French Door Refrigerator With Ice Maker Review
Melding form with function, French-door refrigerators offer elegant double doors that open up to an expansive fridge on top and freezer drawer below. These refrigerators stand out due to their distinctive features, like through-the-door dispensers and higher-end Ice makers.
We asked experts like Ladina Schopf, interior designer, architect, and founder of LS Projects, for tips on how to select the best one. They considered storage capacity as well as layout, energy efficiency, and other aspects.
GE Profile Counter Depth French Door Refrigerator
The name implies that GE's Profile series is geared towards the consumer who wants to incorporate cutting-edge technology in their kitchen. This fridge has them all including the Keurig K cup coffee maker inside 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. This refrigerator is costly and I expected more.
This refrigerator is a good choice, despite the blip. It has a huge freezer compartment, which is unusual for counter-depth French-door refrigerators. It also holds plenty of frozen food compared to other models.
The fridge comes with 17 shelves and compartments. The fridge compartment offers 18.5 cubic feet of space, which is on the same as an French door fridge costing this much. It 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 create a custom storage setup for whatever you have to keep. The GE PYE22PYNFS's interior design is attractive, too. Its LED lighting is a nice feature and the inside storage bins feature the third shelf, which 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. They're easy to open and close, however I found their textured plastic coatings a bit hard 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 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 world, and offers a ton of customization options. It also gives you notifications when doors are left open, when your fridge or freezer needs to be defrosted and when it's time to change the filter.
It would be great if GE PYE22PYNFS could offer Precise Fill, an option available in a handful of GE refrigerators that allows users to choose how many cups they want to dispense. The fridge shows a countdown to reveal how much water is left however it's not as useful as Precise fill.
Bosch Counter Depth French Door Refrigerator
The Bosch French-door Refrigerator is a striking piece. It's designed to look like it's a seamless component of your kitchen. The fridge uses fingerprint-resistant stainless steel, which is a great feature for busy households. It also has a veggie compartment that keeps vegetables and fruits fresher for longer periods, and dual compressors to preserve food. The Ice maker is among the most efficient we've ever tested and produces pyramid-shaped ice with a low use of water. This refrigerator is the ideal option for households with a single member or kitchenettes looking for a sleek design and top of the line food preservation.
This fridge was rated as the most efficient in our Refrigerators Test for several reasons. The freezer temperature remained steady at just above 0°F and never changed by more than a fraction, this is crucial to prevent freezer burn. The fridge section of the fridge also performed well. It reached the initial temperature within an hour, and remained at that temperature throughout our testing.
Bosch is known for its top-quality appliances. It's therefore no surprise that Bosch's counter depth fridge Bosch counter depth fridge can be connected to your home Wi Fi and Bosch's Home Connect. The app lets you monitor and control your fridge from your smartphone or tablet. The fridge is expensive however, it offers excellent features and functions at a reasonable price.
While the fridge is a fantastic appliance but it's important to be aware of the limitations. It is possible to be creative with tall objects because the fridge has a small shelf space. The shelves are not resistant to spills and are easily stained or damaged by sharp items. It's simple to remove the trays in the fridge However, be sure to clean them frequently to prevent the growth of mold.
If you're thinking of buying this refrigerator, make sure to check out 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 an excellent counter-depth refrigerator that packs plenty 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 features an ordinary French door design, with two rows of shelving with spill-capture and a set of crisper drawers. The top shelf to the right can be folded in order to create more space for tall items. You'll also find a full width drawer for deli items and an internal water dispenser.
This refrigerator is equipped with an ice maker, making it easy to move the frozen ice as needed. The freezer also comes with clever design features, like sliding drawers that help you sort your things. It comes with a large bin for storing frozen food, and a separate container for ice.
Smart InstaView panel is a cool feature of the refrigerator. It lets you manage the refrigerator's temperature, lighting, and more using your smartphone. It's an easy way to keep track of your refrigerator and manage it, especially when not at home.
Although the Smart InstaView is a neat feature, it doesn't improve the overall performance of the refrigerator. In fact it took a bit longer to defrost and chill foods in this fridge as compared to other fridges we tried. This could be due to the greater capacity.
Another issue with this refrigerator is its doors. The handles that are sunken allow shorter people to open them from the bottom. However, taller people still have a hard time closing them without slamming them. It would have been much better to have front-mounted handles.
The LG Counter-Depth MAX is a ideal choice for those who want to combine the benefits of a French-door fridge's aesthetics with an efficient layout. It has a capacity that is above average for counter-depth models, and it cools evenly. french door refrigerator freezer 's also less expensive than the best counter depth refrigerator that comes with an ice maker, which makes it an attractive choice.
Frigidaire Counter Depth French Door Refrigerator
If you're looking for a French door refrigerator that won't break the bank this Frigidaire is a solid option. It's a minimalist design that's not as striking in appearance like some of the competitors but it does have enough features to make it a good choice. Its most important feature, the adjustable temperature drawer, helps to keep food items like meat and vegetables fresher for longer. It also comes with a huge ice maker as well as a water dispenser.
Another nice feature is the "Chill Drawer" that sits above the two crisper bins. This drawer lets you divert a portion of the refrigerator's cooling power directly into this area, so you can put away food items that require special attention. You can adjust this feature by using an adjustable slider that is located just outside of the drawer. You can also adjust the general cooling settings for the entire fridge. I've noticed that the generic settings are more effective than the specific ones.
During my tests, I discovered that the temperatures of the refrigerator were fairly consistent in different parts of the fridge. The temperatures in the middle, top and bottom of the fridge didn't differ significantly from 38 degrees. That's a good performance, but it doesn't quite make it into the top ten 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. You can also connect this fridge to an intelligent thermometer to get more precise readings of your fridge's temperature.
The exterior of the Frigidaire is made from grey-bodied stainless with a "smudge resistant" 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 and product test reviews. She has more than 15 years of publishing and commerce experience, with a focus on digital and retail. Stephanie is adamant about finding the best products and recommending them to customers. She is particularly interested in home goods and technology.