Review: Rocco Super Smart Fridge

Opening up someone else’s kitchen refrigerator is an intimate act.

I for one would prefer my guests don’t go in there for a beer and see the raspberries that are probably moldy, revealing a dark side of my personality. I’ll just get their drink for them. Having a separate mini fridge just for drinks can help, and when I saw how fresh and innovative the Rocco Super Smart Fridge seemed, I had to know more.

The Rocco feels more like a piece of furniture sitting in my living room, as opposed to a regular mini fridge, which often looks like it’s out of a college dorm, or a more industrial-looking regular wine fridge. I have the matte black color (it also comes in white, yellow, and a limited-edition pink “rosé” color).

Photograph: Andrew Watman

The whole thing is mostly made of steel, which makes it strong and heavy, and the rounded edges give it more of a soft appeal. It seems to be engineered very well, with quality materials, which I’m sure is why it costs $1,495. This should last me a very long time in my home. Overall, it’s a beautiful statement piece that people who like to host in their home will love, but the features that make this a smart fridge are not perfect.

A typical wine fridge will generally fit full-size bottles of wine only, but the Rocco can fit 77 12-ounce cans (though Rocco's website says 88) or 27 wine bottles in its 34.5 x 24 x 16-inch body (H x W x D). There are six shelves, each of which is designed so you can store bottles and cans of any size and stagger them to fit like a puzzle. Each shelf is also reversible so the grooves match whichever shape bottles you choose to place on each shelf.

Smart Storage

The Rocco Fridge connects to an app on your phone (currently available only for iOS; Rocco hopes to have an Android version later this year). The app is simple and easy to use, but there aren’t that many things to do on it, and some of the features feel forced. First of all, there are a few modes you can control from the app. I keep mine on Quiet Mode. It really is extremely quiet. I rarely hear much of a rumbling noise from the compressor compared to other fridges.

Photograph: Andrew Watman

Similarly, there’s Smart Mode, which makes it work more like a thermostat when the fridge is sitting in a warmer temperature. There’s also Party Mode, which prioritizes keeping the drinks cold more so than making less noise. After a few minutes, I did hear the compressor get a little louder. I opened it a few minutes later, and it was definitely colder in there. (Rocco gives the temperature range as 37 to 64 degrees Fahrenheit.)

But if I want the drinks to stay colder while I’m having a party where people are opening it often, I could just lower the temperature to where I want it myself. I really don’t see much of a need for all of these modes. Using a wireless Bluetooth thermometer, I tested the temperature changes inside the fridge for each mode to make sure they work properly. I gave each of them 10 minutes to change and tested each shelf on both ends of the fridge. I was pleased to find these were all within just a few degrees difference of what the fridge read.

The other primary feature of the app is the vision system. When you first set up the app, sensors in the fridge scan everything you’re storing in it. Every beverage then shows up on your app, organized by drawer. I’m storing some pretty obscure drinks, like OoMee algae-infused beverage and Yaté yerba mate, and it recognized most of them, so I was impressed, although some, like my Dolin vermouth, which is one of the most popular vermouth brands, were not recognized.

Nutrition facts also pop up for each drink, although many of them are incomplete. In theory, you could go to the grocery store and see which drinks you’re running low on just by looking at the app. I found that I didn’t do this much, although I was curious if I was running low on LaCroix once and checked the app to see that I certainly was. So it came in handy.

However, the system is not perfect. Right now it’s showing that I still have one LaCroix remaining, although I haven’t had one in there in a couple of weeks. I would love it if I could purchase something I’m running low on directly from the app.

The dual-temperature system also allows you to make half of the fridge one temperature and the other half another, which you can adjust manually or through the app. While this is important so that I can keep seltzers and wines at different temperatures, this is the one feature that’s on many wine fridges, so it’s not unique to the Rocco Fridge.

Timeless Design

The Rocco has a kind of mid-century vibe but also feels contemporary. I love the fluted glass door, which looks stunning when it’s nighttime and the lights inside are peeking through it. Any time someone comes to my apartment it becomes a topic of conversation. You can turn the light on and off and adjust the brightness from the app.

The top surface of the fridge is flat and sturdy, so it doubles as a bar cart. The raised lip on the sides also helps so that bottles I’m placing on it have less of a chance of falling off. I have a bar cart that’s overflowing with bottles, so it’s nice to have this right next to it for some overflow.

Photograph: Andrew Watman

As someone who loves to make a nightly martini, I’ve hated having to go to my kitchen fridge for the vermouth. Now I store my vermouth right in my Rocco Fridge and I don’t have to break up my rhythm as much (other than grabbing ice and the chilled glass from the kitchen freezer). The Rocco Fridge also comes with a pack of round playing cards that double as coasters. They’re a little flimsy for coasters, but it’s a cute touch.

The fridge beeps when the door doesn’t shut all the way. It’s a pretty soft beep—I didn’t hear it over the TV playing. I wish I got a push notification when the door wasn’t shut. That would have been a much better use of the app. You really have to make sure the door is all the way shut, because it’s not soft-close, nor are the drawers, which I wish were. The small bottom drawer on mine is also a little bit stubborn to pull out and close, although all the other doors slide nice and smoothly.

Chill Luxury

The $1,495 price does make your heart skip a beat. But that aligns with other higher-end wine fridges on the market. You also don't need to worry about installing this fridge into your cabinetry, as it’s a stand-alone piece. The precision and engineering of this fridge make the price seem reasonable when compared with others, and it actually has character, whereas just about every other wine fridge looks the same.

Additionally, the price includes a 10-year warranty. For an additional $150, you can get white glove delivery, where it’s placed in your home exactly where you want it and the packaging is removed for you. This is probably not worth it. Otherwise, shipping is free.

The Rocco Fridge makes your living room more of an active social space by keeping your guests in the same cozy area. It’s furniture, which I wouldn’t say about most other fridges. I think people are going to buy this fridge more because of the way it looks rather than the fact that it’s a smart fridge. I’m a beverage enthusiast, so I love having the Rocco Fridge to show for it.