Commentary on customer service will follow this general review of the BR-1211DS.

If you've ever had teenagers staring into the open door of the refrigerator as they contemplate whatever teenagers think about, you'll understand why I used to tell them to close the door and look from the outside. After a while they would realize they were staring at the closed refrigerator and they would finally open the door and make some kind of selection. This memory may have been a factor when I selected this unit as a general reach-in. I'm sure it's an energy-saving benefit to be able to make your choice while the door is closed.
The contents of my fridge are not as photogenic as the display of beverages in the product listing. But, the fridge has plenty of cooling capacity. I do wish it had more internal LED lighting and that the controls for a little less accessible to little fingers.

Although not the fault of the product, I had opportunity to interact with Whynter's Customer Service process. I say process because it moves at its own speed and the more patient you are the happier you will be. Ultimately I was very happy.

While the landlord was making electrical "improvements" they managed to disconnect the neutral in the supply wiring to my space. Not unexpectedly, one side of my panel jumped from 120 volts AC to 240 volts AC. Understandably, some of the appliances did not react well to double voltage. That would include the subject refrigerator.
In the interest of time, I I ordered a duplicate from Amazon which arrived in a day or so. The landlord and I came to financial terms. But what to do with the dead fridge? I reasoned that the failure might be limited to the main power control board, and it would be a shame to toss an otherwise good refrigerator which might be simply repaired.
If you call Whynter, they really want you to email them. So you may as well start that way. Expect a response the following day. They wanted to ask me a bunch of warranty and troubleshooting questions which I didn't think fit my circumstances. Our email correspondence took place over several days. They did offer me some help with purchasing a new one. But, I explained I was past that point. What I really wanted was a power control board. They don't really anticipate that customers will perform their own repairs. If I had to pay someone to do it, it wouldn't be as satisfying a story. They had an owner's manual available (which I already had). But, there doesn't appear to be a technical manual. Fortunately, there's a wiring diagram on the back of the refrigerator which along with an exploded parts diagram gave me enough clues. Whynter furnished a power control board and I finally got around to playing technician.

The damaged board had a blown disc capacitor which gave its life to prevent further damage. I took some pictures before I disconnected the wiring and consulted them while reconnecting the new board.
When I powered up the fridge, the display and lighting came on. It quickly chilled to the set point and has been in service ever since.

So, my thanks to Chenie with Whynter because everything worked out.

After extensive online research trying to find the perfect beverage refrigerator for dry aging beef, this one appears to work really well. Most glass door beverage refrigerators do not get cold enough or hold temperature steady enough to dry-age beef successfully. This one will hold temperature in the low-to-mid 30s, with the exception of its defrost cycle that it runs automatically every few days. During the defrost cycle, I have not seen the temperature rise above 40°.

You do need to add a thermoworks refrigerator / freezer thermometer with a wired probe so you can accurately measure the temperature, and record highs and lows. I think the best temperature range for dry aging beef seems to be between 34 and 36 degrees average temperature. I recommend placing the thermoworks temperature probe into a glass of water covered with cling wrap so you don't get rapid fluctuations in temperature, but rather track the temperature of something with more thermal mass, much like having a thermometer probe in the center of your dry aging meat. Tracking air temperature in a refrigerator will not give you as accurate of a picture of the average temperature. The thermoworks model that I'm speaking of can be purchased on their website for approximately $25, and the probe wire is so thin / low profile that it can be ran under the door seal without creating an air gap.

This refrigerator can be a bit noisy when the compressor is running, but I was able to quiet it down by finding one of the copper cooling lines near the compressor that when firmly gripped resulted in decreased noise. I wrapped this line with a large mass of plumber's putty, which acts as a nice noise damper.

When you are dry aging meat, and I've been able to fit approximately 50 lb of bone in ribeye on the provided racks, there is a substantial amount of moisture that you are removing from the meat, which condenses and freezes on the cooling mat in the back of the refrigerator. This refrigerator does an excellent job of defrosting itself every couple of days, and the water from the melted ice runs through a tiny drain into a reservoir that sits immediately above the compressor. I modified mine with a small length of flexible clear plastic tubing, cut a notch in the side of the reservoir's built in corner overflow spout so that the water level would start spilling over earlier, and glued the plastic tubing into the bottom of the overflow spout and ran the other end into a small plastic container to catch the excess water. It works like a charm. I am certain that if you don't do this modification, and dry age substantial amounts of meat, the amount of ice that will form on the cooling mat and ultimately melt during the defrost cycle will overwhelm the small reservoir, and you will end up with water on the floor. It is an easily fixed problem, but I don't consider it a flaw given that I'm using this fridge for something other than its intended purpose. If you were just refrigerating beverages, there would be nowhere near as much ice build up, and the reservoir would suffice.

