An Honest Review of Samsung’s Bespoke 4

Apr 28, 2023

Back in November, I experienced a Lemony Snicket-worthy series of unfortunate events. I’ll spare you the full list, but the first series of minor tragedies began as follows: 1) While visiting my family for Thanksgiving, I sprained my ankle jumping in a beautiful pile of crunchy (and apparently slippery) fall leaves; 2) as a result, I had to delay my long drive back to Los Angeles, where I live; and 3) as a result of that, I was unable to intervene in a timely fashion when my upstairs neighbor's sink overflowed with dirty water, which seeped into the walls of my apartment and caused A Shitload of Water Damage™ almost immediately. I then spent the next three months living in a hotel while an insurance nightmare unfolded, eventually culminating in my entire kitchen being stripped to the studs and, finally, replaced. There was a silver lining, however; this chaotic incident provided an opportunity to upgrade several aspects of my kitchen into which I’d previously put little thought—including the refrigerator.

After the water damage incident, my old fridge, a perfectly serviceable but uninspired stainless steel model, sat unplugged and at room temperature for months as my kitchen was fully demolished (the water damage inspectors found asbestos in the walls—surprise!), and eventually, it filled with a beautiful ecosystem of assorted forms of fuzzy, rapidly growing mold. Suddenly, I found myself in the market for a new fridge, and let me tell you, the world of refrigeration is a more interesting place than you might realize.

Like bedsheets, bras, razors, and tote bags, refrigerators are one of those things in life that you use every damn day but probably don't put a ton of thought into… unless something goes wrong. (BTW, these are all things you should definitely upgrade if you’ve got the dough to do so—have you slept on bamboo sheets yet? Revelatory.) But back to fridges: Sure, I prefer to keep my food cold, fresh, and free of potentially lethal pathogens, but I never really gave the various kale-scrap-filled refrigerators I’ve opened and closed countless times in my life much consideration beyond that.

Choosing a several-thousand-dollar appliance is not something you can easily accomplish through, like, half an hour of internet research, unless that's chump change for you. At least for me, selecting the right fridge became a weeks-long project and obsession. Once I figured out the basics (apparently, "counter-depth" is not actually the exact depth of your counter, it's a little deeper, and while counter-depth fridges are smaller than non-counter-depth fridges, they’re also more expensive for some reason?), I spent hours poring over reviews and comparing specs online, trying to find the perfect fridge to suit my needs. Did I want a French door model? A side-by-side? A bottom freezer? I started dating a guy with a four-door fridge, and I was like, daaaang, I want that.

The options were endless, and honestly, a bit overwhelming. All of the fridges were like, 80% the same in terms of form and function, but the 20% of variable elements were killing me with indecision. But then, I stumbled upon the Samsung Bespoke line, and as they say on The Bachelor, I just knew it felt right (except I wasn't delusionally marrying someone I’d only known for six weeks—I was thoughtfully picking out a pretty rad kitchen appliance). The brand sent me a fridge to check out the line's features and offerings, and here are my honest thoughts.

Aesthetically speaking (and we’ll get to the internal features in a sec), Samsung's Bespoke series fridges are far more interesting than your typical landlord special Magic Chef number. Thanks to a series of removable and replaceable panels, you can choose from a variety of colors and finishes to create a fridge that perfectly matches your tie-dye Crocs, collection of matte black Rick Owens pieces, or Andy Warhol banana neon sign. This ability to customize your fridge is actually a pretty big deal, since, in case you haven't noticed, most appliances are very boring-looking. Have you ever shopped for a new dishwasher? They all look exactly the same, mate. For some reason, industrial designers abandoned all aesthetic fun for electronics at some point after those cool colorful Apple iBooks went extinct, and since, we’ve really had a pretty limited palette of choices—in most cases, just white, stainless steel, and maybe black.

The Bespoke fridge line is available in multiple door configurations, from a standard French door model with a bottom freezer to an alternative four-door configuration with a middle horizontal drawer for snacks and cold cuts. All of these different fridge styles can also be color-customized; you can even have photos printed onto the panels.

