French Door Refrigerator With Ice Maker Review
French-door fridges combine functionality and form. They come with stylish double doors that show the large fridge on top and a freezer drawer beneath. These refrigerators stand out because of their special features, such as through-the-door dispensers and higher-end ice makers.
We asked Ladina Schopf - an interior designer, architect and the founder of LS Projects - for her suggestions on how to pick the right home. They considered the capacity of storage and layout and energy efficiency as well as other factors.
GE Profile Counter Depth French Door Refrigerator
As the name suggests, GE's Profile series targets the consumer who wants to incorporate cutting-edge technologies into their kitchen. This refrigerator has it all, from the Keurig K cup coffee maker inside the door to a smart dispenser of water. But these flourishes don't mask mediocre performance, especially in the refrigerator's freezer and an ineffective temperature-controlled drawer. Since this refrigerator costs a premium, I expect better.
Aside from that blip the fridge is a great choice. It features a large freezer compartment, which is unusual for counter-depth French-door refrigerators. It also holds a lot of frozen food, which is a big difference from other models.
The fridge has 17 shelves and compartments. The fridge compartment is 18.5 cubic feet of space, which is about what you would expect from the size of a French door fridge that costs this much. It also has a decent sized ice maker in the left-hand door, although it's not the largest I've seen.
You can adjust the shelves in both compartments to create a customized storage layout for whatever you have to keep. The GE PYE22PYNFS's design for the interior is good-looking, too. The LED lighting is a nice touch. The bins for storage inside have a third shelf which can be folded down to store tall items. The drawers come with temperature controls that allow you to set them to Meat, Beverage, or Deli settings. The drawers are easy to open and shut, but I found the plastic's textured coatings to be a bit rough on my fingers.
The GE PGE29BYTFS Smart Refrigerator includes all the features you'd expect from a refrigerator within this price range. This includes Wi-Fi, app support and GE's SmartHQ Software. The app is compatible with iOS and Android devices and lets you manage your refrigerator from anywhere across the globe. It also comes with a lot of customization options. It will also send notifications when the door is unlocked, when the fridge or freezer needs to be defrosted, and when the filter requires a change.
It is nice if the GE PYE22PYNFS came with Precise Fill which is an option that is available in a few other GE fridges that allows you to set the number of cups of water you'd like to disperse at a time. It does offer a countdown on the fridge's display to show how much water you have left, but it's not as helpful as Precise fill.
Bosch Counter Depth French Door Refrigerator
Created to appear like a seamless piece 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 to keep fruits and vegetables fresher longer, and two compressors to ensure the best food preservation. The ice maker is one of the most efficient we've ever tested and produces pyramid-shaped Ice with low use of water. This fridge is perfect for a small household or kitchenette that needs a built-in appearance and top-of-the best food preservation.
This fridge was rated as the top in our Refrigerators Test for a variety of reasons. The temperature of the freezer remained stable at just above 0 degrees Fahrenheit and never fluctuating more than a fraction of one degree. This is crucial to avoiding freezer burn. The fridge's refrigerator section also performed well, reaching the desired temperature for initial set within a matter of hours and keeping the temperature constant over the course of our testing.
Bosch is known for its top-quality appliances. Therefore, it's 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. The app lets you monitor and control your fridge remotely from your tablet or smartphone. The fridge is expensive however, it offers excellent features and functionality at a reasonable price.
It's important to understand the limitations of the fridge. It has a narrow space for shelves, so you'll require some creativity when storing tall objects. Also, the shelves are not sprillproof and can be easily damaged or stained by sharp objects. It's easy to remove the refrigerator trays However, be sure to clean them regularly to prevent the growth of mold.
If you're considering this refrigerator, be sure to also 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 counter-depth refrigerator is a great choice for those who need lots of space within 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 an ordinary French-door design with gallon-sized door bins at each door, two rows of shelves for spill-capture, and a set of sleeker drawers. The top shelf on the right can be folded down to give taller items more room. There's also a full-width drawer to store deli items and an internal water dispenser.
This refrigerator is equipped with an ice maker making it simple to transfer frozen ice as needed. The freezer also has clever design features, like sliding drawers that help you organize your belongings. It also has a large bin that holds plenty of frozen food items and an additional container for storing ice.
Smart InstaView panel is a cool feature of the refrigerator. You can control the temperature, lighting, and other aspects of your refrigerator from your smartphone. It's a good way to monitor and manage your refrigerator, especially if you're away from home.
The Smart InstaView feature is neat, but it doesn't necessarily improve the performance of the fridge. The fridge took a bit longer to defrost food and chill it than the other fridges we test. This could be due to the larger capacity.
The doors pose a problem with this refrigerator. They have handles that are sunken at the front, which allows shorter people to easily open them from the bottom, but they're difficult for taller people to steer closed without slamming the doors. It would have been better if they came with a front-mounted handle.
The LG Counter-Depth MAX is a excellent option for those looking to combine the benefits of a French-door refrigerator's aesthetics with a more efficient layout. It has a capacity that is higher than average for counter-depth models and is able to cool evenly. It's also a bit cheaper than the most expensive counter depth refrigerators that have an ice maker, 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 and isn't expensive, this Frigidaire is a solid option. It's a simple fridge that might not be as attractive as some of its competitors, but it still has enough features to make a an excellent choice. Its most important characteristic is the adjustable temperature drawer that helps keep food items like veggies and meat fresher for longer. It also comes with a huge ice maker and a water dispenser.
Another nice feature is the "Chill Drawer" that sits over the two crisper bins. This drawer allows you to direct a portion of your fridge's cooling power to this area, so it can be used to store food items that require special attention. You can adjust this feature 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 have found that the general settings work better than the specific ones.
During my experiments, I noticed that the temperatures in the refrigerator were fairly consistent in different areas of the fridge. The temperatures in the top and bottom of the fridge did not vary significantly from 38 degrees, and even the middle of the fridge was within one degree of 36. This is a pretty 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. This fridge can be paired with a smart thermostat to gain more precise information on the internal temperature of your fridge.
in the know of the Frigidaire is made of grey-bodied stainless that has a "smudge resistant" finish. It repels fingerprints and streaks better than other stainless steel finishes I've seen.
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, mostly in digital and retail. Stephanie is passionate about finding and recommending the top products for consumers, with particular focus on home items and tech.