Midea MRS26D5AST Side-by-Side Refrigerator Review

About the Midea MRS26D5AST side-by-side refrigerator

The Midea MRS26D5AST features a standard side-by-side layout, with the freezer on the left and fridge on the right.

• Style: Side-by-side
• Dimensions: 69.88" x 35.88" x 33.88" (H x W x D)
• Depth: Standard depth
• Measured capacity: 12.2-cu.-ft. fridge, 4.8-cu.-ft. freezer
• Finishes: Fingerprint-resistant stainless steel
• Special features: Pocket handles, hidden hinges
• Dispensers: Through-the-door water and ice dispenser
• ADA compliant: No
• Energy Star certification: No
• User manual: Midea MRS26D5AST side-by-side refrigerator manual

The Midea MRS26D5AST has a fingerprint-resistant, stainless-steel facade with recessed handles to open its two tall doors.

The left door, which houses the fridge's through-the-door ice and water dispenser, leads to the freezer; the right door leads to the fridge.

Opening up the right door reveals a single, narrow column lined with shelves and two crisper drawers at the bottom. The door features several bins at various heights. The shelves can be repositioned, but the bins can't.

Opening the left door reveals a similar layout, with shelves above two drawers. A large portion of the freezer space is dedicated to the ice maker and the back side of the dispenser.

What we like

It offers ample storage space in the fridge

We like how much storage you get in the fridge compartment

The average side-by-side provides 10.92 cubic feet of usable storage space. We measured the Midea MRS26D5AST at 12.23 cubic feet, which means you're getting 11% more space over the average side-by-side.

The freezer is no slouch either, offering 4.80 cubic feet of storage. While average for a side-by-side, this is still a lot more freezer storage than other types of fridges can muster.

If you're looking for a side-by-side with enough fridge storage for your family, the Midea MRS26D5AST can accommodate your needs.

If you need an even higher capacity, side-by-sides probably won't do the job for you: You should seek out a French-door model instead, which can have up to 16 cubic feet of usable space.

What we don’t like

The fridge runs warm

The fridge may say it's set to 37°F, but our testing shows it's actually over 40°F, which means food isn't being properly refrigerated.

On a fridge with a digital readout like this, if you can set the fridge to 37°F, and the fridge indicates it's 37°F, you expect the fridge be 37°F.

Unfortunately, we measured the average internal temperature of food stored in the Midea MRS26D5AST at just over 40°F. This is bad. Not only is the digital display 3°F off from where it said it should be, that margin is also just enough to push the fridge over the line and into the danger zone.

According to the CDC, you need to keep temperatures in your fridge under 40°F to ensure proper refrigeration. Anything warmer than that means your food isn't being properly refrigerated.

This is why we always recommend manually calibrating your fridge with a thermometer as the first thing you do. While fridges with a digital readout might seem more trustworthy than an old school 1–10 dial, that isn't always the case, as we can see here.

Both the fridge and freezer have inconsistent temperatures

We saw periodic temperature spikes in both the fridge and freezer over the period we tested this fridge.

In the refrigerator compartment, these spikes were about a full degree, and lasted about an hour. Unfortunately, because the fridge runs warm, these spikes will take the fridge well out of the safe zone.

Fortunately, while not ideal, the fridge temperature spikes can be avoided by calibrating that partition to about 34°F.

Where the inconsistency becomes more of a problem is in the freezer. Most of the time, the temperature fluctuated between -4°F and -5°F. This is a safe range for frozen foods, but temperatures below 0°F aren't providing any additional freezing power for the energy investment.

Where we run into problems is with the temperature spikes, which take things from safely below zero to nearly 2°F, which is warmer than they should be. Temperature spikes like this are especially bad in the freezer because temperature inconsistency is how you get freezer burn.

You could save energy by calibrating temperatures higher, but then the spikes would take things even further away from freezing.

