Review: Fridge smart planner doubles as ultra-slim kitchen media center

Whether you're living solo and constantly battling food spoiling in the fridge, or have a household of humans to organize on a daily basis, this smart fridge calendar and planner might be able to make life that bit easier.

The Everblog FridgeCal is a large-format tablet that attaches to the refrigerator door via powerful magnet, designed to keep everything in one place – appointments, birthdays, grocery lists, meal plans, chore timetables and even family photos. What's more, it links up to your smartphone calendar of choice, such as Google Calendar or Outlook, to automatically reflect what you've plugged into the tablet. And you can even stream video on it.

The company has even included a level to help you position the unit on the fridge door. Given the strength of the magnet, you'll want to make sure you spend the least amount of time readjusting the tablet once attached, so it's a clever addition.

While it's easy to see that this could be fixing a problem you didn't know existed, it's really quite clever. The company's intention was to make things visible – be it medical appointments or what's in the vegetable crisper inside the refrigerator. It's extremely user-friendly, so even the most tech-phobic family members will likely get involved, and there's a lot to be said about having everything filed in the one place – that's then accessible on your phone when you're away from home.

My interest in the 13.4-inch FridgeCal first stemmed from looking for a way to better track what's in the fridge. This may sound silly, but my brain's "out of sight, out of mind" wiring means that once that fridge door is closed, I couldn't accurately say what's behind it. This results in wasted food or spending money on items I already have one (or three) of. And let's not talk about the vegetable graveyard inside the crisper.

So, does the FridgeCal help for this specific issue? Mostly, yes. It does require some effort – inputting the contents of the fridge and keeping it up to date – but the visual interface is fun to use, and the calendar keeps track of things you may not. Once you enter items chosen from a large list of common condiments, beverages, fruits, vegetables and more, each will be assigned a date of expiry based on what it is and when you've added it. When that date gets close, the item will be tagged with a "D-Day" alert, reminding you that something needs to be consumed ASAP.

Ultimately, it's a relatively small effort to keep track of things. And to remind you what's actually in there.

It's not just limited to the refrigerator, either; the tablet keeps track of freezer contents and, perhaps even more importantly, pantry items. A former housemate of mine had a pantry that better resembled a museum by the time I moved in, in 2019. Nothing out of the line of sight had a Used By date past 2015.

The FridgeCal is much more than a food tracker. It also allows you to plan meals, schedule activities, add appointments, and – if you're not solely responsible for cleaning the house like I am – create rosters of chores with individual household profiles to assign the tasks to. It even has a cute rewards system, helping to gamify chores and tasks and assigning stars when they're checked off.

The meal planner is easy to use and quite clever, linking anything you choose from a huge list of options to YouTube tutorials and listing a comprehensive nutritional breakdown. The meals are cross-referenced with the items in your fridge, freezer and pantry, in order to build a grocery list of anything you're missing.

So while it's not quite Rosie from The Jetsons, it takes a whole lot of brain power out of meal planning and trips to the grocery store.

The daily calendar displays a week at a time, allocating categories for birthdays, anniversaries and countdowns, and allowing you to color-code these events and even set alarms as reminders.

For larger households, having the central "data collector" in a prominent position in the kitchen encourages everyone to check it when they walk by. And there's a novelty to its function that's likely to have kids, as well as less tech-savvy family members, getting involved.

There's also an Entertainment Hub, with apps including Netflix, YouTube, Spotify and TikTok. The 1920 x 1200 full high definition (FHD) screen and 20-W quad speakers provide an excellent platform on which to watch or listen to media while doing food prep or while cooking.

Meanwhile, when not in use, the tablet's screensaver can act as a photo album, displaying images that are easily transferred via Bluetooth.

A built-in 8,400-mAh battery offers days of power, with charging via USB-C cable. And the N52 neodymium magnet can hold five times the weight of the FridgeCal unit (which is not lightweight, at 1.68 lb/076 kg).

And if you want another option than only keeping it on the fridge, Everblog offers a dedicated charging stand, which you can buy separately for US$79 from the accessories store.

Ultimately, the gadget lived up to my expectations as a visual tool that makes organizing feel both easy and enjoyable. And there aren't a lot of products that tick these two boxes.

It's worth noting that the screen will naturally accumulate fingerprints – and perhaps even more than others, given its positioning in the kitchen – and you don't get a cover with it. So it's handy to make good use of the stylus, which removes this issue. (I, of course, couldn't wait to use it and got my grubby fingers all over the nice screen instantly.)

Everblog's FridgeCal is currently on sale for $249 (regular price $409), and comes with the strong magnet, stylus, USB-C charging cable, bubble level and user manual. The package that includes the charging dock is $319, while you can also grab the accessory separately ($79).

I don't think the stand is essential, since the tablet pops off the fridge door to charge easily. But if you use a screen for recipes or want to move it around to watch media while in the kitchen, it might be a handy thing to have.

Finally, it's also worth mentioning that there are no subscription fees for the accompanying app, so it's really an affordable multi-purpose gadget that proves to be surprisingly useful – whether you're living solo, sharing a house or part of a large family. And it's fun, which is something I'd never call a paper organizer.

Source: EverBlog