Skip to main content
DEAL WATCH: Keurig K-Express | 22% off $69.99

Keurig has changed the face of coffee, and snagging one of these for less than $70 is a solid deal. Read Review

BUY NOW
  • Design & Features

  • Usability

  • Performance

  • A Freezer for Purists

  • Temperature Performance

  • Freezing & Thawing

  • Storage Space

  • Design & Features
  • Usability
  • Performance
  • A Freezer for Purists
  • Temperature Performance
  • Freezing & Thawing
  • Storage Space

Design & Features

Just wire, plastic, and cold air

This 13.7-cubic-foot freezer is about as basic as it gets in terms of design. The white textured finish on the outside is good for hiding dust and smudges, while the smooth plastic handle is comfortable to grip, even though it does feel a bit cheap.

Don’t be fooled by the simple appearance, though: This is an auto-defrost freezer, which makes life easier.

A door lock is always good to have, especially if the freezer is going into a household with small children or spouses who forget to close doors behind them. The interior light is also a nice touch.

{{ photo_gallery name="Design" }}

Usability

Low tech

This GE is definitely designed for basic freezing. Three wire shelves and a sliding bucket on the bottom make up the primary storage locations, and none of them are adjustable. Door shelves are fixed in place, as well. If you want to buy 70 different kinds of frozen vegetables, some of them will probably get lost; if you’re planning to get a stack of 16 packages of chicken breast, pile ‘em up and be on your way—just make sure they don’t fall over when you open the door.

The thermostat uses a 0-7 scale—standard for mid- to low-cost freezers—but having it on the outside is a nice perk. If you need to make an adjustment, you won't lose any cold air, especially important since this upright lacks a quick chill feature.

Performance

Remarkably consistent

The biggest reason to choose this GE upright? Fundamental performance excellence. When it comes to bringing temperatures down and keeping them that way, this freezer didn’t pull any punches in our tests.

Our one suggestion would be to turn the thermostat down to 5 or 6; we had it set to 4, at which point temperatures averaged 0.1ºF. That’s fantastic in and of itself, especially since temperatures barely shifted over time. Still, it's best to make every effort to temperatures below 0ºF to minimize freezer burn.

A Freezer for Purists

Big, open, chilly spaces

To reiterate, the GE FUF14SVRWW is not a fancy freezer. It lacks customizability and doesn't have much going for it in the looks department. That said, the fixed shelves and excellent freezing performance of this upright make it ideal for consumers looking to store large quantities (or slabs) of meat but don’t have the floor space for a chest freezer—or the time to defrost one. With most retailers selling it for around $600, it’s definitely a fantastic bargain. Consistency is the name of the game, and the GE FUF14SVRWW (MSRP $679) has it in spades. With temperatures that get low and stay low, this freezer brings excellent performance to the table—or garage, or basement...

Temperature Performance

Calm, cool, and collected

This GE is remarkably spot-on, with an average temperature throughout of 0.1ºF. Over time, we noticed a degree shift of ±0.6ºF, which is also fantastic. There was an average gap of about ±1.2ºF from one extreme of the freezer to the other, which is somewhat better than average. Turn down the thermostat by one notch (we had it set to 4), and you’ll have a nearly perfect freezer.

Freezing & Thawing

A fast freeze and a slow thaw

Room-temperature materials took a mere one hour and 90 minutes to cool down to 32ºF, a very rapid pace for an upright freezer. What’s more, it only took 15.5 hours to get everything down to 0ºF, which is also incredibly fast for such an affordable product.

While the GE got very cold, very quickly, it did warm up somewhat more quickly than we’d like. After 36 hours without power, the contents of the freezer had technically thawed, reaching 38ºF. If you live in an area with frequent outages, keep this in mind.

Storage Space

Standard storage

Internal storage for this GE wasn’t terribly surprising. Three fixed shelves and a bucket at the bottom is typical for an affordable upright, though an actual sliding drawer is a nice changed from a wire gate that keeps food from sliding out.

Taking into account the space filled with shelves, drawers, light bulbs, and any other obstruction, we found that this GE offers up a commendable 11.68 usable cubic feet of storage.

Meet the tester

Matthew Zahnzinger

Matthew Zahnzinger

Logistics Manager & Staff Writer

@ReviewedHome

Matthew is a native of Brockton, MA and a graduate of Northeastern, where he earned a degree in English and Theatre. He has also studied at the Gaiety School of Acting in Dublin and spends most of his free time pursuing a performance career in the greater Boston area.

See all of Matthew Zahnzinger's reviews

Checking our work.

Our team is here for one purpose: to help you buy the best stuff and love what you own. Our writers, editors, and lab technicians obsess over the products we cover to make sure you're confident and satisfied. Have a different opinion about something we recommend? Email us and we'll compare notes.

Shoot us an email

Up next