French Door Refrigerator With Ice Maker Review
Combining form and function, French-door refrigerators come with stylish double doors that open up to an expansive fridge on the top and a freezer drawer below. Special features like door-to-door dispensers, higher-end ice machines, and customizable flex drawers make them stand out from the rest.
We asked experts like Ladina Schopf, an interior designer architect, founder, and co-founder of LS Projects, for tips on how to select the best one. They looked at the capacity of storage, layout, and energy efficiency, among other aspects.
GE Profile Counter Depth French Door Refrigerator
As the name suggests, GE's Profile series targets consumers who want to incorporate cutting-edge features in their kitchen. This refrigerator has it all, from the Keurig K cup coffee maker on the door to a smart dispenser of water. But these flourishes don't mask mediocre performance, especially in the refrigerator's freezer and an ineffective temperature-controlled drawer. Given that this fridge costs more, I'd expect higher quality.
This fridge is a good option, despite the slight blip. It has a huge freezer compartment that is not common for counter-depth French door fridges. It also holds plenty of frozen food items compared to other models.
The fridge comes with 17 shelves and compartments. The refrigerator compartment has 18.5 cubic feet of space, which is roughly on what you would expect from a French door fridge that costs this much. It also has a decent sized ice maker that is tucked away in the left-hand door, although it's not the biggest I've seen.
You can alter the shelves in both compartments for an individual storage solution. The interior design of the GE PYE22PYNFS is attractive. Its LED lighting is a nice feature, and the in-door storage bins have a third shelf that folds down to make it possible to store large items. The drawers come with temperature controls, so you can set them to Meat, Beverage or Deli settings. The drawers are simple to open and close however I found the plastic's textured coatings a bit hard on my fingers.
The GE PGE29BYTFS Smart Refrigerator is equipped with a complete set of features you'd expect from a fridge in this price range, including Wi-Fi and app support via GE's SmartHQ software. The app is available on iOS and Android devices and lets you control your refrigerator from anywhere around the world. It also comes with numerous options for customizing. It will also send you notifications when the door is unlocked, when the freezer or fridge must be defrosted and when the filter needs to be changed.
It would be nice if GE PYE22PYNFS included Precise fill which is an option that is available in other GE refrigerators that allows you to choose how many cups of water you'd like to pour out at once. It does have a countdown on the fridge's display to display how much water you have left, but it's not as effective as Precise Fill.
Bosch Counter Depth French Door Refrigerator
It is designed to look like a seamless part of your kitchen, Bosch's French-door refrigerator is one of a kind. The fridge uses fingerprint-resistant stainless steel, which is a great feature for busy households. It also has a vegetable compartment that helps keep vegetables and fruits fresher for longer and dual compressors to ensure the best preservation of food. The ice maker we tested was one of the most efficient and makes an ice pyramid with only a little water. This refrigerator is ideal for a small household or a kitchenette that wants an elegant design and top of the best food preservation.
This fridge was the top-rated refrigerator in our Refrigerators test for a few reasons. The freezer temperature remained steady at just above 0°F and never fluctuated more than a fraction - this is crucial to avoid freezing burn. The fridge's fridge section also performed well, achieving the temperature that was set for the initial setting within an hour and maintaining that temperature steady over the course of our testing.
Bosch is a household name known for its high-end appliances. Therefore, it's no surprise that Bosch's counter depth fridge Bosch counter depth fridge can be connected to your home Wi Fi and Bosch's platform Home Connect. This app lets you monitor and control your fridge from your smartphone or tablet. The refrigerator is pricey, but offers great features and capabilities at a reasonable cost.
While the fridge is an incredible piece of equipment, it's important to know the limitations. It has a small space for shelves, so you'll require some creativity when storing tall objects. Additionally the shelves aren't impervious to sprills and could be stained or damaged by sharp objects. It is easy to take out the trays from the fridge however, you must clean them frequently to prevent the growth of mold.
If you're thinking about buying this refrigerator, make sure to also 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 a top counter-depth refrigerator that packs plenty of storage in a compact frame. It has a sleek, fingerprint-resistant stainless-steel finish and features thick handles that make them comfortable to grip. Inside, the refrigerator has an ordinary French-door design with gallon-sized door bins on each door, two rows of spill-capture shelves and a set of crisper drawers. The top right shelf can be folded down to give tall items more headroom. You'll also find a full width drawer for deli items and an internal water dispenser.
The refrigerator comes with an ice maker making it easy to transfer the frozen ice whenever you need it. The freezer features thoughtful design elements, as well, such as sliding drawers that can help you to organize the place of items. It comes with a large bin to store frozen food items, and a separate container for ice.
Smart InstaView panel is another awesome feature of the refrigerator. It allows you to control the fridge's temperature and lighting via your smartphone. It's a simple way to monitor your refrigerator and control it, particularly when you're not at home.
The Smart InstaView feature is neat but it doesn't improve the efficiency of the fridge. In fact, it took longer to defrost and chill food in this refrigerator than other refrigerators we tried. This could be due to the bigger capacity.
The doors are a different issue with this fridge. They have sunken handles on the front, which allow shorter people to easily pull them open from the bottom, but they're difficult for taller people to steer shut without slamming them. It would have been much better if they came with a front-mounted handle.
The LG Counter-Depth MAX is a good option for those looking to combine the advantages of a French-door fridge's aesthetics with a more efficient layout. It has a capacity that is above average for counter-depth models and also cools evenly. It's also less expensive than the best counter depth refrigerator that comes with an ice maker, making it an attractive choice.
Frigidaire Counter Depth French Door Refrigerator
This Frigidaire French door refrigerator is a good choice if you want a French-door fridge that doesn't break the budget. It's a simple fridge that might not be as attractive like some of its competitors however it has enough features to make a an excellent option. Its most important feature, the adjustable temperature drawer helps to keep food items such as meat and vegetables fresher for longer. It also has a large water dispenser and a decent ice maker that operates quickly.
The "Chill Drawer", which is situated over the two crisper bins, is another great feature. This drawer lets you divert some of the fridge's cooling power directly to this area, so you can keep food items that require extra attention. You can adjust the feature using an adjustable slider that is located just in the middle of the drawer. You can also adjust the general cooling settings for the entire fridge. I've noticed that the generic settings work better than the specific ones.
In my tests, the refrigerator's temperatures were fairly consistent across all areas of the fridge. french door fridge freezer in the top and bottom of the fridge didn't vary very far from 38 degrees, and the middle of the fridge was within a degree of 36. This is a great performance, but doesn't quite make it to the top of our rankings.
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. This fridge can be connected with a smart thermostat in order to get more accurate readings on the internal temperature of your fridge.
The Frigidaire FGHB2866PF's exterior is constructed of grey-bodied stainless steel which has a "smudge-proof" finish. It wards off streaks and fingerprints better than other stainless steel finishes I've tried.
Stephanie Cronk, executive editor of Reviewed's Commerce/Product Reviews Team, oversees the site's buyer's guides as well as product test reviews. She has more than 15 years of commerce and publishing experience, primarily in digital and retail. Stephanie is enthusiastic about finding and recommending the top products for consumers, with a focus on home goods and technology.