Hitachi fridge freezer R-BGX411PGB1 review

Smooth, fashionable and each so shiny, this Hitachi 60/40 fridge freezer has doorways so reflective you possibly can see your face in them. 

Design and look

We examined the black mannequin and located ourselves in entrance of a darkish mirror that boasted a commencement fade to gunmetal gray roughly across the break up between fridge and freezer.

Suffice to say, this isn’t an equipment for a pastel nation kitchen. It is not going to go together with chintz curtains or braided garlic hanging from an uncovered ceiling beam.

No, at 190cm tall and 60cm large, this Hitachi is a modern, city equipment that may go well with an absolute black granite worktop, polished to perfection, over stark white cabinetry – with a robotic vacuum scooting over a high-sheen ground.

With pocket handles tucked away within the aspect of the doorways, each left and proper do you have to want to reverse their opening path, the one different entrance function is the touchscreen management panel in a darkish shade of gray. Nothing else interrupts the high-gloss end.     

Add to that doorways that handed the bounce take a look at each time, regardless of how exhausting the slam or light the nudge; and twin fan cooling, one fan for the fridge and one other for the freezer, backed up by a compact however high-power inverter compressor that generates large volumes of chilled air, and this equipment clearly goals to match trendy styling with high quality refrigeration.    

Working quantity

Hitachi states that the operational sound of this equipment is 41dB, which is roughly the sound of a whisper. We may hear a light hum when it was turned on, however it was nothing intrusive or uncommon. There’s additionally an alarm that sounds for those who go away the door open. There are two units of beeps as an introductory warning, then a continuous beep for those who nonetheless don’t shut the door. You’ll be able to, nevertheless, flip this function off by way of the management panel.

Price

This equipment has an F ranking on the brand new 2021 power ranking scale, A+ on the outdated ranking scale, and Hitachi says the overall annual power consumption is 310 kWh/pa. This degree of consumption is per different home equipment that supply this sort of chill and freeze storage capability.

On account of latest adjustments in energy pricing within the UK, it’s difficult to present an estimate of common working price per yr.

Management panel

The fridge freezer is managed by way of a darkish gray touchscreen panel on the entrance of the fridge cupboard. Visually non-intrusive, it’s 148cm from the ground, rising to 165cm, so it’s straightforward to succeed in even for those who’re not tall.

To alter the temperature of the fridge or freezer, you press R/F Choose, then Temp management, to maneuver up or down, in 9 increments, from chilly to coldest. You’ll be able to’t programme in a particular determine in both Celsius or Fahrenheit, which we discovered a bit odd. 

Nevertheless, there’s a quick-freezing mode, which you employ to quickly freeze meals or make ice; it lasts for 3.5 hours earlier than it turns itself off.

There’s additionally an power saving mode for holidays or occasions of low quantity, although there doesn’t appear to be a lot details about what this setting truly does. We presume it retains freezer temperatures low and the fridge temperatures slightly below the purpose the place odours may develop. Once more, a baby lock lets you stop younger fingers from making unintentional management panel adjustments.

Once more, the black 210cm energy cable sprouts from the highest of the equipment, a function we’re seeing increasingly in fridge freezers from excessive finish manufacturers.  

Heat up and funky down

We discovered that the fridge cooled from 26°C in each the fridge and the freezer to six°C within the fridge and -16°C within the freezer in 90 minutes. Contemplating the atmospheric temperature was 27°C, we discovered this fast cooling to be extraordinarily spectacular and testomony to the efficacy of the twin followers and compressor on this mannequin. 

Heat up

Hitachi says the fridge freezer’s cooling retention is 12 hours. We tried to check this determine, however the excessive atmospheric temperature of 27°C (we examined it throughout a heatwave), made it exhausting to substantiate.   

Lighting

An oblong mild, 24cm by 5cm, on the prime of the fridge cupboard illuminates the within effectively. There isn’t any mild for the freezer, however this isn’t a significant subject for a freezing cupboard of this measurement.  

Fridge capability

There are 215 litres of storage within the fridge, which is roughly eleven to 13 grocery store purchasing baggage, relying on the place you store. The division of house is cleverly thought-about: two glass cabinets, separated by a wine rack in a position to maintain 4 wine bottles, one slide shelf, one “selectable” drawer, and one deeper drawer with a ribbed base for greens. 

