I own one and absolutely love it. From the outside, it's nearly identical, if not slightly less impressive than the SZ (or any other high end FD refrigerator). However, on the inside, it is simply a beautiful machine. I found the SZ to look rather cheap on the inside (wire baskets, lots of white plastic, etc). The JA has its share of plastic, but the glass shelves, soft close doors, LED lighting and adjustable controls are very elegant and easy to use. The unit is very quiet thus far (have only owned about 10 days). Anyone who has seen this fridge has opined that it is the most beautiful fridge they've ever seen (yes, it's only a fridge, but I still marvel at its appearance, particularly on the inside). Great ice maker as well.

We purchased an entire Jenn Air package and, so far, think we definitely made the right move (we purchased a less extensive package for a second home 4 years ago and all appliances have held up well). Will try to post photos in the future.

Thanks that is really helpful, I share the view on the SZ interior, surprisingly full of plastic, and a bit dated.

If you get a chance to post pictures that would be great!

"SZ interior, surprisingly full of plastic, and a bit dated."

Strange, I thought the same thing back in 2006, when comparing the SZ vs JA Fridges. The JA had 3 separate controls for the fridge, (all digital with digital readouts) and another digital control/readout for the freezer. The JA also had crank up/down shelves, (which I love) and glass shelves. SZ had none of these, sooooo, I bought the JA and have been happy ever since, (never mind the fact that I saved about $3,000, back then too) !!!!

Gary

Are there any functional differences between the JA and kitchenaid units besides the platinum vs obsidian interior? The prices I am getting on the Kitchenaid are a good bit lower.

Good comment didn't see that new model, the KA specs look identical must be the same other than the looks

Looking at the 2 further the KA is a built in vs the jenn air is fully integrated. I guess that is the major difference.

Why can't I have this present upright? No matter in which orientation I save it, it always pastes this on its side!

Freezer drawer

Nice heavy duty soft close doors (yes, they are soft close and only need gentle nudging)

Best ice maker I have ever had. I can easily reach in and free any ice, old or new. Nicely illuminated, too!

1 month into this fridge and if it performs like it has thus far, I will be very, very happy. It is very quiet. I can only hear the fan circulating air when the door is open. I will admit...it is a notch below in "oomph"-factor when the doors are closed and you are staring straight at the fridge, probably owing to the slightly diminutive panel covering the compressor up top (just my opinion). But I love opening this fridge and peering inside at all the space, the beautiful LED lighting and, most importantly, the way this thing seems to keep food fresh. In my old standard maytag fridge, for example, if I cut a wedge of iceberg lettuce in half, the second half would wilt and brown within 6-12 hours. I've gone 2+ days with this fridge with nary a sign of such on the cut wedge of lettuce.

While the SZ and even some of the other fridges out there may have slightly more of that "oomph" factor, none, in my mind, can compare when the doors are open. SZ just looks cheap to me on the inside, with all the white plastic and wire drawers/bins (can't stand those). This looks and feels like a next generation fridge and all those who have seen it have commented to the same effect.

Hope the reliability is there. As my appliance install guy (he is an authorized of JA, SZ, Thermador, Bosch, etc), it appears that most appliance defects relate to what I think he called "Friday syndrome" (or something like that)...days when workers would call in sick to take a long weekend and the skeleton crew or backup crew would assemble products to a lesser standard (or with lesser skill than the regular crew)...something along those lines. He has seen a run of all brands of appliances requiring repairs and has noted a pattern that would seem to support this assertion. So it really is luck of the draw, if you end up with a fully functioning, reliable product or a lemon. How the company stands behind problems when they arise is another issue. Let's hope Jenn-air is better than GE were products to arise (GE sent me 3 brand new stainless steel doors for dents in every door they sent me for a basic fridge in another property, never picked up the old one and then struggled for weeks to fix a circulating fan on a 1-2 year old fridge...with all they spent sending me new doors and not picking up the old ones, they should've just sent me a new fridge!)

I saw and am seriously considering the kitchen aid version of this fridge. I felt the build quality to be just a touch below SZ, but the interior setup with the lighting and the nicer drawers is much nicer than SZ. For the price the KA can be had for it is a no brainer vs the SZ. I am seriously considering this unit, but the wife wants a side by side so we may end up with Miele columns.

Thank you so much for sharing, Happyrad. I actually chose this model without ever having seen it, so I am relieved to hear your rave review. Our kitchen demo starts next week so I'll look forward to my new fridge soon!

We just purchased this fridge from Ferguson in Charlotte and while we love the concept of this appliance, actually getting this into our house has been and continues to be a nightmare. We've had a 1/2 built fridge in our house for over 3 weeks due to the incompetency of both Ferguson and Jenn Air.

