Hisense HRM260N6TSE French Door Refrigerator review: a stylish fridge with smart features and a versatile middle drawer

The Hisense Smart French 4-Door Refrigerator is the first refrigerator I’ve ever tested, and I couldn’t have been more thrilled to have the opportunity. My family never owned the nicest refrigerators, and I never owned my full-sized fridge until I moved into my house and the previous owners left their fridges behind for me.

At 25.6 cu. ft., the Hisense Smart French 4-Door Refrigerator (model no. HRM260N6TSE) is big enough for a family of two or six. The freezer is incredibly deep, and the fridge has many shelves and drawers for organizing food and drinks. Even better, this fridge has a VersaTemp Zone, an additional drawer you can utilize as more fridge space or have it chill your soft serve ice cream. Whether you use the app or the control panel on the front of the fridge, you can choose the temperature of this zone — and the others, too.

The ice maker is somewhat small, but at least you get the option of cubed or crushed ice and a water dispenser. This isn’t the most affordable refrigerator, but it’s a good investment and will look stylish in most homes.

Keep reading for my full review, then head to our best french door refrigerators guide to see how it compares. Don’t forget to check out our guide about how to choose a refrigerator to help with the decision-making process, too.

Alex Temblador

Alex Temblador has been reviewing household products since 2020. She has tested everything from vacuums to coffee machines, mattresses, gardening tools, hot tubs, and more. Alex reviewed the Hisense Smart French 4-Door Refrigerator in her 103-year-old home in the Dallas, Texas, area.

Hisense Smart French 4-Door Refrigerator: Key Specs

Hisense Smart French 4-Door Refrigerator: Price & availability

The Hisense 25.6 Cu. Ft. 4-Door Smart French Door Refrigerator is currently available online exclusively at Lowe’s for $2,899 MSRP, with an introductory price of $1,799. 

It's not the most budget-friendly refrigerator, but considering the design and that it’s a Smart fridge with three different sections, an ice maker, and a water dispenser, I’d say it makes sense. The fridge comes with a two-year limited warranty, which is not bad. I’ve seen some high-end fridges with only one-year warranties.  

Hisense Smart French 4-Door Refrigerator: Setup

Lowe’s delivered the fridge on a scheduled date. I was notified about 30 minutes before their arrival. The refrigerator was in the back of a truck. While one man removed the fridge from the car, the other came into my house and measured the doorways. He then removed the doors from the refrigerator that I had in my kitchen, as the other man removed the box and packaging from around the Hisense fridge.

I had made the mistake of not measuring my doorways when I agreed to test the fridge. The men had to remove the door between my mud room and my garage from its hinges. Even then, they weren’t sure if the new fridge would fit. Thankfully, it was easy for the men to remove my old fridge and put it in the garage. They reassembled it for me before they left. They brought the Hisense fridge into my garage and removed the drawers and doors.

Though it was a tight squeeze — like centimeters — the men could get the Hisense refrigerator into my kitchen. They assembled everything and made sure the fridge was turned on by plugging it into the wall. When they left, I removed the plastic stickers and packaging from the outside and inside of the refrigerator and then downloaded the ConnectLife app. It took me a few minutes to connect the Hisense 25.6 Cu. Ft. 4-Door Smart French Door Refrigerator to the app.

Later, I connected the water line under my sink to the fridge. I hadn’t done that with my previous refrigerator, but after looking at the pipes under my sink, I realized that plumbing-wise, it was set up for me to do it on my own without having to call a plumber.

Hisense had provided a stainless-steel braided refrigerator water line that was about three feet in length. That length did not suit me. The water line connector was on the back left side of the fridge. My sink is on the right side of the refrigerator. Three feet wasn’t long enough. I ran to Home Depot and got a 10-foot stainless steel braided refrigerator water line and a brass split adaptor with a ¼-inch and 3/8-inch outlet. The sink line fit to the 3/8-inch outlet while the water line fit to the ¼-inch outlet.

After turning off the fridge and the cold water line, fitting the slip adaptor, and then connecting the lines, I slowly turned the water back on. I could hear the water rush to the fridge. I plugged the Hisense refrigerator back in, waited five minutes, and used a cup to try to get water. It took a few seconds, but water came through.

To be safe, I filled a gallon container with water and poured it down the sink. I also threw out the first batch of ice. I’d read somewhere that you should do this to ensure everything has been cleaned out of the line, filter, or fridge.  

