Frigidaire built its reputation on refrigerators that ran for twenty years without complaint, but the current lineup trades that legacy for a lower price tag and cheaper guts. The fridge compartment routinely fails to cool below 43-49°F while the freezer works fine, a defrost system flaw that leaves food in the danger zone, and plastic drawer wheels crack within a few years of normal use. If you need a side-by-side on a tight budget and can live with mediocre build quality, this will cool your groceries most days. If you're counting on a decade of reliable service, spend the extra few hundred on a Whirlpool or wait for a sale on something better built.
LG's top-freezer lineup carries the shadow of compressor failures that have plagued the brand's refrigerator line broadly, including a class action lawsuit over units that died within two years. Some jackhammer noises from the compressor before total cooling loss, others find their freezer can't keep ice cream solid, and at least one repair tech has been caught on record telling shoppers to avoid LG outright. The brand does have 18-year success stories and genuinely quiet operation when the compressor holds, but the failure pattern is serious enough that you're gambling real money on a major appliance. Buy this only if you're getting a killer deal and can afford an extended warranty that covers the compressor specifically.