The Best Freezers You Can Buy in 2024, According to Testing (2024)

Our favorite upright freezer provides 13 cubic feet of storage space with four adjustable wire shelves, a deep basket on the bottom and five full-width door racks. We like that the base of the door racks are rounded and closed, keeping smaller items from sliding out as you open and close the door. The door can be installed with the handle on the left or the right.

This freezer includes an audible open-door alert system, which is a helpful feature because when the door is left ajar, moisture from the air flowing in can cause ice to accumulate inside. The automatic defrost function also prevents ice build-up (which would otherwise need to be manually defrosted and cleaned out). A separate alarm is triggered when the internal temperature of the freezer rises, helping you quickly troubleshoot so that your food stays safely frozen.

It has a bright interior LED light and an exterior light to indicate a power outage. The manufacturer claims that the freezer can keep foods frozen for up to two days in the event of a power outage.

​​The Kenmore 18.5-cubic-feet chest freezer is super spacious — great for stockpiling your cooking essentials — and can be used indoors or stored in a garage. It features a manual defrost and drain to easily remove melting ice during defrosting.

The freezer comes with a removable wire basket and top shelf to help with organizing and storing smaller or frequently used items. The illuminated power switch lets you know when the freezer is running, and the handy cord caddy keeps the excess cord tidy and prevents tangling.

This chest freezer from Magic Chef is under $300, has a capacity of seven cubic feet and offers a one-year parts and labor warranty and a five-year compressor warranty, making it our best value pick.

We love that it comes with storage solutions like a sliding storage basket for items that you reach for often and a removable interior divider that can hold items like bags of fruits or veggies so that they don't get lost at the bottom of the freezer. Better yet there is an interior light to help see everything inside, a defrost water drain and external temperature control so there's no need to open the freezer to change the temperature.

According to the manufacturer, this freezer is not designed for garage storage because garage temperatures can fluctuate a lot, often outside of the required temperature zone of 32°F to 100°F for efficient freezer operation. If you need a chest freezer with a smaller or larger capacity, Magic Chef also makes a 5-cubic-foot version and an 8.7-cubic-foot version for under $350.

Depending on the time of year, you may need more freezer space to store meats or other favorite foods, or you might need more refrigerator space for fresh produce. That's why the Galanz convertible freezer and refrigerator caught our eye: With just the flip of a switch, you can turn the upright freezer into a refrigerator.

The adjustable thermostat ranges from 33℉ to 45℉ in refrigerator mode and -8℉ to 5℉ in freezer mode. The single-door unit has slide-out, adjustable glass shelves and a transparent crisper drawer for keeping fruits and veggies fresh. The LED light is helpful when grabbing items, and the narrow shape is great for smaller kitchens.

One consumer tester noted,"It's easy to load, organize and access what's inside and it's a great size for the garage. It's also nice to be able to keep ice cream frozen outside in the winter!" Our consumer tester did note that they got some ice formation underneath the bottom drawer that caused it to stick. They had to pull hard to get the drawer out and needed to clean away the built-up ice before the drawer was back to normal.

Not all freezers are designed to be stored in a garage's conditions, but this chest freezer from GE is garage-ready, meaning it is tested by GE to perform in ambient temperatures from 0°F to 110°F. GE also claims that if there is a power outage, food will remain frozen for up to 48 hours in this freezer. This seven-cubic-foot model is a good fit for a one-car garage.

This model has over 1,300 five-star reviews on Lowes.com alone, with one reviewer referring to this as an "excellent garage freezer," saying, "Living in the Sonoran desert, temperatures get into 115 and my garage will reach 100 degrees in the summer. This freezer maintains its temp and doesn’t run hard doing so." There is an external power-on light that lets you know that the freezer is on, but some reviewers wish that it showed the exact temperature of the freezer on the outside.