Hisense Smart French 4-Door Refrigerator: Design

The Hisense 25.6 Cu. Ft. 4-Door Smart French Door Refrigerator is a fingerprint stainless steel refrigerator with three main sections—the fridge, the freezer, and a third one called a VeraTemp Zone between the two. The refrigerator's capacity is 18.67 cubic feet. The handles are along the top and bottom of the doors. 

While the right door is easy to open, the left side is more difficult because it has a door seal that suits the door. I don’t love that if I open the right door, it doesn’t stay open. It’ll swing back to the fridge, and while I can see the benefit of that (because it won’t let the cold air escape as quickly), sometimes I just want the door to stay open without holding it.  

The fridge has two shelves, which offer three levels to store food. If I wanted to adjust the shelves in the refrigerator, I could easily do this. The shelves are split into two pieces that can be unclipped and then moved up and down. One of those shelves can slide backward. It’s a great feature for taller items like gallons of milk or large soda bottles. Below the three shelves are three drawers — two mid-sized ones for vegetables and a thinner one between them where you can store snacks or cheeses.

On the inside of the right door are three shelves, perfect for sauces and dressings. The left door has three shelves, too, but they’re limited in height because the ice maker chute takes up most of that door. In the top left corner of the fridge is the icemaker, and while it may be long, it’s short in width, so it can’t hold a ton of ice — just enough for daily use.

Below the fridge is a drawer, the VersaTemp Zone. It’s not that deep, but a medium-sized removable container is on the left side. You can adjust the temperature of this drawer to whatever you need. It can be another large drawer with (nearly) the same temperature as the fridge, or it can be used as a wine chiller.

The freezer is on the bottom of the Hisense refrigerator. When you slide it out, it reveals a deep, divided drawer. Another built-in drawer extends out, allowing you to store smaller items.

The control panel, water dispenser, and ice maker are on the left front side of the Hisense refrigerator. The control panel has various buttons that allow you to see and adjust the temperature of all three fridge sections, set a child lock alarm, turn the icemaker on and off, adjust between Fahrenheit and Celsius, and activate an Eco button. The ice maker also has three buttons: cubed, crushed, and water.

Hisense Smart French 4-Door Refrigerator: Performance

It took a few weeks to get used to the Hisense 25.6 cu. ft. 4-Door Smart French Door Refrigerator. I wasn’t accustomed to the recessed handles at the top and bottom of the doors, and I reached for a handle on the front even though there wasn’t one. Visually, I like the hidden handles, but I can understand if they’re not for everyone.

I immediately tested the fingerprint-resistant finish on the front—and it works. When I wipe my fingers across the fridge, no fingerprints are left behind. That said, if something is on your hands, like lotion or food, it will appear on the fridge. 

The refrigerator emits 37 decibels of sound, which is equivalent to tapping on a keyboard. For reference, when I open the decibel rating app, it switches between 36 and 37 decibels. The fridge has an almost invisible hum. 

Regarding temperatures, I tended to keep the fridge at 40-43 degrees and the freezer at 0 degrees. I played around with the VersaTemp Zone temperatures. When the refrigerator was below 40 degrees, it tended to freeze my vegetables and cause icicles to form in my milk. The fridge can be adjusted between 36-46 degrees, the freezer between -11 and 7 degrees, and the VersaTemp Zone can be set to 27-41 degrees. The temperatures of all three sections are easily adjustable in the Hisense IoT platform, ConnectLife, or via the control panel on the front of the fridge.

The app also allows me to turn the icemaker on and off (and informs me when it’s full), adjust the child locks, and turn the fridge on energy-saving mode. There are also two other settings — Super Cool and Super Freeze. With the Super Freeze button, the freezer quickly lowers for faster fresh food freezing, best used in warm conditions. The Super Cool button quickly reduces the temperature in the fridge compartment to keep food fresh. I think the Super Freeze button would be really good to use if you need to freeze fresh-cut meat or seafood to kill any bacteria quickly. The Super Cool button is a good choice for parties or events where the fridge door will likely open throughout the evening.

I felt like the fridge was well laid out to keep my food organized, though I would have preferred at least one more drawer. I tended to have to place my greens on the shelves because they couldn’t fit in my vegetable drawer. Granted, I buy a lot of vegetables that take up a lot of room (think cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, and sweet potatoes), but I would prefer to have a drawer for these vegetables to keep them fresher. I could use the VersaTemp Zone as a fridge if I wanted the additional drawer space. However, I’m nervous that I'll forget it's there if I don’t see the food in the fridge with everything else.

