Samsung T9000 (RF32FSQDBSR) at CES

T9000 From Samsung

Samsung T9000 RF32FSQDBSR

To LCD or Not to LCD?

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Samsung’s new T9000 French Door refrigerator showed at the International Consumer Electronics Show yesterday. Here at Fridge Dimensions we are always on the lookout for new feature packed and innovative refrigerators, but has Samsung gone too far this time?

The Wonderful, The Weird, The WTF?

Samsung has been making a lot of waves at the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this year. They have a wide range of products from handheld electronic devices all the way up to home appliances. That refrigerator portion of the latter category is what we focus on here of course, and the Samsung T9000 looks to be one of the more interesting refrigerators to have come around in a while.

CES is always great for some awe-inspiring products, as well as quite a few laughs. I find the more mundane an item generally is thought to be, the worse it becomes at these types of technology shows. You can’t really fault high-end electronics gadgets from adopting the latest technology. But when you start seeing WIFI enabled sneakers or other absurd and useless gadgets, you have to ask yourself, “Why?”

Here is a press release leading into CES from Samsung:

LAS VEGAS – January 7, 2013 – Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. announced today its expanded line-up of premium home appliances for the kitchen at the 2013 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) from January 8-11, 2013. Samsung, the company that revolutionized the home appliance category with the four-door refrigerator and a freestanding range with the FlexDuo oven, is once again redefining the appliance experience in the kitchen with new refrigerator and range form factors that bring unmatched ease of use, convenience, organization and style to the kitchen.

“As America’s fastest growing appliance brand, Samsung’s award-winning products deliver the flexibility that busy families not only need in the kitchen, but also want,” said Kevin Dexter, senior vice president of home appliances sales and marketing, Samsung Electronics America. “From our latest four-door refrigerator with unsurpassed fresh food storage, to appliances that open a host of new cooking possibilities, this year’s kitchen line from Samsung will make entertaining at home easier and more fun.”

Obviously the press release is a bit promotional in nature, but perhaps in the case of the T9000 refrigerator it’s well deserved. Then again, this is a home appliance at CES, and so there’s sure to be some questionably useful gimics involved.

What Makes Samsung’s T9000 So Interesting?

The Home Entertainer’s Ultimate Refrigerator

The 32 cu. ft. capacity Samsung T9000 Four-Door Refrigerator represents the next evolution in refrigerator design, with a new form factor that delivers the most fresh food storage in its class. This sleek refrigerator features a 19.4 cu. ft. capacity French Door refrigerator compartment on top, and a 6.1 cu. ft. compartment on the lower right side, providing an extraordinary 25.5 cu. ft. of fresh food storage. The lower right compartment can also be used as a freezer if desired, and is complemented by a 6.1 cu. ft. freezer on the left side in this unique and versatile design. Imagine the possibilities of using the lower right side compartment as a kid zone, as a prep zone for a special meal, as a centralized storage area for a family member with dietary restrictions, or to replace a separate beverage refrigerator.

The lower right compartment sounds like one of the more interesting innovations in refrigerators we’ve seen in a while. In my family we’ve alway stocked up the freezer once or twice a month, and then gradually freezer space empties while fresh food space fills up with left-overs. Having a compartment which can serve either purpose would really help balance things out to ensure you always are making the most of your refrigerator’s capacity.

Imagine being able to store all that extra frozen food right up until Thanksgiving, cooking it, and then being able to store it in the fridge as left-overs! Samsung is brilliant!

In addition to being flexible and stunningly beautiful, this refrigerator also performs. To help ensure optimal temperature and humidity control, as well as performance in each of the fresh food zones, the T9000 has Samsung’s Triple Cooling system. This unique cooling technology ensures that commercial grade humidity levels are maintained in the fresh food compartments with the help of two compressors, three evaporators and an array of sensors to keep produce fresher longer.

That’s a lot of cooling power and control. Hopefully it’s energy efficient as well, but we’ll have to wait and see.

How To Mess Up the Perfect Refrigerator

Finally, only at CES in the Samsung booth, the T9000 LCD is on display, featuring apps to help families stay organized and connected in the kitchen. In particular, the T9000 LCD includes the Evernote app, which allows consumers to share photos, videos, and even recipes with family and friends. The T9000 LCD also includes calendar and weather apps, and more.

