French Door Refrigerator With Ice Maker Review
Melding form with function, French-door refrigerators come with stylish double doors that open up to a spacious fridge up the top and a freezer drawer below. Special features like door-to-door dispensers, higher-end ice machines, and customizable flex drawers make them stand out from the crowd.
We consulted Ladina Schopf - interior designer, architect and founder of LS Projects - for her advice on how to choose the right home. They considered the capacity of storage as well as layout and energy efficiency, among other aspects.
GE Profile Counter Depth French Door Refrigerator
The name of the series suggests that GE’s Profile series is targeted at those who wish to integrate cutting-edge features in their kitchen. This refrigerator is packed 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. Given that this fridge costs a premium, I expect better.
Aside from that blip, this fridge is a fantastic choice. It has a huge freezer compartment, which is unusual for counter-depth French-door fridges. It also holds plenty of frozen food compared to other models.
Inside the fridge, there are 17 shelves and compartments. The refrigerator compartment is 18.5 cubic feet, which is the standard for a French-door fridge at this price. It also has a decent sized ice maker that is tucked away in the left door, but it's not the biggest I've seen.
You can adjust the shelving in each compartment to create a custom storage setup for the items you need to store. The interior design of the GE PYE22PYNFS is also attractive. Its LED lighting is a nice touch and the storage bins have an additional shelf that folds up beneath itself so that you can store large items. The drawers include temperature controls that let you set them to Meat, Beverage, or Deli settings. The drawers are simple to shut and open however I found the textured plastic coatings a bit hard on my fingers.
The GE PGE29BYTFS Smart Refrigerator comes with the all the features you'd expect from a refrigerator in this price range with Wi-Fi and app support via GE's SmartHQ software. The app, which is available for iOS and Android devices allows you to control your fridge from anywhere in the world, and offers numerous options for customization. It also alerts you when doors are left open, when the fridge or freezer needs to be defrosted and when it's time to change the filter.
It would be nice if GE PYE22PYNFS had Precise Fill, an option found in a few GE refrigerators that allows users to choose the amount of cups they wish to disperse. It does have an indicator on the fridge's display to show how much water you have remaining, but that's not as useful as Precise Fill.
Bosch Counter Depth French Door Refrigerator
Designed to look like a seamless part 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 boasts a veggie compartment that keeps fruits and vegetables fresher longer and dual compressors to ensure the best preservation of food. The ice maker we tested was one of the most efficient, and it produces an ice pyramid with only a little water. This refrigerator is ideal for a small household or a kitchenette that wants an elegant design and top of the highest quality food preservation.
This fridge was rated the best in our Refrigerators Test for several reasons. The temperature of the freezer remained stable at just above 0 degrees Fahrenheit and never fluctuating more than a fraction of an inch. This is essential in preventing freezer burn. The fridge's fridge section also performed well, achieving the desired temperature for initial set within a matter of hours and keeping that temperature steady throughout the course of our testing.
Bosch has a reputation for high-end appliances and appliances, so it's not a surprise that this counter-depth refrigerator is also a smart appliance that has the option to connect to your home Wi-Fi and Bosch's Home Connect platform. The app allows you to control and monitor the refrigerator remotely using your tablet or smartphone. The refrigerator is costly, but offers great features and capabilities at a reasonable price.
While the fridge is an amazing piece of equipment, it's important to know the limitations. It is possible to be creative with tall items because the fridge is limited in shelf space. Also the shelves aren't sprillproof and can be easily stained or damaged by sharp objects. french door fridge freezers to remove the trays from the fridge however, you must clean them regularly to prevent the growth of mold.
If you're thinking about buying this refrigerator, make sure to read our reviews of the French Door GE Appliances 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 in the frame's compact size. It has a sleek, fingerprint-resistant stainless-steel finish and features thick handles that make them comfortable to grip. Inside, the refrigerator has an ordinary French-door design with gallon-sized door bins on each door as well as two rows of shelves for spill-capture and a set more spacious drawers. The top right shelf can be folded down to give taller items more space. There's also a full-width drawer for products from the deli and an inside water dispenser.
This refrigerator is equipped with an ice maker, making it simple to transfer frozen ice as needed. The freezer features thoughtful design elements, for instance, sliding drawers that help better organize the position of your items. It also has a large container for storing frozen food and a separate bin for ice.
Smart InstaView panel is another cool feature of the refrigerator. It lets you control the temperature of your fridge, lighting, and more via your smartphone. It's a great method of monitoring and managing your refrigerator, especially when you're away from home.
But while the Smart InstaView is a neat feature, it doesn't necessarily add to the overall performance of the refrigerator. In fact, it took longer to defrost and chill foods in this fridge as compared to other fridges we tried. This is likely due to the larger capacity.
The doors pose a problem with this refrigerator. The handles that are sunken let shorter people open them from the bottom. However taller people have a hard time closing them without slamming them. It would have been better if they had a front-mounted handle.
The LG Counter-Depth MAX fridge is an excellent choice for those who want to combine the look and feel of a French-door refrigerator with more efficient design. Its capacity is superior for a counter-depth model, and it cools well and has a nice layout. It's also a little cheaper than the top counter-depth refrigerators that have an ice maker, which helps make it a popular choice.
Frigidaire Counter Depth French Door Refrigerator
If you're looking for a French door fridge that doesn't cost you a fortune, this Frigidaire is a good choice. It's a simple fridge that might not be as attractive as some of its competitors however it has enough features to make it a suitable option. Its main characteristic is the adjustable temperature drawer which helps keep food items such as meat and vegetables fresher for longer. It also comes with a huge ice maker as well as a water dispenser.
Another great feature is the "Chill Drawer" that sits over the two crisper bins. This drawer lets you redirect a portion of the refrigerator's cooling power directly to this area, which means you can keep food items that need extra attention. You can alter this feature by using a slider that's located right on the outside of the drawer. You can also alter the general cooling settings for the entire fridge. I've noticed that the general settings work better than the specific ones.
In my tests, I found that the temperatures of the refrigerator were fairly consistent in various parts of the refrigerator. The temperatures in the middle, top and bottom of the refrigerator did not differ significantly from 38 degrees. This is a good performance, but it isn't quite at the top of our rankings.
french door fridge freezer 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 get more accurate readings on the internal temperature of your fridge.
The Frigidaire FGHB2866PF's exterior is made of stainless steel with a grey-bodied body with a "smudge-proof" finish. It does a great job of repelling fingerprints and streaks even when compared with glossier stainless steel finishes on other appliances I've tried.
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 committed to finding and recommending the most effective products for consumers, with a an emphasis on home products and tech.