Sub-Zero 650/O (20.6 cu. ft.) Bottom Freezer Refrigerator

Pros: Wide shelves make it easy to find things, Style and looks
Cons: Price

Yes this refrigerator is expensive. You can get a good quality side by side for much less. But you can't get one that blends in with the rest of your kitchen. A traditional upright or side by side unit will stand out because it is not BUILT IN like...

Pros: Wonderful space; keeps produce fresh
Cons: Awful, horrendous freezer and ice maker

For many years all I had heard about was the wonders of the subzero: wonderful drawers, excellent cabinets, great treatment of produce. All that is true. But the downside -- a very, very badly designed freezer and ice maker -- requires me to conclude ...

Pros: Nice looking, wide shelves, accurate temp, nice freezer
Cons: can't bring it with me when I move

I got my sub-zero 650 with the house. The previous owner did a great job remodeling the kitchen. Part of the remodeling was to install all stainless steel appliances, including the sub-zero refrigerator. With that said, I don't know how much it costs but...

Pros: Design, interior space utilization, energy efficiency.
Cons: Cost, past reliability issues.

When I built my house 10 years ago, I specified a Sub Zero 550 because I liked the way it looked and did not need a larger sized refrigerator. The 550 worked fine for the first couple of years, but then the ice-maker started giving trouble. We have ...

Pros: Large, well designed, two compressors, compressors on top for better access and preservation.
Cons: Price. Light bulb in freezer burned li'l girl.

------------------------------ ------ Update: did not buy a subzero... ------------------------------ ------ Now this is off topic, but it will be of supreme interest to those shopping for a top-notch fridge.... So I'll take the cynics by-the-book ...

Pros: True cabinet depth. Roomy and flexible interior layout. Great food preservation.
Cons: Overlay panel hard to install. Very, very expensive.

We just completed a substantial kitchen upgrade, including all new high-end appliances. Based on a recent Consumer Reports article, plus other reviews we read on Epinions and elsewhere, we were skeptical about the Sub-Zero. As a result, we set out to ...

Pros: Great look and keeps food fresh
Cons: Door can be hard to open for children (is that a con?)

My husband and I just finished building our"dream home" in June and we spent ALOT of time researching appliances. The refrigerator was a tough one for us. We knew we wanted a built in but was having a hard time justifying the cost of a SubZero. We...

Pros: Dual Compression System. 3 month head of lettuce
Cons: They are not giving them away.

A lot of people assume that a subzero refrigerator is just an over priced name. I hope to justify something different since I come from much experience with my Sub Zero. Why Sub Zero? One of the top complaints in the built in refrigeration ...

Pros: Fresher food
Cons: Cleaning Condensor

Having this unit model # 550/650 and 13 yrs exp on working on these units, I can shine some light on the subject. Ref is great the freezer needs a simple repair thats been around for every. For all over and under freezer. The Problem : The ...

Pros: None.
Cons: Noisy. Poor quality freezing. Very hard to clean. Poor service.

It's too bad Sub-Zero doesn't put as much effort into their industrial design as they do into their marketing. They look great but suffer from flaws you would expect in cheap, utilitarian models. Noisy. Motor puts out exceptional vibration. I ...

Pros: The claim that food last longer is true ! Must be the dual compressor system.
Cons: The 650 is only 20 cubic feet-wish I had room for a bigger model.

During a complete kitchen remodel 2 years ago I used Epinions many times in choosing appliances. Sub Zero 650 got pretty good reviews and I was ready to try a bottom freezer style. I am really happy with my choice and would definitely choose this model again.
With my old freezer on top fridge the produce drawer sat almost on the floor. Now the produce is much easier to see and last a lot longer! It must be the two compressor system.
I love the open feeling of this fridge and the design of the shelves is well thought out. I did a complete cleaning yesterday and it was easy to take out the shelves and fit them back in.

Pros: Looks good, keeps food cold
Cons: Door falling off! Poor freezer design.

We live in an area where upscale appliances are expected, when we remodeled, the builder strongly suggested Sub-Zero as the name brand to use. I wish we hadn't listened. We had several service calls in the first 8 months because the ice maker quit working. However, the WORST disaster was the refrigerator door FALLING OFF!!! Pretty unbelievable, but one day I opened the door, got a carton of milk out, stepped aside to put it on the counter, and wham, the door fell off and crashed to the floor. It was extremely heavy, if one of my children had been the unlucky user they could have been seriously injured.

Like the other reviewer, I Hate the freezer design...incredibly inconvenient.

Pros: Clean looks
Cons: Poor design & unreliable

Built two houses in which I installed Sub-Zero refrigerator / freezers (over/under & side by side). They looked good but VERY prone to breakdowns. Compressors, thermostats, you name it. Forget about service, company is invisible, service performed by fly-by-night people only. If anyone knows of other brands that look as clean, let me know. I'd like nothing better than replacing these dogs. Consumer Reports useless here.

Pros: It looks good
Cons: Poor space engineering. VERY POOR SERVICE!

Had the unit for over one year. We love the look, but hate the functionality. For the price, we expected thoughtful engineering on the inside too. Not the case here. Internal layout is not ideal for storage of typical items. Freezer layout is awful and does not allow for easy retrieval of stored items. You can’t get the ice tray out when full! I am also writing this review after our freezer shut down three-days ago and the we were informed that we have to wait for an additional week to receive a service call … and we live in the Philadelphia area! The only conclusion we can draw is that there are too many malfunctioning Sub-Zeros, or there is a poor service network. If you spend $4000 on a fridge the expectation is nothing less than excellence. Not the case here. Our advice is: “stay away.”

Pros: Nice looking built-in easy to custom decorate.
Cons: Terrible temperature control engineering, which is -- DUH --a refrigerator's main function!

We've had a Sub-Zero 650 bottom freezer since 2001, purchased for over $6,000. It has been a problem since the first year, causing digestive upsets that persist until you realize the refrigerator temperature is slowly increasing. The factory-authorized repairman said this model has problems and keeps him very busy. We've had repair calls every year of the five-year warranty, usually resulting from Freon leaks, we are told. The digital temperature gauge defaults to 34 degrees, so you think you're in the safe zone, but the actual temp is much higher. Milk always smells slightly off, and we stopped eating cereal because of it. The ice maker never operated correctly and finally just plain broke. We are extremely disappointed in this product. Our previous house had a Model 550 which was great (except for the ice maker). DO RESEARCH BEFORE BUYING SUB-ZERO! GET REFERENCES, INQUIRE OF REPAIR COMPANIES. Our money was wasted and our health has suffered. We're now in the market for a different brand of bottom freezer built-in and could never recommend Sub-Zero to anyone.