New fleet of four-door refrigerators could drive sales

The four-door option used to be reserved for car buyers. But four-door refrigerators are a growing segment of the appliance market, with many manufacturers adding the configuration to their latest product lines. These refrigerators resemble popular French-door models, but with an additional drawer between the double-door refrigerator and single-door bottom freezer. As part of Consumer Reports continuous testing of refrigerators, we recently reviewed a trio of four-door models by Kenmore, LG, and Samsung.

The Samsung RF4287HA ($2,600) earned the highest overall score of the bunch, thanks to its excellent temperature performance and quiet operation. In terms of features, the Samsung stands out for its unique middle drawer, called the FlexZone, which offers four separate temperature settings: meat/fish, cold drinks, deli/snacks, and wine/party dishes. The FlexZone's customizable "Smart Divider" system lets you personalize the drawer's storage compartments. Samsung is targeting busy families with its four-door fridge, noting that the height of the middle drawer allows kids to access snacks. Samsung also claims increased energy savings, since opening the independently controlled middle drawer doesn't disturb the temperature in the main refrigerator.

The Kenmore Elite 7107 ($2,400) also made our recommended list, though our testers didn't find it quite as efficient as the Samsung. Its notable features include an external water dispenser with built-in filtration, an ice maker that dispenses cube-shaped ice, instead of the more common crescents, spill-proof shelves, and on-the-door digital temperature controls.

The last of the newly tested four-door refrigerators is also the lowest scorer: The LG LMX28988 ($2,200 to $2,999). Inferior energy efficiency kept this model off our recommended list, and it also has less usable space than its four-door competitors.

The one common denominator among four-door refrigerators is their relatively steep price tag. You'll find several recommended conventional French-door bottom-freezers in our Ratings that sell for about $1,000 less than the average four-door. How quickly those prices come down could be the biggest factor in driving four-door sales.

—Daniel DiClerico