French Door Refrigerator With Ice Maker Review
Combining form and function, French-door refrigerators offer elegant double doors that open up to a spacious fridge up top and freezer drawer below. Special features like through-the-door dispensers, ice machines with higher-end features, and customizable flex drawers make them stand out from the crowd.
We consulted Ladina Schopf - interior designer, architect and founder of LS Projects - for her tips on how to select the best one. They weighed storage capacity and layout and energy efficiency, among other factors.
GE Profile Counter Depth French Door Refrigerator
Like its name implies, GE’s Profile series is aimed at consumers who want to incorporate cutting-edge technologies into their kitchens. This fridge is loaded with features, from an in-the-door Keurig K-cup coffee maker to a sophisticated water dispenser. But these flourishes don't mask mediocre performance, especially in the refrigerator's freezer and an ineffective temperature-controlled drawer. This refrigerator is costly and I was expecting better.
Aside from that blip the fridge is a great choice. It comes with a huge freezer compartment, which is quite uncommon in counter-depth French door refrigerators. Additionally, it holds a fair amount of frozen foods as compared to similar models.
Inside the fridge, there are 17 shelves and compartments. The fridge compartment has 18.5 cubic feet, which is the standard for a French-door fridge at this price. It has a decent sized freezer in the left side. However, it's not the largest one I've seen.
You can alter the shelving in each compartment to create a custom storage setup for the items you need to store. The interior design of the GE PYE22PYNFS also looks attractive. Its LED lighting is a nice touch and the inside storage bins have an additional shelf that folds down to make it possible to store items that are tall. The drawers come with temperature controls so you can set them to Beverage, Meat or Deli settings. They're easy to open and close, but I found their plastic textured coatings to be a bit rough on the fingers.
The GE PGE29BYTFS Smart Refrigerator is equipped with a all the features you'd expect from a fridge in this price range with Wi-Fi and app support via GE's SmartHQ software. The app is available for iOS and Android devices and lets you manage your refrigerator from anywhere in the globe. It also has a lot of customization options. It also sends you notifications when doors are left open, when your fridge or freezer needs defrosting and when it's time to change the filter.
It is nice if the GE PYE22PYNFS had Precise Fill it's an option in other GE fridges that allow you to preset how many cups of water you'd like to dispense at a time. It does have a countdown feature on the fridge display to display how much water have left, but it's not as helpful as Precise Fill.
Bosch Counter Depth French Door Refrigerator
The Bosch French-door Refrigerator is a stunning piece of equipment. It's designed to appear like a seamless piece in your kitchen. The fridge uses fingerprint-resistant stainless steel, which is a great feature for busy households. It also features a veggie compartment that keeps vegetables and fruits fresher for longer periods, and two compressors for preserving food. The Ice maker we tested is one of the most efficient, and it produces the shape of a pyramid using only water. This fridge is ideal for a single family or kitchenette that needs an attractive design and top of the highest quality food preservation.
This fridge was rated as the best in our Refrigerators Test for several reasons. The freezer temperature remained steady at just above 0° Fahrenheit and never fluctuated more than a tiny fraction - this is crucial to avoid the risk of a freezer burn. The refrigerator section of the fridge also performed well. It reached the initial temperature set within a matter of hours, and maintained the temperature throughout our testing.
Bosch is known for its high-end appliances which is why it's no surprise that this counter-depth refrigerator is also a smart appliance with the option of connecting to your home Wi-Fi and Bosch's Home Connect platform. The app allows you to monitor and control your refrigerator remotely on your smartphone or tablet. The refrigerator is pricey however, it offers excellent features and capabilities at a fair price.
It is crucial to be aware of the limitations of the fridge. It has a limited space for shelves, so you'll need to be creative when storing tall items. The shelves aren't spillproof and can easily be stained or damaged by sharp items. The trays are easily removed from the refrigerator. However, they must be cleaned frequently to stop the growth of mold.
If you're thinking about buying this refrigerator, be sure to read our reviews of the French Door GE Appliances Refrigerator as well as the Bosch Bottom Freezer Refrigerator.
LG Counter Depth French Door Refrigerator
The LG LRFLC2706S is an excellent counter-depth refrigerator that packs a lot of storage into a compact frame. It has a sleek, fingerprint-resistant stainless-steel finish and features thick handles that make them comfortable to grip. The fridge is built with an ordinary French door design, and two rows of shelves that can be used to capture spills and a set of crisper drawers. The top shelf on the right can be folded down to give tall items more headroom. You'll also find a full-width drawer for deli and an inside water dispenser.
One of the best things about this refrigerator is that its Ice maker is located in the freezer, which makes it easy to transfer ice into the fridge for use when needed. The freezer also has thoughtful design features, like sliding drawers that help you organize your belongings. It also has a huge bin that can hold plenty of frozen food items and an additional ice storage bin.
french door refrigerator freezer of this refrigerator is its Smart InstaView panel. It lets you control the fridge's temperature and lighting via your smartphone. It's a great way to monitor and manage your refrigerator, particularly if you're away from home.
The Smart InstaView feature is neat, but it doesn't necessarily enhance the performance of the fridge. In fact it took longer to defrost and chill food in this refrigerator than other refrigerators we test. This is likely due to the larger capacity.
Another issue with the door of this refrigerator. They have handles that are sunken on the front that allow smaller people to pull them open from the bottom, however they're difficult for taller people to guide closed without slamming them. It would have been much better if they came with a front-mounted handle.
The LG Counter-Depth MAX fridge is an excellent option for those looking to blend the aesthetics of a French-door refrigerator with more efficient design. Its capacity is above average for a counter-depth model and it cools evenly and has a great layout. It's also less expensive than the top counter-depth refrigerator that has an ice maker, which can make it a desirable choice.
Frigidaire Counter Depth French Door Refrigerator
This Frigidaire French door refrigerator is a great choice if you want a French-door refrigerator that doesn't cost a lot of budget. It's a simple fridge which may not be as attractive as its rivals however, it does have enough features to make a suitable choice. Its main characteristic is the adjustable temperature drawer that helps keep food items such as meat and vegetables fresher for longer. It also comes with a large ice maker and a water dispenser.
Another nice feature is the "Chill Drawer" that sits above the two crisper bins. This drawer lets you divert some of the fridge's cooling power directly to this area, meaning you can keep food items that require extra attention. This feature can be adjusted by using an outside slider that is located inside the drawer. It is also possible to use this to adjust the general cooling settings for the whole fridge, however, I've found that changing the general settings tends to produce better results than specific ones.
During my tests, the temperatures of the refrigerator were fairly consistent across all areas of the refrigerator. Temperatures at the top and bottom of the fridge didn't vary significantly from 38 degrees, and the middle of the fridge was within a degree of 36. This is a solid performance, but it does not quite make it to the top of our ratings.
This fridge has a few other neat features, including a temperature-monitoring display that alerts you to fluctuations and provides a forecast for the day ahead. The fridge can be linked with a smart thermostat to gain more precise information on the internal temperature of your fridge.
The exterior of the Frigidaire is made from gray-bodied stainless with a "smudge proof" finish. It does an excellent job of repelling fingerprints and streaks even when compared to the shiny stainless steel finishes on other appliances I've tested.
Stephanie Cronk, executive editor of Reviewed's Commerce/Product Reviews Team, oversees the site's buyer's guides and product test reviews. She has more than 15 years of experience in commerce and publishing, primarily digital and retail. Stephanie is committed to finding and recommending the top products for consumers, with a an emphasis on home products and tech.