Dometic CFX5 55 Powered Cooler + Icemaker
An electric cooler that doesn't require ice—but it makes it—the Dometic CFX5 55 powered cooler and icemaker will be your go-to for camping weekends and road trips. Go ahead and pack all the snacks.
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- 55-liter capacity holds up to 84 cans (12 fl. oz.)—a large size for up to 6 people's weekend adventures, family camping trips and extended nomadic travel
- Durable exoframe design with reinforced corners and edges; self-folding aluminum alloy handles help you take it anywhere
- Easy-to-read, weatherproof, high-resolution TFT color operating display with 18W QC 3.0 USB port and soft-touch buttons
- Powerful compressor with variable motor speed optimization technology that automatically adjusts speed for optimal performance
- Optimized ratio of exterior to interior proportions provides maximum compressor efficiency; extended evaporator on inner walls ensures an even distribution of cold air
- Internal details include a removable wire divider and an interior light
- External details include a removable textured nonslip lid, TPE gaskets to ensure a tight lid seal, and an integrated bottle opener
- VIPs—Vacuum Insulated Panels—minimize thermal transfer through superior sealing and air removal techniques for superb energy efficiency
- Reliable and stable interior; internal components are mounted on calibrated springs to isolate noise and endure sustained vibration off road
- Temperature range of -7°F (-22°C) to 68°F (20°C); uses less power than a 60W light bulb
- Control the cooler, track energy consumption and monitor temperature with the Bluetooth smartphone app
- App can alert you when the lid is left open, monitor history and connect multiple devices at once
- 3-stage dynamic battery protection system actively monitors inbound power and prevents draining a vehicle battery or allows deep draw on dual batteries
- Powered by AC (110–240V), DC (12/24V)—or go off-grid with Dometic batteries and Obsidian solar panels (not included)
Imported.
View all Dometic Hard-sided Coolers| Best Use | Camping |
|---|---|
| Gear Capacity (L) | 55 liters |
| Gear Capacity (cu. in.) | 3,234 cubic inches |
| Material(s) | 32% metal/28% plastic/26% other fibers/14% polyurethane |
| Dimensions | 28.3 x 18.9 x 17.9 inches |
| Weight | 47 pounds |
| Electric | Yes |
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Sturdy and large portable cooler. Minimal noise.
I received this product for free from the REI Trailblazers sampling program in exchange for my honest review. I received the cooler about a week ago and have been putting it through its paces at home. It's a very large cooler, and barely fits in the back of my wife's small SUV. For our mid-size and large SUV, it's perfect. As a preliminary test, I set the temperature to 30 degrees F and placed 3 frozen bags of water in it. It took about 30 minutes for it to drop from 70 degrees to 30 degrees. It held there with no problem for a couple of days. Noise from the compressor was minimal. Quieter than one of those mini fridges you find in hotels. I rarely noticed that it was running. The ice in the 3 wire compartments stayed frozen with no problem. I then shut of the cooler and monitored it's temperature increase. Without opening the cooler, it only increased to 41 degrees in the first hour.. and then topped out at 46 degrees over the next 5.5 hours. That's pretty good cold retention, and should be better if the fridge was fully loaded with items that are cooled. As far as the separate compartments go, it's convenient for separating items. The deeper side has a removable center section that will allow you to refrigerate larger items. I also enabled Bluetooth and connected the cooler to my phone with the Dometic Mobile Cooler app, to monitor and adjust the temp, as well as turn the cooler on and off. The cooler is very sturdy. One thing that is really nice is that the lid is reversible. In my LR3, the power outlet is on the driver's side of the vehicle. Reversing the lid allows me to have it plugged in with the power cord out of the way, and easily able to access the control panel, as well as access items easily. The cooler is large and heavy, and if fully loaded I'd probably recommend 2 people carry it. It is built very sturdy though, so I wouldn't worry about it falling apart on you. All in all, I'm very happy with the portable cooler and plan to use it for road trips and camping.
