The Mini Fridge of the Future
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As comedian and Brooklynite Sophia Wilson Pelton once so aptly put it, “To me, the height of luxury is drinking three liquids at once: one for hydration, one for energy, and one for fun (ex: water, matcha, Spindrift.)” We’re not immune to having our own emotional support beverages to get ourselves through the work day — my personal beverage trifecta on my desk currently consists of: a Stanley tumbler full of ice water, a latte from the Nespresso machine I’ve been testing for the past month, and whatever Vitamin Water Zero flavor the bodega downstairs happens to have that day.
But when I’m not on my ‘hydrate or diedrate’ game, I’ve got a bar cart overflowing with mini cans of adaptogen bevvies and fancy wines that are ready to be tasted — as I’m sure many of you can relate — with the RTD (ready-to-drink) beverage market increasing at a rate of 12.8% annually, according to Grand View Research. I’d been relegated to sticking all our cans next to leftovers in the fridge or just setting them atop the cart, un-chilled. That is, until Rocco sent their impressive new fridge our way.
What Is the Rocco Smart Fridge?
Like a luxe Art Deco cabinet, Rocco’s smart fridge is anything but retro. Admittedly, wine fridges haven’t seen much real innovation in 30 years, but this is not your dorm room mini fridge. Designed to get colder than a wine fridge and split the temperature between two halves of the interior, this makes it the ideal bar cart replacement for anyone who needs to chill all their functional sodas, craft beers, and bottled cocktails in one place. But what’s just as impressive as its temperature control is its sheer capacity — Rocco can hold up to 27 wine bottles, 88 cans, or a combination of both. With six racks, you can reverse the trays on most racks to make space for either wine bottles or standard cans. It’s currently available at the the early-bird price of $1,195 (discounted from $1,500), but it’s sold out several times in a row now.
Rocco
Let’s say you want your Recess cans cooler than your Pinot Grig — you can totally do that. But the biggest draw, and the biggest swing for Rocco, is the app’s patent-pending “Sight System”. Using the app, you can “peek” inside your fridge, which shows you every item currently in your Rocco thanks to an object recognition database. This let’s you order more La Croix online or make a quick liquor store run if you find yourself dangerously low, all without even having to crack open the door (Rocco’s team says any individual customer data will remain private).
As we had assembled in our own apartment (by Rocco’s own founder, no less), we realized it was like its own home entertainment system — meant to be noticed. Smaller than an average fridge but bigger than your standard mini fridge, it’s a sleek, solid appliance. It comes in a cool white, retro yellow, and graphite black, and instead of a plain, glass window you’d find for most wine fridges, it’s made from stylish ribbed glass that looks more like a 1920s cabinet than a beverage holder. The glass also helps keep UV light away from your wine and the fridge’s internal light out of your living room, a true win-win for functional design.
Rocco Smart Fridge Review
First things first, this fridge is not meant to be moved. It currently sits below our TV in our living room and I don’t think we’ll ever budge it without help, thanks to its solid, welded steel frame. This just further drives the point home that Rocco isn’t aiming for this to be any regular beverage cooler — it’s a lifestyle. It’s too stylish to be relegated to the garage or storage room, and would fit right in with other bright, aesthetic home decor (it’s slim, 16-inch depth also makes it less bulky than you’d think). Not to mention we hardly hear it running, thanks to an “ultra-quiet” compressor that operates at 39 decibels, or about the the sound of a suburban neighborhood at night.
Rocco
Furthermore, we wanted to see how it would stand up to holiday entertaining season, and if it really could replace the bar cart we had so frantically assembled before our house-warming party the month before. As someone mainly posted up on kitchen duty cooking up the mini weenies and making sure a meal comes together, there’s nothing I hate more than forgetting to chill the special wine or toss a few brews in some ice before the party. I also noticed our friends tended to be reluctant to touch anything on the bar cart, and I get it — everything is warm and dusty, and we are not all Tom Cruise in Cocktail.