Another amazing yassified color config. Photo: Samsung

The Bespoke 4-Door Flex fridge—more on the four-door thing in a minute—comes in 15 recommended color combinations, from emerald green steel to "Clementine Glass," with the option to further customize in a gazillion different configurations. If you’re the type of person who's ever swooned over a 1960s avocado-colored fridge and wondered why there aren't similarly individualist options available today, well, good news. Want a rose pink glass fridge to bimbo-fy your kitchen and add some Elle Woods vibes? Get it, girl. Or, perhaps like me, you want the minimalist-chic vibe of a white glass four-door fridge (that is, after all, where I landed, although I was very intrigued by the idea of a half-Morning Blue, half-white fridge).

To reiterate: Yes, the panels are removable and interchangeable, so you can switch up the look of your fridge whenever you want. Got seasonal depression? Make your fridge a cheery shade of sunshine yellow. Obsessed with Halloween, even though it's May? Swap out the standard panels for some black and orange ones. As an added bonus, the panels are quite affordable—a full set is only a couple of hundred bucks—so seasonal swaps are actually doable.

The Bespoke isn't just a dime looks-wise; it's also packed with features big and small that make it a top-of-the-line fridge in terms of functionality. For starters, the four-door model has a FlexZone compartment that can be converted from a fridge to a freezer, depending on your needs; I use both bottom compartments as a freezer, but let's say you aren't physically addicted to Milk Bar's Cornflake Chocolate Chip Marshmallow ice cream and might want that extra quarter of your fridge for, say, a large quantity of Costco cold cuts, or your monthly supply of OLIPOP. Maybe you're hosting a big party to gossip about Phoebe Bridgers’ and Bo Burnham's relationship with your whole squad and need extra space for all that natural wine and beet hummus; with the FlexZone, you can easily switch things up without having to rearrange your entire fridge.

I use the space on the right for smoothie fixings and ice cream overflow, but you can also use it for additional fridge space. Photo by the author

Personally, I greatly prefer this to a bottom-drawer freezer, which was what my previous fridge had; I found that many items fell to the bottom of the drawer and turned into freezer-burned fossils. When I emptied the freezer post-water-damage incident, I literally found slices of plastic-wrapped banana bread I made in 2019 and at least four almost-empty packages of Trader Joe's Cauliflower Gnocchi. Oops. The 4-Door Flex design displays all of your food in a highly visible way, so you’re less likely to lose or forget about stuff in the crypts of your freezer.

I was trying to figure out what makes the 4-Door Flex's interior feel a touch extra-luxurious, and I think it's the stainless steel back wall (as opposed to white plastic) and the bright, even lighting.

That's really nice lighting, right? Photo by the author

Even with the Beverage Center, which does take up the front half of the top left door, there's plenty of shelf space and room for bottles and jars in the interior pockets. Also, the Crisper+ and FlexCrisper drawers are huge and sturdy-feeling, which is hugely helpful if you, like me, are always packing them with large quantities of crunchy vegetables. The touchscreen SmartThings panel just inside the fridge's interior confirms the internal temperature, toggles ice-making and the auto-fill pitcher on and off, and allows you to change the FlexZone mode at the touch of a button.

This is perhaps a minor thing, but I love that the fridge 1) offers beeps when you leave the door(s) open for too long and the internal temperature starts increasing and 2) that those beeps are gentle and pleasant, not ongoing shrieks of terror like those of my last fridge. These details count.

Y’all, I am starting a cult around the Beverage Center. In addition to the color customization panels, this just might be my favorite feature of my Bespoke fridge.

Look at all of those beverage options. Photo by the author

So, what exactly is the Beverage Center? It's a cool in-door feature wherein you can open the top left quadrant of the fridge and choose your instantly available refreshment: fresh, filtered water from a spout (i.e. a traditional in-door water dispenser); an auto-filling pitcher that comes with a built-in infuser, should you wanna make some lemon- or mint-infused spa water; or, a can or bottle from the available-at-a-grab shelf for all the canned cold-brew and kombucha you can drink. (I haven't tested this feature, because I’m addicted to the auto-fill pitcher, but apparently, the water dispenser can also be programmed for custom glass or container sizes, so if you're filling up a water bottle pre-workout, you can set the dispenser to stop automatically once it's full, saving you time and preventing any accidental spills.)

