Consumer Reports Names The Lowest Rated French-Door Refrigerator Brand For 2026

When shopping for a new kitchen appliance, finding a trustworthy model that can provide excellent value can take a ton of research. This is where Consumer Reports (CR) can save you a lot of time. The nonprofit tests thousands of products every year and has been making buying recommendations for buyers for several decades. While the brand did reveal its pick for the best French-door refrigerator brand in 2026, knowing which French-door refrigerator brands to stay away from is equally important to many buyers looking to save money.

In CR's recent rankings of more than 160 French-door refrigerators, Samsung consistently ranked near the bottom of the list. The organization studied 32 Samsung French-door refrigerators of varying sizes during its testing, and all of the models had scores that ranked below average. In fact, none of the tested Samsung French-door refrigerators met the CR team's standards to receive a "CR Recommended" designation.

Many of the problems Consumer Reports found with Samsung French-door refrigerators were consistent across most of the brand's models in testing. For example, the 30-inch-wide Samsung RF22A4221SR French-door refrigerator earned one of CR's lowest overall scores, ranking especially low in terms of the performance of its ice maker and crisper drawer, meaning it did a poor job of retaining moisture that keeps vegetables and fruit fresh. CR also called this model's energy efficiency performance unimpressive.

The 36-inch-wide Samsung RF32CG5300SR French-door refrigerator also received one of the lowest scores among tested models. It, too, received an extremely poor score in the crisper drawer performance category and a less-than-ideal score in energy-efficient performance. And while the 32-inch-wide Samsung RF25C5551SR French-door refrigerator did receive an above-average score from the CR testing experts in energy efficiency, it scored average in the ease-of-use category, and its crisper performance was also poor.

In addition to poor ratings from Consumer Reports testing experts, Samsung refrigerators also earned poor customer reviews among owners who participated in CR's surveys. Based on their responses, Samsung ranked near the bottom among the 17 brands listed in terms of brand reliability and owner satisfaction. In fact, only Kenmore and Electrolux refrigerators ranked lower in overall brand performance.

Customer reviewers at retailer websites don't always give Samsung French-door refrigerators good scores, either. For example, buyers at Home Depot give the Samsung RF18A5101SR almost as many 1-star reviews as 4-star reviews, and only a little more than 60% of all reviewers would recommend buying it. When it comes to the brand's French-door refrigerators, buyers routinely mention problems with water leaks. "The problems are extensive. [It's] leaking water at the freezer bottom. Leaking water under the crisper drawers," one customer reviewer wrote, echoing many other reviewers' opinions. A large number of reviewers also claim the leaking problems began within 12 months of installing the machine.

Although Samsung French-door refrigerators generally received overall poor scores from Consumer Reports testers and owners, the models did have some categories where they received good scores. For example, the 36-inch-wide Samsung RF32CG5300SR received above-average marks from the CR team in terms of its noise generation, meaning it ran quietly at all times. It also received high ratings for its thermostat performance and temperature uniformity, meaning it accurately reaches the temperature settings you select for the refrigerator and freezer and holds them.

It's worth noting that even though Samsung French-door refrigerators received consistently poor overall scores from Consumer Reports, if you're considering side-by-side vs. French-door refrigerators for your purchase, Samsung received slightly better scores for its side-by-side models. More than half of the eight side-by-side Samsung refrigerators CR tested received average overall scores. For example, while the side-by-side Samsung RS27T5200SR refrigerator also received a poor rating for its crisper performance, its ease-of-use and energy-efficiency features resulted in above-average scores.