While most freezers have a few baskets or bins for organization, Samsung's 11-Cubic-Foot Convertible Upright Freezer provides superior organization. It houses three adjustable shelves, four removable drawers and three adjustable door bins to keep your proteins and frozen veggies in sight. According to the manufacturer, this model features multi-vent technology that keeps items evenly cooled no matter what shelf they are on.

If you need additional refrigerator space, this model is also convertible and can be switched from freezer temperatures to refrigerator temperatures. This sleek stainless steel freezer has LED lighting for good interior visibility. It also has a reversible door so you can choose what side it opens from, but reviewers have noted that it was difficult to make the switch.

If you need extra storage for large cuts of meat or bulk bags of frozen veggies this pick from GE has an oversized capacity at 21.3 cubic feet. Similarly to the other GE model on this list this pick is also garage-ready, meaning it is tested by GE to perform in ambient temperatures from 0°F to 110°F. It features an audible alarm if the freezer is left open or if the freezer temperatures rises and for added peace of mind you can even lock the freezer so it doesn't accidentally get left open.

The freezer's interior features LED lighting, shelving and clear slide-out freezer bins to help you stay organized. And there's an external thermometer as well. While it can fit a lot of frozen goods, this freezer does require having more space available to fit it and easily open the door.

In the Good Housekeeping Institute Kitchen Appliances and Innovation Lab, we've been testing large kitchen appliances like refrigerators and ranges for decades.

We've tested over 50 refrigerators in the past 10 years alone. When we test a standalone freezer or a freezer attached to a refrigerator, we test for performance by scoring how easy it is to use and its ability to regulate temperature and keep ingredients frozen.

• Automatic defrost heats the internal coils in regular intervals to avoid frost build-up. Manual defrost requires emptying out your freezer and letting it defrost when too much ice has accumulated inside.
• Drain plugs are a key feature if your freezer doesn't have automatic defrost. It makes the process of emptying out the melted ice easier.
• Temperature controls can be located anywhere from inside, on the back or ideally on the front exterior. Depending on where you place your freezer and how often you open your freezer should determine where you need your temperature controls to be located.
• Convertible freezers allow you to switch the appliance from a freezer to a refrigerator. If you use more freezer storage in the winter and refrigerator storage in the summer, this could be a feature to look for.
• A flash-freeze function can be found in some models and helps you quickly freeze items — nice if you routinely go back and forth from refrigerator to freezer mode on a convertible model.
• Storage solutions vary depending on the model you select. If you don't want to go fishing around your freezer for lost ingredients, look into what the model has to offer, whether it's baskets or shelves.

✔️ Upright freezers look a lot like conventional single-door refrigerators with shelves, drawers and extra storage space on the door. They usually come with an automatic defrost function which makes them better for short-term storage. Even if you open the door multiple times a day, the automatic defrost function will help prevent ice from accumulating.

Pros:

• Easy to organize and find items
• Takes up less floor space
• Narrow enough to fit through doorways easily
• Available in many finishes

Cons:

• Higher incidence of freezer burn because more air circulates around food and cold air can escape from the bottom of the freezer
• Storage on door tends to be warmer
• Less usable space than chest freezer because of shelves and drawers
• Pricier than chest freezers

✔️ Chest freezers are low-profile box-shaped freezers with a hinged lid that opens from the top. They have a wide open space with removable baskets and dividers, offering more usable space than an upright freezer. During power outages, chest freezers will stay colder for longer. They usually need to be manually defrosted to clean out built-up frost. When assessing your space, add a few inches to the depth of the chest freezer to account for the space the lid needs to open all the way.

Pros:

• Easy to fit large and oddly shaped items
• Lower profile allows it to fit under windows
• They are known for being more energy efficient, have more consistent temperatures and less prone to freezer burn because they're designed with a tighter seal and cold air stays at the bottom compared to upright freezers where it can escape at the bottom

Cons:

• More difficult to organize, find and reach items at the bottom
• Takes up more floor space than upright freezer

Both types of freezers come in a range of prices, dimensions and energy efficiency levels, and they both can include features like automatic defrost, drain plugs, temperature controls and a flash-freeze function.