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.
Whirlpool's side-by-side layout still delivers where it matters: narrow footprint for tight kitchens, eye-level freezer access that beats crawling into bottom drawers, and a fingerprint-resistant finish that actually stays clean. The ice maker is a ticking time bomb, though, failing within 2-4 years with frozen water lines and broken assemblies that cost real money to replace, and the fridge runs noisier than it should while struggling to keep door shelves properly cold. Buy this if you need the layout and can skip the ice dispenser entirely, or budget for repairs upfront; walk if you want the convenience features to actually work past the warranty period.