Thankfully the Rocco was in prime party position, with a top that doubles as a bar and can be lifted off like a tray to bring around the room. We kept it position and populated it with ice and extra garnishes and it was easy for guests to grab a cold drink and go to town. Storage was also ridiculously simple, since the shelves pull out all the way, leaving no cans behind or need to rummage around to find the last Diet Coke. There was a “Party Mode” on the app that we did turn on, but we’re not exactly sure what it did, and the instructions never explained it either.
We threw in everything from a bottle of Bordeaux, to a 12-pack of Sprite, ginger shots, and even alcoholic kombucha (someone attempted, and was stopped from, putting in a cup of iced coffee at one point). It kept everything super crisp and cold, and worked double-duty as an eye-catching piece of furniture, and let everyone at the party act as their own bartender. Plus, I could adjust the brightness, re-tune the temperature, and lock the fridge (thankfully it never got that crazy), all from the comfort of my phone.
That being said, what I was most excited for (and what could have helped for a big function) was the one feature that currently isn’t working at the time of this publication. That smart “Sight System” is still yet to be launched, with a screen on the app that reads like this (note: It has been longer than two weeks since we started testing the fridge):
It’s not a huge deal, as we can always just, you know, open the door, but being able to open up the app instead and send someone on a bodega run for more beers was a missed opportunity. But most of all, the Rocco fridge accomplished what it set out to do: look beautiful and keep things cool.
Rocco Smart Fridge: Final Verdict
Rocco
With isolated temp zones and reversible racks to fit nearly every drink bottle, box, and can you have, the Rocco Smart Fridge is a great option for anyone who entertains frequently or wants to be prepared to chill their drinks at a moment’s notice. That being said, it’ll take a pretty penny to achieve that level of beverage control, and you’ll still have to wait for its standout smart feature, which is missing at the time of publishing. But if you want something more than just a drab metal box or a boring, dusty bar cart to hold your drinks in, there’s no better option for a hosting companion than having Rocco into your home.
If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Rolling Stone may receive an affiliate commission.
As comedian and Brooklynite Sophia Wilson Pelton once so aptly put it, “To me, the height of luxury is drinking three liquids at once: one for hydration, one for energy, and one for fun (ex: water, matcha, Spindrift.)” We’re not immune to having our own emotional support beverages to get ourselves through the work day — my personal beverage trifecta on my desk currently consists of: a Stanley tumbler full of ice water, a latte from the Nespresso machine I’ve been testing for the past month, and whatever Vitamin Water Zero flavor the bodega downstairs happens to have that day.
But when I’m not on my ‘hydrate or diedrate’ game, I’ve got a bar cart overflowing with mini cans of adaptogen bevvies and fancy wines that are ready to be tasted — as I’m sure many of you can relate — with the RTD (ready-to-drink) beverage market increasing at a rate of 12.8% annually, according to Grand View Research. I’d been relegated to sticking all our cans next to leftovers in the fridge or just setting them atop the cart, un-chilled. That is, until Rocco sent their impressive new fridge our way.
What Is the Rocco Smart Fridge?
Like a luxe Art Deco cabinet, Rocco’s smart fridge is anything but retro. Admittedly, wine fridges haven’t seen much real innovation in 30 years, but this is not your dorm room mini fridge. Designed to get colder than a wine fridge and split the temperature between two halves of the interior, this makes it the ideal bar cart replacement for anyone who needs to chill all their functional sodas, craft beers, and bottled cocktails in one place. But what’s just as impressive as its temperature control is its sheer capacity — Rocco can hold up to 27 wine bottles, 88 cans, or a combination of both. With six racks, you can reverse the trays on most racks to make space for either wine bottles or standard cans. It’s currently available at the the early-bird price of $1,195 (discounted from $1,500), but it’s sold out several times in a row now.
