At a look
Professional’s Score
Execs
- French-door fridge
- Convertible freezer cupboard
- Water and ice dispenser
Cons
- No vegetable bin humidity management
- Water dispenser is plumbed
- Greater than common power consumption
Our Verdict
This can be a well-built, trendy French-door fridge freezer with panoramic lighting, a versatile temperature cupboard, and programmable water and ice on the press of a paddle.
Worth When Reviewed
Not accessible within the US
In the event you are likely to affiliate Whirlpool with budget-friendly home equipment, you is likely to be shocked on the luxurious of this French door fridge freezer. It’s a part of Whirlpool’s premium flagship vary, the W Assortment, and it has all the things we love in an equipment of this type.
French doorways on a fridge are attractive and have that pretty double-door Parisian balcony really feel by which your fridge inside is laid out earlier than your eyes in a panoply of comestibles – all helped, on this mannequin, by lighting on three sides of the interior cupboard.
Then you’ve a pair of freezer cupboards, one in every of which is convertible from freezer to fridge temperature for these instances once you want extra fridge or bottle house: that’s proper, the right-hand freezer cupboard may even double as a beer or wine cooler.
Plus, there’s a water and ice dispenser you can programme for particular glass volumes, and cubed and crushed ice. The equipment additionally has good options.
Design and construct
- Sturdy
- Taller than common
- Recessed door handles
The very first thing you discover about this W Assortment fridge freezer is that it’s a strong, well-built equipment. Fashionable and gunmetal gray, the fridge doorways have a bunker heaviness to them that reminds you extra of a chilly retailer door than a fridge.
The recessed handles are beneath the fridge door panels, and despite the fact that you’ve the everyday French door state of affairs the place the left door wants to shut earlier than the precise door to permit for the sealing mechanism to interact, they’ve a nicely weighted swing and no bounce-back.
At 187.6cm excessive, the fridge freezer is barely taller than common for a fridge freezer of this type, so it has one thing of a monolithic presence and shorter than common individuals would possibly battle to achieve the again of the highest shelf.
Probably the most intriguing management panel function is the “special day” menu. Right here you may select a state of affairs, and the equipment will reply accordingly
However, all in all, there’s one thing that feels very strong and reliable about this fridge freezer. And the ability wire is an efficient 180cm lengthy.
Sound
Whirlpool states this fridge freezer operates at about 41dB, which isn’t the quietest mannequin we’ve ever examined, however very typical for an equipment of this kind. In the true world, it hardly makes a discernible noise in any respect.
You do get a door alarm if the door is open for greater than a minute or so, however it’s not intrusive, and you may flip it off by way of the management panel if you wish to clear the fridge.
Operating value
- Power F score
- 430 kWh pa
This equipment has an F power score, which was A+ on the previous score scale. Whirlpool says that you can be 430 kWh pa to run the equipment, which is on the upper finish of power consumption for a fridge freezer of this measurement and storage capability, but it surely’s a distinction, roughly, of about 40 kWh pa from the typical.
Management
- Touchscreen management panel
- A number of options
- Good-enabled
You management the fridge by way of a black touchscreen panel, with further touchscreen mode buttons to the facet, above the water and ice dispenser.
When activated, the display offers you the time and date, the present temperature of the fridge freezer cupboards, the chosen mode for ice, and whether or not the equipment is Wi-Fi linked. The show is white, vivid, helpful and relatively perky.
Alex Greenwood / Foundry
The 4 mode buttons are “Instruments”, “House”, “Favourites” and “Ice”. House is self-explanatory, as is Ice, which toggles between cubed and crushed, however “Instruments” and “Favourites” take you right into a world of personalisation.
“Instruments” hosts numerous choices. You may activate quick cool or quick freeze, which will increase cooling for a set period of time once you introduce new meals into the fridge or freezer, or once you’re utilizing the fridge or freezer so much. There’s a vacation mode, which turns off the water and ice dispenser and lowers the temperature of the fridge. There’s additionally a “no freezer burn” function that sub-cools the freezer cupboard previous to defrost.
The lighting on this fridge freezer is outstanding and, in our view, elevates this fridge to the upper finish of home equipment in its class
Naturally, you may set the working temperatures of every cupboard, and that is the place you may change the temperature of the right-hand freezer, primarily swapping the cupboard from freezer to fridge to cooler.
Additionally within the management panel, you may set the time and date, how a lot water to dispense, plus there’s a helpful kitchen timer function. You may flip the water dispenser gentle on and off right here as nicely.
However probably the most intriguing management panel function is the “special day” menu. Right here you may select a state of affairs, and the equipment will reply accordingly.
From “loading an enormous grocery store” and “marinating meat” to “having a celebration”, “chilling drinks within the freezer” or “cleansing contained in the fridge”, the fridge freezer will set timers, flip off fridge cooling and the door alarm, or activate quick cooling by simply choosing the choice you need.
Alex Greenwood / Foundry
The equipment is smart-enabled. To set this up, obtain the Whirlpool Sixth Sense app, create an account and pair your fridge with the account by way of your cellphone. The Wi-Fi connection will will let you change the temperatures of your cupboards out of your smartphone, verify your water filter standing and allow you to routinely reorder equipment. It’ll additionally ship you a door ajar alert if wanted.
Settle down and heat up
In higher-than-normal atmospheric temperatures, this Whirlpool cooled to five°C and -18°C in two and a half hours, which is typical for an equipment of this kind with out partaking the quick cool or quick freeze features.
We discovered that the cupboards warmed up very slowly after switch-off. Whirlpool states you’ve about 15 hours of storage within the occasion of an influence failure, and we reckon that is roughly correct.
Lighting
The lighting on this fridge freezer is outstanding and, in our view, elevates this fridge to the upper finish of home equipment in its class.
Alex Greenwood / Foundry
The fridge cupboard boast 4 inner LED lighting strips: two on the high of the fridge cupboard and one on both facet, left and proper. Every strip is 15cm by 2cm, and the visibility contained in the fridge cupboard is exceptional.
You may programme the water dispenser to dispense particular quantities by way of the “favourites” display, and you may swap between cubed or crushed ice simply
There’s additionally a 6cm x 3cm gentle on the high of every freezer cupboard, which is a function we love however that you just don’t routinely get in a luxurious equipment of this kind.
Fridge capability
- 355 litres of storage
- Stainless-steel again cooling panel
- Three cabinets and three drawers
You get a complete of 355 litres of storage within the fridge, which you’ll set between 2°C and eight°C. 355 litres is roughly 18 to 19 grocery store buying luggage.
Contained in the fridge, the cupboard feels sturdy and well-built. The inner casing is silver, with a stainless-steel again cooling panel, and there are two 77cm x 30cm glass cabinets with a chrome trim and a decrease pull-out glass platter that sits above the “contemporary field” vegetable drawers.
The “contemporary field” drawers really feel sturdy too and have a pleasant chrome trim on the handles. There are two side-by-side beneath the pull-out platter: every one 32cm x 30cm x 15.5cm, so roughly 14.8 litres of capability or three quarters of a grocery store bag of buying.
Beneath these, you’ve an entry panel for the water filter and a “delicates” drawer that holds about 14 litres of buying. This can be a huge, shallow drawer for meals you can’t stack on a shelf, both as a result of they are going to be crushed or simply squashed: charcuterie, dairy, desserts – that sort of factor.
Alex Greenwood / Foundry
The one draw back to the vegetable drawers is that you just don’t get a humidity management, both digital or mechanical. We’d have anticipated, at this worth level, for the equipment to have this function as the power to change the humidity of a bin could make an enormous distinction in relation to the longevity of contemporary fruit and greens.
Door storage
- Seven inner door balconies
- Programmable water and ice dispenser
- Water and ice dispenser requires plumbing in
Because of the presence of the water and ice dispenser on the left-hand fridge door, the 4 inner door balconies are half as deep as these on the right-hand facet, so that you’ll want to make use of these balconies for thinner jars and bottles. You do get 4, nonetheless, they usually span 30cm throughout the door. On the precise, you get three balconies at 14.5cm deep, so you should utilize this facet for wider grocery store milk and soda bottles.