The short story is that Jenn Air has been failing to pack the correct trim pieces from the factory (according to Ferguson this happened with their showroom version and our version). Ferguson has tried three times to get the correct piece shipped and they can't get it right with Jenn Air. Not acceptable for a $10k fridge in my opinion. (we've had them in our house at least 5 times).

Both are blaming each other and we've been left to project manage between the two. Inconceivable, Ferguson told us today that they are stepping out of the picture and have asked Jenn Air to work directly with us. Jenn Air indicates that we won't have something until the middle of next week at best. Our kitchen is non-functional!! We can't have guests!!

I think Ferguson is a 1/2 step away from dropping this line as the support from Jenn Air has been poor. We will likely drop both on future purchases unless they can make us whole.

Buyer be aware on this one!!

I am considering the jenn air 48" built in side by side, obsidian. I am looking for someone who has had it awhile. How has it held up? Does any of the metal inside rust? I ask because I have a jenn air dishwasher that I have not been happy with and lots of tines rusting! I really want this fridge, but would love to hear feedback first! Thanks!

The post on this thread are several years old, (except for yours, Amy).however, to answer your question, I would not touch another Jenn-Air fridge with a "10 foot pole"!

Why do I say this?, Google Jenn-Air or Whirlpool service reviews, (yelp is a great place to look).

In my area, Southern California, it is virtually impossible to find a company that services Jenn-Air/Whirlpool that has decent reviews,most reviews are less than 2 on a (1 to 5 star rating, 5 is best).

Jenn-Air recommended 3 companies when I called them for service. Two of the companies had horrific reviews, (mostly one star reviews), the 3rd company had better reviews, and indeed until this year, (2017) they provided good service, (not fast and poor at returning calls but they fixed it when they finally arrived). Now, (2017) that same company also gets terrible reviews, and sure enough, it took forever for the guy to get here, He would miss appointments, but worst of all, He did not fix the problem when He was here!!!!

I tried several different companies to try to fix a "defrost problem" on the Jenn-Air. Several companies would not even work on a built in Jenn-air, another company wanted extravagant prices for parts, and He said they would send their "expert" when He returned from vacation, but "it was going to be expensive"

After going through all this, we replaced the Jenn-Air fridge with an SZ BI48, A 48'built in, (and soon to be paneled) Sub Zero Fridge, which fits perfectly where the old Jenn-Air was. (Unfortunately the Jenn-Air wood panels will not fit the SZ).

The new SZ does have LED lighting, and it's bright and lights the fridge and freezer compartments very well. The shelves are now glass, and all the doors on the inside compartments have the soft self closing feature, (really nice)!

You will find where I posted many positive posts about the Jenn-Air and the first 10 years it was trouble free, but year 11 erased all the positives about the Jenn-Air and I would not have another one, even if it were FREE!!!!!!

Gary

Thanks Gary for responding! I saw that it was an old thread, but dont know how to post questions here!

The last post that I am seeing is from 2017. I am considering the Jenn-air package that would include the obsidian refrigerator. I know that they recently had a recall. Supposedly, it is fixed and back on the floor for sale. Does anyone have this refrigerator or purchased the 4 piece package? Comments?

We've now had this fridge for over 3+ years and have not had a single issue with it. I still think it is the best looking french door fridge on the market, particularly the inside. I can keep a head of iceberg lettuce fresh for one week on the shelf, something I have not been able to do with any other fridge I have owned. We also have the Jenn-air microwave drawer, 5 burner cooktop range and dishwasher and all have worked flawlessly. Look...it's a Jenn-Air...no matter what you might think, JA is not a "luxury" brand in the same realm as SZ, Miele or Wolf and it does not have similar brand recognition by a long shot, But I've owned everything from SZ, to Viking, to Fisher-Paykel and know many people who have owned Miele or Wolf and they all pretty much do the same thing until the break down. i had a SZ compressor go after 3 years, replaced under warranty and I absolutely hated my Viking range which was impossible to keep clean. The setup we have now works perfectly for us and saved us at least 4-5k over SZ, Wolf combinations, if not more. I would repurchase every item, particularly the fridge, in a heartbeat. Hope I didn't just jinx myself into needing a repair soon!

I have the 3 piece, we opted instead for the Sharp microwave drawer. I love love love the obsidian fridge and I don’t agree it isn’t as high end as Sub Z, in fact when we were looking it was priced higher for the 42-inch counter depth side by side. But once I saw the beautiful interior and soft close drawers, I was sold. We also looked at Wolf for our 36-inch gas range and was not wowed...it seemed old fashioned compared to the technology of the JA. I’m all about luxury and brand names but for my kitchen I wanted the best and most functional appliances. As far as the dishwasher I could have gone with a Bosch but since the JA had the same look with the industrial handles I went with the set, except for the mw drawer which I really didn’t like - it was noisy and also everything was out in the open which I felt could lead to people pushing buttons when hanging out in the kitchen lol. Anyway I have tons of pictures in my profile in my idea book of my kitchen so feel free to look!