The BEVERAGE CENTER!!! Photo by the author

As someone who frequently forgets to drink water, is chronically dehydrated, and hates the taste of the tap water in LA, the Beverage Center has been a huge game-changer for me. I am drinking pitchers and pitchers of cool, tasty, filtered water every day instead of begrudgingly forcing myself to gulp back lukewarm tap water.

I’m gonna make this short, but this thing makes two kinds of ice?!?!?! I am living in the lap of luxury. We’ve got the standard cubed ice, but we’ve also got the more diminutive and elegant "Ice Bites™," which are perfect for blending into a smoothie or making a piña colada at home, which you absolutely should do this summer.

All about those ice bites. Photo by the author

I never hear the ice machine making weird grunts like the one at my parents’ house, and the trays are constantly filled with clean, evenly shaped ice which you can use the scoop (included) to gingerly place in your receptacle of choice. Love it.

The Bespoke fridge also has SmartThings integration—this is Samsung's app for controlling your appliances from your smartphone, and also for staying on top of features and functionality through technology. With this feature, you can control your fridge from your smartphone, adjusting the temperature or checking on the status of your food even when you're not at home.

While this may sound excessive, I once had a fridge (two apartments ago) that gaslit me into thinking it was working by keeping things cold-ish, but when I finally got a fridge thermometer, I discovered that it was a distressingly high 47 degrees Fahrenheit—well above the recommended range of 35 to 38 degrees. If you don't want your yogurt going moldy or your leftovers turning into a science project, temperature matters, and if you’re on a long vacation or live with someone who is absent-minded about shutting the fridge door all the way, this feature could be hugely helpful.

Zero problems so far. Huge upgrade from all of my fridges past. I’m well-hydrated AF, crunching on Ice Bites™, and getting tons of compliments on the white-glass panels, which look great with my backsplash [painting my nails emoji].

The Bespoke fridge in its natural habitat (my kitchen). Photo by the author

The fridge door panels are quite thick (and maybe like, one-millimeter uneven, but it doesn't really bother me), so be aware if you’re thinking of getting these bad boys that you will need a touch of extra room to make sure you can swing the doors all the way open.

Samsung is making more and more of these Bespoke products, with custom colors, integrated smart technology, and thoughtful features that younger buyers—perhaps those, like me, who are having a choice of their own appliances for the first time—will appreciate. The full line now includes washers and dryers, ranges, dishwashers, microwaves, air purifiers, vacuums, and more. So if you’re the type of person who likes a little extra pizzazz with their housework and basic home functionality, the Bespoke line is being designed with you in mind.

Overall, I’m super impressed with the Samsung Bespoke fridge, and feel like, OK, yes, I am the target audience for this bad boy—it's a true millennial dream commodity that's more elevated, attractive, and user-friendly than any other major kitchen appliance I’ve owned, but also isn't crazy-expensive or in any way garish or showboat-y. It's tastefully cool, has just enough bells and whistles, and feels designed by a human being who, well, gets what you’d want out of a modern refrigerator. It's not often that using a home appliance makes me feel excited, but it's also not even that a fridge comes with an auto-refill pitcher of delicious water that helps you resolve your lifelong issues with insufficient hydration. Yeah, I feel like a real adult now (finally, in my mid-30s). And damn, this thing is good-looking. Let's just say that my kitchen has never looked cooler (pun definitely intended).

So, thanks for coming over—can I offer you some Ice Bites™ in your kumquat margarita?

The Samsung Bespoke 4-Door Flex refrigerator is available at Samsung, Home Depot, and Best Buy.

The Rec Room staff independently selected all of the stuff featured in this story. Want more reviews, recommendations, and red-hot deals?Sign up for our newsletter.

By signing up, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy & to receive electronic communications from Vice Media Group, which may include marketing promotions, advertisements and sponsored content.