The water and ice dispenser requires plumbing into the water provide, so that could be a consideration when you consider positioning, the design of your kitchen, and the very fact you’re in all probability going to wish knowledgeable to plumb the equipment in for you – a service that your stockist could provide as a part of your buy settlement.
This skill to transform a freezer house from sub-zero temperatures as much as 10°C is one thing we haven’t seen earlier than in a convertible cupboard equipment
That mentioned, the water dispenser has a couple of good bells and whistles. You may programme the dispenser to dispense particular quantities by way of the “favourites” display, and you may swap between cubed or crushed ice simply. The shelling out paddle additionally has a pleasant resistance to it, and there’s additionally an under-light that illuminates once you press the paddle for these late-night glasses of water.
Freezer capability
- 237 litre of storage
- Convertible cupboard
- A pull out shelf and two bins per cupboard
The general freezer capability is an efficient 237 litres, or twelve to 13 luggage of buying. Each decrease cupboards have the identical inner fixtures: a high pull-out, glass-bottomed shelf of 31cm by 29cm, so roughly sq., and a deep center drawer that holds about 19 litres, or one grocery store buying bag, and a backside drawer that holds about 10.5 litres.
Alex Greenwood / Foundry
There are three slim inner balconies, 33cm by 8cm, in every cupboard door. Whirlpool suggests you utilize these for ice lotions, frozen sachets, boxed frozen items, or, when you convert the right-hand freezer compartment right into a drinks cooler, you may match bottles of wine into the decrease balcony.
It’s this convertibility and suppleness that actually marks this fridge freezer out. The left-hand cupboard is a typical freezer; the temperature vary is from -22°C to -15°C. Your right-hand cupboard, nonetheless, ranges from -22°C to 10°C, so not solely can you utilize it as a freezer or a fridge, you can even use it as a cooler inside the vary of 5°C to 10°C.
This skill to transform a freezer house from sub-zero temperatures proper as much as 10°C is one thing we haven’t seen earlier than in a convertible cupboard equipment. Usually, convertible cupboards cease at 5°C, which is simply too cool for many white wines and rosés, that are optimally saved between 9°C and 13°C. Champagne, once more, ought to be roughly about 8°C to 10°C, with lagers coming in round 6°C to eight°C.
So the suggestion that this cupboard features as a drinks cooler, with a observe beneath the ten°C temperature choice within the management panel that it’s the best option for storing wine, makes numerous sense.
In lots of respects, you may adapt this fridge freezer to swimsuit a variety of family varieties: from busy households who want extra freezer house to skilled {couples} who prefer to calm down with a wine after work to retirees who need a separate house for storing home-grown produce – the W Assortment fridge freezer works for everybody.
Worth and availability
The WQ9I FO1BXW is the one French-door fridge freezer the model presently gives. It’s a feature-packed, luxurious equipment and its worth actually displays that. Nonetheless, we expect that you just’ll get your cash’s price when you purchase it.
However you would possibly wish to contemplate the place you purchase it from, as costs differ significantly. On the time of writing, one of the best worth we discovered was from Donaghy Bros, however Beacon Electrical additionally has a superb provide.
Don’t overlook that to get pleasure from its full performance, you’ll must get it plumbed in, so chances are you’ll wish to discover out if that may be achieved as a part of the supply service.
Verdict
We actually just like the W Assortment’s four-door fridge freezer. In addition to its convertible cupboard and intelligent management panel that gives so many customisation choices, it’s sturdy in and out.
Okay, it doesn’t have humidity management for the vegetable drawers and it’ll take just a little bit extra power to run, but it surely feels prime quality: the drawers don’t rattle once you pull them out and in, the lighting is nice, it feels child- and teenager-proof, and it has these further pull-out drawers and door balconies that simply make life a bit simpler and extra gratifying.
To see our different fridge freezer suggestions, take a look at our round-up of one of the best fridge-freezers we’ve examined.