, if there is an odor in your compact fridge, then take some baking in a small box and place it at the bottom of your mini-fridge. The baking soda will absorb all the odor that is there in your mini-fridge.

Frequently Asked Questions

We answered some of the frequently asked questions about the mini-fridge.

1. Which is the best mini refrigerator in India?

There are 5 different variants of mini refrigerators available in India, offline and online. Here is a curated list of the best ones – Haeir Single Door Refrigerator, Godrej Personal Cooling Solution, LG Direct-Cool Single Door Refrigerator and Tropicool PortaChill Refrigerator.

2. How much does a mini fridge cost in India?

The price of a mini-fridge ranges from 7000 INR to 10000 INR. Usually, the price is around 8500 INR.

3. How many Litres is a mini-fridge?

Mini fridges are compact, which need less space. Generally, they have a capacity below 100 liters. However, some mini fridges have a capacity of up to 120 liters too.

4. Are mini-fridges worth it?

Mini fridges are compact and are portable. They are light in weight and can be moved around easily, making them best for traveling. It requires less maintenance and is easy to clean. They have an ice maker or dispenser. 

Mini fridges are ideally used to store beverages or snacks. It is usually placed in offices, shops, hotels, or bedrooms.

Conclusion

In conclusion, there are multiple varieties of mini fridges available in the market for you to buy but now you know that mini-fridges are built based on the needs of the customers. The above-mentioned features of the best small refrigerator in India, mini fridge buying guide and other details will help you in deciding the perfect mini fridge for you which can be bought online or offline.

Our best picks for this article are Haeir Single Door Refrigerator, Godrej Personal Cooling Solution, LG Direct-Cool Single Door Refrigerator and Tropicool PortaChill Refrigerator.

If you want to buy it online you can directly click the link given with the respective products.

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