Magic Chef MCB17CHR Retro 1.7 Cu Ft Beverage Cooler, Red

The Magic Chef MCB17CHR is a retro beverage cooler that earns its spot wherever cold drinks matter and floor space doesn't come cheap. You get 1.7 cubic feet of usable room behind a tinted double pane glass door, enough for up to 68 cans or 16 bottles. That's a real weekend's worth of drinks for a couple, or a full day out with a crew, without raiding the main galley fridge every time someone's thirsty.

We like this one for boat cabins and dockside setups where a full household fridge is too big and too power-hungry. It's a free standing unit, so it drops into a corner of the cabin, under a counter, or against a bulkhead with no built-in cutout to cut. At 19.3 inches tall, 17-1/2 inches wide, and 19 inches deep, it fits the kind of tight spots you actually have on a boat, in an RV, or out at the cabin. The 59 inch power cord gives you enough reach to a standard 115 volt outlet without stringing an extension across the floor.

The glass door is the part people notice first. It's tinted and double pane, so you can see what's inside without opening it and dumping the cold, and the tint keeps things from looking cluttered under the interior blue LED light. That blue glow is a nice touch in a dim cabin or a man cave. Flip it on and the whole unit looks like it belongs. The red retro styling isn't for everyone, but if you want an appliance with some character instead of a dorm-room afterthought, this is it.

Inside you get two removable chrome wire shelves. Pull one and you've got clearance for taller bottles. Leave them in and you can keep cans stacked and organized on two levels. Temperature is set with a simple adjustable control knob, so you dial it colder for a hot afternoon and back it off when the cabin's already cool. No menus, no digital fuss. You just turn the knob.

A few honest notes on what this is and isn't. It's a beverage cooler, not a freezer, and it has no ice maker. So it keeps drinks cold, it doesn't make ice or freeze food solid. It runs on 115 volt AC, which means shore power, a generator, or an inverter, not straight off a 12 volt house battery. If you need a true 12 volt DC fridge for running at anchor, this isn't that unit. But tied to the dock, plugged in at the campsite, or sitting in the cabin at the lake house, it's exactly right.

Install is about as easy as it gets. Set it on a level surface, give it an inch or two of breathing room at the back so the compressor can shed heat, plug it in, and let it settle before you load it up. Because it's free standing, you're not committing to a permanent cutout, so it moves with you if you rearrange the cabin or step up to a bigger boat. We tell folks to let it run empty for a few hours the first time, get down to temperature, then fill it. It'll hold that setting steady after that.

For a boat under way, secure it like you would any loose gear. This is a cabin or dockside appliance, not something to leave sliding around in a seaway. For the RV crowd, it's a clean fit in the galley or the outdoor kitchen. And for the lake house or the shop, it's the second fridge that keeps the good stuff separate from the leftovers. However you use it, the Magic Chef MCB17CHR does one job and does it well. Cold drinks, close at hand, in a package that looks good doing it.

Keeping it happy is simple. Wipe the interior with a mild cleaner now and then, keep the door gasket clean so it seals tight, and don't cram it so full that air can't move around the cans. The double pane door does a lot of the insulating work, but a clean seal is what keeps the compressor from working harder than it has to. Treat it right and it's the kind of small appliance that just hums along in the background, trip after trip.