The Best Side-by-side Refrigerators of 2023

Side-by-side refrigerators save space by placing the freezer next to the fridge compartment while keeping everything at eye level.

While they may not be as grand as French door refrigerators, the best side-by-side refrigerators can offer features like through-the-door water and ice dispensers and smart features, all at a more affordable price.

We test side-by-side fridges in our labs for temperature consistency, storage flexibility, and humidity retention. These three metrics determine how long your fridge can keep your fresh food fresh—and it's what we base our rankings on.

After testing, our favorite side-by-side on the market is the Frigidaire FRSS2623AS (available at Best Buy for $1,049.99) . It’s a great value and still excels at temperature consistency and organization.

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Other Side-by-side Refrigerators We Tested

How We Test Side-by-side Refrigerators

We have plenty of experience testing these products in the lab, but we've also used them as normal people would in the course of their daily lives, which means that we have a great sense for what appliances are bargains at their price points, and which appliances have really useful extra features.

We spend a week testing each fridge from two perspectives—a data-driven, objective point of view, and also as a regular person trying to get at their leftovers. The combination of these two types of experiences allows us to recommend the best fridge for you.

We test each refrigerator in a lab that conditions the air temperature to 72°F +/- 5°F (basically, room temperature), and relative humidity to 50% RH +/- 15% RH, so each fridge can perform at its best under the same conditions. Additionally, we pack each fridge with water-filled containers because refrigerators operate when there’s less empty space. To judge overall performance, we measure each refrigerator in five areas:

1. Temperature. Our ideal temperature setting for the fridge is 37°F. As 40°F is the start of the bacteria “danger zone”, fridge temperatures higher than 37° and you may have to start worrying about bacteria growth. With freezers, our ideal temperature is 0°F because food isn’t properly frozen at temperatures higher than that. Once each refrigerator is at those temperatures, we collect data over our week of testing to tells us how close the fridge and freezer are to ideal temperatures and how close the air temperature stayed to those values.

2. Humidity loss. Fridges need to strike a balance with humidity—leafy greens will dry out in a crisper that loses too much humidity, but too much humidity will cause fruit to rot. During testing, we add water to a floral foam ball, and measure how quickly it dries in a refrigerator’s veggie crisper.

3. Freezing time. Once a refrigerator is plugged in, we measure the time it takes for the freezer to cool down from room temperature to 32°F, the freezing temperature of water. This is a good measure of how quickly your fridge and freezer can cool down food or beverages that have just been placed inside the refrigerator.

4. Usable space. One of the most common refrigerator specs is the total capacity in cubic feet. While you may think that a higher capacity means more storage, that’s not always the case. Shelves, drawers, and ice makers can eat into that capacity. We measure the usable space, which is how much space is actually available for storage.

5. Energy use. Using an electric meter, we measure the fridge’s energy usage over the week of testing. The less energy used, the more efficient that refrigerator is.

We also use each fridge in a more casual sense so we can answer usability questions about the fridge’s specs and features, like the doors, shelves, controls, water/ice dispenser, and extras like smart connectivity, or flexible storage options, etc. If a refrigerator is difficult to open the doors and the control panel makes no sense, we’re going to penalize that fridge with respect to its ease of use.

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What You Should Know Before Buying A Side-By-side Refrigerator

Refrigerator Type

Before purchasing a refrigerator, it's important to determine which type best fits your needs.

French door refrigerators offer a modern look, wide shelves for storage, and many feature options, but they often are more expensive than other types and freezer space may be limited.

Top freezer refrigerators are efficient and less expensive, but some might find them lacking in the aesthetics department. Bottom freezers are the reverse of top freezers, so you'll have to bend over to get things in the freezers.

Last but not least, side by side fridges keep food at eye level. Storage space is more narrow than the other fridge types, but, in general, freezers are large. Here are a few things to consider when shopping for a side-by-side.

Kitchen footprint

People with limited space in their kitchen may want to consider a side-by-side. Because the freezer is next to the fridge, they can save space in your kitchen, as there's no freezer drawer to open (like French door fridges) and the doors are smaller (unlike top and bottom freezers).

Storage needs

While side-by-sides take up less space in the kitchen, the interior can cause storage complications. Narrower fridge and freezer compartments who need space for things like frozen pizzas or serving trays. However, some side-by-sides offer storage solutions that alleviate those issues, such as the "pizza pocket" shelf found in the Whirlpool WRS555SIHZ.

A side by side could be a good option for people who plan out their meals or have lots of leftovers, as stackable containers can be easily seen in most models.

Features

All of the side-by-side refrigerators we tested had through-the-door water and ice. They also all had stainless steel finish available as a finish option. Features beyond those vary, but whether you're looking for water filtration or smart features, there's a side-by-side model that will fit your needs.

How Do You Organize a Refrigerator?

There are a few points to remember when cleaning and organizing your refrigerator.

First, it’s a good idea to empty everything out and give the fridge a once-over with a soapy sponge. Even though you’re probably not spilling stuff constantly, your fridge will get gross over time, and organizing it is a great time to also knock out a quick cleaning.

Once that’s done, you next need to figure out which items make sense to be on the door. You don’t want particularly perishable items kept on the door, because repeatedly opening the door during normal use will mean those items are slightly warmer than the average temperature elsewhere in the fridge. Keep items like milk and eggs toward the back of the fridge, where the coolest, more even temperatures will be.

It’s also important to keep fruits and vegetables separate. Many fruits give off ethylene gas, which can exacerbate the ripening process for other fruits and vegetables. This is why fridges come with two crisper drawers: To keep your fruits and veggies happier and healthier for longer. Use both.

Finally, keep in mind that cold air needs to circulate around your fridge for it to work properly. Stacking shelves to the ceiling will cut off airflow and lead to hot spots around your fridge where food will spoil much faster. On top of that, overstocked fridges often result in lower visibility, which means food will get hidden and forgotten, only to be uncovered later, teeming with new life. Keeping clutter controlled will keep this kind of food waste to a minimum.

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