My parents joke that I have a lot of sauces and dressings, and it’s true, though I’ve had to cut back on how many I get because there are fewer shelves inside the right fridge door than on my last fridge. While I could put some things on the inside of the left door, as it has some shelving, I’m limited on the item's size because those shelves are considerably smaller. The ice chute takes up a lot of space. I usually store butter, limes, garlic, and other small things there.

My favorite part of the fridge is that the bottom shelf on the right side slides back, allowing more space for tall items like my almond milk. A shelf inside the right door can fit a gallon of milk, but I use it for my dressings and sauces.

In terms of the VersaTemp Zone, I found little use for it — which is not to say it’s useless. I think it’s a good spot to store deli meats, wine, or anything that can’t fit in the fridge. I can think of many ways that families could use that extra space. For now, I keep glass mugs in there so that if I want a cold glass of beer, I’ll have a chilled glass. It’s outfitted with a long, removable rectangular container, so I filled it with ice. As long as I put the VersaTemp Zone down to 27 degrees, the ice won’t melt. Perhaps this is a good workaround for a small ice maker. Maybe when the weather warms up, I’ll chill some bottles of white wine in the drawer.  

The freezer is incredibly deep and can easily hold bags upon bags of frozen foods. Since I don’t eat frozen food, I use it to store my ice packs. Pulling out the freezer drawer, another smaller drawer appears at the top. This is where I store my frozen meats—shrimp, chicken, fish, turkey, etc. 

I was so excited to hook up my fridge to my sink because I love the convenience of a fridge that provides ice and filtered water. I can adjust the type of ice that I want on the control panel — cubed or crushed — or choose to have water dispensed. The water comes out cold and tastes great. It’s also a big enough area to fit water bottles and such. As for the ice, it does take a second or two to dispense. I prefer the cubed ice setting as the crushed ice takes longer, unlike the crushed ice you’d get at Sonic. The ice maker emits 79 sound decibels, equivalent to a louder-than-average washing machine.

I don’t have kids, so I don’t need to use the child lock function, but if you wanted to turn it on, it would lock the control panel, including the water and ice dispenser function, so kids can’t play with it. When the fridge door is left open for too long, approximately 2 minutes, a beeping sound will be heard, notifying you to close the fridge. A notification will also be sent through the app. 

In terms of maintenance, there isn't much you have to do. The water filter needs to be changed about every six months. A light will appear on the fridge's control panel, informing you when to change it. Also, occasionally clean the exterior, interior, and door seal and replace the LED light if it goes out.  

Overall, I have enjoyed using this fridge. It’s sleek, attractive, big enough for most families, and designed to organize food easily. Not to mention, the temperature variations that can be controlled through your phone are an amazing feature. What more could you ask for?

Hisense Smart French 4-Door Refrigerator: User reviews

With a 4.6 out of 5-star rating, I’d say the Hisense 25.6 cu. ft. 4-Door Smart French Door Refrigerator is liked by Lowe's customers. Granted, there are only 55 reviews on Lowe’s, but I still say that’s impressive. Customers noted how spacious the fridge is and how they liked the sliding shelf that lets you put taller items in it. The VersaTemp Zone was a big bonus to many reviewers who liked how they could adjust the temperature to their needs. A few noted that the ice maker is small and that the handles took some getting used to, but these were minor drawbacks.

Would I buy the Hisense Smart French 4-Door Refrigerator?

Buy it if...

Don’t buy it if…

How does the Hisense Smart French 4-Door Refrigerator compare?

Hisense offers a slightly larger refrigerator in the Hisense 26.6 cu. ft. French Door Refrigerator. It lacks a VersaTemp Zone and smart features, so it’s about $400 less. For a few hundred dollars more, you could consider the LG Craft Ice Smart WiFi Enabled 27.8 cu. ft. 4-Door Smart French Door Refrigerator. It has the same design as the Hisense I tested, though I prefer the recessed handles of the Hisense. The most significant difference is that the LG can produce ice cubes, crushed ice, and slow-melting round craft ice. Samsung also has a Smart refrigerator — the Mega Capacity 31.5 cu. ft. Smart French Door Refrigerator. While it doesn’t have a VersaTemp Zone drawer, it does dispense filtered water and has a built-in AutoFill Water Pitcher that automatically refills and can be infused with a flavor.

How I tested the Hisense Smart French 4-Door Refrigerator

This was the first refrigerator I’ve tested. Testing took two weeks and involved utilizing the Smart features and app, filling the fridge with different food items, monitoring the temperatures, connecting the water line, and more. All of this allowed me to provide an in-depth review.

Find out more about how we test.