French Door Refrigerator With Ice Maker Review
Melding form with functionality, French-door refrigerators have elegant double doors that open up to an expansive fridge on the top and a freezer drawer beneath. Special features like door-to-door dispensers, higher-end ice machines and adjustable flex drawers make them stand out from the crowd.
We asked experts like Ladina Schopf, interior designer and architect, as well as the founder of LS Projects, for tips on how to select the best one. They considered the capacity of storage, layout, and energy efficiency among other factors.
GE Profile Counter Depth French Door Refrigerator
As the name suggests, GE's Profile series targets consumers who want to incorporate cutting-edge features into their kitchen. This fridge is loaded 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 costs more, I'd expect better.
This fridge is a great option, despite the slight blip. It has a large freezer compartment, which is quite uncommon in counter-depth French door fridges, and it can hold a decent amount of frozen food compared to similar models.
Inside the fridge, you'll find 17 shelves and compartments. The refrigerator compartment is 18.5 cubic feet, which is the standard for a French-door refrigerator at this price. It has a decent-sized refrigerator with an ice maker in the left door. However it's not the most spacious one I've seen.
You can adjust the shelves in both compartments to create a an individual storage solution. The GE PYE22PYNFS's design for the interior is stylish, too. Its LED lighting is a nice addition, and the in-door storage bins have the third shelf, which can fold down to allow you to store large items. The drawers include temperature controls that let you set them to Meat, Beverage, or Deli settings. They're easy to open and close, but I found their plastic textured coatings to be a little hard on the fingers.
The GE PGE29BYTFS Smart Refrigerator is equipped with a all the features you'd expect from a fridge at this price with Wi-Fi and app support through GE's SmartHQ software. The app, available for iOS and Android devices can let you control your fridge from anywhere in world, and has a ton of customization options. It also alerts you when a door is left open, when your fridge or freezer is in need of defrosting, and when it's time to change the filter.
It is nice if GE PYE22PYNFS had Precise Fill, an option found in a few GE refrigerators that allow users to select the amount of cups they wish to dispense. The fridge shows a countdown to display how much water is left however it's not as helpful as Precise fill.
Bosch Counter Depth French Door Refrigerator
The Bosch French-door Refrigerator is a striking piece. It's designed to appear 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 has a vegetable compartment that keeps vegetables and fruits fresher for longer, and two compressors for the best preservation of food. The ice maker we tested was one of the most efficient and makes pyramid shaped ice using minimal water. This fridge is ideal for a single household or a kitchenette with 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 freezer temperature remained steady at just above 0° Fahrenheit and never fluctuated more than a tiny fraction - this is crucial to avoid freezer burn. The fridge's fridge section also performed well, achieving the temperature that was set for the initial setting within an hour and maintaining the temperature constant over the course of our tests.
Bosch has a reputation for top-of-the-line appliances, so it's no surprise that this counter depth refrigerator is also a smart appliance with the option to connect to your home Wi-Fi and Bosch's Home Connect platform. The app lets you monitor and control your refrigerator remotely from your smartphone or tablet. The fridge is expensive, but offers great features and functions at a reasonable cost.
While the fridge is a fantastic piece of equipment however, it is important to understand the limitations. You may need to get inventive with tall items since the fridge is limited in shelf space. Additionally, the shelves are not sprillproof and can be easily damaged or stained by sharp objects. The trays are easily removed from the fridge. However, they must be cleaned regularly to prevent the growth of mold.
If you are considering this refrigerator, you should also look over our review of the French Door GE Appliances Refrigerator and the Bosch Bottom Freezer Refrigerator.
LG Counter Depth French Door Refrigerator
The LG LRFLC2706S counter-depth fridge is a great option for those who require plenty of space in an extremely compact frame. It has a sleek, fingerprint-resistant stainless-steel finish and features thick handles that make them comfortable to grip. The fridge has the standard French door design, with two rows of shelves that can be used to capture spills and a set crisper drawers. The top shelf on the right can be folded in order to create more space for tall items. 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 simple to transfer frozen ice whenever you need it. The freezer also has clever design features, such as sliding drawers that allow you to organize your items. It also has a huge bin that holds plenty of frozen food items as well as an storage bin for ice.
Smart InstaView panel is another cool feature of the refrigerator. You can manage the temperature, lighting, and other aspects of your fridge using your smartphone. It's a simple method to monitor your fridge and manage it, especially when not at home.
But while the Smart InstaView is a neat feature, it does not necessarily improve the overall performance of the refrigerator. In fact it took longer to defrost and chill foods in this fridge than some of the others we test. This is likely due to the greater capacity.
The other issue we have with this refrigerator is its doors. They have sunken handles on the front that allow shorter people to easily open them from the bottom, however they're still difficult for taller people to pull closed without slamming them. It would have been better if these had front-mounted handles.
The LG Counter-Depth MAX is a ideal choice for those who want to combine the advantages of a French-door fridge's aesthetics with an efficient layout. Its capacity is higher than average for counter-depth models, and it cools evenly. It's also a bit less than the top counter-depth refrigerator that has an ice maker, which helps make it a popular choice.
Frigidaire Counter Depth French Door Refrigerator
This Frigidaire French door refrigerator is a good choice if you want a French-door refrigerator that doesn't cost a lot of budget. It's a basic refrigerator that might not be as eye-catching like some of its competitors, but it still has enough features to make a an excellent option. Its most important feature is the temperature adjustable drawer, which helps keep foods such as meat and vegetables fresher for longer. It also has a large water dispenser as well as a good ice machine that works fast.
Another great feature is the "Chill Drawer" that sits over the two crisper bins. french door fridge freezers lets you divert part of the refrigerator's cooling power directly to this area, which means you can keep food items that require extra attention. You can adjust this feature using the slider located on the on the outside of the drawer. You can also use this feature to set a general cooling level for the entire fridge, however, I've found that changing the general settings tends to be more effective than specific ones.
In my tests, the temperature of the refrigerator were fairly constant across the different areas of the fridge. The temperatures in the middle, top and bottom of the refrigerator did not differ significantly from 38 degrees. This is a pretty good performance however it doesn't 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. You can also connect this fridge to a smart thermometer to get more precise readings of the internal temperature of your fridge.
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 is the executive editor of Reviewed's Commerce/Product Reviews team and oversees the site's buyer's guide and review of test products. She has more than 15 years of experience in publishing and commerce, primarily digital and retail. Stephanie is committed to finding and recommending the best products for consumers, with particular focus on home items and technology.