High-end Cooler that gives me mixed feelings
The Dometic CFX5 55 is a high-end portable cooler that offers a lot of features, but after using it for a while, I have mixed feelings. Here's the rundown: Pros: 1. Efficient Cooling/Freezing: The cooling performance is solid. It can get down to -7°F, which is impressive for a portable unit. Whether you're keeping drinks cold or storing frozen foods for a longer trip, the CFX5 55 delivers excellent temperature control. 2. Battery Protection: The built-in battery protection system is a nice touch. It lets you adjust the voltage cutoff, which prevents your car battery from draining if you’re using it while parked for an extended period. 3. Robust Build: The overall construction feels durable and solid. It's made with high-quality materials, and the design is sleek and modern. You can tell it’s built to withstand the rigors of outdoor adventures. 4. App Connectivity: The ability to control the temperature and monitor settings via the Dometic app is handy. It makes adjustments easier but in heavily forested area connection can be difficult. Cons: 1. Pricey: Let’s be real—this thing isn’t cheap. For the price, I expected something with just a little more bang for the buck. The CFX5 55 is on the expensive side compared to other coolers that offer similar performance at a lower cost. 2. Size/Weight: It’s relatively heavy for a portable cooler, even though it’s marketed as "portable." When fully loaded, it’s a bit of a struggle to move around, especially if you’re carrying it over uneven ground or loading it into the back of a truck. It’s certainly not something you can just pick up and go with easily. 3. Noise Level: It’s not silent. The compressor kicks on every so often and can get pretty noisy, especially when the temperature is cooling down to extreme levels. If you're camping or trying to sleep nearby, that noise can be a bit of a disturbance. 4. Power Consumption: While it’s efficient, it still draws a decent amount of power. If you're relying on a portable power source or car battery, you might find yourself needing to recharge it sooner than you’d like, especially on long trips. Conclusion: The Dometic CFX5 55 is undeniably a high-performance cooler, and if you’re serious about outdoor adventures, it’s certainly a capable tool. However, the hefty price tag, weight, and occasional noise factor hold it back from being a must-have for everyone. It's perfect for long-term use in remote places, but if you’re just looking for a weekend cooler, you might find better value elsewhere.
Great cooler, but not automatic icemaker
Alright, where to begin. This powered cooler is pretty good. It’s a generous size, there’s a light off to one side, and three wire trays, with one of the trays having a removable divider to help keep stuff organized. What’s nice is that because it’s powered, half of your space isn’t needed by ice. I think it would easily hold what one person needs for 1-2 weeks, or a family for a week. But ice, that’s the trick of this particular one. It’s not automatic, but it does work. There are two silicone trays, each make a little over a cup (see pictures). The trays were a bit tricky to seal. Takes a couple of hours to do. Make sure to turn this feature on in the menu. The menu is interesting, it’s pretty well laid out, and make sense for the most part. The quick start manual included shows the menu options, but overall is not so good, so make sure to go to the manufacturer’s website to get the real manual. The manual did state that it would go down to -7F, and surprisingly it did. Took overnight, and probably a fair amount of power, but in a 68F house, it did make it. But it was plugged into the wall. The house and car cords included are about 6 1/2ft long. Both have right angle connectors on the cooler side, helps particularly on bulk on the car side. On a 2dr Wrangler, from the back, it barely reached the dash power port. So you may need to check to see if your vehicle has a port in the rear or if you should get an extension. It does have power protection built in to keep it from draining the vehicle battery, but I try to avoid testing those. One decent downside to me is that the 12V cord doesn’t have a power light on it, so you don’t know if it’s getting power unless you’re able to hear it or see the screen. Noise wise, it’s really quiet! Quieter than my home fridge, and was unable to hear it driving. But it was in a noisy vehicle, so your situation may be different. Just having it on in the house I barely noticed it in the same room. Considering using it as a mini chest freezer just because it is so quiet. For an odd case, there was a pretty good cold snap here recently. The cooler still worked fine to pull the temperature below outside, even while outside was below freezing. But, it doesn’t seem able to heat the interior. So if the cooler is in below freezing temperatures, it cannot keep items inside above freezing. (Probably not a normal case, but I was curious.) Overall, it’s pretty nice. Not entirely thrilled with the ice trays, or the 12V cord, but seems able to do what it’s supposed to, with a few small things that keep it from being perfect. Going forward this will definitely be taken on trips whenever possible.
Too much too heavy
This thing is completely off weighted due to the compressor being on one side of the cooler. It's really a pain that it doesn't have a battery and that the portable battery is 600. Good for traveling with food for long drives
A nice-to-have addition to most adventures
TL;DR: A niche investment with hidden costs to get the most out of it. Assuming you can properly power it, I would recommend a fridge like this for long weekend or longer trips and where the fridge is accessible while in the vehicle. Otherwise, a traditional ice chest is more convenient and gets the job done. With respect to the just the product itself, the CFX5 55IM deserves 4 stars. I like the attention to detail, but have some concerns about long term durability. From an overall rating/practicality/cost/usage perspective, I think 4 stars is also appropriate. The 55IM is a specialized tool that will not replace my ice chest but definitely has a place in my load out depending on the adventure. Full, wordy review: 55IM Features and thoughts: The 55IM includes some well thought out design details. There are two baskets: a “main basket” and a smaller basket that sits above where the ice trays are housed. There is a removable divider in the main basket that helps keep your food/drinks organized. The