One could make the argument that the coffee table is among the most important fixtures in your home – certainly in your family room, or entertainment area. They’re the Swiss Army Knife of decor; at their most basic, coffee tables can serve as a place to set down a beverage. They also can double as a makeshift desk for your laptop, a place to showcase some eccentric books, or even a spot to kick your feet up on.. an ottoman of sorts.
Coffee tables come in all shapes and sizes, but ultimately serve the same purpose: a prominent table to set stuff on. Some coffee tables are more “sensitive” than others; I can’t stand when people act like their coffee table should hardly be touched. My opinion is that coffee tables should be rugged, and not fine pieces of china. It’s the place you dump stuff out of your pockets onto when you sit down on the couch after a long day. Your coffee table should work in unison with your furniture to create a relaxing atmosphere. Stretch out, empty your pockets, grab your favorite drink and flip on your 4K TV. Just as the founding fathers intended.
For as long as I can remember, coffee tables have suffered from a lack of innovation. Sure, I’ve seen the ones that rise vertically, and others with a hidden drawer or storage cabinet. That’s fine and all, but isn’t the coffee table capable of so much more? Point being, coffee tables should be versatile. And yet, not all coffee tables are created equal. Thankfully, the table of your dreams is now a reality.
Almost two years ago, I fell in love with one coffee table in particular, for so many reasons. The Sobro Coffee Table caught my attention, and I immediately knew I had to have one.
THE SOBRO SMART COFFEE TABLE
So, what exactly is the Sobro? If you want to oversimplify, the Sobro is a smart coffee table. When bragging about it to friends and family, I typically refer to it as my “coffee table cooler” because at its most basic, it’s a freaking refrigerator.
Okay, it’s actually a lot more than a coffee table with a beverage cooler inside of it. It’s legitimately well-designed, and the features it does have aren’t without merit. Despite what you may be thinking at first glance, they didn’t try to over-engineer the Sobro and build a ton of unnecessary components into it.
After two years, I can honestly say the Sobro is a legitimately solid coffee table, which is the main point. The bells and whistles are incredible of course, but first and foremost… it’s a good table. It’s not absurd to want one. It’s quite simply, a million times better (and more functional) than any coffee table you’ve ever seen before.
DELIVERY AND UNBOXING THE SOBRO
Your delivery experience might actually depend on where you order your Sobro from. My experience was actually pretty hilarious; the Sobro showed up directly from the manufacturer, via freight shipping. Translated: two guys in a large truck showed up, and I watched in mild amusement as these two big dudes carried the heavy, giant box up one flight of stairs to my second floor condo.
I had them set it off to the side of my family room, and realized just how heavy it was once I had to move it across 10 feet of carpet. The Sobro weighs 104 lbs., but feels even heavier than that (probably due to the fact that it’s a large rectangle). I’m definitely glad I didn’t have to try to carry it up one flight of stairs on my own. I’m almost certain it wouldn’t have been possible.
I should mention here too, this thing obviously needs to be plugged into the wall. They included a nice hard plastic cord cover that splits into multiple pieces. I personally have the power supply running under the couch plugged into the outlet behind. You can hardly notice the cord at all; I was worried about this being an issue before I got mine, but my concerns were alleviated after realizing that the placement of the power cord wasn’t intrusive.
WHAT MAKES THE SOBRO COFFEE TABLE THE GREATEST OF ALL TIME?
Let’s step back here. I already mentioned that it’s a coffee table with a cooler built into it, right? This is the crowning feature that separates the Sobro from all of the over coffee tables in the world. The left hand side of the table has a massive drawer that pulls out, revealing the cooled compartment. Imagine the look on your friend’s face when you tell them to grab you a beer out of your coffee table. Or your sister when you tell her there’s a White Claw in there with her name on it. It remains undefeated in the “guaranteed to smile” category of purchases.
If the refrigerator wasn’t enough for you, they packed a bunch of other smart features into this table, ensuring it’s rightful place as the best coffee table of all time.
TEMPERED GLASS SURFACE
I’ve had my Sobro for almost two years, and it’s certainly been battle tested. I have an almost-2 year old, a 3-month old, and an old dog who gives zero F’s at all times. The surface of this table has been crashed into, spilled on, slammed with toys, smacked with devices, even played like a drum. Looking at it though, you’d have no idea.
Tempered glass is such a great idea for a coffee table. It looks like it would shatter, but in reality it’s beyond durable. Perhaps the most significant thing is that tempered glass doesn’t leave water rings – hence, you don’t need a coaster for your drink. They didn’t mess around with the surface, which makes sense.. when you consider the touch panel I’m about to talk about.
TOUCH CONTROL PANEL
Of course the Sobro would have a touch control panel on the surface.. it wouldn’t be the best smart coffee table of all-time if it didn’t right? The touch panel allows you to control everything including refrigerator temperature (37-54 degrees), LED lights, speaker volume (more on that later) and even Bluetooth connections.