The other necessary modification is to add a small electronics / PC cooling fan that sits on the back of the top rack and runs continuously to provide air circulation and appropriate drying of the meat. All I did was find one on Amazon for about $25, cut the power cord near the plug end, and ran the power cord through the small defrost drain in the back of the fridge, which exits immediately above the reservoir previously mentioned. The wire runs laterally over the side of this reservoir, and does not interfere with the function of the drain. I then simply rewired the plug to the cord once it was passed through the drain, using wire nuts and electrical tape. This fan runs continuously and provides the necessary air movement for dry aging. While the refrigerator does have a built-in fan near the light, I don't believe it runs continuously, and likely does not provide enough airflow on its own.

Considering that the most basic purpose-built dry aging fridges cost around $1500, this is a much more cost effective method for small scale home use. I personally do not think that built in humidity control or a UV light will make any substantial difference in the quality of dry aged meat in the 30 to 60 day range, and are mainly gimmicks that are used to make you think that the purpose built units are worth exorbitant prices. Salt blocks are also essentially pointless, but they won't hurt, so go for it if it makes you feel better. I am a physician with a background in microbiology before I went to medical school, so I'm not just making uninformed statements.

Dry aging can be done successfully at home with great results. Buy choice or prime grade ribeye primals, preferably bone-in with lots of remaining outer fat, at least 10 pounds each, place directly on the wire racks in this dedicated fridge, monitor the temperature, provide constant air flow, and be patient. 45 days is the sweet spot. Anything less than 30 days will not be worth your time. Over 60 gets too strong of a flavor for most people. Trim off the dried outer pellicle and enjoy.

Cheers!

Plusses are 1. Front handle ( this was a must for me and hard to find) 2. 34° temp I like my beer and drinks cold 3. Affordable
Minuses are only 1. The noise
I have 3 beverage coolers and they all make a little noise and this one is similar except in addition to the normal cooling and defrosting noise this one makes a whistling wind noise that would remind you of having a door cracked during high winds. I seen the reviews that said noise was a problem but thought they were exaggerated. Besides the noise it looks great and functions just like advertised ( is truly 34° ) I chose this one for 3 reasons the handle, the coldness, and the affordability. It does not disappoint on those features. Note : as you can see I am using this as a built in when it is designed to be a stand alone. I've done this before in my basement bar with no problems. As you can see in the picture I have wine racks on the side that are open in the back that act as venting and there is 8" clearance at rear of cooler. This of course voids the warranty but but if you want a 34° cooler and the built in look at 1/3 the price it's not a bad option
After 3 months of being used the unit started making a really loud noise and felt warmer than normal on the sides. We shut down the unit and let it cool. Once it was cool I plugged it back in and noticed the loud noise was coming from the top of the unit where a fan is that circulates the cold air. It sounded like the fan blades were coming in contact with something. Before I took off the fan housing I just wacked the top of the unit with my hand and it suddenly quit making the noise. The unit is now much quieter than before and comparable to the noise made by different brands ( I have 2 other brands)

We love our Whynter fridge. Initially we ran into some issues within the first year: icing and loud noises. CHENIE with Whynter was very helpful. First we tried to troubleshoot. Once it didn't work, CHENIE with Whynter was happy to send us a brand new fridge to replace the one we had that was too loud. We haven't had an issue since! It is super sleek and looks luxurious.

A little over a year after I bought this fridge, it began to leak oil from the compressor. I contacted customer support and explained the situation. Rowena with Whynter was incredibly helpful and great at maintaining communication with me throughout the claim process. She was able to resolve the issue and I was sent a replacement unit. The new fridge works well (like it did the first time around) and I'm hopeful my first experience was a one off manufacturing defect, and that this one will last. Overall, I'm super content with the customer help I received and happy with the new unit.