baskets have indents so that you can easily grab onto the baskets and pull them out and there’s an interior light to help with late night cravings. The ice trays have a cut outs between adjacent ice cube cells so that water can flow from cell to cell. The trays are also flexible, helping easily free ice cubes from the tray. The user interface is intuitive, and there is a corresponding app that you can use to remotely monitor and control the 55IM. However, I do have two concerns about the long term durability of the 55IM. First, there’s a noticeable scratch on the lid from passing a backpack across the top. I understand that outdoor gear gets scratched, but I feel like this shouldn’t have happened so easily. Second, I had some issues with setting the temperature. As shown in the posted videos, both the 55IM itself and the app wouldn’t let me set a temperature. Luckily it defaulted to 32F, which kept my refrigerated food near frozen and if I had frozen food, that food near frozen. Simply unplugging and plugging the 55IM did not solve this problem. After reading the manual, I was able to solve this issue by performing a factory reset on the 55IM. You accomplish a factory reset by holding the “UP” + “OK” buttons simultaneously for 3 seconds. A bug relating to a critical feature like setting the fridge temperature should not happen, although I do appreciate the mitigation with defaulting the set temperature to 32F in such an event. Using the 55IM: I’ve been a long time user of traditional ice chests. I struggled with ice management and having enough space for longer trips (3+ nights). While my particular ice chest is marketed to have 65 quarts of capacity, in reality, it’s really only about 50 quarts (48 liters) and at least half of that will be ice. Some manufacturers even recommend a 2/3 ice and 1/3 content ratio. The CFX5 55IM comes in at 55 liters and to get a similar capacity, considering the ice ratio, you’re looking at a pretty big and heavy traditional ice chest. On top of not losing space to ice, the 55IM is easy to pre-chill, because again, you’re not using ice - you just plug it into a wall outlet prior to filling it with food. Additional benefits of going ice-less including not having soggy food and not having to dry out your cooler after using it. I understand these are minor inconveniences but I can’t describe how satisfying it is when your food isn’t floating around in ice water. The 55IM provides voltage protection in instances you’re plugging directly into your vehicle’s 12V cigarette outlet. However, that makes me uncomfortable, as I don’t want to be stranded with a dead battery. While you could solve this issue with a portable battery jumper, I think a dedicated power system is the way to go. I luckily already have such a power system, originally bought for power outages. I’ve had luck my 400 Wh power station, which I charge while driving. I will be looking into solar panels to help with instances where I won’t be driving much. To aid with this search, I found some metrics from the older CFX3 55IM, where the energy consumption at 12VDC (Ambient@90F, Internal@39F) = 1.11 Ah/h. I would image that the CFX5 55IM has improved performance due to the vacuum insulated panels. I made a spreadsheet to help understand what I would need to power the 55IM long term from my 400 Wh battery. Long story short, my estimates show that my 400 Wh power station paired with a 100 W solar panel (assuming 60% efficiency) would power the 55IM for weeks, if not indefinitely with about 5 hours of direct sun a day. Your mileage my vary. There lays in, what I think is the biggest drawback of the 55IM. There are some hidden costs with running it. I now have to purchase solar panels and if I didn’t already have a power station, that would have also been an additional purchase. I used the 55IM with a 2018 Tacoma and it would not fit under the OEM tonneau cover, so I resorted to putting it in the back row seats. I could still access the 55IM and its contents, but it was inconvenient and uncomfortable. I now understand why folks mount these fridges on slides. You have to consider how the 55IM and the power source are positioned otherwise you won’t be able to access the contents, without pulling out the whole fridge, wires, and power source out of your vehicle. With a traditional ice chest you can just move it around as you please. Additionally, I would not use the 55IM as a freezer. When my kitchen freezer unexpectedly stopped working. I used the 55IM as a temporary freezer, keeping the temperature at 11F. At this set temperature, it seemed to be running frequently (you could hear the compressor frequently running) and unfortunately, some frozen waffles that were kept near the top thawed out, so I would avoid using the 55IM as a freezer since it seems inconsistent with the inside temperature distribution. Overall, I would recommend the CFX5 55IM if you understand the complexities associated with powering it and limitations as a freezer discussed above. Otherwise, I would stick to a traditional ice chest.
Noticeable power savings over the older CFX3!
We traveled with the CFX3 55IM for 6 years in two different rigs. Loved it. We love this new CFX5 55IM even more with its upgraded vacuum insulated panels. Keeps the cold in longer so it doesn't need to turn on the compressor as much, and thus saving that precious off-grid power in the long run. We have a 200ah battery system, and previously the CFX3 took anywhere from 6-8% batteries overnight, and now we're seeing 4-5% for overnight usage with the CFX5 --worth the upgrade for that alone. It's also worth noting that the compressor is also much quieter than the previous model.
Awesome
So far the cooler works good! The App is terrible!
No ice mess, no stress
I'm a first-time user of Dometic products and took my 55IM on a shakedown trip to the Eastern Sierras last week. It was nice to be free of dealing with ice and draining melt water to avoid soggy food. Paired with the PLB 40 battery I was easily self-sustained for two days without needing a plug in. A definite step up from the regular coolers.
Solid product!
It has kept its temperature from the moment I started running it! I'm having issues connecting it to the app, but I think the model I have is newer than the instructions I found online. I'm sure it'll happen in time!
The GOAT!
It’s not only a great powered cooler it’s the best beer fridge ever! The GOAT! Sure it’s expensive, but it’s worth it. No more “Luke Cool” beer.
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