The freezer temperatures are also much more difficult to calibrate around. Because temperatures lower than 0°F are a waste of energy, and temperatures are already lower than necessary, turning them down further just to accommodate the spike will further undercut the fridge's energy efficiency.

While some temperature fluctuations are normal, due to defrost cycles or simply opening the door during normal use, these spikes were larger than what we typically see in either the fridge or freezer. We'd expect this kind of inconsistency from a budget model around half the price of the Midea MRS26D5AST.

The crispers do not hold onto humidity

We just reviewed a French-door Midea that had significantly better crisper designs. These crispers let humidity escape at over three times the rate of that French-door model.

Coming hot off the heels of reviewing the Midea MRQ22D7AST French-door refrigerator and its excellent crispers, we're left wondering where the MRS26D5AST side-by-side went wrong.

While the French-door model has excellent crispers that are sure to make any veggie-lover happy, the side-by-side MRS26D5AST's crispers were lackluster by comparison.

For starters, we're not fans of the rotating vent design. The vent feels like it’s made from a lower-quality plastic, and really only has two settings: open and closed.

Even when the vent was closed the crispers didn't hold onto humidity well. We clocked the rate of humidity loss at three times the rate of the Midea French-door fridge and over twice as fast as the average fridge. These crispers will not keep your food fresh for long.

While we understand that as a French-door model, the Midea MRQ22D7AST can accommodate a different crisper design than this much narrower side-by-side, there's no reason they should be this much of a step down.

The through-the-door ice dispenser takes a few seconds to activate

One of the complaints we saw in user reviews was that the ice maker takes some time to turn on—we saw this in our testing. The above gif is sped up a bit—we timed the delay at between three and four seconds before things started audibly churning to life.

While a minor inconvenience at worst, it does contribute to the overall poor user experience of this fridge. When you purchase a fridge in this price range, you expect a higher quality than what this Midea side-by-side offers.

What owners are saying

Owners generally like the Midea MRS26D5AST, and it averages 4.1 out of 5 stars across major retailers. Unlike other fridges, which have mostly 4-star or 5-star reviews and a handful of 1-stars from customers who received lemons, the MRS26D5AST's ratings seem more inconsistent, with many more 3-star reviews than we typically see.

Those who are happy with their purchase really like the high-end aesthetics of this fridge, its overall layout, and its through-the-door dispenser.

Those who aren't happy with the fridge predominantly seemed to have issues with the ice maker or water dispenser. Users claim their water still tastes and smells like plastic long after they'd cycled the recommended gallon through the pipes. Those unhappy with the ice maker say it stopped within the first year or so of ownership, and most claim to have had difficulties getting the issue fixed.

Warranty

Midea offers an industry-standard, one-year warranty that covers parts and labor. It additionally covers compressor parts for up to 10 years. We're happy to see Midea going above and beyond to ensure its fridges feel like an investment.

Should you buy the Midea MRS26D5AST side-by-side refrigerator?

No, there are better values on more consistent fridges

We like a lot of the Midea MRS26D5AST's overall aesthetics, but the negative aspects of this fridge are what really take it out of contention.

The fridge temperature inconsistencies aren't a dealbreaker: They can be calibrated around fairly easily. The issue where the fridge is a few degrees warmer than its stated temperature is a bit less forgivable, because a customer could reasonably expect their calibration to be correct if the fridge is specifically indicating it's hitting that temperature. Likewise, the freezer temperature inconsistency is also difficult to calibrate around.

If this were a budget fridge, we could excuse some of these issues, but at its current price point we can't recommend the Midea MRS26D5AST.

If you still want to buy a Midea and don't mind spending more, the MRQ22D7AST is one of the best French-door refrigerators we've tested.

If you want to stick with a side-by-side, the Frigidaire FRSS2623AS is the best we've had come through our labs.

The product experts at Reviewed have all your shopping needs covered. Follow Reviewed on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, and Flipboard for the latest deals, product reviews, and more.