Alpicool is an Electrical Appliance company with a range of products such as the Alpicool 40-Liter Portable 12V Refrigerator with Wheels.
The company has a large manufacturing base in ShunDe, China a place more commonly known as ‘The city of lights’. The location is home to a number of Companies just like Alpicool and is a major export base in China
Over the years, Alpicool has made a name for itself and stands out from competing brands because of the quality of its product. It has achieved this by offering high-quality products at low prices.
Alpicool has a number of achievements to its name and has become a top manufacturer of 12V refrigerators while distributing its products to different countries all over the world.
It boasts a wide range of powerful 12V refrigerators of different capacities.
This Alpicool Portable 12V Refrigerator just like other products from this brand has some interesting features. Keep reading our in-depth review to find out more about this cooler.
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Table of Contents
Who Needs The Alpicool 40-Liter Portable 12V Refrigerator with Wheels?
The Alpicool 40-Liter is designed to keep your food and drink cool when you are on the road. Meaning when you go on camping trips or even on road trips with your family, you can enjoy cold drinks and packed lunches. With its generous capacity of 40 Liters, this cooler is ideal for longer trips especially those involving larger numbers of people.
What’s more? This cooler comes with an AC adapter that allows you to run your cooler at home, in your hotel room or even your office. The presence of the AC cable gives you a lot of freedom as regards your cooling needs and you are not restricted to using your cooler in any particular location.
A portable refrigerator like this one would be useful during grocery shopping. This is because such activity usually involves have to carry lots of food and drink with the risk of the items melting if the supermarket is far away. Also, this cooler can be used during outdoor events like picnics, barbeques, and even mini parties to store food and keep drinks cold.
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Features of the Alpicool 40-Liter Portable 12V Refrigerator with Wheels
Efficient Cooling
Refrigerators that use compressor technology are usually very powerful and efficient and are able to cool regardless of the temperature of their surroundings. This Alpicool cooler doesn’t perform any differently and its cooling is pretty impressive. More than just cooling its contents, this cooler is able to freeze its contents to temperatures as low as -4F(-20C).
It has high-density foam which acts as insulation around the cooler and keeps the cold air in. With this, you can be certain that your food and drink will remain as cold as you placed them especially if they are already frozen. For a better cooling experience, you can pre-cool your items before placing them in the cooler.
The best thing about this cooler is that it functions without any additional ice. On the contrary, it even freezes its contents and forms its own ice. Anyone who has had to deal with the mess that comes with using ice with coolers would be pleased with this feature.
Versatility
The versatility of the Alpicool refrigerator lies in its variety of power source options.
One of the hassles involved in owning a 12V refrigerator is being restricted to using the cooler only in your vehicle.
Sadly, a lot of 12V refrigerators don’t come with an AC adapter. This ordinarily shouldn’t be a problem but it could be frustrating in certain situations. It could mean not being able to power your cooler at night or not being able to use your cooler when you are not running your car’s engine without the risk of draining your cars batter.
This Alpicool 40-Liter Portable Refrigerator, however, comes with an AC cable amongst other power options. This is great as it allows you to power your cooler temporarily or even permanently in your home, office, hotel, dorm, etc.
Alternatively, this cooler could be run on solar power. This would be particularly useful on camping trips, expeditions, long-haul journeys, and the likes. On a trip where you might spend the night outside, you could power your cooler with a solar power source overnight since you may not have access to a regular power supply.
Smart Features
This Alpicool cooler has a number of smart features one of which is an electronic control panel. It also has a digital temperature display and this allows you to view the temperature of the cooler and changes in the temperature on a screen.
That’s not all.
Its 3 level battery protection literally protects your battery and prevents your vehicle’s battery from getting totally drained. Its ECO and HH modes also perform a similar function and you can choose to set your cooler in HH mode where it is functioning at its peak. Alternatively, using the ECO mode reduces your cooler’s power consumption and helps protect your car’s battery at the same time.
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Practical Design
A major problem common to large coolers is that they are usually very heavy especially when full. Thankfully, this Alpicool cooler comes with strong handles and wheels which make it easy to move it around. Its heavy-duty exterior which is also vibration resistant helps protect both the cooler and its contents when on the road.
Large Storage Space
This cooler comes with large storage space and is able to fit up to 40 cans of cola. Its 42 quarts capacity allows you to place cans and bottles of different shapes and sizes in it. We love that its large capacity doesn’t compromise its cooling ability and the cooler is still able to perform as good as a much smaller cooler would.
It may, however, be better suited for longer trips or larger families than for a single person because its size is quite large.
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Pros of the Alpicool 40-Liter Portable 12V Refrigerator with Wheels
i.Large Storage Space.
ii. Fast and Efficient cooling.
iii. Digital Temperature display and electronic controls.
iv. 3- Stage battery protection.
v. It comes with an AC- Adapter and it doesn’t have to be bought separately.
vi. Solid handles and wheels for easy transportation.
vii. Can be powered by a solar power source.
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Cons of the Alpicool 40-Liter Portable 12V Refrigerator with Wheels
i. There is a difference between the displayed temperature and the actual temperature.
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Alternative Solutions
Smaller Capacity
Alpicool 15-Liter 12V Mini Fridge/Freezer
The Alpicool 15-Liter Cooler is a much smaller cooler than the refrigerator being reviewed. With a storage capacity of 15 Liters, it is only able to hold about cans, which is quite a small amount when compared to the that the Alpicool 40-Liters cooler offers.
Coming from the same brand, it has all the quality, durability, and efficiency that Alpicool coolers are known to have. Both coolers have very similar features and the only major difference lies in their size and the absence of wheels.
This cooler’s price range falls between which is much cheaper than its alternatives. It is worthy of note also that the controls of this mini refrigerator are a bit complex and hard for the average user to understand.
