What a surprise!
5/5
Fantastic fridge freezer. Wasn't sure about HiSense as we've never bought this brand name before, but I have to say we have been pleasantly surprised.
Great build quality, quiet and great finish. The usable space is amazing, despite being a similar size to our last Whirlpool unit. The usable space inside is much more usable and is further enhanced by 5 shelves and extra deep door trays. The wire wine rack is removable if not required.
The shelves and door trays although removable for cleaning, are in fixed positions, though this is absolutely no issue with the array of storage / space options.
The two bottom trays are much bigger than our previous unit. The bottom holds packaged products nicely without resorting to storing at angles or on their sides. The upper (vegetable) drawer is truly remarkable, its massive allowing for easy access to produce without turning the fridge upside down to find something.
Note that the bottom drawer is not a dedicated cold meat drawer but can be used as such. It is no more chilled than other parts of the fridge.
Unlike our previous fridge, the split on this unit is more 70/30 Fridge to Freezer. This is great if you rely on fridge space over the convenient freezer. The freezer boasts 5 shelves and convenient door storage. The shelves are appropriately sized for convenient storage of bread, rolls, ice cream etc.
Good LED lighting in fridge & freezer compartments.
Ice maker, offering cubed & crushed ice is a welcome return to the household. Easy to clean with the only gripe being having to wait to remove the glass after dispensing water as it continues dispensing for half a second after dispensing. Not a major issue though.
The water filter on this unit is external, like many others now. This will require fixing to a suitable external location where it can be accessed for changing every 6-12m (it is worth obtaining an external 6mm isolating valve for convenient isolation of the water supply).
The only negative comment we have, which isn't a problem for us particularly, is the touch panel can only be completely locked or unlocked. In the unlocked mode, any of the touch sensitive buttons can be pressed (deliberately or accidently) to alter the freezer or fridge temperature. It is also possible to place the fridge compartment into holiday mode (setting temperature to 15 degrees) by pressing the touch area around the holiday button on the front panel. It would have been nice if Hisense offered an option of locking the cooling function buttons, leaving the water & ice controls usable. Locking and unlocking the panel every time for water & ice takes too long.
As stated, not an issue for grown up kids & adults, but those with little ones may want to consider this. An alternative design would have been to place the temperature functions at the top of the touch panel, out of the way.
A minor issue and overall, we've rated the unit 9.5 / 10.
Iain McCafferty
Reviewed on:
Last Years Model
Iain McCafferty
Last Years Model
Reviewed on: