French Door Refrigerator With Ice Maker Review
French-door refrigerators blend functionality and form. They have stylish double doors that reveal an enormous fridge on top, and a freezer drawer below. Special features like door-to-door dispensers, high-end ice machines and flex drawers that can be customized make them stand out from the rest.
We asked experts like Ladina Schopf, interior designer, architect, and founder of LS Projects, for tips on how to select the best one. We looked at the capacity of storage, layout, and energy efficiency among other aspects.
GE Profile Counter Depth French Door Refrigerator
Like the name suggests, the GE Profile series is geared towards consumers who want to incorporate cutting-edge technology into their kitchen. This fridge has them all, from the Keurig K cup coffee maker in the door to a sophisticated dispenser of water. But these flourishes don't mask mediocre performance, especially in the refrigerator's freezer and an ineffective temperature-controlled drawer. The refrigerator is expensive and I was expecting better.
This refrigerator is a good choice, despite the blip. It has a large freezer compartment, which is uncommon in counter-depth French door refrigerators. Furthermore, it can hold a decent amount of frozen food when as compared to similar models.
The fridge comes with 17 shelves and compartments. The fridge compartment offers 18.5 cubic feet of space, which is roughly on the same as the size of a French door fridge that costs this much. french door refrigerator freezer has a decent-sized icemaker in the left door. But it's not the most spacious one I've seen.
You can adjust the shelves in both compartments to make an individual storage solution. The interior design of the GE PYE22PYNFS is attractive. Its LED lighting is a nice feature and the storage bins come with an additional shelf that folds down to make it possible to store tall items. The drawers have temperature controls that allow you to set them to Meat, Beverage, or Deli settings. They're easy to open and close, although I found their textured plastic coatings to be a little rough on the fingers.
The GE PGE29BYTFS Smart Refrigerator comes with all the features you'd expect from a refrigerator in this price range. This includes Wi-Fi, app support and GE's SmartHQ Software. The app is compatible with iOS and Android devices and allows you to control your refrigerator from anywhere around the world. It also offers a lot of customization options. It will also send you notifications when the door is unlocked as well as when the fridge or freezer needs to be defrosted, and when the filter has to be changed.
It would be nice if GE PYE22PYNFS came with Precise Fill which is an option that is available in other GE fridges that allows you to set the number of cups of water you'd like to disperse at a time. The fridge displays a countdown to reveal how much water is left but it's not as helpful as Precise Fill.
Bosch Counter Depth French Door Refrigerator
It is designed to look as a seamless element 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 fruits and vegetables fresher longer and dual compressors to ensure maximum preservation of food. The Ice maker is among the most efficient we've ever tested and produces a pyramid-shaped ice that is low in water consumption. This fridge is the perfect option for a single family or kitchenettes who want a sleek design and top of the line 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° Fahrenheit and never changed more than a tiny fraction - this is crucial to prevent freezer burn. The fridge's refrigerator section also performed well, achieving the desired temperature for initial set within an hour and keeping that temperature steady throughout the course of our testing.
Bosch is a household name for its high-end appliances. It's therefore no surprise that Bosch's counter depth fridge Bosch counter depth refrigerator can be connected to your home Wi Fi and Bosch's platform Home Connect. This app allows you to monitor and control the refrigerator remotely using your tablet or smartphone. The refrigerator is expensive, however it has great features and capabilities for the cost.
It is crucial to be aware of the limitations of your fridge. You may need to get creative with tall items because the fridge has a limited shelf space. Additionally, the shelves are not completely sprillproof, and can easily be stained or damaged by sharp objects. The trays are easily removed from the fridge. However, they must be cleaned frequently to stop the growth of mold.
If you're thinking about buying this refrigerator, make sure to also 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 space into an extremely compact frame. It has a sleek, fingerprint-resistant stainless-steel finish and features thick handles that make them comfortable to grip. Inside, the fridge has a standard French-door layout with gallon-sized door bins on each door and two rows of shelves for spill-capture and a set of sleeker drawers. The top right shelf can be folded down to give taller items more headroom. You'll also find a full-width deli drawer and an internal water dispenser.
One of the best features of this refrigerator is that its Ice maker is located in the freezer, making it simple to move ice into the fridge to use as required. The freezer is designed with thoughtful elements, for instance, sliding drawers that help better organize the position of your items. It comes with a large bin for storing frozen food, and a separate bin for ice.
Smart InstaView panel is another awesome feature of the refrigerator. It allows you to manage the refrigerator's temperature, lighting, and more using your smartphone. It's a nice way to monitor and manage your refrigerator, especially when you're away from home.
The Smart InstaView feature is neat however it doesn't enhance the performance of the fridge. In fact it took a bit longer to defrost and chill foods in this fridge as compared to other fridges we tried. This is likely due to the bigger capacity.
The other issue we have with this refrigerator is its doors. The sunken handles let shorter people open them from the bottom. However, taller people still have a hard time closing them without slamming them. It would have been better if they came with a front-mounted handle.
The LG Counter-Depth MAX fridge is a great choice for those who want to combine the look of a French door refrigerator with an efficient design. Its capacity is above average for a counter-depth model and it cools evenly and has a great layout. It's also a little cheaper than the top counter-depth refrigerator that has an ice maker, which helps 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 fridge that doesn't break the budget. It's a simple fridge which may not be as eye-catching as some of its competitors, but it still has enough features to make a suitable choice. Its most important characteristic is the adjustable temperature drawer, which helps keep foods like meat and vegetables fresher for longer. It also comes with a huge water dispenser as well as a good ice maker that operates quickly.
The "Chill Drawer", which sits over the two crisper bins, is a excellent feature. The drawer allows you to divert some of the refrigerator's cooling power directly to this area, so you can keep food items that require extra attention. This feature is adjustable using an outside slider that is located inside the drawer. You can also set the general cooling settings for the entire fridge. I've noticed that the general settings work better than the specific ones.
During my tests, the temperature of the refrigerator stayed fairly consistent across different areas of the fridge. 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 a degree of 36. This is a great performance, but it doesn't quite rank among the best in 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. This fridge can be paired with a smart thermostat in order to obtain more precise readings of the internal temperature of your fridge.
The Frigidaire FGHB2866PF's outside is made of grey-bodied stainless steel that has a "smudge-proof" finish. It repels fingerprints and streaks better than other stainless steel finishes I've tested.
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 retail and digital. Stephanie is adamant about finding the best products and recommending them to customers. She focuses on home goods and technology.