The annual CHOICE reliability survey asks thousands of members about the fridges they own, what they think of them and how they've held up over time.
More than 7100 members participated in our 2021 reliability survey, with 91% of respondents telling us they bought their fridge brand new. The information they provided gives us a really good indication of how various fridge brands stack up over time – something we can't test in our labs.
About the scores
Reliability
Reliability figures are based on owner assessment, not test data. We use the responses we collect from members to rate the most popular brands for reliability. We also consider the age of the products so we can compare fairly between brands.
Owner satisfaction
We ask owners to tell us what they think of the products they own, rating them from terrible to excellent. We use this information to give each brand an owner satisfaction rating so you can see what people who use the brand each day think of it.
Service
Sometimes things go wrong, and how the manufacturer responds and helps you with these issues can make all the difference to your experience and trust in the brand. For large appliances that might be more likely to get repaired, we ask members about their experience with the manufacturer's after-sale service and support. We have given each manufacturer a service rating so you know how well they support customers when they need it. We need enough feedback to report fairly, so in some cases we can't report this for all brands.
Brand reliability results are for CHOICE members only.
Our guide to buying the best fridge is free and has lots of great information and advice.
Our brand reliability scores help guide you when choosing a product, with the knowledge that the brand is well regarded by CHOICE members for customer satisfaction and reliability.
Which fridge brands are the most popular?
The most popular fridge brands among respondents were Fisher & Paykel (27%) and Westinghouse (21%). Bottom-mount fridges (42%) were the most popular type of fridge, followed by top-mount (21%) and French door (19%). Most respondents had a medium (381–450L) or large (451–525L) fridge.
Which fridge brands deliver on reliability and satisfaction?
We looked at an eight-year purchasing period to calculate reliability and satisfaction scores, from 2013–2020. Mitsubishi Electric had the highest reliability score (92%), and reliability scores were very similar among other brands, with Kelvinator, Fisher & Paykel, Westinghouse, Electrolux and LG all scoring 85% or above.
Hisense had the lowest reliability score, and Samsung had the lowest owner satisfaction. Mitsubishi Electric owners, on the other hand, experienced the highest satisfaction with their fridges, and LG, Kelvinator, Fisher & Paykel, Electrolux and Westinghouse all achieved similar scores while Samsung lagged behind.
Fridge types
When it comes to different types of fridges, top- and bottom-mount fridges (freezer on the top and bottom respectively) scored equally high for reliability (90%). Interestingly, although French-door fridges had a significantly lower reliability score than top-mounts, they had a similar satisfaction score (85%).
Common fridge problems
Of the survey respondents who bought their fridge in the last eight years, 70% haven't experienced any problems. However, 6% of respondents reported cracked or broken drawers or shelves, and 5% complained of excessive or strange noises.
A relatively high percentage of Samsung owners (10%) reported ice maker problems, which may have contributed to lower reliability and satisfaction scores.
Only 15% of fridge owners had ever contacted the manufacturer for service support.
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