[90s commercial] Tired of running out of cold beverages during
your gaming sessions?
Getting up to go to the kitchen becoming a drag?
Has mom stopped replying to your cries for aid?
Mooooom please get me something to drink.
No, shutup, I was talking to my mom, gawsh.
LOOK NO FURTHER.
The NewAir AB-1200 beverage cooler and mini-fridge is JUST what the doctor ordered.
Customizable temperature, locking door and internal LED light - this minifridge will
keep you gaming ALL SUMMER LONG.
[intro] I’m EposVox, here to make tech easier and
more fun, taking a look at something different today.
I’ve always been a sucker for cool setup videos, game rooms, production workflows,
and “man caves” as they used to be called.
“Back in the day,” a staple for such setups used to be a mini fridge.
Be it water, soda, kool-aid, or booze - a gamer’s gotta have their drinks, right?
This trend seems to have died down in recent years.
Personally, I assign this to a few reasons: Size, Noise, price, and looks.
You might disagree with me, but these are the reasons I might’ve avoided them when
planning a setup.
So my contact at NewAir recently reached out and wanted me to give their new Avalon Bay
minifridge the review treatment, and, well, there’s a first for everything!
Usual disclosures: Product sent free from NewAir for review, not of my request.
Video is not paid nor sponsored in any way outside of review sample, and as you’re
about to hear, it’s going to sit in storage for a few months after this review.
I do have a coupon code where you can save 20% off of this model, but I get no kickback
from the sales or anything like that.
Just a discount for you, the viewer.
Thanks, disclosure Epos!
I’ve always loved the idea of having a minifridge in my game room or production office - but
living in small apartment makes that difficult.
Thankfully, the NewAir units are quite small.
This one, the AB-1200 is a 126 can size, but they also have a smaller 84 can model if you’re
stuck on space.
Even now, our living room/game room/production office is as cramped as it gets, so this thing
looks SICK between my server rack and gaming setup here, buuuuut - this is actually our
back door.
It can’t stay here forever, and I’ll definitely showcase it in our future house-located setup
in the future.
We interrupt your regularly scheduled programming to bring you this unboxing of this product
from Epos's cat.
Wham!
We have filled it with 2 packs of Sunkist, a couple bottles, a six pack of Sprite, a
rather large kitty checking it out after the smaller one was reviewing it.
And a 12-pack of Canada Dry Ginger Ale.
Still plenty of room, as this is a 126-can fridge, but pretty cool.
No, no, you don't get to speak.
This was just for the cat.
Back to your regularly scheduled programming.
So that’s size out of the way, but what about noise?
Those of you who know me know that noise levels are of the UPMOST importance for my office
and studio.
I do a LOT of my recording here, and computer and server sound is problematic enough.
That also means that when some company contact sends me an email saying something like their
mini-fridge being quiet - I stay VERY skeptical.
Buuut color me impressed.
It’s not silent, but it is quiet enough to meet my standards.
It’s far quieter than my normal fridge in my kitchen, and isn’t louder than anything
else in the room.
There’s a small “kick” when the compressor or whatever inside starts, but the usual noise
as it cools is near silent.
I’ve had no issues with the sound showing up in recordings or anything.
When it comes to price…
this is usually a polarizing thing in review content.
This specific model is $300 - which is a little on the higher-end for such a thing, but I’ve
seen similar ones go for upwards of $500 or more, so eh..
Yes, you can go to your local Best Buy and get a generic black or white Frigidaire mini
fridge with no flair for $150 or less.
Many of them I have seen are quite loud and put out a lot of heat, however.
Can’t speak for them all and there might be quieter ones.
They even have similar-looking models, aesthetically, from Insignia for $50 to $100 less.
And that’s….
Fine?
There are cheaper and more expensive models of things and I get annoyed when people leave
nasty comments when I cover something that isn’t the cheapest version of such a product,
but if price is your priority, this might not be for you.
Lastly, THE LOOKS.
This is a pretty nice-looking fridge.
My model is a nice black, but they’ve got some steel-like models and a blend of the
steel look and black.
It’s simple, it’s a black box with a black-framed door on the front.
Big window so you can see what drinks you have - illuminated by the LED light up top
if you wish - though it does glare quite a bit.
The branding is subtle and there’s a lock at the bottom if you need to secure your beverages
or severed digits or favorite steak or… something.
There’s 5 re-positionable shelves, with a bucket thing at the bottom.
By default the 5 shelves line up for having cans on their sides - it is a can cooler,
after all, but you can adjust them to hold bottles, or anything.
There's a lot of different slots for the shelves to go in.
There is only 1 light at the top with an on-off switch, along with the temperature control
setting.
I found the default 4?
Position to be perfect for my drinks.
I don’t like super cold drinks, so just keeping them cool is nice.
Admittedly, I had really hoped that there would be LEDs lining the inner layer of the
thick front glass to provide a little extra flair - maybe even RGB.
I know, I know, but it would be dope af and you know it.
So…
NewAir… if you’re going to charge this much, get some more optional flair options
going, mmkay?
;)
Well, this is a first.
I’ve never reviewed an appliance before - but branching out every once in a while
is a lot of fun.
I don’t have many criticisms - there’s a lot of suction to the door, meaning it kinda
jars when you first open it, but that doesn’t really matter.
It’s expensive, but it’s nice.
If you want one, check it out via the link in the description below and save 20% with
coupon code EPOSVOX at checkout.
Hit the like button if you enjoyed, subscribe for more awesome tech content.
Let me know if you could see yourself investing in a mini fridge for your game room or setup
in the comments below.
I’m EposVox, and I’ll see you next time.