To learn more about this cooler’s features check out our in-depth review of the Alpicool 15-Liter 12V Mini Fridge/Freezer here.
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Larger Capacity
Knox 48-Quart 12V Cooler/Warmer with Wheels
The Knox 48 is a larger-sized portable thermoelectric cooler that also comes with wheels and a telescoping handle.
Its larger capacity allows it to hold more food and drink than the Alpicool cooler. Additionally, the cooler comes with a removable divider which gives the cooler flexible storage that is easy to organize.
Being a thermoelectric cooler, the Knox cooler isn’t able to freeze its contents as the Alpicool cooler does. Nevertheless, it has a warming function which makes it more versatile. Its dual function makes it great for use all year round. Meaning you can keep your food and drink cold in the hot summer, and alternatively enjoy a hot cup of tea in the cold winters.
Sadly, you cant view or change the temperature of your cooler when it is running. This is because the Knox cooler doest have a thermostat or digital controls
You may want to read our in-depth review of this product for detailed information about it.
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More High-End option
Dometic CoolFreeze 60-Liter 12V Cooler with WiFi App
The Dometic CoolFreeze is much larger than the Alpicool cooler and doesn’t come with wheels or a telescoping handle so it has to be carried.
Notwithstanding, it has the added advantage of more space for storage. It is a high-tech cooler and it comes with digital controls that are easy to use and program. It also has a wifi app that allows you to monitor the temperature of your cooler remotely.
Quiet cooling is not very common among coolers that use compressor technology, however, this Dometic cooler runs with minimal operation noises. Though quieter, this cooler is also much more expensive than the Alpicool portable cooler.
Some minor disadvantages of this Dometic cooler are that it is really heavy even when it is empty and when you connect to the wireless app you don’t have any internet.
Fancy this high-end cooler? Learn more about this product in our detailed review.
Click here to get it on Amazon!
Quick Comparison
| Featured Product | Smaller Capacity | Larger Capacity | More High-End | |
| Product |
Alpicool 40-Liter Portable 12V Refrigerator with Wheels |
Alpicool 15-Liter 12V Mini Fridge/Freezer
|
Knox 48-Quart 12V Cooler/Warmer with Wheels |
Dometic CoolFreeze 60-Liter 12V Cooler with WiFi AppClick here to get it on Amazon!
|
| Capacity | 20-Liters, 25 cans | 15-Liters, 18 cans | 45-Liters, 60 cans | 106 cans/ 60 Liters |
| Dimensions | 23.1 inches x 14.9 inches x 15.4 inches | 22.4 inches x 12.6 inches x 12.6 inches | 22 inches x 15 inches x 15 inches | 28.5 inches x 17.9 inches x 22 inches |
| Smart Features | Digital temperature regulator | Digital temperature regulator | None | Digital temperature regulator, Wifi-App |
| Available Sizes | 15-Liter, 20-Liter | 15-Liter, 20-Liter | 45-Liter | 10.5-Liter, 17-Liter, 24-Liter, 33-Liter, 38-Liter, 47-Liter, 76-Liter, 104-Liter |
| Available Colors | Dark Grey | Dark Grey | Blue and white | Grey |
| Price Range | $300- $400 | $100- $200 | $100- $200 | Over $1000 |
| Mobility | Telescoping handle and Wheels | Adjustable shoulder strap | Two side handles, a folding handle and wheels | Strong handles |
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What Users Are Saying About The Alpicool 40-Liter Portable 12V Refrigerator with Wheels
The general consensus about the Alpicool cooler is that it’s a powerful and affordable cooler. There are, however, certain features most users believe set this cooler apart from other options.
According to some users, this 12V refrigerator is very powerful and performs rather well. It is able to not just cool its contents but also freeze them thanks to its compressor technology.
Also, the cooler runs in such a way as to protect your battery while giving you user satisfaction. There are a number of battery protection settings to ensure that the users’ vehicle batteries were never completely drained.
That’s not all. The presence of strong handles and wheels is a huge plus to people. Considering the size of this cooler, the handles and wheels definitely make it much easier to move the cooler around especially when it is full. And you can even place a big bag on the extended handle just like you would with your luggage
Even with all the cool features, there are a number of downsides to this cooler one of them being that the AC cable is rather short and might need a re-design. It wasn’t easy for most users to plug their cooler directly to the wall because of the short cable which should ordinarily be a very simple task.
Another flaw some users pointed out was that there was a deviation between the displayed temperature and the actual temperature. This was a major problem they faced initially but some of them were able to solve this problem by getting a thermometer to measure the temperature difference and work with the difference instead.
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How to Make a Refrigerator Compressor Quiet [Quick Guide]
Our Verdict
The Alpicool 15- Liter Portable Cooler is an efficient, and spacious portable refrigerator with a practical design. Its strong build makes it durable and its handle and wheels make it easy to move the cooler around.
However, certain features of this cooler were a concern to us:
The first of them is the temperature difference between the temperature display and the actual temperature in the cooler. The temperature difference is usually not greater than 5F and this may not be a major problem once you determine the offset between the two temperatures and work with that.
Another feature we are not too thrilled about is that the AC cable is quite short making it a bit hard to plug the cooler directly to the wall. A longer cable would solve this problem and eliminate the slight inconvenience.
Also, we believe it would be nice if the cooler had an interior light. Though a seemingly minor feature, the presence of an interior light would make the contents of the cooler easily accessible especially at night.
That said, these are the major concerns we felt might pose a problem.
Looking at the cooler wholistically, it is a strong portable refrigerator which is much cheaper than competing products of similar size. The pros outweigh the cons and, we believe this cooler is worth a try.
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