The Smeg 50s Style Right Hand Hinged Home Bar FAB10HRBL6 is a compact, freestanding larder fridge designed to bring proper retro flair to your kitchen, home bar or open‑plan living space. With its curved 1950s styling and glossy black finish, it’s as much a design statement as it is an appliance.
Behind the looks, you get 135 litres of space – roughly seven bags of food shopping – which is generous for a mini fridge and ideal as a secondary fridge or drinks station. It’s firmly a premium option in this category, reflecting Smeg’s design‑led, aspirational positioning rather than budget appeal.
Owners rate it highly, with a strong user score of 4.6 out of 5 from a decent number of reviews, suggesting that most people are very happy with both the style and everyday performance.
This Smeg home bar fridge is ideal if you want extra chilled storage without committing to a full‑size second fridge. At 97cm tall and just 54.5cm wide, it’s a great fit for open‑plan kitchens, studio flats, garden rooms or a stylish home bar where appearance matters as much as function.
It suits buyers with a premium budget who are happy to pay more for iconic design. If your priority is the lowest possible price per litre of storage, there are cheaper, more basic larder fridges – but they won’t have the same visual impact.
Entertaining regularly or running a busy family kitchen? The 135‑litre capacity, bottle holder, can rack and snack compartment make it a very handy overflow fridge for drinks, party food and fresh ingredients. It works well alongside a main fridge‑freezer, freeing up space where you need it most.
It’s also well suited to design‑conscious first‑time buyers or renovators who want a focal point in a compact kitchen. The simple rotary controls and auto‑defrost design mean you don’t need any special know‑how to use it.
The standout benefit is the combination of generous 135‑litre capacity with a relatively small footprint. For a mini or home‑bar style fridge, that’s plenty of room for a weekly top‑up shop or a serious drinks collection.
Smeg’s 50s Style design is a major selling point: the curved door, solid handle and glossy black finish instantly lift the look of a room, whether it’s a kitchen, office, or games room. If you care about aesthetics, this is a world away from a plain white box.
Practical touches back up the looks. Adjustable shelves let you tailor the space to bulkier items, while the integrated bottle holder and can rack keep bottles and cans stable and easy to grab. The dedicated snack compartment is handy for cheeses, deli meats or treats you want to keep separate.
Everyday usability is boosted by the LED interior light, auto‑defrost fridge, simple rotary temperature control and adjustable feet. At 35dB, it’s also pleasantly quiet, making it suitable for open‑plan living areas and annexes where noise could be a nuisance.
Build quality benefits from Smeg’s Italian manufacture and there are wheels for easy movement, which is useful if you like to rearrange a room or need to pull it out for cleaning.
The main drawback is price: this is a premium appliance, and you’re paying a clear style tax compared with more ordinary larder fridges of similar capacity. If you only care about basic cold storage, you can get more litres for less money.
Energy efficiency is rated D, which is reasonable for a retro‑styled fridge but not class‑leading. Over many years of use, running costs will be higher than the very best‑rated modern fridges.
The feature set is intentionally simple. There’s no door‑open alarm, no frost‑free system (though the fridge section does auto‑defrost), no digital display and no smart connectivity. If you like advanced temperature management or app control, you won’t find it here.
The manufacturer warranty is just 1 year, which feels on the short side for an appliance at this price point. Many rivals offer longer cover as standard. You’ll also need to allow a 175mm gap on the hinge side so the door can open fully, which could be restrictive in very tight spaces.
Living with the FAB10HRBL6 is straightforward. The rotary temperature control is intuitive, and once set, the fridge quietly gets on with its job. LED lighting makes it easy to see what’s inside, even when it’s tucked into a dim corner or bar area.
Organisation is simple thanks to the two adjustable shelves, two door balconies, bottle holder, can rack, salad crisper and snack compartment. You can stand tall bottles upright, lay wine or mixers on the bottle shelf, and still keep fruit and veg neat in the crisper. This flexibility makes it feel more like a scaled‑down full‑size fridge than a basic drinks cooler.
Noise levels are low at 35dB, roughly a soft background hum. In practice, you’re unlikely to notice it over normal conversation, which is important if it’s going in a living room, office or bedroom‑adjacent space.
Cleaning and maintenance are relatively light touch. The fridge is auto‑defrost, so you don’t have to manually chip away ice. Smooth internal surfaces and removable shelves make wiping up spills easy. The adjustable feet and rear wheels help you level it on uneven floors and move it out for a more thorough clean when needed.
As a larder fridge, the FAB10HRBL6 focuses entirely on chilled storage, with no freezer compartment taking up room. The 135‑litre net capacity is impressive for its size, giving you proper usable space rather than just a token drinks shelf.
Cooling performance is managed via a simple adjustable thermostat, with temperature controls clearly accessible inside. While it doesn’t have multi‑airflow or advanced cooling zones, the combination of shelving and door storage makes it easy to separate dairy, drinks, veg and snacks for consistent chilling.
The bottle holder, bottle shelf and can rack are particularly useful if you’re using this as a home bar or entertainment fridge. Bottles are held securely so they don’t roll around, and the can rack keeps soft drinks and beers neatly stacked and ready to serve.
Convenience features include an LED interior light for good visibility, auto‑defrost in the fridge section to prevent icy build‑up, and a salad crisper that keeps fruit and vegetables together and protected. The snack compartment offers an extra layer or pocket for smaller items that might otherwise get lost.
Ambient operating range is broad, with a stated minimum room temperature of 10°C and maximum of 43°C, so it can cope with warmer kitchens or garden rooms better than some budget models. However, it lacks extras such as a door alarm, super‑cool function or frost‑free technology, underlining that this is more about style and solid basics than cutting‑edge fridge tech.
This Smeg sits firmly at the premium end of the larder fridge and mini fridge market. You’re not buying it for raw litres per pound, but for the blend of iconic 50s styling, solid build and genuinely practical layout.
On paper, the features are fairly straightforward – there’s no fancy display, no smart functions and only a basic control system. In feature‑per‑pound terms, some rivals will look better value, especially those with longer standard warranties or A‑rated energy labels.
However, owner satisfaction is high, with a 4.6 out of 5 rating from more than a handful of reviews, which suggests that buyers feel they’re getting what they paid for: a beautiful, well‑made extra fridge that’s a pleasure to live with. If design and quiet operation are priorities, it justifies its premium. If you’re working to a tight budget, a plainer, cheaper larder fridge will make more financial sense.
The Smeg FAB10HRBL6 50s Style home bar fridge is a great choice if you want extra chilled storage that looks as good as it works. Its 135‑litre capacity, flexible shelving and dedicated bottle and snack storage make it ideal as a secondary fridge for drinks, fresh ingredients and entertaining, all wrapped in a striking retro black finish.
You do pay a premium for the design, and the energy rating, feature set and short 1‑year warranty don’t set new benchmarks. Buyers who care only about capacity and low running costs will find better value in more conventional models.
If you’re happy to invest in a statement piece and you appreciate quiet running, practical layout and Smeg’s signature aesthetic, this fridge delivers a very satisfying blend of form and function.
