The Bosch 800 Series B36CT80SNS is a high-end 36-inch counter-depth French door fridge. The 800 Series sits near the top of Bosch's refrigerator lineup, with added features like dual evaporators and compressors, with one apiece for the fridge and freezer sections of the appliance. This allows for more precise temperature and humidity regulation, as well as avoiding odor transference across the two sections. This unit also has a quartet of movable shelves, a filtered water dispenser inside the fridge cabinet, and VitaFresh-branded drawers that maintain a set temperature and humidity level to better preserve fresh produce. There's also Bosch's Home Connect system, which allows you to pair the fridge with your smartphone to remotely change or monitor the fridge temperature.
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Our Verdict
The Bosch 800 Series B36CT80SNS is a great option for everyday use. It provides excellent temperature uniformity thanks to its dual compressors. Produce preservation performance is also excellent thanks to the use of individual evaporators for the fridge and freezer, which allows for more precise humidity regulation in each compartment and also helps avoid odor transference between the two sections. Unfortunately, despite its large 36-inch width, which can make it too big for some kitchens, its counter-depth design limits its overall capacity. On the upside, its highly modular shelving system does allow you to place tall items inside without too much difficulty.
Exceptional produce preservation performance.
Excellent temperature uniformity in freezer compartment.
Temperatures in main fridge compartment are very uniform.
Split shelving offers many positions for fitting taller items.
Dual compressor design provides more precise temperature regulation.
Limited refrigerator capacity relative to large footprint.
Door bins don't have many positions.
Upper door bins trend slightly warmer than the rest of the fridge.
The Bosch 800 Series B36CT80SNS does an excellent job of preserving produce. Its VitaFresh produce drawers and separate evaporators allow for highly precise humidity regulation. Humidity inside the main fridge compartment can remain fairly low, while it's maintained at a higher level inside the crisper drawers, preventing leafier greens like celery or lettuce from wilting quickly.
Exceptional produce preservation performance.
The Bosch 800 Series B36CT80SNS's usable capacity is only decent. Despite its substantial 36-inch width, its counter-depth design severely limits just how much stuff you can fit inside the main refrigerator cabinet, especially when it comes to items like longer casserole dishes. The door bins also don't provide much flexibility, though the split shelving inside the main compartment does make it a little easier to fit taller bottles or fresh herbs.
Split shelving offers many positions for fitting taller items.
Limited refrigerator capacity relative to large footprint.
Door bins don't have many positions.
The Bosch 800 Series B36CT80SNS's frozen food storage capacity is only okay overall. Its dual-drawer upper section doesn't offer much space, which isn't helped by its rather large ice tray. You'll really only be able to fit more compressible bags of frozen veggies or fruit or smaller boxed items like burgers or fish in this compartment. If you're the type to regularly shop for bulk-size frozen foods, you'll need to get creative or invest in a separate, smaller chest freezer.
Freezer space is limited for this size of fridge.
The Bosch 800 Series B36CT80SNS provides impressive temperature uniformity. Temperatures inside the fridge compartment are very uniform from the top to the bottom drawer. However, the upper door bins trend slightly higher, so you'll want to keep temperature-sensitive items like milk or cream on the lower shelves. The separate inverter compressor for the freezer compartment also keeps temperatures inside quite consistent during normal operation.
Excellent temperature uniformity in freezer compartment.
Temperatures in main fridge compartment are very uniform.
Upper door bins trend slightly warmer than the rest of the fridge.
The Bosch 800 Series B36CT80SNS's ice-making performance is great. Its ice-making speed is sufficient for a medium-sized family dinner, but we'd advise filling the tray a day or two in advance if you're expecting a large number of guests. On that note, a full tray yields enough ice for even bigger events.
High-capacity ice tray.
Ice making rate is suitable for small to medium-sized gatherings.
Performance Usages
Changelog
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Updated Oct 15, 2025:
Adjusted the text in the Produce Preservation section of the review to reflect that this unit's produce drawer gap isn't a single-unit defect, based on community feedback.
- Updated Oct 08, 2025: Review published.
