French Door Refrigerator With Ice Maker Review
French-door fridges combine functionality and form. They feature elegant double doors that open to reveal the large fridge on top and a freezer drawer below. Special features like through-the-door dispensers, higher-end ice machines and flex drawers that can be customized make them stand out from the crowd.
We asked Ladina Schopf - interior designer, architect, and founder of LS Projects - for her tips on how to select the right one. They considered the capacity of storage, layout, and energy efficiency among other features.
GE Profile Counter Depth French Door Refrigerator
The name of the series suggests that GE’s Profile series is aimed at consumers who want to integrate cutting-edge features in their kitchens. This refrigerator is packed with them, 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. Since this refrigerator is a premium, I expect better.
This refrigerator is a good choice, despite the blip. french door style fridge freezer comes with a huge freezer compartment, which is uncommon in counter-depth French door refrigerators. Furthermore, it holds a fair amount of frozen foods compared to similar models.
The fridge comes with 17 shelves and compartments. The fridge compartment has 18.5 cubic feet, which is typical for a French-door fridge at this price. It comes with a decent size freezer in the left side. However it's not the most spacious one I've seen.
You can alter the shelves in both compartments to create a a custom storage solution. The interior design of the GE PYE22PYNFS also looks attractive. The LED lighting is a nice feature. The storage bins in the door come with a third shelf that can be folded down to store large items. The drawers come with temperature controls so you can set them to Beverage, Meat, or Deli settings. The drawers are easy to open and close, but I found the textured plastic coatings a bit hard on my fingers.
The GE PGE29BYTFS Smart Refrigerator comes with all the features you would expect from a refrigerator within this price range. It has Wi-Fi as well as app support and GE's SmartHQ Software. The app, available for iOS and Android devices can let you control your fridge from anywhere in the world, and it has many options for customizing. It will also send you notifications when the door is left unlocked and when the freezer or fridge needs to be defrosted, and when the filter requires a change.
It would be nice if GE PYE22PYNFS had Precise Fill it's an option in a few other GE refrigerators that allows you to set the number of cups of water you'd like to disperse at once. It also has an indicator on the display of the fridge to display how much water you have left, but it's not as effective as Precise Fill.
Bosch Counter Depth French Door Refrigerator
The Bosch French-door Refrigerator is an impressive product. It's designed to appear like it's a seamless component in your kitchen. The fridge uses fingerprint-resistant stainless steel, which is a great feature for busy households. It also boasts a veggie compartment that helps keep vegetables and fruits fresher for longer and dual compressors to ensure the best preservation of food. The ice maker is one of the top we've tested and produces pyramid-shaped ice with a low use of water. This fridge is the perfect option for households with a single member or kitchenettes looking for a built-in look and top-of-the-line food preservation.
This fridge was rated as the best in our Refrigerators Test due to a variety of reasons. The temperature of the freezer remained stable at just above 0 degrees Fahrenheit, and never changing more than a fraction an inch. This is essential to preventing freezer burn. The fridge section of the refrigerator also did well. It reached the initial temperature within an hour and maintained the temperature throughout our tests.
Bosch is a household name known for its top-quality appliances. Therefore, it's not a surprise that Bosch counter depth refrigerator is one of them. Bosch counter depth refrigerator can be connected to your home Wi Fi and Bosch's Home Connect. The app allows you to monitor and control the refrigerator remotely using your tablet or smartphone. The refrigerator is expensive, however it has excellent features and functionality for the price.
It is crucial to be aware of the limitations of your fridge. It is possible to be creative with tall objects because the fridge has a small shelf space. Also, the shelves are not impervious to sprills and could be damaged or stained by sharp objects. The trays can be easily removed from the refrigerator. However, they must be cleaned frequently to stop the growth of mold.
If you're thinking of buying this refrigerator, make sure to also review our opinions on 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 the frame's compact size. It has a sleek, fingerprint-resistant stainless-steel finish and features thick handles that make them comfortable to grip. The fridge features the standard French door layout, with two rows of shelves that can be used to capture spills and a set of crisper drawers. The top shelf on the right side can be folded to provide more space for tall items. You'll also find a full-width drawer for deli and an inside water dispenser.
One of the great aspects of this refrigerator is that its ice maker is in the freezer, making it easy to transfer frozen ice to the fridge to use as required. The freezer is designed with thoughtful elements, too, like sliding drawers that can help you to organize the place of items. It also has a large bin that can accommodate plenty of frozen food items and a separate storage bin for ice.
Smart InstaView panel is another awesome feature of the refrigerator. It allows you to control the fridge's temperature, lighting, and more via your smartphone. It's a simple method to keep track of your fridge and manage it, particularly when you're not at home.
However, while the Smart InstaView is a neat feature, it does not necessarily add to the overall performance of the refrigerator. In fact it took a bit longer to defrost and chill foods in this refrigerator than some of the others we test. This is probably due to its bigger capacity.
The doors are another problem with this refrigerator. The sunken handles let shorter people open them from the bottom. However taller people struggle to close them without slamming. It would have been much better if they had a front-mounted handle.
The LG Counter-Depth MAX is a ideal choice for those who want to combine the advantages of a French-door refrigerator's aesthetics with an efficient layout. Its capacity is superior to counter-depth models and is able to cool evenly. It's also a little less than the most expensive counter depth refrigerators that have an ice maker, which makes it a desirable option.
Frigidaire Counter Depth French Door Refrigerator
This Frigidaire French door refrigerator is a great choice if you want a French-door fridge that doesn't break the budget. It's a simple fridge which may not be as attractive as some of its competitors, but it still has enough features to make a suitable choice. Its main feature is the adjustable temperature drawer that helps keep food items like meat and vegetables fresher for longer. It also comes with a large ice maker as well as a water dispenser.
The "Chill Drawer", which is located over the two crisper bins, is another excellent feature. This drawer allows you to direct the majority of the refrigerator's cooling power into this area, so that you can store foods that require extra attention. This feature can be adjusted using a slider located outside the drawer. You can also use this feature to set a general cooling level for the entire fridge but I've noticed that adjusting the generic settings tends to have a better effect than specific ones.
In my tests, the refrigerator's temperatures were fairly consistent across all areas of the refrigerator. The temperatures in the middle, top and bottom of the fridge didn't differ significantly from 38 degrees. This is a solid performance, but it 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. The fridge can be linked with a smart thermostat to obtain more precise readings of the internal temperature of your fridge.
The exterior of the Frigidaire is made from grey-bodied stainless that has a "smudge proof" finish. It does a great job of removing streaks and fingerprints even when compared to the shiny stainless steel finishes on other appliances I've tried.
Stephanie Cronk is the executive editor of Reviewed's Commerce/Product Reviews team and oversees the site's buyer's guides as well as product reviews for test products. She has more than 15 years of experience in commerce and publishing mostly in retail and digital. Stephanie is committed to finding and recommending the top products for consumers, with a a focus on home goods and tech.