I have personally owned LG-brand refrigerators for the past 15 years. When I bought my first refrigerator from LG (an acronym for “Life’s Good”), in 2011, the French door model was highly rated, and the combination of price and features was unmatched by other brands. In fact, I loved it so much I bought a second, identical one when I moved seven years later. Which is why I was dismayed when it suddenly stopped freezing earlier this year. “We get this call all the time,” the mechanic explained as he swapped out the apparently faulty compressor.
Sadly, he was not wrong. Even a cursory internet search brings up reams of damning evidence of LG’s history of faulty linear compressors. A class action lawsuit was settled in 2020 over the LG compressors in refrigerators manufactured between 2014 and 2017 (my second fridge was, unfortunately, within this range, and I was unaware of the lawsuit), but more were filed in subsequent years for fridges manufactured in 2018 and beyond, for both compressor issues and malfunctioning craft ice makers. It’s not a good look.
That said, LG sells hundreds of thousands of refrigerators a year—LG sales make up one-third of the appliance market, behind only Samsung, according to data platform OpenBrand—and other brands are on the hook for class action lawsuits as well. (In fact, Consumer Reports says that of all new refrigerators purchased since 2014, regardless of brand, 50 percent have experienced a problem.)
I decided to give LG another shot by testing one of its new Studio refrigerators, from the brand’s premium, designed-focused line that came out around 2015. Newer LG fridges have smart capabilities through LG’s ThinQ system, and, according to LG, a different linear compressor than my old model. The Studio Smart 3-Door French Door Refrigerator has been installed in my home kitchen for the past five months, where my family has been using it like any other fridge. There’s no denying it looks good both in person and on paper, but will it last?
Color Me Interested
Photograph: Kat Merck
I specifically settled on testing a Studio in LG’s proprietary Essence White, as I’ve noticed stainless steel is appearing less in high-end home builds and remodels. (If you’ve had any kind of stainless steel appliance, you know it’s a magnet for fingerprints and stains.) Cabinet-fronted SubZeros have always been de rigeur in custom luxury homes, but until recently, there haven’t been a whole lot of non-stainless options for what appliance manufacturers call the “mass premium” market, aside from retro-inspired designs by brands like Smeg and Big Chill. And in fact, the trend toward lighter woods and colored cabinetry paves the way for a more contemporary version of white, softer than the institutional tone of the ’80s and ’90s.
“Essence White is not a traditional stark white,” explained Dean Brindle, LG’s head of product management. “It’s not a blue-white that you traditionally see in white appliances. It’s a warmer white, so a little bit of yellow.”
Indeed, I can see it—the Essence White Studio is matte, almost glowy, with sharp edges and squared, bronze hardware. It wouldn’t look out of place among luxury European appliances like La Cornue or Bertazzoni. I’m into it. I have read complaints that the hardware looks gold in online promotional photos but is actually rose gold-ish, and this is true—the color is not how it appears in photos. It definitely wouldn’t be a direct match with gold hardware elsewhere in the kitchen. Brindle said the unusual hardware tone was deliberately matched to the fridge’s hue.
