French Door Refrigerator With Ice Maker Review
Combining form and functionality, French-door refrigerators have stylish double doors that open up to an enormous fridge on the top and a freezer drawer beneath. Special features such as through-the-door dispensers, high-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 the founder of LS Projects - for her advice on how to choose the best one. They considered storage capacity as well as layout and energy efficiency, among other features.
GE Profile Counter Depth French Door Refrigerator
Like its name implies, the GE Profile series is aimed at those who wish to integrate cutting-edge features in their kitchens. The refrigerator is brimming with features, 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. This fridge is expensive and I expected more.
Aside from that blip, this fridge is a great choice. It has a large freezer compartment, which is uncommon in counter-depth French door fridges, and it can hold a decent amount of frozen foods compared to similar models.
The fridge is equipped with 17 shelves and compartments. The fridge compartment is 18.5 cubic feet of space, which is about par for the size of a French door fridge that costs this much. It also has a decent-sized icemaker packed into the left door, but it isn't the largest I've seen.
You can adjust the shelves in both compartments to create customized storage layout for the items you need to store. The interior design of the GE PYE22PYNFS is also attractive. The LED lighting is a nice feature, and the in-door storage bins feature the third shelf, which folds down to make it possible to store items that are tall. The drawers are equipped with temperature controls, so you can set them for Meat, Beverage, or Deli settings. They're easy to open and close, but I found their plastic textured coatings a bit difficult on the fingers.
The GE PGE29BYTFS Smart Refrigerator includes 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 is compatible with iOS and Android devices and lets you manage your refrigerator from anywhere in the globe. It also has many options for customization. It will also send 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 the GE PYE22PYNFS had Precise Fill, an option available in a few other GE fridges that allow you to choose how many cups of water you'd like to dispense at a time. It does offer a countdown on the display of the fridge to display how much water have remaining, but that's not as helpful as Precise Fill.
Bosch Counter Depth French Door Refrigerator
It is designed to look like a seamless piece of your kitchen Bosch's French-door refrigerator looks seamless and is a standout. The fridge uses fingerprint-resistant stainless steel, which is a great feature for busy households. french door fridge freezers has a vegetable compartment to keep vegetables and fruits fresher longer and has dual compressors to ensure the best preservation of food. The Ice maker we tested is one of the most efficient and makes an ice pyramid with only a little water. This refrigerator is ideal for a single household or a kitchenette that wants an elegant design and top of the highest quality food preservation.
The fridge was rated the best refrigerator in our Refrigerators test, for several reasons. Its freezer temperatures held firm at a level that was just above 0 degrees Fahrenheit, and never fluctuating by more than a fraction an inch. This is essential in preventing freezing burn. The fridge section of the refrigerator also performed well. It reached the initial temperature set within a matter of hours, and remained at that temperature throughout our testing.
Bosch is known for its top-of-the-line appliances, so it's no surprise that this counter depth refrigerator is also a smart appliance with the option of connecting to your home Wi-Fi and Bosch's Home Connect platform. This app allows you to monitor and control your fridge remotely from your tablet or smartphone. The refrigerator is costly, but offers great features and functionality at a reasonable cost.
While the fridge is an incredible piece of equipment but it's important to be aware of the limitations. You may need to get inventive with tall items since the fridge is limited in shelf space. Additionally the shelves aren't sprillproof and can be easily stained or damaged by sharp objects. It's easy to remove the trays from the fridge However, be sure to keep them clean to avoid mold growth.
If you are thinking about this refrigerator, make sure you look over our review of the GE Appliances French Door Refrigerator and the Bosch Bottom Freezer Refrigerator.
LG Counter Depth French Door Refrigerator
The LG LRFLC2706S is a great counter-depth refrigerator that packs a lot of storage in 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 the standard French-door layout, with gallon-sized door bins at each door, two rows of shelves for spill-capture and a set crisper drawers. The top shelf on the right can be folded to provide more space for taller items. There's also a full-width drawer to store products from the deli and an inside water dispenser.
The refrigerator comes with an ice maker making it easy to transfer the frozen ice whenever you need it. The freezer also has thoughtful design features, like sliding drawers that allow you to organize your belongings. It also has a large bin that holds plenty of frozen food items as well as an ice storage bin.
Smart InstaView panel is another cool feature of the refrigerator. You can manage the temperature, lighting and more of your fridge from your smartphone. It's a nice way to control and monitor your refrigerator, especially if you're away from home.
The Smart InstaView feature is neat however it doesn't improve the efficiency of the fridge. This fridge took longer to chill food and defrost it than some others we test. This is likely due to its larger capacity.
The doors are another problem with this refrigerator. The handles that are sunken let shorter people open them from the bottom. However, taller people still have a difficult time closing them without slamming. french style fridge freezer would have been better to have front-mounted handles.
The LG Counter-Depth MAX is a good choice for those who want to combine the advantages of a French-door refrigerator's aesthetics with a more efficient layout. It has a capacity that is above average for counter-depth models and is able to cool evenly. It's also less expensive than the best counter depth refrigerator that comes with an icemaker, which makes it an attractive option.
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 great choice. It's a basic design that isn't as striking visually as other models, but it has enough features to make it a good 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 huge water dispenser as well as a good Ice machine that is fast.
The "Chill Drawer", which sits above the two crisper bins, is another excellent feature. This drawer lets you redirect a portion of the refrigerator's cooling power directly into this area, so you can keep food items that need extra attention. You can adjust this feature using a slider that's located right on the outside of the drawer. You can also adjust the general cooling settings for the entire fridge. I've noticed that the generic settings work better than the specific ones.
During my tests, the refrigerator's temperatures stayed fairly consistent across different areas of the fridge. The temperatures in the top and bottom of the fridge didn't stray significantly from 38 degrees, and the middle of the fridge was within a degree of 36. That's a good performance, but it doesn't quite rank among the best in 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. You can also pair this fridge with a smart thermometer for more precise readings of the internal temperature of your fridge.
The exterior of the Frigidaire is made of grey-bodied stainless 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 over 15 years of experience in publishing and commerce mostly in retail and digital. Stephanie is enthusiastic about finding and recommending the most effective products for consumers, with a focus on home goods and tech.