The Whirlpool WRS321SDHZ is a midrange 33-inch standard-depth side-by-side refrigerator. This model sits higher in Whirlpool's hierarchy of 33-inch side-by-side fridges since it has an in-door ice and water dispenser, unlike some base models. It uses a single evaporator, with a conventional fixed-speed compressor. There are four glass shelves in the fridge, with a shallow deli drawer underneath and two deep crisper drawers on the bottom. You can't reposition the glass shelves, but they're removable for more vertical storage space. The fridge door has a covered dairy container on top, three deep, adjustable-position bins underneath, and a fixed bin on the bottom. The freezer has three removable frameless glass shelves, with a deep drawer on the bottom. The freezer door has three fixed-position bins, with the upper bin having a restricted height, and there's an additional very small bin behind the ice chute in the door.
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Our Verdict
The Whirlpool WRS321SDHZ is a fair choice for everyday use. It has very good temperature uniformity, with little temperature variation shelf-to-shelf or between the shelves and the door bins, despite its conventional fixed-speed compressor and single evaporator. It offers decent capacity given the limits of its side-by-side design and 33-inch width, with fairly narrow fridge and freezer sections. It'll be difficult to accommodate wide items like pizza boxes, especially in the freezer. Unfortunately, it delivers mediocre produce preservation performance since it can't maintain high humidity in the crisper drawers, leading to wilted lettuce and shrunken celery in a short period of time.
Decent capacity, especially for a side-by-side design.
Great temperature uniformity in the freezer.
Two deep crisper drawers at the bottom of the fridge.
Mediocre produce preservation, humidity inside the crisper drawers doesn't rise high enough.
Narrow freezer compartment, making it hard to store wide items.
The Whirlpool WRS321SDHZ does an unremarkable job of preserving produce. The fridge compartment humidity is fairly low, typical of a single evaporator refrigerator. Although the crisper drawers keep humidity much higher, it doesn't stay high enough, and it's unable to keep lettuce from wilting and celery from drying out and going soft within a few days.
Mediocre produce preservation, humidity inside the crisper drawers doesn't rise high enough.
The Whirlpool WRS321SDHZ offers decent refrigerator capacity, especially considering the side-by-side design. The frameless fridge shelves maximize their usable width, and there are two deep crisper drawers at the bottom of the fridge, providing ample space for storing bags of carrots, large heads of lettuce, or other large produce like whole broccoli heads. The three fridge door bins are deep and can be positioned at various heights to accommodate tall items like gallon milk jugs or wine bottles.
Decent capacity, especially for a side-by-side design.
Two deep crisper drawers at the bottom of the fridge.
Deep, variable height door bins in the fridge.
The Whirlpool WRS321SDHZ delivers satisfactory freezer capacity. While the freezer compartment is tall and deep, it's quite narrow, and there's a lot of space taken up by the ice maker and the chute leading to the in-door ice dispenser. You'll have a hard time storing wide items horizontally, and if you store them vertically, you might have to remove a shelf to accommodate the height. The door bins are small and fixed in position, with two of them being so small that they'll only fit items like ice packs, individual frozen entrées, or frozen juice concentrate tubes.
Decent capacity, especially for a side-by-side design.
Narrow freezer compartment, making it hard to store wide items.
Small, fixed-position freezer door bins.
The Whirlpool WRS321SDHZ exhibits very good temperature uniformity throughout the fridge and freezer. It's especially impressive in the freezer, where the temperature variation is quite small. It also maintains very tight control of the freezer temperature, with only a slight variation as its fixed-speed compressor cycles. It's not quite as good in the refrigerator compartment, but it still offers decent performance. It's colder towards the top of the fridge where cold air enters from the freezer, so you may want to keep especially temperature-sensitive items in the middle or bottom of the fridge.
Great temperature uniformity in the freezer.
Tight temperature control in the freezer as the compressor cycles.
Colder temperatures at the top of the fridge.
The Whirlpool WRS321SDHZ's ice-making performance is very good. Its ice tray's capacity is great, storing enough ice for even large gatherings. Filling the ice tray may take a while, though; its ice-making rate is only satisfactory, so start filling the tray well in advance of a major event.
Impressive ice tray capacity.
Performance Usages
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Differences Between Sizes And Variants
The Whirlpool WRS321SDH is available in several different colors and finishes. We tested the fingerprint-resistant stainless steel finish version, the WRS321SDHZ. Here's a photo of our unit's label.
| Model | Color and Finish |
|---|---|
| WRS321SDHV | Black Stainless |
| WRS321SDHB | Black |
| WRS321SDHW | White |
| WRS321SDHZ | Fingerprint-Resistant Stainless Steel |
If you find another variant of this fridge, please let us know in the comments so we can add it to our review.
