Best 12V Portable Camping Fridge/Freezer in Australia

Going camping doesn’t have to mean lukewarm beer and questionably refrigerated chicken floating in a pool of melted ice at the bottom of your esky. It doesn’t have to mean repeatedly draining your esky and then heading to the servo for more ice.

12V portable fridges for your car or caravan are very reliable these days and do a great job at keeping your food and drink cool while you are out exploring Australia’s great outdoors!

In this article, I will run you through the best 12V portable camping fridge/freezers for your car to help you figure out which one makes sense for you! I'll also take you through a checklist of the things to look out for when choosing your fridge!

To get started, let's quickly compare a representative model from each of the brands mentioned in this article.

I've decided to compare the 45L model (or as close to this as possible) from each of the brands, as this is a popular capacity and almost all brands have a fridge at close to this size.

Best 12V Portable Car Fridges for Camping

Engel MT-V Fridges

Any discussion on the best portable camping fridge in Australia has to mention Engel. In fact, they’re at the top of my list!

Yes, I know that they are expensive and that they don’t have some of the fancier features like Bluetooth app control and USB charging ports, but they make up for this by having an amazing product that damn well does what it is supposed to.

The Engel MT-V fridge/freezers are widely regarded as being the most reliable portable fridges in Australia. The build quality and workmanship that goes into each and every unit is superb.

There are many stories out there of people who bought their Engel fridges 20+ years ago and are still using them to this day!

The units themselves are tough as nails, thanks to the powder coated steel body (not plastic like other brands) that has a nice gunmetal gray finish. The insulation is thick and in conjunction with the heavy duty lid, does a great job of keeping your food and drink cool.

All Engel MT-V fridges use the highly efficient and reliable Sawafuji compressor. They come with 3 year warranties (5 years on the compressor). I can’t recommend them highly enough, although I know that they will be too expensive for many people.

However, if you are going out bush and need reliability, an Engel fridge is your best bet.

They come in 35, 45, 60 and 80L varieties. For more info, check out my full Engel fridge review!

Brass Monkey Fridges

The Brass Monkey fridges are relatively new to the market but they have quickly become very popular. This is thanks to the fact that they offer the quality and features of a premium fridge at a very low price.

Most of their units come with Bluetooth app control, a USB charging port plus a handle and wheels (like a suitcase) which makes it easy to transport them. They operate at a nice, quiet 38dB, which means you won’t have any trouble sleeping while they are on.

They are sturdy and well built, plus they are backed by a 3 year warranty, which is quite rare for fridges in this price range. They have a wide variety of sizes, ranging from 9L all the way up to 100L.

They are a great option for a caravan or car fridge, just be aware that they can’t be operated for long periods on a tilt, and that the manual recommends that you keep a decent clearance of 100-200mm around them at all times (to prevent overheating).

They are also quite new, so if there are any long term issues with these fridge/freezers, they may not have been discovered yet.

For more info, see my full Brass Monkey fridge/freezer review!

Dometic CFX3 Fridges

Dometic (formerly Waeco) fridges are also hugely popular in Australia. These fridges are high end units that incorporate a number of premium features, yet retain a high degree of reliability (not quite as good as Engel, but not far off either).

The black and white design makes their polypropylene cases look great. The aluminium handles are strong and capable of supporting a fully loaded fridge.

The 50mm thick insulation combined with the Secop compressor makes these units quite efficient - power consumption is fairly low.

Bluetooth app control, USB charging are included, along with a water drain plug, which means you don’t have to empty the entire unit and tip it upside down to get rid of accumulated water. There’s even a dedicated ice maker on one model.

Unfortunately, these units are quite expensive. The included power cables are also fairly short (1.5m) so keep that in mind if you have a setup that requires long cables.

The fridges are backed by a 3 year warranty (5 year on parts) however a number of people who have made a warranty claim have commented on how poor the Dometic customer service is. This is a shame considering how expensive the units are.

Otherwise, they are a great fridge and an excellent choice for a 12V portable fridge/freezer. If you want to read more, see my full Dometic CFX3 review!

myCOOLMAN Fridges

The myCOOLMAN fridges are also relative newcomers but they have quickly developed quite a following. They claim that their units have been specifically designed for 4WD camping, through the addition of a number of unique features.

The body of the fridge feels very sturdy and comes complete with reinforced plastic on the corners to protect them from bumps and scrapes. The carry handles also sit flush with the body, meaning that the unit takes up less space in your boot.

I love that there are 12V power connections on both ends of the fridge - this makes it easy to hook up to power regardless of the orientation. There are also built in bottle openers on both ends.

Another thing I love is the emergency override switch. Even if you do have a fault with the electronics (unlikely on these units), you can override any error codes and force the fridge to begin cooling with this switch.

With other brands, faulty electronics can result in repeated error codes that shutdown your fridge. They basically become unusable until they are repaired.

As you would expect, there is Bluetooth app control, a USB charging port (3A!) and a water drain plug. Much like Engel, there is a 3 year warranty on the fridge and a 5 year warranty on the compressor.

My only gripe is the short 1.2m power cables. They should include some longer ones, as these will be too short for some setups. The myCOOLMAN fridges are also fairly expensive, but that is to be expected when you consider the quality that you are getting.

Check out this myCOOLMAN fridge review for the full details!

Kings Fridges

Adventure Kings produce entry level camping gear that is good for people that are on a budget or just getting started. Their portable camping fridge range is no exception.

Their units get the job done most of the time, although the build quality is noticeably poorer on these units than the other brands mentioned in this list.

The insulation on the body and the lid feels thin, with the top of the lid itself feeling quite cool while the fridge is in use. The seal on the lid is also quite thin and this no doubt contributes to heat leaking into the unit.

There also isn't any Bluetooth app control, although the latest models now include USB charging ports.

They are covered by a 5 year warranty, which does seem good on the surface, although the Kings customer service is quite poor by many accounts. The warranty claim process seems to be very slow and tedious, sometimes stretching out over many months.

Despite all of this, the Kings fridge/freezers are priced very well. They are some of the cheapest car fridges out there and for most people, they do a good job of keeping their food and drink cool while out on a camping trip.

These days, you can pick up a Brass Monkey fridge/freezer for a similar price, so I tend to recommend them to people over the Kings fridges these days.

As always, my Kings fridge review has the full details!

OZtrail Fridges