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  • Introduction

  • Design & Usability

  • Features

  • Performance

  • Conclusion

  • Science Introduction

  • Temperature Performance

  • Moisture Retention

  • Freezing & Thawing

  • Storage Space

  • Other Tests

  • Introduction
  • Design & Usability
  • Features
  • Performance
  • Conclusion
  • Science Introduction
  • Temperature Performance
  • Moisture Retention
  • Freezing & Thawing
  • Storage Space
  • Other Tests

Introduction

The MSRP of $899 looks appealing, but poor performance could end up costing you more in wasted food.

Design & Usability

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Aside from streamlined handles and a slightly curved front, this fridge could’ve been made any time in the past 25 years.

The GTS21KBXWW is a classic top-freezer fridge in a textured white finish. Since the door can be installed on either side, the fridge ships with a disassembled handle, some screws, and two sets of holes on both sides of the unit. A GE logo and a white plug are supposed to cover the holes where the handles aren’t installed, but we couldn’t get the plug to fit in the hole on our test unit.

Shelves are light enough to easily move.

The interior of the GTS21KBXWW’s fridge compartment features four adjustable half-width shelves. The bottom shelf acts as a cover to the vegetable drawers underneath, which take some coaxing to open, and three walled shelves are removable, but not adjustable. The freezer has a bit of extra door space, since there isn't an ice maker, but is otherwise entirely standard and simple.

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Features

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The GTS21KBXWW's half-width shelves make its fridge more adjustable than competitors with full-width shelves.

All the shelves in the fridge of this GE are small enough to rearrange easily—a benefit to having half-width shelves as opposed to full-width ones. Organization in the freezer isn't as customizable though, because there is only one shelf to play around with.

Separate controls for the freezer and fridge are located inside at the top. The controls are labeled 1 through 7, with 4 being the recommended setting. It's always frustrating to use controls based on an arbitrary scale like this because actual temperatures are never listed. If you want to know what temperature your fridge is maintaining with a setting of "4," you'll need to buy a thermometer.

Performance

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Temperature variance in the fridge and freezer is a concern.

The GTS21KBXWW’s fridge didn’t do the best job keeping a consistent temperature. The food temperature varied from top to bottom, with the temperature of food packages on the middle and lower shelves being slightly too warm. To combat this, we’d recommend setting this fridge’s temperature control a little higher than the recommended “4”—and yes, a higher number does signify a lower temperature. Like with the fridge, freezer temperature varied over time too, potentially forming those pesky ice crystals that cause freezer burn.

Fresh produce in the GE GTS21KBXWW will dry out faster than many other models on the market.

To make matters worse, the vegetable drawers didn't retain moisture very well. Think about how lips get chapped on a cold day—that’s what happens to fresh foods inside a refrigerator, and that's why fridges feature a humidity-controlled vegetable compartment. Fresh produce in the GE GTS21KBXWW will dry out faster than many other models on the market.

Conclusion

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Budget appliances are great, but only if they can back those little price tags with decent performance.

The GE GTS21KBXWW may be a visually appealing fridge for buyers interested in traditional style, and the MSRP of $899 is very attractive too. Its performance, however, is lackluster compared to its competitors.

Temperatures varied too much in the fridge and freezer, which can lead to food spoiling faster and freezer burn, respectively. Even worse were the awful vegetable drawers, which will leave your fresh fruits and veggies high and dry. Do plenty of comparison shopping before settling on this fridge.

Science Introduction

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Other fridges outperform the GE GTS21KBXWW on temperature consistency—the relatively uneven fridge and freezer temperatures may lead to prematurely spoiled foods and freezer burn. Moisture retention in the vegetable drawers was just as poor, leaving fresh produce to dry out quicker. Storage space was fairly ample, though.

Temperature Performance

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Inconsistent temperatures allow some foods to spoil more quickly than they should.

In order to earn the title of “refrigerator,” an appliance must keep food cold at a consistent temperature. We test this most basic function over several days by chilling simulated food packages that contain highly sensitive temperature sensors.

The GE GTS21KBXWW’s fridge didn’t do the best job keeping a consistent temperature. The food temperature varied more than 2 degrees in each direction, and the temperature of food packages on the middle and lower shelves dipped into the “too warm” zone. We would definitely recommend adjusting the fridge temperature to help combat this issue.

Unfortunately, the freezer didn't do so well either. Temperatures varied more than 3 degrees during our tests, potentially forming those pesky ice crystals that cause freezer burn.

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Moisture Retention

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Too much moisture loss leaves your vegetables high and dry.

We put the GE GTS21KBXWW’s vegetable drawer to the test with a simulated veggie made of wet floral foam to approximate the consistency and humidity of a real carrot or zucchini. After four days, the simulated vegetable inside the veggie drawer had lost 0.27 grams of water per hour. That’s not ideal, and it means that your fresh foods may dry out faster than in other, similar fridges.

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Freezing & Thawing

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Food takes a bit too long to freeze.

The GE GTS21KBXWW performed slightly below-average on our freezing test, taking just 2 minutes shy of 2 hours to bring the center of a container of simulated food from room temperature to frozen. An average freezing time is about 1 hour and 45 minutes, and longer freezing times can negatively affect the texture and consistency of food items.

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Storage Space

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This refrigerator has a spacious, customizable interior, and the freezer offers ample storage as well.

The refrigerator has four half-width shelves that can be configured at various heights. Users can also move these shelves together to form two full-width landings. Several storage drawers, including crispers, also populate this fridge's interior. Total, this GE offers 11.62 cubic feet of usable storage space.

In the freezer, a single wire shelf bisects the main compartment width-wise, which can be adjusted by about an inch. In total, there is about 4.91 cubic feet of storage space available here.

When we divide power usage by interior volume, we can see how efficiently a fridge uses its space. Though it uses an average amount of power, the GE GTS21KBXWW does very well on this measure, with a score of 0.11 kW-h per cubic foot.

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Other Tests

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Meet the tester

Keith Barry

Keith Barry

Former Editor in Chief, Reviewed Home

@itskeithbarry

Keith was the Editor in Chief of Reviewed's appliance and automotive sites. His work has appeared in publications such as Wired, Car & Driver, and CityLab.

See all of Keith Barry's reviews

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