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Differences Between Sizes And Variants
There are multiple variants of the Bosch 800 Series with differing door and feature configurations:
| Model Name | Design | Width | Height | Color | Counter Depth | Notes/Additional Features |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| B36CT80SNS | 3-Door French Door | 36" | 72" | Stainless Steel | Yes | |
| B36CT80SNB | 3-Door French Door | 36" | 72" | Black | Yes | |
| B36CT81ENS | 3-Door French Door (flush handles) | 36" | 72" | Stainless Steel | Yes | |
| B36CL80SNS | 5-Door French Door | 36" | 72" | Stainless Steel | Yes | |
| B36CL80ENS | 5-Door French Door (flush handles) | 36" | 72" | Stainless Steel | Yes | |
| B36CL81ENG | 5-Door French Door (flush handles) | 36" | 72" | Stainless Steel | Yes | Pull-out drawer functions as a Refreshment Center, with a glass display window and preprogrammed temperature settings for different types of drinks |
| B36CL81ENW | 5-Door French Door (flush handles) | 36" | 72" | White | Yes | Pull-out drawer functions as a Refreshment Center, with a glass display window and preprogrammed temperature settings for different types of drinks |
We tested the B36CT80SNS model, and for those interested, here's the product label. You may find other variants in the 800 Series with different component configurations, though they will perform differently.
Let us know in the comments if you come across another variant of this fridge so that we can update our review.
Popular Refrigerator Comparisons
The Bosch 800 Series is a very high-end counter-depth refrigerator. It occupies a somewhat unique position in the market, priced above most consumer-grade appliances but well below models from boutique brands like Sub-Zero. Its use of dual compressors is clear evidence of that positioning, with this design element providing more precise temperature control and reduced load on those components versus the B36CT80SNS's cheaper siblings, like the Bosch 500 Series B36FD52SNS and Bosch 100 Series B36FD10ENS. Unlike those models, it also features separate evaporators for more precise humidity regulation in the fridge and freezer cabinets. Combined with its well-sealing VitaFresh drawers, you can expect produce to remain crisp and fresh for quite some time. The 800 Series' Achilles heel is capacity: despite its substantial 36-inch width, its counter-depth design really limits how much you can fit inside. Disappointingly, while its advanced cooling system does help evenly distribute cool air throughout the main fridge cabinet, its door bins are also quite a bit warmer, which can negatively impact the shelf life of items like milk or cream stored there. For other recommendations, check out our picks for the best French door refrigerators.
The Bosch 800 Series B36CT80SNS is a better-performing 36-inch counter-depth French-door refrigerator than the Samsung Bespoke RF24BB6600QL. The Bosch's dual compressor design helps provide even better temperature uniformity across the fridge and freezer cabinets, and its produce drawers seal even tighter, resulting in slightly better produce preservation performance. That said, the Samsung does maintain a more humid environment inside the main fridge cabinet, and produce won't wilt quite as fast when stored outside the crisper drawers. The Samsung's fridge cabinet also offers a little more room, though the Bosch's additional drawer in the freezer makes the space a little more practical than that of the Samsung. Despite having two ice makers compared to the Bosch's one, the latter fridge is capable of producing nearly as much ice in a 24-hour period, with the added benefit of less mechanical complexity.
Test Results
The Bosch B36CT80SNS's refrigerator storage capacity is decent. Its counter-depth design is an impediment in this regard, with the depth of the main cabinet extending to just under 14 inches, which is a little limiting if you frequently make larger casseroles and have other items placed on the same shelf. On the upside, this unit does have four movable shelves, which gives you a lot of flexibility in terms of fitting taller items. The door bins aren't the most reconfigurable, unfortunately, with only a single point of adjustment on either door.
Beyond that, it also has what Bosch calls a FlexBar: there are a pair of movable tubs and a bottle holder that can be used to provide additional storage at the back of the fridge. You can slide these trays around or even remove them if you find that they take up too much space.
This unit's freezer storage capacity is only okay. It's a long way off from the advertised capacity, which isn't necessarily atypical: advertised figures take the entire volume of the compartment into account, not the usable space. The freezer bins are the only place you can fit larger items, and even then, they aren't especially tall or deep, so you'll find it difficult to fit things like larger pizza boxes or family-size boxes of frozen foods. The dual-drawer upper section of the cabinet impairs usable space, as the sectioned-off design effectively ensures you won't be able to fit any larger boxes or heavier items up top. On the upside, the large ice tray is removable, and gives you a little more space to work with, increasing the freezer's total usable volume to 4.18 cu ft (118.50 L).
