BougeRV Aspen 30 Pro 34 Quart Portable Fridge Freezer review – dual zone portable cooling!

REVIEW – If you’re one of the many people who grew up camping or going on day trips with coolers full of ice for drinks and/or food, you know the problems you run into: ice melting, food getting soggy, and everything is dripping wet all the time. I’ve reviewed a couple of portable refrigerator/freezer units now that are basically the same form factor, but swap out the ice for small fridge/freezer electronics. I’ve liked the ones previously reviewed so much that ice-filled coolers are a thing of the past for us, but so far, we’ve had to decide between refrigerator and freezer mode for each outing (or bring two with one in each mode). The BougeRV Aspen 30 Pro 34 Quart Portable Fridge Freezer is exciting for us because it sports dual zone cooling.

What is it?

The BougeRV Aspen 30 Pro 34 Quart Portable Fridge Freezer has dual zone cooling, a fast mode to quickly get to freezing temperatures (and stay under 0°F as long as it’s powered), and versatile settings for each cooling zone. I was sent the 34 quart model to review, but larger versions are also available if you need more space.

What’s in the box?

• BougeRV Aspen 30 Pro 34 Quart Portable Fridge Freezer
• Manual
• 3.5m 12/24V DC power cord
• 110/220V AC power adaptor
• Battery mount
• 0.5M 12/24V DC power cord
• Removable, deep clear food box

Hardware specs

Design and features

The front end of the BougeRV Aspen 30 Pro 34 Quart Portable Fridge Freezer has LCD temperature displays, push-button controls, a USB-A charging port, and below that, a pair of carrying handles (one shorter for grabbing the unit on either side and one longer for using the wheels on the other side). The whole exterior is rugged feeling plastic, while critical areas are metal or metal-reinforced (like the handles). The yellow flap on top locks and opens the unit to give access to the interior compartments.

The whole exterior is rugged feeling plastic, while critical areas are metal or metal-reinforced (like the handles).

On the back is a grab handle that folds away when not in use, a bracket mount spot for the optional battery/power station, and a DC power input port (12/24V). On top is a striking hexagon design that doubles as five drink holder spots.

The side profile of the BougeRV Aspen 30 Pro 34 Quart Portable Fridge Freezer.

The wheels make moving the BougeRV Aspen 30 Pro 34 Quart Portable Fridge Freezer a breeze. Once you have it fully loaded, you’ll appreciate its utility.

A pair of interior compartments are labeled “S” and “L”. The “S” side has a deep, narrow area and a wide, shallow area above, with a wire rack to make organization and sorting easier. A plastic tub also inserts into this deep compartment, which is great for small cartons of ice cream or ice packs.

Either side can be set to freezing or refrigerator temperatures, though the “S” side is the sub-zero section when the ICE mode is enabled. Note the drain plugs at the bottom, which make defrosting and cleaning a breeze.

Setup

Everything included with the BougeRV Aspen 30 Pro 34 Quart Portable Fridge Freezer came packed into the unit, making for secure transport. Several warnings exist to let the fridge sit for 12+ hours after arriving to allow the refrigerant to settle after shipping. After that, I plugged it in via AC.

I set the “S” side to 12°F and the “L” side to 40°F. There are three settings for battery protection outlined in the manual, so if you’re using the car charger and running it while the car or other power source is turned off, the BougeRV Aspen 30 Pro 34 Quart Portable Fridge Freezer will automatically turn itself off if it detects the voltage dropping, to avoid fully depleting your car battery. You can also enable an ICE mode, which uses BougeRV’s “IceDrive™” technology to cool the “S” compartment to sub-zero temperatures in under 30 minutes.

Performance

My first test was to see how many cans I could fit into both compartments combined (28 cans capacity verified). If you load up taller 20 oz cans your mileage will obviously vary. I then monitored the temperatures using multiple contact and infrared thermometers, and both compartments were within 3 degrees of the set temperatures over several weeks of testing. The “L” side was set to 40°F and never dropped below 36°F, while the “S” side stayed right around 12°F.

There’s the option to add a power station (from BougeRV if you want to use the included mounting bracket right on the fridge, or you can bring your own), and combined with a solar panel like the super light 100W one BougeRV sells, you could keep things cool/frozen indefinitely on the go. The BougeRV Aspen 30 Pro 34 Quart Portable Fridge Freezer does exactly what you want: cool and freeze two compartments of food/beverages.

What I like

• Dual-zone cooling
• Fast IceDrive™ freezing mode
• Wheels and handle

What I’d change

• Even with the included bin for the deep pocket on the “S” side, I’d prefer a flatter compartment with a simple rectangle shape rather than the deep L-shaped section.
• Definitely costs more to have the dual zone option – if you want a single temperature cooler/freezer, cheaper options are available.

Final thoughts

The BougeRV Aspen 30 Pro 34 Quart Portable Fridge Freezer is the perfect road-trip/camping/recreational-activity-day cooler now. For our small family, it can carry enough food and beverages, both frozen and chilled, and can run off AC/Car/or one of the far-too-many solar generator systems I have piling up lately. It’s easy to move around thanks to the wheels and long handle, and I like that our toddler hasn’t figured out the top handle yet.

Price: $459.99 (larger models available, power station and solar panels can also be added)
Where to buy: BougeRV (Save 25% off with code: AFF25 no expiration) and Amazon
Source: The sample of this product was provided by BougeRV