While my son was living at home I got pretty used to having his small mini fridge in our storage room. It was handy for the occasional soft drink, but more for the carbonated water and Nalgene bottles that are part of my daily routine. When he moved out, I was sad. I was excited to see him make his way in the big city and gain his independence. But sad that the curious little boy that followed me around the yard and left my tools out in the rain was no longer around. Not only that, but he took his mini fridge with him!
I reached out to Newair while researching so many different brands and types of refrigerators and wine coolers. Originally, I had my heart set on a second hand commercial cooler/fridge that you see in retail stores and gas stations like the RedBull fridge or Snapple fridge. Remember Snapple? They’re still around!
Unfortunately, they’re expensive and elusive. My other conundrum was that I just hated the way most mini fridges looked. Run of the mill products like this one from Midea were just plain or uninspiring and just didn’t move the needle for me. Newair’s Shadow series changed all that. If you’re not familiar with Newair, the company began in founder Luke Peters’ garage over 15 years ago with his very first air conditioner and evaporative cooler products. Since then, the company has grown to include small appliances for nearly every room in your home. The company didn’t stay long in Luke’s garage and now employs a much larger staff and a huge warehouse. Customer service is forefront for Newair and I’ve had nothing but great experiences with everyone I’ve had the pleasure of communicating with.
What attracted me to Newair, at first, was the appearance of the Shadow series. It didn’t occur to me at first to consider a wine refrigerator because I understood that typically wine refrigerators are set to a specific temperature and that meant that beverages like my Liquid Death sparkling water or La Croix and Spindrift might not be as cold as they would be in a regular mini refrigerator! I was drawn, not only to the sexy, dark mirrored dual pane fingerprint resistant glass front of the Newair NWC033BKD0 ($419 USD), but also the roomy 33 bottle interior with dual (upper and lower) temperature control!
Now, I can press the button on the front display and customize the temperature of the top to keep my carbonated water and Nalgene bottles at a cool 41 degrees F or 5 degrees Celsius (Hey Canada and Europe!) and keep the bottom half of the Newair Shadow at a perfect 55F or 12 degrees celsius for my whites and rosé.
Unboxing the Newair 33 bottle Shadow wine refrigerator was simple thanks to the branded appliance box that conveniently slid right off after cutting the plastic straps holding everything together. The refrigerator came with a small owners manual. One thing worth noting is that Newair recommends letting your new refrigerator sit for 3 hours before plugging in. I am assuming this is to let any refrigerant inside the compressor settle before you power it up.
The refrigerator was up and running in minutes and cooled to the temperatures I set in less than an hour! The removable shelves make bigger items like my 32 ounce Nalgene bottles easy to store and conveniently slide in and out to accommodate whatever configuration I need on the spot!
The dark mirrored double paned glass is very bougie and you’ll definitely feel guilty for hiding this in your basement or rec room. The Newer fridge needs to be seen! The muted blue interior light casts just the right glow on everything inside and let’s be honest, it just makes an already gorgeous product a little bit “extra”.
I’m very excited about Newair’s range of products from ice machines and stand-alone fridges to built-in under the counter models. Good customer support and fast shipping (even internationally) will ensure this company is around for the long haul!
Note: Our reviews are always 100% independent but Gearadical receives a small affiliate amount if you purchase the product on Amazon.