This refrigerator features twin evaporators and twin compressors, one apiece for the refrigerator and freezer compartments. Separate compressors allow for more precise temperature regulation in each section of the unit. If one compressor fails, one half of the appliance will remain unaffected, whether that be the refrigeration or freezer cabinet.
Separate evaporator coils allow for different humidity levels in each section of the appliance; produce preservation requires high levels of humidity, while you'd want to avoid humidity and consequent frost buildup in your freezer. Dual evaporators also minimize odor transference, as cooled air doesn't circulate through both sections. This design feature is typically only found on professional and commercial-grade units.
The Bosch B36CT80SNS has an in-freezer ice maker with a twist tray design. Generally speaking, twist tray designs tend to experience a higher failure rate than ejector-style units, as they're placed under load and experience temperatures that can render the plastic brittle.
Some users on social media have noted that the ice maker can stop working as a result of overly cold freezer temperatures. This issue can be resolved by either dropping the requested temperature inside the freezer or by pressing the hidden ice maker reset button.
The in-fridge water dispenser has two buttons to call for water. One is the clearly labeled WATER button, which is great if you're filling a single glass and have a free hand, while the other is hidden right behind the nozzle and can be pressed using the lip of the glass. The second is great for larger vessels, like a vase or a big pitcher, that might take two hands to hold.
This refrigerator provides great temperature uniformity throughout its cabinet, with the difference between the warmest and coolest portions of the compartment only being a few degrees apart. The door bins do trend notably warmer, especially the upper bin, so you might want to place things like milk or cream on the lowest shelf or within the main cabinet if you're especially food safety-conscious.
Temperatures inside the Bosch 800 Series B36CT80SNS's freezer are amazingly uniform. You can place a tub of ice cream in the top drawer of the unit without it becoming noticeably softer than it would be if placed in the lowest drawer.
This fridge does an excellent job of preserving produce. We used the Vegetables setting for the VitaFresh drawers, which closes the drawer's humidity gate, partially seals them off from the rest of the cabinet to retain moisture, and drops the native temperature closer to 32 °F (0 °C). Delicate greens like celery, spinach, or lettuce will remain crisp and fresh for over a week.
As a dual-evaporator fridge, the humidity level in the main cabinet is relatively high, considerably higher than that of the single-evaporator Bosch 500 Series B36FD52SNS. As a result, you can expect delicate greens stored outside the crisper drawer to last much longer in the 800 Series than in the cheaper 500 Series. That said, the two models perform very similarly when it comes to produce preservation inside the crisper drawers. The reason for that is twofold.
Firstly, the produce drawers in the 800 Series don't seal tightly, with a visible gap at their very edge, which creates a place for moisture evaporated from produce to escape when compared to the Bosch 500 Series' tightly-sealed drawers. We initially assumed this to result from a single unit defect, but this gap is also visible in a secondary model we'd purchased. It is important to note that this doesn't have a colossal impact on performance, and the unit still performs superbly in this regard. All the same, let us know in the comments below if you also have a Bosch 800 Series fridge and have seen the same gap in your unit's produce drawer.
Secondly, while there's a strong correlation between produce drawer humidity and produce moisture retention, this relationship weakens as the former factor increases. Generally speaking, produce will evaporate moisture at a similar rate whenever the produce drawer humidity level exceeds 80% or so. This is why the Bosch 500 Series B36FD52SNS, which maintained a higher produce drawer humidity level of 93.7% ultimately doesn't improve on the Bosch 800 Series' produce moisture retention level. The 500 Series maintained a produce moisture retention level of 97.2% in testing.
The Bosch B36CT80SNS's ice maker can produce a good volume of ice within a 24-hour period, sufficient for a mid-sized dinner of five or six people.
The Bosch 800 Series B36CT80SNS's ice maker capacity is amazingly high. A full drawer will yield enough ice for an entire cocktail party's worth of drinks. That said, unlike the Samsung Bespoke RF30BB6200QL, it can only produce a single size of ice cubes; that's far from a deal-breaker, but it's worth keeping in mind if you frequently make drinks that call for smaller pebbled ice cubes, like a Mai Tai or mint julep.