Think it’s time for a new camping fridge? After an initially hesitant upgrade, Casey reckons Dometic’s new CFX5 fridge is a leap forward in tech and style.

 

‘If it’s not broke, don’t fix it’, is my usual motto with all my well-loved camping gear. Which I only get away with because of my other gear motto, ‘Buy cheap, pay twice’. 

My chairs look worse for wear but still hold my weight, my cooker is banged and scorched but can still boil a billy! So, I keep loving them.

Since my trusty camping fridge, a six-year-old Dometic CFF55, is still humming away happily, I hadn’t thought much about replacing it. I did the math, and we’ve clocked almost 10,000 hours run time together.

But after testing out the new Dometic CFX5 75DZ – I was sold – and have bittersweetly passed old faithful onto a mate and embraced the upgrade.

Here’s why.

What do I love about my new Dometic CFX5 75DZ?

First up, it’s practical. Having two compartments with dual-zone control is a feature I never thought I needed, until I had it.

The first day out with the new fridge, we loaded it on the boat for a day on the water.

 

 

With one compartment set to 1ºC with our food and drink, and the other compartment set to -18ºC for storing the fish, I felt like the real deal. While we didn’t catch anything worth keeping, I was glad to see the dual zones in action. And from an organising perspective, having two fridge compartments is a huge bonus.

 

 

The next trip out with the CFX5, I proudly took the role of shopping and storing food and drinks for four, and cleverly split the food to one side and the beers to the other. So, all afternoon when we frequently grabbed another round, only the drink side needed to be opened, keeping the other half at a constant temp.

I can already see that when I’m on shorter trips, I’ll just switch one compartment off to save power on cooling the whole space.

 

Is bigger always better?

At 75L of volume, the Dometic CFX5 75DZ is a big upgrade, and (in standard fridge measurement) it fits 113 cans, just shy of five cartons. That’ll keep you going for a while.

Not only is the larger volume handy, the actual shape of the new fridge is also much more useful, especially for a standard set up like mine which is a fridge slide set on top of rear drawers.

 

 

The CFX5 75DZ is slightly shorter than my old CFF55, so it gets most of its volume from being longer.

In my opinion, this is a much more useful shaped fridge, as the room behind and in front of your fridge is dead space. So, with the usable cargo space length being just over 1000mm in common 4WD wagons like the Nissan Patrol and Toyota Landcruiser, having a fridge that’s 892mm long means you’re using all the dead space without losing space to width or height.

This also means on a pretty standard set up of a two-inch lift, larger tyres, and drawers at around 120mm high, the fridge sits low enough on the slide to see inside.

 

 

While I found my previous 55L fridge was adequate for two people for almost a week of camping, my future 4WD touring trips, like another big lap of Australia, will have an additional two small passengers, so the extra space will be a must.

Real World Benchmark Testing

There’s also some serious new tech on Dometic’s CFX5 new range to consider. The VMSO 3.5 compressor easily gets temps down to -22ºC degrees and Dometic claims it’s much more efficient at doing it too. I put that claim to a real world test.

I ran both my CFF55 and CFX5 75DZ from the same power source, starting from warm, and measured how much wattage they draw from my 12v system. Although the new CFX5 75DZ is 36% larger in volume compared to the CFF55, they drew roughly the same amount of power, with the CFX5 drawing slightly less power.

So, in real world terms, despite being a much larger fridge, with dual zones to control, overall it uses the same or less power than a smaller older generation fridge.

What’s new about Dometic CFX5 series fridges?

Apart from the new compressor, there are a lot of new tech packed inside the Dometic CFX5 line, with fridges and freezers coming in a variety of sizes.

The internal components are mounted on calibrated springs, which means they can take more off-road vibrations for longer, which is a genuine concern with any 4WD touring off the East Coast or up north.

 

 

There’s also a new high-res screen on the controls, which is easy to read even in full sunlight.

There’s also a Dometic smartphone app for the CFX5 series fridges that gives you total control of the fridge from your phone, meaning you can check and adjust temps on the go and receive alerts if your 12v battery system is running low.

The other noticeable upgrade is the exo-frame construction, with thinner, lighter, vacuum-insulated panels. So despite being a much bigger fridge, I could still carry it solo from the car down to the boat, but obviously, that’d be easier with two people, mostly because of the length.

This doesn’t mean it’s any less sturdy. The overall build feels strong and we’ve already been sitting, standing, and leaping off the fridge (though this isn’t an official recommendation).

 

 

Lastly, I cannot believe how quiet the new compressor in the CFX5 is when the fridge is running, which is rated at 44dB. To put that in context, a normal conversation is considered around 60dB, with quiet library voices around 45dB.

The first few days of the fridge running I kept checking it to see if I had somehow run out of battery or had accidentally knocked the plug away, but it was just quietly humming away.

Who and What is the Dometic CFX5 for?

When I think of what I want to (and could do) with the new fridge, a few things come to mind. Mostly dreaming back to being in the remote Kimberley or Pilbara.

I remember when my partner and I were doing the big lap of Aus, our CFF55 would fit a week’s worth of food for the two of us, but now we’re a family of three (soon to be four), the extra 20L of volume will keep all of us fed for a week, easily.

 

 

As mentioned, the improved efficiency of the new compressor is impressive, and with our current setup, I could run the fridge for about four or five days without driving the car or using a solar panel.

This means I’d be very happy to take this fridge out to the middle of nowhere for a week or two and not worry about having warm food and drinks. The Dometic CFX5 would really suit those wanting peace of mind when on extended trips travelling around Australia or touring remotely.

In saying that, keep in mind the CFX5 75DZ is a top-of-the-line product intended for remote and ongoing use, so for those looking for a similar fridge at a lower price point, the CFF55 will make a big improvement on your weekend camping game!

Final Thoughts

So far, I’m very impressed with the Dometic CFX5 75DZ and think I’ve found another long-term camping companion to keep our food and drink cool in the bush for many years to come.

Although I hate to admit it (along with most keen 4WDers), the sleek and dark design of the CFX5 series fridge simply looks good in my setup – which at the end of the day is also a factor in gear choices, even if it’s subconscious.

 

 

A final upgrade worth mentioning is the now five-year warranty offered by Dometic on the CFX5 series fridges. To me, an increase in warranty is always a good sign of a company standing behind its product.

Check Out More of the Dometic Range

Our Editorial Standards determine which brands we partner with and our approach to the content we produce. 'In partnership' means we work together with a company to create content our readers will genuinely enjoy that also promotes their product or service. You’ll always know when you’re reading sponsored content, as we’re proud to promote the brands we’ve chosen to work with.