Whirlpool WRX735SDHZ French-Door Refrigerator Review

The WRX735SDHZ really nails the characteristics of what makes a good fridge. For starters, it has a sleek, modern design that is at home in any kitchen. It also notably features a fingerprint-resistant finish that keeps smudges out of the spotlight.

The refrigerator's external ice and water dispenser also acts as its control hub, which means that in addition to delivering filtered water and cubed or crushed ice, it allows you to customize the temperatures of the fridge, freezer, and exterior drawer from the outside. You can also use this control panel to customize how the dispenser's lights operate.

About the Whirlpool WRX735SDHZ French door refrigerator

Dimensions: 70.13” x 35.63” x 34.63" (H x W x D) Finishes: Black, white, fingerprint-resistant stainless steel ($100 extra), black stainless ($200 extra) Measured capacity: 10.33 cu. ft. (refrigerator), 3.68 cu. ft. (freezer) Dispensers: Exterior ice (cubed/crushed) and water (filtered) User manual: Whirlpool WRX735SDHZ owner’s manual Warranty info: Whirlpool WRX735SDHZ warranty

What we like

Temperatures are steady

Keeping things cool is the core functionality of a fridge, so you’d assume the ability to do so would be an easy test to pass—but you’d be surprised.

Refrigerators need to maintain a very narrow temperature band, between the point where food freezes (32°F) and the point where bacteria can proliferate (40°F). They have to do this despite defrost cycles and external influences—like users opening the door during normal use. Additionally, fridge manufacturers provide a recommended temperature setting for the model that ensures normal temperature fluctuations will not cause your food to spend time outside of this 8-degree Goldilocks zone.

It’s rare to encounter a fridge that nails both components of its core competency, but the WRX735SDHZ really does. When set on Whirlpool's recommended settings for this model, the WRX735SDHZ's temperature is less than one degree shy of the ideal 37°F, and it only fluctuates within a 2-degree range. This is impressively steady temperature maintenance.

The exterior drawer is temperature-controlled

Over the last five years, a temperature-controlled exterior draw is a feature that has gradually progressed from a niche extra to a staple. This huge value-add is great for keeping certain items at temperatures that are either too warm or too cold to be kept within the entire fridge space. Wine connoisseurs can enjoy a favorite bottle chilled to perfection, when otherwise storing it in the fridge would be too cold. Anyone who wants a near-frosty soda or beer can accomplish that without also freezing the rest of their perishables.

What we don’t like

Storage space is at a minimum

Whenever we get a new fridge into our labs, one of the first things we do is measure its usable storage capacity.

Manufacturers do provide their own capacity numbers, but there’s no real consistency around how this number is reached. In practice, many measure every square inch of open space in the fridge, which we’ve found isn’t particularly helpful. So, to get a more consistent measurement, we manually measure every shelf, bin and drawer throughout the fridge, only counting the areas in which users would actually store something.

Fridges are loaded with nooks and crannies, and nobody is realistically going to utilize that sliver of free space between the wall and ice maker.

For a French door refrigerator, the average usable storage capacity of the refrigeration compartment, by our count, is about 11.2 cu. ft.; for the freezer compartment, it’s 4.7 cu. ft.

We measured the WRX735SDHZ’s fridge compartment at 10.33 cu. ft. (8% smaller) and its freezer at 3.68 cu. ft. (22% smaller). Though both compartments are smaller than average, it’s not an anomaly.

Drawers are much less space-efficient than shelves, and the WRX735SDHZ’s stand-alone, temperature-controlled exterior drawer takes up more space than the average drawer. While we think this exterior drawer adds value overall, a reduced storage capacity is its trade-off.

The WRX735SDHZ should still be large enough for the average user, but if you’re chronically short of fridge storage space you might want to look at a different model.

What owners are saying

Owners seem to really like their Whirlpool WRX735SDHZ, awarding it an average 4.5 out of 5 stars across major retailers. Common points of praise include a great layout that improves overall visibility, aesthetic appeal, dispensers, and temperature-controlled drawer.

Complaints were few and far between, but a few users all seemed to have problems with the freezer or ice-maker failing soon after purchase. We didn’t have any issues like these on the unit we had in for testing, but it’s something to keep an eye out for if you do buy this fridge.

Warranty

The Whirlpool WRX735SDHZ features a standard one-year warranty for parts and services.

Should you buy the Whirlpool WRX735SDHZ?

Yes. This is a great fridge that has useful extra features and none of the add-ons that tend to jack up the price tag. Temperatures are solid and steady. And, we love its temperature-controlled exterior drawer, though if you don’t think you’ll get much use from that feature you can find similar great performance and useful features on a more affordable French-door.