Smeg FAB32ULPB3 Bottom-freezer Refrigerator Review

Once you've gotten over how strange it feels to open a heavy door with a handle that feels as substantial as peanut brittle, you'll be greeted first by the two LED strips illuminating its interior.

The door has three plastic bins that can't be repositioned. The shelves inside do have a few open slots so you can move them to different heights, but they do not feature spill-capture edges along their sides.

Under the shelves you'll find two crispers at staggered depths.

Down in the freezer, there are three drawers available, which we like—typically bottom-freezers have one large bin with only a single, thin shelf sitting over it.

About the Smeg FAB32ULPB3 bottom-freezer refrigerator

• Dimensions: 77.5" x 23.69" x 30.25" (H x W x D)
• Depth: Standard depth
• Measured capacity: 6.30-cubic-foot fridge, 2.33-cubic-foot freezer
• Finishes: Black, cream, orange, pastel blue, pastel green, pink, red, white
• Dispensers: None
• User manual: Smeg FAB32ULPB3 bottom-freezer refrigerator manual

What we like

Temperatures in the fridge stay within acceptable ranges

While there is a gradient of about four degrees between the top and bottom of the fridge, temperatures do stay sufficiently cold to ensure your perishables last longer. Temperatures in the Smeg FAB32ULPB3 do wander more than average, but they never stray outside of where they should be.

We measured its average fridge temperature at about 38°F, which is nearly perfect. The fridge gets coldest at its top at 35°F, and gets warmer lower down, stopping just under 40°F. In general, temperatures below 32°F will cause some items to freeze, and above 40°F causes food to spoil faster.

This temperature control helps the Smeg FAB32ULPB3 maximize the shelf life of your perishables.

Its narrow build might make it a perfect fit

In general, a bigger fridge means more space to store your stuff. But, if you're trying to squeeze a fridge into a cramped kitchen, your options can be severely limited. Some cold storage is better than none at all.

At under 24 inches wide, the Smeg FAB32ULPB3 is one of the more narrow fridges we've ever tested, and it's rare to find fridges with similar dimensions outside of custom jobs or column fridges. So, if you need something quite narrow, this Smeg may be an option.

What we don't like

Freezer temperatures are inconsistent over time

You need to calibrate the freezer to accommodate its 2°F spikes and prevent freezer burn.

Similar to the fridge, we saw the freezer's temperatures wobble over time. Unlike the fridge, the freezer has less room for its temperature to roam without consequence.

Instead, the issue with wobbly freezer temps is freezer burn, the dehydrating process that dries out your frozen goods like astronaut food.

Freezer burn happens when a freezer's temperatures are inconsistent, resulting in a cycle of items partially defrosting and then refreezing. This process gradually draws all the water out of your food, where it makes a pile of frost on the outside.

What we saw in this Smeg refrigerator was temperature shifts over 2°F, a bigger swing than what we typically see, which is by a fraction of a degree. The freezer does let you calibrate it cold enough that you can make sure this doesn't send the temperature over 0°F, and this should keep freezer burn to a minimum.

Many parts of this fridge feel cheaply constructed

All of the crome-finished components in this fridge are made of a lightweight, glossy plastic that feels like it's one accident away from breaking off.

By far, the biggest draw of this fridge is its aesthetic—not a shock since Smeg is widely recognized for its retro design. It has a pastel blue finish, curved edges, and metal fixtures that wouldn't look out of place on a vintage sports car.

While we think the overall package has a classy look—in pictures—in person you can really tell that its chrome-like fixtures aren't really metal, and it's incredibly clear once you open the door or use the drawers.

To be blunt, the Smeg FAB32ULPB3 feels like a cheap toy.

Grabbing and pulling on the fridge's handles for the first time is a strange experience. The handle looks convincingly like cleanly-machined metal, which makes it that much more jarring when you grab it and it feels surprisingly light, hollow, and brittle. We got the impression we could snap it off if we really wanted to.

Inside, things don't get much better. The drawers have thin walls, don't slide smoothly, and have edges that appear to not have been properly deburred, resulting in some surprisingly sharp areas.

We've seen mini fridges with a similar design before, and plastic fixtures like this make sense with the smaller scale and reduced size, but on a full-size fridge, with doors that have some actual heft to them, these flimsy fixtures feel out of place.

The overarching context for all of this is that you're paying a prodigious premium for this fridge's design. This is a fridge that, based on its test results and limited feature set, might make sense around the $500 price point. It's currently retailing for $3,699. Ouch.

The fridge is low on overall storage

As we mentioned above, the Smeg FAB32ULPB3's narrow build may be a boon to those with cramped kitchens, but it doesn't deliver much storage.

To put this in perspective, the average bottom-freezer fridge has a 9.92-cubic-foot fridge and a 3.65-cubic-foot freezer. The Smeg FAB32ULPB3's has a 6.3-cubic-foot fridge and a 2.33-cubic-foot freezer. This is a significant difference.

We think this Smeg refrigerator is best viewed as a snack and beverage fridge for a rec room with a wet bar—if your budget doesn't mind the hit. While it could work as a primary fridge for one or two people with space constraints, it realistically won't accommodate more than that.

What owners are saying

There aren't many user reviews currently available for this Smeg refrigerator, but what has been posted seems generally positive, receiving 4.5 stars out of 5 stars across major retailers.

Those who praise the fridge mostly love its look, or find it was the perfect size for their space.

Those who are unhappy with their purchase mainly focus on the fridge either looking or feeling cheap. Some users are frustrated with its low storage capacity. A few point out there are issues with noisy operation or trouble with the freezer icing up, but we didn't run into either issue while testing.

Warranty

Smeg offers a two-year warranty for its fridges and wine coolers. The industry standard is a single year, so we're glad Smeg goes above and beyond here. That being said, major appliance brands LG and Samsung guarantee their cooling system for up to 10 years.

Should you buy the Smeg FAB32ULPB3?

No—It's simply too expensive for what it offers

One of the most difficult aspects of reviewing a product is evaluating the value-add of aesthetics. While a design-forward appliance can command a premium price for its unique looks, for many consumers function outweighs form.

This makes it tricky to properly evaluate products that value form over function.

The Smeg FAB32ULPB3 is not a terrible fridge. Based on our scores, it's not out of line with a lot of the budget-oriented options. It has minor issues with temperatures wandering around, but they stay close enough to where they should be.

It's also lacking any of the extra features we like to see, like an ice and water dispenser, a flex drawer, or smart features. If this fridge cost under $600, we think it'd make a decent novelty for someone who's looking to fill a narrow space.

Our biggest problem here is value. Considering the Smeg FAB32ULPB3 costs $3,699, but performs like a $600 budget fridge, there's just no value to be had. While this price wouldn't be out of line for a truly high-end fridge, this specific Smeg refrigerator doesn't offer a truly high-end experience.

Using this fridge you are constantly aware of how fragile everything seems to the touch—not so much in a "Fabergé egg" way, but rather a "prize that came out of a plastic egg" way.

At the end of the day, the Smeg FAB32ULPB3 is grossly overpriced for what it offers. Does it look cool? Yes, definitely, though more so in pictures than in person, and that entire illusion crumbles once you actually use the fridge.

If you like these aesthetics, you can get them in a much smaller (and overall better value) package in the Galanz GLR31TBEER mini fridge. If you're looking for a narrow fridge that won't break the bank, the Amana ABB1921BRM is a decent pick at 30-inches wide. If you're just looking for a high-end fridge, the Bosch B36FD50SNS is the best we've tested, with better performance, more storage, and a significantly sturdier build, for over $1,000 less.