Watch The Video On YouTube 

The Professor reviews the Water Resistant APL55 12v “Flexi-Zone” convertible fridge freezer from ICECO with 5 year warranty SECOP compressor. The perfect cooler for your overland camping & off road adventure.

WATCH IT HERE

Intro:

• Summer travel season is right around the corner and many folk are gearing up to hit the road. One of the biggest hurdles to being off the grid is keeping your food and drink cold on the go. What if you want to have ice cream or frozen food too? Your only real option to have both refrigerated and frozen food is a dual zone compressor fridge, and if you want to run it off of a battery it needs to be a DC fridge. But what if sometimes you don’t need a dual zone with a partition down the middle? Say you need to take a huge turkey dinner to Grandma’s one weekend but the next you need to haul 20lbs of frozen food from COSTCO? ICECO’s latest dual zone fridge-freezer the “APL55” has a unique feature where it converts from a dual zone into a single zone just by removing the center partition. They call it a “flexi-zone”. And get this, it’s also “rain resistant” and can operate in ambient temperatures up to 131F. But, is it any good? Let’s find out!

Features:

• Main Features:

  • The main feature on the APL55 58QT fridge is the new “flexi-zone” feature that turns it from a dual zone, to a single zone, and back simply by removing the partition in the middle.

  • As mentioned in the intro, this fridge, unlike most, is designed to operate under extreme desert or “hot car” conditions and can hold freezing temperatures even if the ambient temperature is up to 131F. The compressor is also designed to run up to a 40 degree angle from horizontal so it’s no problem in the back of your 4×4 overlander.

  • While the APL55 doesn’t seem to have an IP rating, ICECO does claim it can be used under “light rain” conditions. They say you need to keep the vents clear of water and keep the fridge off the ground if it is wet. Now, I have used 4 different 12v fridges, from cheap BougeRV models to expensive Acopower ones on my side by side in heavy monsoon rain and muddy conditions and have had no failures to date. Those claimed zero water resistance. So no doubt this ICECO being designed to be in the rain should hold up really well even if the rain is moderate.

  • The fridge operates from 110v-240v AC and 12/24v DC so you can use it indoors or out in virtually any country.

  • If you don’t have a power station or solar generator and wish to power the APL55 from a battery, ICECO does sell a separate magnetic 250wh battery that can be charged with solar that I demoed in the previous ICECO review. I’ll include a link to that product in the description. Note that the APL55 does have a magnetic panel on the back to attach the battery. 

• Size/Weight: approx. 29x19x19 ins @ 55lbs

• Build: ICECO has always been known for the high build quality of their top of the line refrigerators and this is certainly no exception. It’s metal covered on all 6 sides, includes removable aluminum handles front and back, an aluminum lid handle, and aluminum clasps. The side walls contain a massive 2.4 inches of insulation trading a bit of internal space to keep power consumption to a minimum.

• Display: The display is also no joke. This is the best display I’ve seen to date on any refrigerator. Its super bright and clear, easy to read. The UI is also easy to use with 6 clearly labeled buttons. Eco and Max mode is a single button press. No hunting for that. The Gear icon takes you through all the settings including the dual zone temperature settings. There is a separate light button and a separate power button. Nice. 

• Special Features: As for other features it has a double internal light so no problems seeing inside. It also has a drain plug which is great if you fill it with ice or just want to hose it out. It has two removable baskets, a “dairy” compartment, and check out this bling. Yeah, a soft close door! No more listening to the kids slam the crap out of your fridge door. Last but not least, a feature I really like, is the APL55 has it’s own external lantern built in for lighting up the area around the front of the fridge in the dark. You can also change it to a really annoying blue color perfect for messing up your night vision but it certainly looks bling. I personally would have made it a red LED light so that you could use it at night and not ruin your night vision.

• APP/Other Features: Of course ICECO now offers an app that lets you remotely control your fridge.

• Warranty: ICECO offers a 5 year warranty on the compressor with 1 year on the rest of the electrics.

Testing :

• (Dual Zone) 12hr consumption test at 0F/32F: 131wh (262wh/24hrs)

• Noise db on MAX: 44

• Noise db on ECO: 43

What I think:

• I love the flexi zone design. That is so innovative. The entire unit feels so substantial and tough with all the aluminum. The lighting is fantastic, the screen is fantastic, and it seems to hold temperature very well. It’s also one of the quietest fridges I’ve tested and that they also tout it is rain resistant is just icing on the cake.

• I also like that it’s very efficient on power at only 262wh for 24 hours. This is the lowest I’ve ever seen for a dual zone fridge/freezer. They typically take 350wh or more. ICECO has obviously done a bang up job with the insulation and compressor efficiency on this model. Of course, your mileage will vary depending on ambient temperature, how often you open it, how long you pre-cool, and the temperature of the stuff you put in it. I test under specific, fixed lab conditions year round so that you have an accurate comparison of power consumption between models. Every fridge review I’m told that I’m doing this test wrong and it’s not accurate to real world conditions. My answer is that ICECO offers a free 30 day return window so do your own testing and if you don’t like it, send it back.

• I do have a couple of minor gripes with this design. First, it is a bit on the heavy side at around 55 lbs empty. Add some food and drink you can easily crush 80lbs. It would have been nice if ICECO would have added wheels and a pull handle at this weight class and size. Otherwise, this may become a two person job to move around. Of course if you’re using this in a stationary setting you won’t care and probably are happy it doesn’t have wheels and a handle.

• Next, I really wish this had a built in battery instead of an optional external. I’ve used the older ICECO JP50 Pro for about a year now on every major road trip I’ve been on. The magnetic external battery works great, but it’s clumsy. You still have to worry about the 12v plug coming undone like in a power station. It would be nice if the battery sat in a flush compartment on the side and hooked up with 100w USB PD. I have yet to see any fridge offer PD input. It’s long overdue and would allow the fridge to run at a more efficient 20v instead of 12v and get rid of the wonky cigarette lighter socket.

• The last thing is really minor but there is no place to store the partition when you remove it, and it’s something you really don’t want to lose. They should have had it snap to the inside of the lid or at least clip on to the outside somewhere. There are these loop things on top they call a “door extension ports” but there is no mention of their use in the manual. I’d find some bungees that fit and strap the partition on to the lid. It’s better than losing it.

Pricing and competition

• Product Price with current discounts:

  • The APL55 retails for $859. Yes, this is no cheap plastic Alpicool with a loud Chinese compressor. This is a premium aluminum-wrapped ICECO product with a whisper quiet, power sipping, 5 year SECOP compressor. That being said, of course viewers of HOBOTECH will never pay the retail price. I did score an exclusive discount code that will knock over ONE HUNDRED BUCKS off the price, but this phat discount is for a limited time only.

  • You can also get an additional $30 off the magnetic battery using the same code at checkout. Discount code with link is in the description of this video.

• Main Competitor:

  • ICECO’s main competition are the high end brands such as ARB, Dometic, and Engel. All of these brands offer dual zone fridges in similar sizes to the APL55, are all well over a grand, and only offer a 3 year warranty at best. ICECO is literally the best bang for the buck in the premium fridge category which is why I keep reviewing their new models as they come out. I’ve never been disappointed.

• If you’re interested, use this link and code HOBOTECH at checkout for the best price online!