And here is where Samsung loses me. Yes, a 10″ display on a refrigerator sounds cool and is going to generate some hype at CES … but you know what is cooler? A 10″ display that has more functionality and isn’t tied to a 7′ x 3′ x 3′ (est) 300 lbs anchor. These are called tablet PCs. They’re great, you can take them anywhere you want. You can pick one up (+ refrigerator) for much less than the T9000 is going to cost.

Not only is the LCD a questionably useful gimic, but it’s possible that it’s going to negatively impact the useability of the appliance. Imagine trying to cook dinner while the kids are playing Angry Birds on your refrigerator. Then of course there’s the energy efficiency you’ll achieve when the freezer drawer is extended for hours at a time as a make-shift seat for their gaming experience. The more I think of it, the worse this feature gets.

This is why we have living/family/rec rooms, to keep the couch zombies and hyper-active from blocking hallways and kitchen cabinets. (Do we still have rec rooms? I know we had them growing up but I haven’t heard the term in a while … If we still have rec rooms I want a food disposal integrated with my foosball table! Then when I lose all the balls we can just use Cheeto Balls, Crunch Berries, or hard boiled quail eggs. Cleanup will be a snap with my FoodsballTable™!)

The Samsung T9000 Four-Door Refrigerator (Model: RF32FSQDBSR) will be available in late Spring 2013 for an MSRP of $3,999.

The $3999 price point seems reasonable for a refrigerator with all these features. Even though it will surely be available for a lower street price, the Samsung T9000 is still rather disappointing in that such a useful feature as the fridge/feezer adaptable compartment will be stuck with such a price-tag inflating gimic as the Android LCD display. I hope that Samsung offers their adaptable compartment on lower-end models so that that convenience can be more affordable to the average consumer.

So what do you think about Samsung’s new refrigerator? Let us know in the comments below …

3 Responses to Samsung T9000 (RF32FSQDBSR) at CES

  1. Joseph is spot on. The LCD looks good but as software will not be upgradeable its obsolete in 6 months (let alone 10 yr fridge lifespan). Love the 4 door concept….just lose the expensive LCD. A screen that controls the fridge operation is all you need.

  2. Hi
    Read your site and find so interesting ,
    I am on my work of remodel my kitken and would like to get one T9000
    Do you have an ideas what is the measurment of T9000
    If you can giving ideas ,it will help a lot thanks
    Sunny

    • Joseph Seeley says:

      Sorry, we don’t yet have that information. At least I haven’t been able to find it anywhere. I will post it as soon as it is available.

      There is a Samsung Zipel T9000 already out in Korea, but I don’t know the dimensions of that model, or if they would remain the same when it’s introduced into other markets.

      The T9000 is marketed as a 32 cubic foot capacity refrigerator, which does give some clues as to what the dimensions may be. The Samsung RF323TEDBSR is already available, and is marketed as a 32 cubic foot capacity refrigerator. It is 35 3/4″ wide x 35 3/8″ deep (not including handles) x 70″ high. With recommended clearances that would be an installation size of about 36 1/4″ wide x 36 3/8″ deep x 71″ high. Though you may need more room in the back depending on what connections are back there and what type, and if you have an extended wall on either side of the fridge installation you’d almost surely need much more width to allow the doors to fully open.

      Most of Samsung’s available large capacity refrigerators are close to those width and height dimensions. Some of them require enclosures of up to 36 1/2″ wide and 72″ high though.

      It’s important to note that in the pictures the T9000 is also not installed flush with surrounding “cabinetry”. This could mean that the type of hinges on the door do not allow for that type of built-in look. (It could also be due to something else entirely though.) The hinges look much the same as on their large capacity french door refrigerators, so that’s another clue that the clearances will be similar.

      It’s likely the T9000 will be of somewhat similar dimensions as the RF323TEDBSR. When I’ve seen it next to other Samsung models though, the T9000 looks taller. Being off by even a little bit can potentially cause a lot of problems though, so I wouldn’t recommend planning a kitchen remodel around the T9000 until the installation guides are made available. If you have to finalize the layout now, pick a plan B refrigerator that you would like (if not as much) that is of similar dimensions to the large capacity Samsung models, and then at least you have a good option if the T9000 turns out to not fit.

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