Dellonda Baridi 18 Bottle Wine Cooler Review: compact, decent and does the job if you know its limits

I’ve been using the Dellonda Baridi 18 Bottle Wine Cooler for a little while now, and I’ll be blunt: this is not a luxury cellar, it’s a compact drinks fridge that keeps bottles cold and looks decent in a modern kitchen. If that’s what you’re after, it basically does the job. If you expect perfect temperature control for expensive wine or total silence, you’ll probably notice its limits pretty fast.

I put it in an open-plan kitchen/living room, under a sideboard, so I could see straight away how loud it was and if the light and glass door were annoying in the evening. I loaded it with a mix of red, white and a couple of beers, and played a bit with the shelves to see how realistic the “18 bottles” claim was. I also checked how much the temperature on the screen matched an actual thermometer inside.

The first thing that stood out is how compact it is for an 18-bottle unit. The footprint is small (34.5 cm wide, 45 cm deep), so it fits in spaces where a normal under-counter fridge wouldn’t. The flip side is you have to accept some compromises: bottle sizes matter a lot, and you’re not putting loads of weird-shaped prosecco or champagne bottles in there without juggling shelves.

Overall, my feeling after using it is pretty simple: good for casual wine drinkers or as a beer/coke fridge, less convincing if you’re picky about precise temperatures or want something ultra quiet. It’s decent for the price, but it’s not perfect, and you need to know what you’re buying: a compact, mid-range cooler with a few quirks.

In terms of value, I’d put this Dellonda cooler in the “good but not mind-blowing” category. It sits in a mid-range price bracket for small wine fridges, and for that money you get: compact dimensions, 18-bottle advertised capacity, a decent temperature range, and a design that looks fine in most kitchens. If you compare it to some no-name brands that look cheap and sound like a tractor, this one feels a bit more sorted overall.

Where the value drops a bit is in the small compromises that add up: the shelves feel a bit flimsy, the real capacity depends a lot on bottle shape, the temperature display isn’t perfectly readable with the door closed, and the energy rating is G, which is not exactly great if you’re trying to keep bills and impact down. It’s not a power-hungry monster at 120 kWh/year, but it’s definitely not at the top of the efficiency ladder either.

For someone who just wants a small, decent-looking fridge for wine and beers, and doesn’t obsess about exact degrees or ultra-low noise, it’s actually pretty good value. It keeps drinks cold, it doesn’t look cheap, and it’s easy to use. If you tried to get something more “premium” with the same slim footprint, you’d probably pay quite a bit more. That’s where this model makes sense: it hits a practical sweet spot for casual users.

On the other hand, if you’re the kind of person who buys expensive bottles and cares a lot about proper storage conditions, I’d say stretch the budget and go for a more serious wine cabinet. This Dellonda is more of a lifestyle appliance than a serious cellar tool. So value is good if your expectations are realistic and you see it as a compact drinks fridge, not as a long-term wine investment solution.

Design-wise, I’d say this fridge is more about looking tidy than feeling premium. The black body and mirror glass door fit well in a modern kitchen, and it doesn’t scream “cheap appliance” from a distance. On a countertop or under a sideboard, it looks like it belongs, especially if the rest of your stuff is black or stainless steel. The internal blue/white LED light is actually quite nice in the evening; it gives a bar vibe without being too bright.

The slim width is the real strong point. At around 34.5 cm wide, it fits in narrow gaps where a normal 60 cm under-counter fridge won’t. That’s the main reason I’d pick this over a bigger unit. The downside of that narrow design is that everything inside is tight: shelves are close together, and if you start mixing larger bottles in there, you’ll be moving things around all the time. For standard wine bottles, it’s fine; for anything else, you feel the compromise.

One detail that bothered me a bit is the door and display setup. The digital screen and touch controls are on the outside, but the mirror glass and angle make it hard to read the temperature when the door is closed, especially if the room is bright. More than once I had to bend down and squint, or just open the door to check, which is a bit pointless on a product sold as convenient. Also, the handle installation is slightly fiddly, and I get why one reviewer mentioned using a bit of oil to help the seal sit properly again.

In short, the design is clean and compact, and it looks decent in most kitchens, but it’s not flawless. It’s clearly built to hit a price point rather than feel high-end. If what you want is a small, good-looking black box that chills bottles and doesn’t take up much space, it works. If you’re hoping for top-tier ergonomics and perfect visibility of controls, you’ll notice the shortcuts.

When you actually touch and move this thing, you can tell it’s a mid-range appliance, not a heavy-duty unit. The body is standard painted metal, the door is tempered glass with a mirror finish, and the interior is mostly plastic with metal (or metal-look) shelves. It weighs around 21.5 kg, so it’s not super light, but it’s also not as solid-feeling as some more expensive wine fridges I’ve seen that use thicker insulation and heavier doors.

The shelves are the main area where you feel the cost-cutting. Several buyers mentioned they feel a bit cheap, and I agree. They’re functional – the waved shape holds bottles in place and they slide in and out without too much hassle – but they don’t give that sturdy feeling when you load them fully. If you’re constantly rearranging bottles or stuffing it to the max, you’ll probably be aware that you shouldn’t be too rough with them. For normal use, they’re fine, just not premium.

