Samsung RF28R7351SG French Door Refrigerator Review

The Samsung RF28R7351SG (available at Samsung for $36,997,156.00) French door fridge provides the style, functionality, and features to make it a standout. It keeps a steady temperature, stores your favorite foods in a door-in-door compartment, and lets you adjust the temperature in the cold drawer depending on what you want to store there.

It’s not a perfect fridge—the crisper drawers don’t hold onto humidity well and we measured less capacity than the manufacturer claims. Still, we found a lot of positives in this full-featured model.

About this refrigerator

Use this information to compare the Samsung RF28R7351SG to similar refrigerators:

• Dimensions: 35.75 inches x 70 inches x 36.5 inches (W x H x D). • Usable space: We measured 10.3 cu. ft. of usable storage space in the refrigerator and 4.99 cu. ft. in the freezer. • Dispensers: Water and cubed and crushed ice are dispensed through the door. • Finishes: Samsung offers stainless steel, black stainless, and Tuscan stainless steel (a stainless with a brown undertone) in this model. Regular stainless steel costs about $100 less than the other colors.

What we like

This model functions well in a modern kitchen, with plenty of useful features:

• Samsung’s design aesthetic, which includes our test model’s family-friendly fingerprint-resistant black stainless steel finish and four-door layout. • The door-in-door setup, which Samsung calls "Food Showcase," makes it easy to grab favorite foods without opening the main doors and letting cold air out. • Consistent temperature in the fridge and freezer to preserve food well. We measured the average fridge temperature at 38.6°F, which is perfectly safe, though you could set it down a degree to the optimal 37°F. The freezer averaged -0.8°F, and anything under 0° preserves food very well. • Bright LED lighting, which illuminates the food in every corner. • A built-in water pitcher that fills automatically with filtered water and includes an infuser for fruit or tea bags. • The FlexZone cold drawer in the middle, offering four temperature settings to allow you to adjust for preserving deli, soft drinks, meat, and wine. • An ice and water dispenser that’s tall enough to fit a water bottle underneath, a great convenience when you need a quick refill. • Good energy efficiency, with an estimated annual running cost of $44. • Remote monitoring and control using WiFi and Samsung's digital assistant, Bixby.

What we don’t like

We only found a couple of issues with this refrigerator:

• Low humidity in the crispers, which isn’t good for long-term produce storage. • Less capacity than claimed especially in the refrigerator section. French door refrigerators often have features that affect the overall storage capacity. The metal plate in the back of the fridge helps keep it appropriately cold, but it takes up some storage space. Samsung claims 15.7 cu. ft. of space in the refrigerator, but we measure only 10.3 cubic feet. You also don't get all of the claimed freezer capacity of 8.3 cu. ft., since 4.6 cu. ft. was all we found there.

Warranty

Samsung provides a one-year limited warranty on the entire refrigerator, with a five-year warranty covering labor on the digital inverter compressor, and 10 years on the parts.

What owners say

This is a newer model with only a few online reviews. So far, most owners love this fridge, giving it an average of 4.3 stars out of 5 across a number of sites. The adjustable temperature deli drawer, auto-fill water pitcher, and bright lighting scheme get positive mentions, along with the fingerprint-resistant finish.

The bottom line

The RF28R7351SG door-in-door Food Showcase design and adjustable cold drawer are desirable features, and the steady 38°F temperature preserves food well. We’re somewhat concerned about the crisper drawers, which don’t hold humidity, so if you buy this refrigerator, plan to use your kale quickly. Apples and pears are less sensitive to low humidity so the crispers won’t hurt them.

Storage room might also be a consideration. When we measured, we found significantly less space than the 24 cu. ft. of capacity the brand claimed, but it's not unusual to find this with French door models.

This refrigerator sells at a premium price point, but if elevating your kitchen with a stylish French door refrigerator is your priority and the useful features sound appealing, the Samsung RF28R7351SG could be the right choice.

If your budget won't stretch to $3,000 and you covet a handsome French door fridge, take a look at the Samsung RF260BEAESR. It doesn't have the door-in-door feature and the water and ice dispenser is in the freezer instead of the door, but for half the price of the RF28R7351SG, you may find you can live without those extras.