BougeRV’s portable solar fridge is quietly annoying

Keeping humans alive at home in post-agrarian societies requires refrigeration. Meat bags on the move must either load up a cooler with ice for a soggy weekend barbecue or do the evolved thing and use a 12V fridge instead.

The $509.99 battery-powered BougeRV CRD2 40 refrigerator and freezer combo I’ve been testing for the last few weeks runs for almost 12 hours on its itty-bitty battery. It charges from a wall outlet or a 12V socket found in cars and portable power stations. It even accepts 100W of direct solar input to stay charged in sunny climates. And if this 40-liter (43-quart) model is too small, it’s also available in larger 49-liter and 58-liter capacities.

BougeRV gets the basics right, but with lots of little annoyances along the way.

The CRD2 40 is what you choose when rugged portability is a must. It can easily fit inside a boat, RV, or the trunk or backseat of a car and features lots of tie-down points to keep the 28.7 x 18.14 x 17.24in (730 x 461 x 438mm) fridge from becoming a 41.9lb (19kg) projectile. And once you arrive, it can be moved about with help from its spring-loaded side handles, telescoping arm, and chunky wheels.

Importantly, the two cooling compartments — one large (32.5 liters) and one small (7.2 liters) — are covered by a pair of doors that can be reversed for easy opening from either side. This adaptability is fantastic for vanlifers or anyone else with limited space for such a large appliance.

And because it doesn’t try to do too much — unlike EcoFlow and Bluetti’s 3-in-1 ice-making fridges — BougeRV’s combo unit maximizes available capacity for food and beverages. Even the smaller CRD2 40 fits a lot; enough for me and my wife to stay away from the grid comfortably for about a week when using the large compartment as a fridge and the small space as a freezer.

I did all my testing at FDA-recommended temperatures of -18 degrees Celsius (0 degrees Fahrenheit) for the freezer and 4C (39F) for the fridge. Cooldown from room temperature of 22C (72F) to 4C took 17 minutes for the small compartment, or 37 minutes for the large. It took 79 minutes to bring the small space down to -18C and 101 minutes for the large side. That’s pretty slow, but the CRD2 40 is also reasonably quiet.

At its loudest, I measured 38dB during cooldown making it about as loud as a small home theater projector. That’s far below the 45dB BougeRV quotes on the spec sheet (perhaps the larger CRD2 models are noisier?) and quieter than other combo fridges in this space. While there was the occasional audible whoosh of liquid, it otherwise didn’t emit any odd gurgles or scratching sounds I’ve heard from other portable fridges. The compressor turns on and off every 10 minutes or so with a slight rattle and then runs for 10 minutes to maintain the temperature.

The fully charged 173Wh battery lasted 11.5 hours when running in the most economical modes, so long as the compartments were cooled down to -18C/4C ahead of time. That runtime dropped to just six hours when the battery had to start at room temperature. That’s not particularly efficient, and likely has to do with BougeRV skimping on insulation.

For my insulation test, I brought the large compartment down to -18C and shut off the power. After one hour, it already read -4C, 0C after an hour and a half, and 10C at three hours in a room reading 22C. I never opened the lid. That’s not very good compared to other portable fridges and suggests that this fridge will have to work hard in warmer climates to keep your food safe.

Temperature readings on the BougeRV display and app were consistent with my reference thermometer in the smaller compartment. However, my thermometer read -14C, not the -18C reported by BougeRV, when placed at the bottom of the large compartment. This likely has to do with BougeRV’s sensor placement and the poor air circulation that’s typical of this class of fridges.

So, BougeRV gets all the important things right, but I was disappointed by the company’s inattention to detail and general lack of care.

For starters, the simplistic Bluetooth app labels the two compartments “L” and “R” (left and right?) instead of “L” and “S” for large and small, like you see printed on the fridge. It also lacks precision when reporting the battery percentage, showing five of five bars, for example, when the LED display on the battery itself only shows two of four LEDs, or about 50 percent charged.

And get this: the instruction booklet warns that “due to different production batches, you may receive a battery with or without a Type-C connector.” WHAT?! My review unit arrived with a battery fitted with a little barrel, not the preferred USB-C jack. That means it can only be charged inside the fridge itself since I didn’t receive a compatible charger in the box. Oh, and the logo on the battery is upside-down which makes insertion confusing. Come on.

Annoyingly, solar charging requires a 5521 barrel connector, not the more common XT60 jack. I didn’t have the correct 100W solar panel to test with the fridge, but BougeRV will happily sell you a bundle that includes a compatible panel for $663.99.

More worrisome is the peculiar behavior I observed when the battery was almost fully discharged. In the last hour or so before the battery died, the temperature of the freezer dipped way below the -18C temperature I had set. It read -22C on the physical display, but my own thermometer dropped all the way down to -29C. At first, I thought it might be another case of a bad sensor like the one that plagued some older EcoFlow fridges. But plugging the fridge back in caused the temperature to quickly retreat to -18C, and I haven’t seen any issues since. Weird. BougeRV didn’t have an explanation ready in time for this review. The fridge is covered by a two-year warranty.

Sleeping near the BougeRV fridge — as vanlifers and drunken fishermen are apt to do — is also a mixed bag. On one hand, it’s reasonably quiet. However, it will beep a few times if it loses Bluetooth connection. This has already woken me up twice despite my phone being nearby the fridge. The display is also very bright in a dark room and there’s no way to dim it or turn it off.

Even with all my gripes, BougeRV’s $509.99 CRD2 40 with battery bundle makes for a fine travel companion, especially in the highly portable 40-liter (43-quart) size I reviewed. However, I’d avoid the battery-less model priced at $349.99 because you can easily find a more compact and less expensive combo fridge that can be permanently plugged into a 12V power source at a fixed location. You buy the CRD2 40 because you’re looking for adventure, and maybe just a taste of self-flagellation.

Photography by Thomas Ricker / The Verge