The door and seal are decent, but not perfect. The door closes properly and the seal does its job, but you can tell it’s not ultra-thick. One user talked about needing a bit of olive oil to get the seal to sit nicely again after fitting the handle, which sums it up: it works, but it’s a bit finicky. On the plus side, the glass itself feels solid, and the mirror effect does help with UV protection, even if you’re not storing bottles for years.

Inside, the plastic parts don’t feel fragile, but they also don’t scream long-term tank. For the price, I’d say the materials are acceptable: nothing feels like it’s going to fall apart in a week, but you also don’t get that reassuring, heavy build of higher-end brands. If you’re careful with it and you’re not slamming the door or overloading shelves with random heavy stuff, it should be fine for normal home use.

I haven’t had this cooler for years obviously, but based on a mix of my use and the big pool of Amazon reviews (over 1,200 ratings at around 4.1/5), I’d say durability looks decent but not flawless. Most people seem happy after months of use, which is reassuring. You don’t see a flood of reviews saying it died after three weeks, but there are the usual scattered complaints you get with budget to mid-range appliances: odd noises, units failing after a year, or issues with temperature stability.

From handling it and moving it around, the structure feels solid enough for regular home use. The compressor-based systems are usually more durable than super cheap thermoelectric coolers, as long as you don’t block the ventilation and you keep it in a reasonably stable room temperature. The automatic defrost is a plus for longevity because you don’t end up with huge ice blocks putting extra strain on the system. Still, I wouldn’t treat it like an industrial fridge; it feels like something you buy for a few years of use, not for life.

The parts that could age the fastest, in my opinion, are the shelves and the door seal. The shelves don’t feel like they’d love being bent or overloaded, so if you’re the type to shove heavy bottles in and out, I’d be gentle. The seal is okay now, but like with most cheaper fridges, it might loosen a bit over time if the door is opened and closed constantly. That’s not specific to this model; it’s just part of the territory at this price point.

Overall, I’d rate durability as average but acceptable. If you want something to hold a small collection of wine and beers in a normal household, it should cope fine as long as you respect its limits: no extreme heat, don’t block airflow, don’t slam it around. If you’re looking for a long-term, serious wine storage solution for expensive bottles, I’d invest in something more robust and with a track record in proper cellaring, not just casual chilling.

On the performance side, I tested it in a typical UK house: room temperature between 19°C and 23°C most of the time. The cooler is rated for 5–18°C, and there’s also that important note: it will not cool higher than the ambient temperature of the room. In practice, that means if your kitchen is at 25–26°C in summer, don’t expect your wine to sit at a perfect 5°C like a full-on kitchen fridge. It cools, but it’s not magic.

With a thermometer inside, I noticed the real temperature tends to sit a couple of degrees off the display, especially when fully loaded. If I set it to 7°C, the bottles in the middle shelf were more around 8–9°C after a few hours. For white wine and beer, that’s still absolutely fine for casual drinking, but if you’re particular about exact serving temperatures, it’s not super precise. The automatic defrost works in the background; I didn’t see any serious ice build-up, just a bit of condensation at the back which is normal for a small compressor fridge.

Noise-wise, it’s advertised at 42 dB, and that matches what I heard: it’s not silent but not crazy loud either. You definitely hear when the compressor kicks in – a low hum that lasts a few minutes. In a closed kitchen, it’s no big deal. In an open-plan living room, you’ll notice it during quiet moments, but it’s not worse than most small under-counter fridges. If you’re very sensitive to noise and you want something almost silent, you might want a thermoelectric unit instead, but then you often lose cooling power.

For the price range, I’d call the performance pretty solid for everyday use, with clear limits. It cools drinks to a decent level, it doesn’t over-freeze or go crazy with frost, and it recovers reasonably fast after you open the door. But it’s not a professional wine cabinet, and the temperature is more “good enough” than “spot on”. If you’re okay with that, it gets the job done. If you’re storing expensive bottles long-term, I’d look higher up the range.

On paper, the Dellonda Baridi is a freestanding, 50L wine cooler with space for up to 18 standard bottles, using a compressor cooling system. Dimensions are roughly 345 mm wide, 450 mm deep, and 770 mm high, so it’s taller than a tabletop fridge but smaller than a full under-counter built-in. It runs between 5°C and 18°C, controlled by a front touch screen panel, and the annual energy consumption is listed as 120 kWh, with a frankly not-great G rating.

You’ve got a single glass door with a black frame and a sort of mirror effect that blocks some UV while still letting you see the bottles when the internal LED light is on. Inside, you get removable waved metal (or metal-look) shelves, shaped so bottles lie horizontally. It’s sold as an 18-bottle capacity, but that’s clearly assuming standard Bordeaux-style bottles. Taller or fatter bottles either don’t fit or force you to remove a shelf, which immediately kills the advertised capacity.

The controls are basic but fine: touch buttons for temperature up/down and light on/off, plus a small digital display that shows the set temperature. One annoying detail: as some buyers mentioned, you can’t see the display properly when the door is shut because of the glass reflection and angle, so you end up opening the door to double-check the temperature, which isn’t very clever for a cooling appliance.

In day-to-day use, the fridge behaves like a small, simple compressor fridge. It’s not silent, but at 42 dB it’s roughly in the same league as a decent under-counter fridge. You hear it when the compressor kicks in, especially in a quiet room at night, but during the day with normal background noise, it kind of blends in. So, what you’re really getting is a compact, no-frills wine and drinks chiller with a few nice touches (mirror door, LED light) and some very clear compromises at this price point.