The second glass shelf is adjustable up and down by 4cm, however it’s the slide shelf with a dropped entrance that speaks to a extra trendy method to fridge organisation and ease of use – it’s a really good contact.  In actual world phrases, the slide shelf will match a packet of two lettuces, a carton of tomatoes, a packet of peppers and a bag of sweetcorn cobs with room to spare.

Alex Greenwood / Foundry

Once more, you possibly can select to make use of the “selectable” drawer for greens or meat and dairy by shifting the slider behind the interior cupboard. For greens, the slider will set the temperature between 1°C to three°C; for meat and dairy, it’s going to set the temperature 3°C to 7°C. We’d choose a extra exact digital management at this worth level. Nonetheless, a guide slider isn’t unusual, even in high-quality home equipment. 

Alex Greenwood / Foundry

We make the storage capability of this drawer to be round 13.6 litres, so about three quarters of a big grocery store purchasing bag. In actual world phrases, it’s going to take six 750ml meat packs of mince.      

The deeper vegetable drawer holds roughly 16 litres and has a clean pull-out mechanism. Certainly, all of the fridge drawers really feel solidly constructed and reliable; they don’t rattle or really feel plasticky.

Alex Greenwood / Foundry

Door storage

There are three non-adjustable full-length door balconies on the within of the fridge door, and two half-length balconies you can modify upwards. All of the balconies, other than the underside one, offer you about 10-12cm in width. The highest full-length balcony suits roughly about six 400ml jars, the 2 half-length balconies beneath have two eggs trays that match eight eggs every, so a complete of 16 eggs. The second to backside full-length balcony holds three grocery store four-pinters of milk.

Now we have to say that this isn’t actually a fridge for giant milk drinkers. You’ll be able to’t retailer greater than these three four-pinters elsewhere within the door: the peak is simply not there with the opposite balconies.  

The underside balcony is a bit perplexing. Though it’s full-length, the width is just 7cm within the center and this decreases to 2cm on both sides. We managed to suit a one litre carton of apple juice side-on into this balcony, however it was difficult to get out and in, which may imply unintentional spillage. Likewise, the 2cm large sections would solely match very slim objects, equivalent to vertical chocolate bars.          

Freezer

Hitachi says there’s 115 litres of frozen storage within the no-frost freezer, which equates to 6 to eight grocery store baggage of purchasing. You get three drawers within the freezer cupboard, and the highest one is a handy slide shelf with a drop entrance that holds roughly 18 to twenty litres. The 2 decrease drawers are extra typical deep freezer drawers with a lip deal with; every holds between, by our reckoning, 26 to twenty-eight litres.  

Alex Greenwood / Foundry

In actual world phrases, the slide shelf will match three loaves, or about six to eight 500g baggage of greens. It has a metallic tray within the backside, stamped “hybrid freezing”, to make sure grocery objects freeze quickly, which, Hitachi says, retains freshness, reduces drip throughout thawing, and locks in flavour.

Alex Greenwood / Foundry

The primary massive drawers match a considerable variety of groceries, an excellent two to a few grocery store purchasing baggage value. We crammed one with 9 500g vegetable baggage, a one kilo bag of fries, and a few random parts of frozen rice and chickpeas, and we reckon you possibly can get six loaves of bread in one of many drawers too.        

The ice dice tray suits right into a small ice dice storage field, and you can also make eighteen cubes at a time.       

Worth and availability

In line with Hitachi, there are a number of finishes obtainable: glass black, glass silver, glass pure white, and gradation gray. Nevertheless, at this stage we’ve solely discovered the gradation gray obtainable within the UK. On the time of writing, it’s obtainable for £949-£999, with the very best present worth obtainable from Yates On-line.

Verdict

The styling of this fridge freezer signifies that it gained’t go well with some kitchens, however for those who’re out there for a contemporary look and also you need wonderful cooling with a top quality construct and a few good inside options, this Hitachi equipment could very effectively match the invoice.

To see some extra fridge freezer choices, with full evaluations, take a look at our round-up of the very best fridge freezers we’ve examined.