Rocco
Let’s say you want your Recess cans cooler than your Pinot Grig — you can totally do that. But the biggest draw, and the biggest swing for Rocco, is the app’s patent-pending “Sight System”. Using the app, you can “peek” inside your fridge, which shows you every item currently in your Rocco thanks to an object recognition database. This let’s you order more La Croix online or make a quick liquor store run if you find yourself dangerously low, all without even having to crack open the door (Rocco’s team says any individual customer data will remain private).
As we had assembled in our own apartment (by Rocco’s own founder, no less), we realized it was like its own home entertainment system — meant to be noticed. Smaller than an average fridge but bigger than your standard mini fridge, it’s a sleek, solid appliance. It comes in a cool white, retro yellow, and graphite black, and instead of a plain, glass window you’d find for most wine fridges, it’s made from stylish ribbed glass that looks more like a 1920s cabinet than a beverage holder. The glass also helps keep UV light away from your wine and the fridge’s internal light out of your living room, a true win-win for functional design.
Rocco Smart Fridge Review
First things first, this fridge is not meant to be moved. It currently sits below our TV in our living room and I don’t think we’ll ever budge it without help, thanks to its solid, welded steel frame. This just further drives the point home that Rocco isn’t aiming for this to be any regular beverage cooler — it’s a lifestyle. It’s too stylish to be relegated to the garage or storage room, and would fit right in with other bright, aesthetic home decor (it’s slim, 16-inch depth also makes it less bulky than you’d think). Not to mention we hardly hear it running, thanks to an “ultra-quiet” compressor that operates at 39 decibels, or about the the sound of a suburban neighborhood at night.
Rocco
Furthermore, we wanted to see how it would stand up to holiday entertaining season, and if it really could replace the bar cart we had so frantically assembled before our house-warming party the month before. As someone mainly posted up on kitchen duty cooking up the mini weenies and making sure a meal comes together, there’s nothing I hate more than forgetting to chill the special wine or toss a few brews in some ice before the party. I also noticed our friends tended to be reluctant to touch anything on the bar cart, and I get it — everything is warm and dusty, and we are not all Tom Cruise in Cocktail.
Thankfully the Rocco was in prime party position, with a top that doubles as a bar and can be lifted off like a tray to bring around the room. We kept it position and populated it with ice and extra garnishes and it was easy for guests to grab a cold drink and go to town. Storage was also ridiculously simple, since the shelves pull out all the way, leaving no cans behind or need to rummage around to find the last Diet Coke. There was a “Party Mode” on the app that we did turn on, but we’re not exactly sure what it did, and the instructions never explained it either.
We threw in everything from a bottle of Bordeaux, to a 12-pack of Sprite, ginger shots, and even alcoholic kombucha (someone attempted, and was stopped from, putting in a cup of iced coffee at one point). It kept everything super crisp and cold, and worked double-duty as an eye-catching piece of furniture, and let everyone at the party act as their own bartender. Plus, I could adjust the brightness, re-tune the temperature, and lock the fridge (thankfully it never got that crazy), all from the comfort of my phone.
That being said, what I was most excited for (and what could have helped for a big function) was the one feature that currently isn’t working at the time of this publication. That smart “Sight System” is still yet to be launched, with a screen on the app that reads like this (note: It has been longer than two weeks since we started testing the fridge):
It’s not a huge deal, as we can always just, you know, open the door, but being able to open up the app instead and send someone on a bodega run for more beers was a missed opportunity. But most of all, the Rocco fridge accomplished what it set out to do: look beautiful and keep things cool.
Rocco Smart Fridge: Final Verdict
Rocco
With isolated temp zones and reversible racks to fit nearly every drink bottle, box, and can you have, the Rocco Smart Fridge is a great option for anyone who entertains frequently or wants to be prepared to chill their drinks at a moment’s notice. That being said, it’ll take a pretty penny to achieve that level of beverage control, and you’ll still have to wait for its standout smart feature, which is missing at the time of publishing. But if you want something more than just a drab metal box or a boring, dusty bar cart to hold your drinks in, there’s no better option for a hosting companion than having Rocco into your home.
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