If you’ve been coveting one of Rocco’s smart designer minifridges, you might be interested to know the brand’s biggest sale of 2026 starts today, featuring the brand-new Rocco Essential for under $1,000 and the OG Classic in this year’s new Beige colorway, as well as white and two rare blue colors, for $1,495—as low as the Classic ever gets.
Today also marks the rerelease of the Classic’s Icy Blue and Royal Blue, two rarely seen colors that Rocco says are not coming back after this year.
The Essential
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- More contemporary style
- Drawer design is more flexible
- Gets down to 34 degrees Fahrenheit
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- Only one temperature zone
- Fewer colors
- Shorter warranty than the Classic
The Essential was just released in August and just began shipping in September; I’m currently testing it now. It’s only been about a week and a half, but early impressions are positive. It has the same smart sight system as the Classic, but the biggest difference is obviously the look. Vintage-inspired fluted glass and rounded edges are out; sleek minimalism is in. The tinted dark glass door takes up the entire front, with a color-matched metal handle you can swap out for midcentury-inspired oak for an extra $95.
It’s only got one temperature zone as opposed to the Classic’s two, but my favorite part so far has been the interior—instead of the Classic’s old-fashioned wire racks, the Essential sports smooth-glide drawers lined with a rubbery material and grip strips. This makes it much more accommodating to oddly shaped drinks, and prevents cans (it can hold up to 77) from rolling around every time you open your Rocco. It also gets colder than the Classic model—down to 34 degrees Fahrenheit instead of 37. My main frustration so far is that the sight system has been a little spotty and slow to recognize when drinks have been removed, but I’m having that problem with the Classic as well, so it’s not specific to this model. All colors (Cream, Sage, Graphite) of the Essential are currently discounted.
The Classic
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Photograph: Andrew Watman
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- Ten-year warranty
- Fun color options
- Comes with a color-matched serving tray
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- Wire shelves not as versatile as the Essential’s drawers
- Some may prefer the Essential’s sleeker look
The handsome, vintage-inspired model is the one that started it all. Its thick steel body comes in a range of fun colors, the fluted glass refracts potentially drink-damaging light, and it comes with a color-matched metal tray so it can double as a bar cart. It’s got two isolated temperature zones for red and white wine (or extra-crispy Cokes), plus five full-sized racks and one half-rack—enough for 88 cans or 27 bottles of wine. The wire racks don’t pull out as smoothly as the Essential’s rubber-lined drawers, but this is otherwise a top-of-the-line beverage cooler with an impressive 10-year warranty.