Popular Refrigerator Comparisons
The Whirlpool WRS321SDHZ is a 33-inch side-by-side refrigerator that isn't much of a standout in any real way. Its 33-inch width severely compromises its usability next to wider 36-inch side-by-sides like the Frigidaire FRSS2623AS, with very narrow fridge and freezer cabinets. You'll also have to contend with the in-freezer ice maker, which takes up a big chunk of available real estate within this space. If you can live without the Whirlpool's in-door ice and water dispenser, consider a comparably-sized top-freezer model like the GE GTS22KGNRWW instead. This relatively simple top-freezer unit offers more usable space in both cabinets and does a better job of keeping produce crisp and fresh thanks to its better-sealing crisper drawers.
Test Results
This refrigerator's storage capacity is satisfactory. Due to its side-by-side design and 33-inch width, the fridge compartment is tall and narrow. The four fridge shelves are frameless, and three of them are removable, but you can't adjust their height. So to accommodate very tall items like wine bottles or gallon milk jugs, you may have to remove a shelf. Fortunately, the two bottom crisper drawers are quite deep.
The three door bins can be positioned at various heights and are deep enough to hold gallon milk jugs. There's also a covered dairy bin at the top and a fixed bin at the bottom.
The freezer's storage capacity is decent. The usable capacity isn't nearly as high as advertised because the shelves and bottom bin take up space that can't be used. The large ice maker and the chute to the in-door ice dispenser also take up a lot of space in this narrow side-by-side freezer section. You also lose some depth as panels that cover the evaporator jut out in the midsection.
You can remove the freezer shelves to accommodate even taller items or wide items placed on their side. The door bins are fixed, however, and the upper door bin behind the ice chute is awkwardly small.
The Whirlpool WRS321SDHZ uses a single fixed-speed compressor. As a result, expect its energy demands to be higher than a unit with a variable speed inverter compressor, which is able to modulate compressor speed based on the required load. While inverter compressors can also maintain a more consistent temperature level, this usually isn't by a huge degree. It's also worth noting that fixed-speed compressors are less mechanically complex than inverter units: that doesn't guarantee reliability, but it does remove a potential failure point since there's no inverter control board.
Its evaporator coil is located in the freezer side of the unit. Due to the narrow size of this compartment, it can be difficult to access during repairs.
This unit's ice maker is in the freezer compartment. Several users on social media have indicated that the arm used to sense when the ice tray is full can get stuck in position.
If you power off the refrigerator for any reason, ensure that the ice maker is completely empty, as water can pool in the inaccessible lower portion of the in-door ice and water dispenser. This, in turn, can leak through the dispenser and onto your floors.
Ice and water are delivered using two dispensers, with the water dispenser mounted higher and above the ice dispenser. The ice dispenser also supplies crushed ice. Finally, there's a light for the dispenser area so you can easily see when your glass is full.
Temperature uniformity inside the Whirlpool WRS321SDHZ is decent. Temperatures trend cooler near the upper portion of the fridge compartment, where the cold air from the freezer enters, and are warmer at the bottom. If you want slightly softer butter or are concerned about some items freezing, it's best to keep them on the middle or bottom shelf.
The Whirlpool WRS321SDHZ offers great freezer temperature uniformity despite using a simple fixed-speed compressor. Even with its rapid compressor cycling, temperatures remain at a steady level within the freezer with minimal swings. The periodic defrost cycles see larger variations, but this is normal behavior.
The produce preservation performance is mediocre. The fridge humidity levels are low, typical of most side-by-side fridges, with the exception of the dual-evaporator KitchenAid KRSC703HPS. The crisper drawers actually keep humidity levels slightly higher than most side-by-sides, but still drier than dual evaporator leaders like the KitchenAid. These slightly drier ambient conditions draw more moisture from produce inside, which causes leafy greens like lettuce to wilt and celery to lose its crispness.
This refrigerator's ice-making rate is decent. It won't necessarily produce enough ice for a huge cocktail party in a single day, but it'll be just fine for a smaller family dinner.
The ice tray has an impressive capacity. It offers almost double the capacity of the KitchenAid KRQC506MPS, making it more suitable for larger gatherings where you'd expect to serve more than a handful of iced drinks.