French Door Refrigerator With Ice Maker Review
French-door refrigerators blend functionality and form. They feature stylish double doors that show the large fridge on top, and a freezer drawer below. Special features such as through-the-door dispensers, higher-end ice machines and flex drawers that can be customized make them stand out from the crowd.
We contacted Ladina Schopf - an interior designer, architect, and founder of LS Projects - for her tips on how to select the right home. They considered storage capacity as well as layout and energy efficiency as well as other aspects.
GE Profile Counter Depth French Door Refrigerator
The name implies that the GE Profile series is targeted at those who want to incorporate cutting-edge features in their kitchen. This fridge has them 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 an extra amount, I'd like to see higher quality.
This fridge is a good choice, despite the blip. It has a huge freezer compartment that is not common for counter-depth French-door refrigerators. It also holds plenty of frozen food items compared to other models.
The fridge comes with 17 shelves and compartments. The fridge compartment offers 18.5 cubic feet of space, which is roughly on what you would expect from an French door refrigerator that costs this much. It also has an adequate-sized icemaker that is tucked away in the left door, but it's not the biggest I've seen.
You can alter the shelves in both compartments to make an individual storage solution. The interior design of the GE PYE22PYNFS is attractive. The LED lighting is an appealing 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 for Beverage, Meat, or Deli settings. The drawers are easy to open and close however I found the textured plastic coatings a bit hard on my fingers.
The GE PGE29BYTFS Smart Refrigerator includes all the features you would expect from a refrigerator in this price range. This includes Wi-Fi, app support and 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 numerous options for customizing. It also sends you notifications when the door is unlocked and when the freezer or fridge requires defrosting, and when the filter needs to be changed.
It would be nice if the GE PYE22PYNFS included Precise fill which is an option that is available in a few other GE refrigerators that allows you to choose how many cups of water you'd like to disperse at a time. It also has an indicator on the fridge display to display how much water you have remaining, but that's not as useful as Precise Fill.
Bosch Counter Depth French Door Refrigerator
The Bosch French-door Refrigerator is a stunning piece of equipment. It's designed to look like it's a seamless part of 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 fruits and vegetables fresher longer, and two compressors for maximum 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 fridge is perfect for a single household or kitchenette that needs an elegant design and top of the best food preservation.
This fridge was rated as the best in our Refrigerators Test for several reasons. The temperature of the freezer remained stable at just a few degrees Fahrenheit, never moving more than a fraction of one degree. This is crucial to preventing freezer burn. The refrigerator section of the fridge also did well. It reached the temperature it was set within an hour, and remained at the temperature throughout our tests.
Bosch is known for its high-end appliances, so it's no surprise that this counter-depth refrigerator is also a smart appliance that has the option of connecting to your home Wi-Fi as well as Bosch's Home Connect platform. The app lets you monitor and control the refrigerator remotely using your smartphone or tablet. The refrigerator is costly, but offers great features and functionality at a reasonable cost.
It's important to understand the limitations of the fridge. It has a limited shelf space, so you'll need to be creative when storing tall items. Additionally, the shelves are not impervious to sprills and could be damaged or stained by sharp objects. The trays can be easily removed from the fridge. However, they must be cleaned regularly to prevent the growth of mold.
If you're thinking about buying this refrigerator, make sure to read our reviews of the GE Appliances French Door Refrigerator and 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 into 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 is built with an ordinary French door design, and two rows of spill-capture shelving and a set of crisper drawers. The top shelf on the right can be folded down to give tall items more space. There's also a full-width drawer for deli items and an internal water dispenser.
This refrigerator is equipped with an ice maker making it easy to transfer the frozen ice as needed. The freezer has thoughtful design elements, as well, such as sliding drawers to help you to organize the place of items. It also has a large container for storing frozen food and a separate bin for ice.
Smart InstaView panel is a cool feature of the refrigerator. You can manage the temperature, lighting and other aspects of your refrigerator from 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 enhance the performance of the fridge. In fact it took longer to defrost and chill food in this refrigerator as compared to other fridges we test. This could be due to the greater capacity.
The other issue we have with the door of this refrigerator. The handles that are sunken let shorter people open them from the bottom. However, taller people still struggle to close them without slamming. It would have been much better if they had front-mounted handle.
The LG Counter-Depth MAX is a excellent choice for those who want to combine the benefits of a French-door refrigerator's aesthetics with a more efficient layout. Its capacity is higher than average for a counter-depth model, and it cools evenly and has a good layout. It's also less expensive than the top counter depth refrigerator that comes with an ice maker, making it an attractive option.
Frigidaire Counter Depth French Door Refrigerator
If you're looking for an French door fridge that doesn't cost a fortune, this Frigidaire is a good choice. It's a simple fridge that may not be as appealing as its rivals however it has enough features to make it a suitable option. french door fridge freezer , the adjustable temperature drawer, helps to keep food like vegetables and meat fresher longer. It also comes with a large ice maker and a water dispenser.
Another feature that is worth mentioning is the "Chill Drawer" that sits above the two crisper bins. This drawer allows you to use the majority of the refrigerator's cooling power into the area so it can be used to store food items that require special attention. You can alter the feature using the slider located on the in the middle of the drawer. It is also possible to use this to set a general cooling setting for the entire fridge but I've noticed that adjusting the general settings tends produce better results than specific ones.
During my tests, the refrigerator's temperatures were fairly consistent across all areas of the refrigerator. The temperatures in the top and bottom of the fridge didn't vary significantly from 38 degrees, and even the middle of the fridge was within one degree of 36. This is a great performance but isn't quite at 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. You can also combine this fridge with a smart thermometer to get more precise measurements of your fridge's internal temperature.
The exterior of the Frigidaire is made from grey-bodied stainless with a "smudge resistant" finish. It is capable of removing streaks and fingerprints, even compared to glossier stainless steel finishes on other appliances I've tried.
Stephanie Cronk is the executive editor on Reviewed's Commerce/Product Reviews team and oversees the site's buyer's guides and test-product reviews. She has more than 15 years of commerce and publishing experience, primarily in retail and digital. Stephanie is passionate about finding and recommending the best products for consumers, with particular focus on home items and tech.