ICECO APL55 – A Dual-Zone Fridge Packed With Tons Of New Features

This isn’t my first time buying and reviewing an ICECO fridge. And, it probably won’t be my last.

Back in 2020, I was at a point where I was fairly content with my 4Runner build. With that, I shifted my focus more toward camping/overlanding accessories. Naturally, a portable fridge was the first thing that came to mind. After years of using a YETI cooler, it just wasn’t meeting the need for consistent, long-term cooling.

At the end of a trip, we found ourselves fishing through ice water for any remaining beers and lunch meat that wasn’t drenched. Before you comment, yes, we constantly “primed” our YETI coolers.

So, I picked up ICECO’s JP50 with the price point as a motivating factor. It also had me intrigued since it was a newer company (at the time). I was so impressed, I wound up writing a review on this site. In it, I included a side-by-side comparison against comparable ARB and Dometic fridges.

With ICECO coming in at ~50% of the cost (compared to the competitors), you really can’t help but scratch your head on why you wouldn’t consider ICECO. But hey, some people shop solely by the brand.

About a year after purchasing it, I was still pretty happy with its performance. In fact, we wound up buying a house in the meantime, and unfortunately, the refrigerator in our new home wasn’t working. This occurred during the appliance crisis triggered by the pandemic. That resulted in us waiting two months before our new appliances arrived. As you might predict, the JP50 ultimately became our primary refrigerator.

While it was great and helped us weather the storm for two months, we were excited when the real stuff arrived. However, it worked flawlessly for two months straight.

A few camping trips later, we decided to upgrade from the JP50 to the ICECO VLPro75D, which sported an overall larger capacity with dual zones for cooling and freezing. Yet again, I was happy with its performance. You know what they say: two zones are better than one! That’s a saying.

Now, ICECO is celebrating its 4th anniversary with a newly designed fridge that was inspired entirely by overlanders and the RV community. The ICECO APL55 definitely packs a punch, so let’s get into it.

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• ICECO APL55
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Features

The ICECO APL55 resembles something out of a Star Wars prop room. It looks like it would be sitting next to the Mandalorian as he rips through the galaxy in his Razor Crest. I say this as a compliment because it just looks badass and rugged.

Enhanced Visual Controls

Over the years, ICECO has progressed nicely from basic, step-above analog controls to nicely displayed digital visuals. They’re much easier to navigate, while prominently displaying the most important part of your fridge —the temperatures.

One of the things I didn’t pick up on at first was which zone was being cooled by the left and right visuals.

The far left degree visual is cooling the front of the fridge, while the far right degree value is cooling the rear of the refrigerator. Each icon underneath the degree reflects the zone of the fridge. Notice that the left-sided value features a snowflake in a stepped box, indicating the front of the refrigerator, as this zone occupies space directly above the compressor.

Spring-Loaded Side Handles

This is a fairly common feature on most portable fridges nowadays. However, it’s worth calling out because they’re stout. Each side of the APL55 features slightly knurled, spring-loaded retracting grab handles, making it easier to tote the fridge around camp. Or, you can use it as an additional tie-down point.

In addition, the handles are completely removable.

Tie-Down Hooks

While you can use the handles as a tie-down point, especially if you’re using a fridge slide for your APL55, the fridge lid also comes with four additional tie-down hooks.

I see pros and cons with this feature:

• Pros – These are additional points where you can tie down the fridge, whether it’s on a slide or not. If your fridge is in the trunk and not packed with other cargo, it has the potential to shift or tip if you’re driving on aggressive trails. So, these tie-down points can be beneficial. You could also throw a strap or two along the top of the lid and use it as a MOLLE of sorts.
• Cons: If you’re strapping the fridge down to a slide or any other point in the vehicle, you’re restricted from opening the lid while in transit. I would have preferred to see these mounted to the body of the fridge, rather than the lid itself. If you disagree and think it’s another way of keeping the lid from popping open, it comes with lid-locking handles.

Lid-Locking Handles

For those of you who overload your fridge and need to secure it before heading out on an adventure, the lid-locking handles are a nice feature that prevents it from popping open.

This was never an issue on the JP50 or the VLPro75D because the lids locked into the body. The APL55 design actually provides even more peace of mind, ensuring it won’t fly open mid-journey.

Insulated Slow-Close Lid

Accidental lid closure is a potential finger-breaking issue on other fridges, coolers, and previous ICECO models. The lid is obviously a critical insulation component for any cooler or fridge, and so, generally, they’re not lightweight. While it hasn’t happened (yet), a lid accidentally slamming on already cold fingers sounds like a nightmare. So, this slow-close lid is definitely a great feature.

Multiple Power Inputs

One of the things I disliked about the JP50 was that the controls were behind the lid-opening section. It just wasn’t conducive to our setup. Fortunately, the power inputs were on the rear, and when it sat on the fridge slide in our trunk, the DC line was essentially hidden.

With these newer fridges, we’re starting to see more flexibility in terms of configuration and the placement of power supply inputs. For the APL55, they have placed a DC and AC supply on the “front” of the fridge (where the controls are), as well as two USB ports for device charging.

There is also a DC port on the rear, along with two additional USB ports. The APL55 comes with both DC and AC charging cables.

Large Storage Capacity

The ICECO APL55 offers 58 quarts (55 liters) of storage capacity; hence the name, APL55. In comparison, the JP50 came in at 50 quarts, and the VLPro75D came in at 89 quarts.

For comparison, a 50-quart fridge can hold 72 cans of soda or beer. You need to weigh how much drinking you’ll want to do on your trip versus actual eating.

The real difference here is what you need for the types of adventures you go on. For example, the JP50 is smaller in size than the VLPro75D. The JP50 weighed less, but it didn’t offer dual-zone cooling, whereas the VLPro75D did. The APL55 sits between the two, and in my opinion, provides the best of both worlds for the weekend adventurer.

Single & Dual Zone Functionality

One of the other big benefits of the APL55 is that you might not always need to have two zones in use. Suppose you’re hosting a party and want a fridge on the deck to hold beverages. In that case, you can remove the inner baskets and the insulated divider to convert the refrigerator to a single-zone unit.

Final Thoughts

ICECO has released yet another excellent fridge at a competitive price. ICECO utilizes nearly all the same internal components as Dometic, ARB, and other leading refrigerator manufacturers (most notably, the Secoop compressor).

If you were comparison shopping in the past, one could argue that some of the competition’s fridges looked cooler than ICECO’s. For example, Dometic has a huge following in the overland community despite its higher price point. Additionally, they’ve been around for a while and have a substantial presence in the RV industry.

However, the APL55 is ICECO’s 4th anniversary fridge, as it has become a staple in the off-grid/adventure lifestyle. The price is more competitiv,e and the features are in line with the competition. It’s modular and looks straight-up cool and rugged.