Aobosi 12volt Refrigerator Review

Credit: https://fitzventure.com

You might remember my blog post about 12-volt refrigerators vs. traditional coolers. It goes without saying, I’m a fan of these devices for many reasons.

The people at Aobosi reached out to me recently and asked if I would like to check out one of their 12-volt refrigerators. I was happy to take them up on their offer, and I decided to go with the largest model they offered at the time, the dual-zone 60-quart refrigerator. The rep at Aobosi simply asked that I try it out and write a review about my experience.

Before I reviewed the refrigerator, I wanted to use it; I mean really use it. Since receiving it, I have taken it on a 2-day camping trip, a day at the lake, and used it to store drinks in the backyard for a party. Needless to say, I have put it through its paces. Before we talk about how it performed, let’s talk about the build quality.

Build Quality

The body of the refrigerator is made of a strong plastic. It feels durable and well-constructed. The door hinges are solid, and both doors latch nicely under their own weight. Because this refrigerator is so large, it comes with a set of rear wheels and a handle up front, sort of like you would see on a large suitcase. I have seen other refrigerators use this type of handle and wheel configuration, and they were of low quality. In fact, I watched a review of one where the handle snapped right off within the first few minutes of use.

Not so with the Aobosi refrigerator. The wheels are impressive, employing solid materials and fasteners. The front handle is also made of metal. I had the fridge fully loaded with lots of weight and used the handle to wheel it over some rough terrain with full confidence. All of the materials that make up this fridge are of decent quality, and I would expect this fridge could take some rough treatment and hold up to the abuse.

Quirks and Features

Out of the box, the refrigerator comes with everything you would expect. There’s a wall charger and, most importantly, a 12 volt cigarette lighter cable for your car. The wheels and front handle had to be assembled but that was no problem at all. There was also a manual describing how to install the wheels and handle. Once those were bolted on, the fridge was ready for use.

Again, I requested the largest fridge offered by Aobosi, which means it’s a dual zone. The big advantage of the dual zone feature is that you can use one side as a refrigerator and one side as a freezer. Imagine having ice cream on your next camp out. It’s wonderful. The only downside is that the larger compartment is not as deep as I would have liked it to be. But the reason that compartment isn’t the full depth of the fridge is because the compressor has to live somewhere, and it takes up that space.

A very nice feature of the fridge is that both compartments have a drain plug at the bottom. I can’t tell you how useful this is. If you spill some liquid or if condensation builds up, you can just open up the drain plug and let any liquids flow out of the bottom of the fridge. I love that they included this feature and wish my other refrigerator had this.

Both compartments have a nice, bright LED light at the top so you can see your food when it’s dark. The doors open nice and wide and are limited by a chain so they don’t just flop all the way open. And, it’s on the larger door that I found something totally unexpected: a small cutting board. How cool is that? The little cutting board fits into a compartment on the inside of the door. Very nice.

When using a refrigerator in your vehicle, it’s important that you can strap the fridge down so it doesn’t move around while driving. This is especially important when off-roading. The good news is, this refrigerator has several tie-down points all around it, so you won’t have any trouble securing the fridge to your vehicle.

Finally, the fridge comes with a nice display on the top that shows the temperature of each compartment and allows you to change settings. You can select either compartment on the display. It shows an arrow indicating which side you are setting the temperature for. You can also select max power or eco-mode, depending on your power consumption needs. I used this refrigerator with my Jackery 500 most of the time at max power, and I was surprised that the fridge used such a small amount of power at that setting.

Like many other refrigerators like this, there’s also a Bluetooth app. Honestly, the app is pretty useless and only displays the current temperature of the fridge. The only thing I can think the app is good for is checking on the temperature of the fridge when you’re not near it. Other than that, the app does very little.

Performance and Durability

As I mentioned before, I used this fridge on a 2 day caping trip, a day at the lake, and it served as the outdoor refrigerator, holding drinks at a recent house party. During all of these uses, I have had zero problems with this fridge. It has worked as expected with each use. I think we’re at a point where these types of refrigerators are just getting really good. One thing to remember with a refrigerator like this, always set the temperature lower than you really want it. The temperature you see on the display is what the sensor is seeing, but that’s not necessarily the temperature your food is at. Better to go lower and not risk spoiled food. 

The power consumed by the fridge is what I would expect for a unit of this size. When using a solar power generator like the Jackery 500, the fridge draws under 50 watts, which is good in my experience. You will get many hours of use at that rate.

As for durability, I used this fridge in various conditions including pulling it along dirt paths, sandy beaches and up and down steps. The wheels and the handle held up nicely. The body of the fridge was subject to being bumped and scratched but again, it held up just fine. I have no doubt that this refrigerator will last a long time and keep my food cold reliably.

Conclusion

The Aobosi 60 quart Dual Zone 12 volt refrigerator is a solid product. For $459.00, this refrigerator holds a lot of food and because it’s dual zone, you can use one side as a freezer. The build quality is great. I have had no problems in the many hours of use I have gotten from this unit. I believe this fridge will last a long time and serve me well. The only down side of the fridge is that it’s a little too big for my vehicle. But, that’s no fault of the fridge. Next time I’ll go with something a little smaller.