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  • Design

  • Performance

  • What the users say

  • The bottom line

  • Design
  • Performance
  • What the users say
  • The bottom line

So, what would keep us from giving this fridge our wholehearted recommendation? Well, after spending a week with it in our test labs, some serious design quirks left us scratching our heads.

Design

Available in a fashion-forward black stainless finish, this 25.4 cu.-ft. French door fridge sports long handles and a smooth line. However, there’s no water dispenser in the door, and the icemaker is inside. This refrigerator is more affordable than many similarly sized French door models, and it has a number of desirable features like easy-to-read controls at the top of the cabinet, nice glass shelving, and gallon-sized bins in the doors.

The doors have roomy bins on both sides.

Both doors have spacious bins that hold gallon containers.

The interior LED lights in the fresh food section makes food look great. The bins on both doors are spacious enough to fit a jug of orange juice or a gallon of milk, and the shelves are adjustable and easy enough to clean.

But we discovered that it’s impossible to open the right crisper drawer without opening both refrigerator doors. It’s a puzzling design choice on LG's part. You shouldn’t have to fling open the French doors to get a fruit or veggie.

You’d expect to have to open both doors to grab cold cuts from the full-width glide drawer. And we appreciated being able to choose the temperature on that drawer. But we think it could be a challenge storing a deli platter or sheet cake in there—the drawer isn’t quite deep enough.

You can't open the right crisper drawer without opening both French doors.
Credit: Reviewed.com / Jackson Ruckar

To access the right crisper drawer, you need to open both French doors.

The solid freezer drawers keep frozen dinners well-contained. But the top drawer only opens half way. That's not a defect—it's the way it was designed. Other freezers have a similar problem, and we always find this puzzling and inconvenient.

The refrigerator's Ice plus button seemed like a great idea, but It didn’t seem to do much to accelerate ice production. We found that the icemaker was surprisingly slow and noisy.

Space in this refrigerator feels somewhat cramped. When we measured the fresh food compartment, we discovered that it has only about 12 cu.-ft. of space, compared to the 17.6 cu.-ft. that LG claims for it. The freezer did even worse, with only 3.6 cu.-ft. of space out of the claimed 7.8 cu.-ft. Relative to the Whirlpool WRF535SMBM, a similar French door fridge, the usable fridge space is about the same, but the LG model's freezer space is almost a full cubic foot smaller.

Performance

Our tests revealed that the temperature in the fresh food section was around 40°, still safe, but higher than the 37° temperature displayed on the control panel. Since the fridge temperature was consistent, we didn’t find that too worrisome. If your milk is spoiling prematurely, you can deal with the issue by adjusting the temperature to read 35°, which should bring it closer to the 37° optimal fridge temp. That should save the milk—although energy use will increase.

The control panel is easy to use.
Credit: Reviewed.com / Jackson Ruckar

The controls are easy to read and access. You may need to adjust the temperature, if your dairy products are spoiling faster than expected. The Ice plus button doesn't do much, but owners praise the door alarm.

What the users say

Our reservations aside, most people who bought this refrigerator were happy with it. They appreciated its good looks, handy door alarm, bright LED light, and the 10-year warranty on the compressor. (LG obviously has a lot of confidence in that.)

The bottom line

Good looking in black stainless steel, the LG LFCS25426D is competent, but its design is not as user-friendly as it should be.

Adjusting the fridge temperature down a couple of degrees is an easy fix. Having to open both French doors to take a carrot out of the crisper is just annoying. You could probably learn to live with a freezer drawer that only opens half way. But taken together, small issues can add up. Plus, the slow, loud icemaker might prove disappointing.

Take a look at the Whirlpool WRF535SMBM fridge prior to committing to the LG refrigerator. They’re both French door models that will add class to your kitchen, and, at a similar price point, you may want to compare the two before you make a final purchase decision. Although it doesn't come in black stainless, the Whirlpool won our coveted Editor's Choice badge because we thought it was such a good value.

Meet the testers

Cindy Bailen

Cindy Bailen

Editor

@orangesandlemon

Cindy Bailen loves writing about major appliances and home design and has spent over 15 years immersed in that. In her spare time, Cindy hosts pledge programs for WGBH-TV in Boston and other public television stations.

See all of Cindy Bailen's reviews
Jonathan Chan

Jonathan Chan

Senior Manager of Lab Operations

@Jonfromthelab1

Jonathan Chan currently serves as the Lab Manager at Reviewed. If you clean with it, it's likely that Jon oversees its testing. Since joining the Reviewed in 2012, Jon has helped launch the company's efforts in reviewing laptops, vacuums, and outdoor gear. He thinks he's a pretty big deal. In the pursuit of data, he's plunged his hands into freezing cold water, consented to be literally dragged through the mud, and watched paint dry. Jon demands you have a nice day.

See all of Jonathan Chan'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.

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