January 2020 UPDATE:
Haier no longer manufactures 12-bottle wine coolers/refrigerators, or any other wine coolers/cellars for that matter. For every wine cellar they used to make, their website now indicates “This model is no longer being manufactured”. That's fine by us, since they seemed to have significant quality issues.
However, if you're in the market for a solid, reliable 12-bottle wine cooler, check out the NutriChef PKTEWC120 12 Bottle Thermoelectric Wine Cooler Refrigerator. It gets a very impressive 4.5-star rating on Amazon, with over 1,000 reviews! It's pretty rare for a product to elicit that kind of positive feedback, so we HIGHLY RECOMMEND you check it out here!
Note:
Before launching into this review, it should be noted that Haier currently makes at least 3 different models of 12 bottle wine cellars. The two tabletop models (HVT12xxx, where xxx is a 3-digit code signifying color, and HVUE12xxx) look very similar, but do have some differences. Although both are thermoelectric, for some reason the HVT claims a temperature range of 50-61 F, while the HVUE claims a range of 39-72 F. Other differences are that the HVT has a mechanical thermostat, dial display, and no interior light, while the HVUE has an electronic thermostat, LED display, and does have an interior light. In addition to these countertop models, Haier also makes a tower model.
Wal-Mart sells a “Haier 12-Bottle Table Top Wine Cooler”, no model number given, which does not appear to have a temperature control or display on the front. This may, in fact, be a special version only marketed through Wal-Mart, or it could be the HVT.
Having said that, here is our review of the HVUE12xxx.
Our Rating: 
Based on: 13 reviews/ratings
Approximate price: $90
Capacity: 12 bottles
Features:
- Ultra-Quiet Thermo Electric Cooling
- Double-Pane Insulated Glass Door With Black Trim
- Recessed Handle
- Adjustable Electronic Thermostat Control with Temperature Display
- 3 full-width Wire Storage Racks
Pros:
- Very quiet when running
- Racks are of varying heights, so can store different-sized bottles
- Nice looking, includes internal light
Cons:
- Serious reliability problems – several units died prematurely
- Temperature range limited by ambient (room) temperature, typically cannot go below 59 degrees.
Sampling of owner comments about the Sunbeam 8 bottle wine cellar:
- “coldest it has gotten is 57 degrees”
- “a few days later it stops working”
- “after another couple of months the new one died too”
- “plastic-smelling odor in it” (which ruined the wine”
- “fridge was great up until it stopped working”
Our review:
First, we’d like to point out that 3 of 13 reviewers of this wine cooler indicated that it died within a matter of a few months (sometimes less). Those that did not report the cooler failing prematurely like the cooler for the most part. In particular, they liked the digital display, interior light, and thought it represented a good value.
There were the concerns – typical for thermoelectric wine coolers – that it did not cool enough in general – especially for white wines. This is due to the fact that thermoelectrics can only cool to between 20 and 25 degrees below the temperature of their environment. Any thermoelectric cooler will have this issue, simply due to limitations of that technology.
Based on the failure rates of the Haier HUE12ABS (or the different colored versions, HUE12ABS and HUE12BSS), we cannot recommend this wine cooler.
Bottom line recommendation:
January 2020 UPDATE:
If you're looking for a solid, reliable 12-bottle wine cooler, check out the NutriChef PKTEWC120 12 Bottle Thermoelectric Wine Cooler Refrigerator. It gets a very impressive 4.5-star rating on Amazon, with over 1,000 reviews! It's pretty rare for a product to elicit that kind of positive feedback, so we HIGHLY RECOMMEND you check it out here!
Original bottom line recommendation:
The Haier 12-bottle Wine Cooler with Electronic controls (HVUE12ABS) is NOT RECOMMENDED.
Check out our other recommendations for 12-bottle wine cooler/chillers, and our wine cooler buyer's guide.