It’s the control center for the technology built into the table. You don’t need an app for anything; it’s all right there. The best part is the fact that there’s a lock/unlock button for the touch panel, so you don’t have to worry about accidentally changing something.
LED LIGHTING
Alright, now something for those of us who love LED lights. By itself, the Sobro looks outstanding. But they knew you wanted a little extra flair — the Sobro has a strip of LED lights underneath the table, adding the perfect touch to an already perfect product.
There’s 8 different color settings you can choose from: green, red, dark blue, yellow, light blue, magenta, white, and a color wheel that slowly cycles through them all. You control the brightness, and whether the lights are flashing or constant. My personal favorite though might be the color wheel. Kids love color wheels ( this is a known fact).
BLUETOOTH SPEAKER
What good would the Sobro be if it didn’t have dual speakers built into it? The Sobro is bluetooth enabled, so you can sync your phone to it and quickly pump out some tunes.
In terms of sound quality, I’d give it a 7/10 — and even that might be generous. It’s definitely loud enough, but you shouldn’t be buying the Sobro with the speakers in mind. They’re nice to have, but if you’re like me.. you have far better options when it comes to playing music in the same room. It’s nice that it has speakers, but I don’t use them all that often. Still, no smart coffee table is complete without them, so I applaud the decision to include them.
DUAL STORAGE DRAWERS
In addition to the giant refrigerated pull-out beverage drawer, there’s two separate pull-out storage drawers to the right of the cooler drawer. Perfect for storing just about anything. I usually throw my PlayStation DualShock controllers in there if they’re not being used. I was surprised that the dual drawers are actually decently sized.
USB CHARGING PORTS + AUX CONNECTION
You’ll be pleased to learn there are 4 total USB charging ports, perfect for charging your smartphone, tablet, game controllers, or other small electronics. The Auxiliary connection is great if you want to quickly play music through the Sobro as well.
120V OUTLETS
They really thought of everything, didn’t they? There’s actually 2 separate 110V outlets built into the Sobro, which is genius. They’ve turned your coffee table into a power strip, meaning your laptop doesn’t have to find another source of power. The fact that you can plug in a normal power cord into the Sobro is by itself, amazing.
Don’t get me wrong, USB ports are great and all… but my laptop doesn’t want a USB port. It wants actual power, which the Sobro happily provides. Now, I can finally watch football while sending emails on my laptop in peace.
COLOR OPTIONS
The Sobro Coffee Table comes in three glorious designs: White, Black, and Wood. As pictured above.
To say I struggled mightily to come to a decision on this front would be an understatement. Ultimately, after considerable deliberation, I decided the “original” white version of the Sobro with black trim spoke to me the most. No regrets on that decision.
PRICE
The Sobro retails for $1,499, but you can snag one for $1,299. You might even get lucky and find one on sale for $999, but that’s the absolute lowest I’ve seen them available for.
GREAT NEWS! A renewed (refurbished) version of the Sobro is now available on Amazon for $899.
Are they super affordable? No, not really. But coffee tables can certainly get expensive depending on the quality and where you buy from. I happen to think $1,299 is fair for this table.
WHERE CAN YOU BUY ONE?
AMAZON
The best place to buy the Sobro is on Amazon, for the fair price of $1,299.
You can also get an Amazon Renewed version of the Sobro for $899.
WAYFAIR
You can also find the Sobro on Wayfair, for $1,299.
ANY ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT?
Anyone who complains about their Sobro is nitpicking in my opinion. Sure, I’ve read the reviews where people say it makes a dull buzzing noise. At times, yes. I’d like to remind those people, “You do realize you bought a refrigerator coffee table, right?” which, yes… makes a tiny bit of noise. As expected.
The touch control panel could be a little bit more intuitive. It did take me a bit to get used to the controls and figure out how to master quickly making changes.
I’m also obliged to say something like, “The Sobro could benefit from Voice Recognition compatibility,” but I don’t even really know why. Maybe it would be nice to be able to use Google or Alexa to tell the Sobro to turn the lights on, or play music. “My coffee table doesn’t respond to my voice” is essentially the most first-world problem of all-time. That being said, smart speakers and voice recognition are becoming the norm nowadays, so maybe the next generation of Sobro will listen to our voices.
One area I would have actually liked to have seen though, is wireless charging. The Sobro achieves charging through the USB ports and 120V outlets, but wireless charging seems like it would have been a no-brainer. They did actually factor wireless charging in when they designed the recently launched Sobro Side Table, which you should definitely explore as well.
FINAL THOUGHTS
From a design perspective, it definitely gives off a futuristic vibe. When you actually see it in an even semi-modern room though, it doesn’t look ridiculous. It actually just looks incredible.
My Sobro has held up admirably over the past two years, including being moved from a condo to my new house. It’s one of my favorite pieces of furniture/technology in the home, and always elicits a reaction when we have people over.
The Sobro is so much more than a coffee table. It’s a fridge, a charging station, a sound system, even an LED light show. But maybe most importantly, it’s a guaranteed topic of conversation for the next party you host. The Sobro is the best coffee table of all-time, and it’s not even a close competition.
