French Door Refrigerator With Ice Maker Review
Melding form with function, French-door refrigerators come with elegant double doors that open to a spacious fridge up top and freezer drawer below. Special features like door-to-door dispensers, high-end ice machines and flex drawers that can be customized make them stand out from the crowd.
We consulted experts such as Ladina Schopf, interior designer and architect, as well as the founder of LS Projects, for tips on how to select the best one. They looked at storage capacity, layout and energy efficiency, among other factors.
GE Profile Counter Depth French Door Refrigerator
The name implies that the GE Profile series is targeted at consumers who want to incorporate cutting-edge features into their kitchen. This refrigerator has it all, from a Keurig K cup coffee maker in the door, to a clever dispenser of water. But these flourishes don't mask mediocre performance, especially in the refrigerator's freezer and an ineffective temperature-controlled drawer. This fridge is expensive, so I expected better.
Other than that, this fridge is a fantastic choice. It comes with a huge freezer compartment, which is quite uncommon in counter-depth French door refrigerators. Additionally, it holds a fair amount of frozen food when in comparison to similar models.
The fridge has 17 shelves and compartments. The refrigerator compartment has 18.5 cubic feet of space, which is about what you would expect from the size of a French door refrigerator that costs this much. It also has an adequate-sized icemaker that is tucked away in the left door, but it's not the biggest I've seen.
You can adjust the shelves in both compartments to create a the perfect storage solution. The interior design of the GE PYE22PYNFS is attractive. The LED lighting is a nice feature and the inside storage bins come with the third shelf, which folds down so that you can store tall items. The drawers include temperature controls that allow you to 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 bit hard on the fingers.
The GE PGE29BYTFS Smart Refrigerator has all the features you would expect from a refrigerator in this price range. It has Wi-Fi as well as app support and GE's SmartHQ Software. The app, which is available for iOS and Android devices, lets you control your refrigerator from anywhere in the world, and has numerous options for customization. It also sends you notifications when a door is left open, when the fridge or freezer is in need of defrosting, and when it's time to change the filter.
It is nice to have GE PYE22PYNFS could offer Precise Fill the option that is that is available in a few GE refrigerators that allow users to choose the number of cups they would like to pour out. It also has a countdown on the fridge's display to display how much water have remaining, but that's not as helpful as Precise Fill.
Bosch Counter Depth French Door Refrigerator
The Bosch French-door Refrigerator is an impressive product. It's designed to appear like it's a seamless part in your kitchen. The fridge uses fingerprint-resistant stainless steel, which is a great feature for busy households. It also comes with a veggie compartment that keeps fruits and vegetables fresher longer and dual compressors for maximum preservation of food. The ice maker we tested was one of the most efficient and produces the shape of a pyramid using only water. This refrigerator is the ideal option for households with a single member or kitchenettes that want a sleek design and top of the line food preservation.
This fridge was the top-rated refrigerator in our Refrigerators Test for a few reasons. The freezer temperatures remained steady at a level that was just above 0 degrees Fahrenheit and never moving more than a fraction of a degree--this is key to avoiding freezing burn. The refrigerator section of the fridge also performed well. It reached the initial temperature set within an hour, and remained at the temperature throughout our tests.
Bosch is a household name known for its top-quality appliances. It's therefore no surprise that the Bosch counter depth refrigerator can be connected to your home Wi Fi and Bosch's platform Home Connect. The app allows you to control and monitor your refrigerator remotely from your tablet or smartphone. The fridge is a bit expensive, however it has excellent features and functionality for the cost.
It's important to understand the limitations of the fridge. You may need to get creative with tall objects because the fridge has a small shelf space. Additionally, the shelves are not impervious to sprills and could be stained or damaged by sharp objects. The trays can be easily removed from the refrigerator. However, they should be cleaned regularly to prevent the growth of mold.
If you are considering this refrigerator, you should also 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 counter-depth refrigerator is a great choice for those who require a lot of space in a small frame. It has a sleek, fingerprint-resistant stainless-steel finish and features thick handles that make them comfortable to grip. The fridge has a standard French door design, and two rows of shelves that can be used to capture spills and a set of crisper drawers. The top shelf on the right can be folded in order to create more space for taller items. There's also a full-width drawer to store food items and an internal water dispenser.
One of the nice things about this refrigerator is that its Ice maker is located in the freezer, making it easy to move the ice to the refrigerator to be used when it is needed. The freezer also comes with thoughtful design features, such as sliding drawers that can help you organize your items. It also has a huge bin that can hold plenty of frozen food items as well as an additional storage bin for ice.
Another cool feature of this refrigerator is its Smart InstaView panel. It allows you to control the temperature of your fridge as well as lighting from your smartphone. It's a nice way to monitor and manage your refrigerator, especially when you're away from 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 food in this refrigerator than other refrigerators we tested. This is likely due to its larger capacity.
The doors are a different issue with this fridge. They have handles that are sunken on the front, which allow smaller people to pull them open from the bottom, however they're still difficult for taller people to steer closed without slamming the doors. It would have been better if they had front-mounted handles.
The LG Counter-Depth MAX fridge is an excellent option for those looking to blend the look of a French door refrigerator with more efficient design. Its capacity is superior to counter-depth models, and it cools evenly. It's also a little cheaper than the top counter-depth refrigerator that has an ice maker, which can make it an attractive option.
Frigidaire Counter Depth French Door Refrigerator
This Frigidaire French door refrigerator is a good option for those looking for a French-door fridge that won't break the budget. It has a simple design that's not as striking visually like some of the competitors however it comes with enough features to make it a good option. Its main feature is the adjustable temperature drawer that helps keep food items like veggies and meat fresher for longer. It also has a large water dispenser and a decent ice maker that operates quickly.
Another feature that is worth mentioning is the "Chill Drawer" that sits above the two crisper bins. The drawer lets you use the majority of your fridge's cooling power into the area so that you can keep food items that require extra attention. This feature can be adjusted by using a slider on the outside of the drawer. You can also use this feature to set a general cooling level for the whole fridge, though I've found that adjusting the generic settings tends to have a better effect than specific ones.
In my tests, the temperature of the refrigerator were fairly constant across the different areas of the refrigerator. The temperatures in the middle, top and bottom of the refrigerator did not differ significantly from 38 degrees. This is a pretty good performance, but it doesn't quite rank among the best in 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. You can also combine 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 gray-bodied stainless with a "smudge resistant" finish. It does an excellent job of repelling fingerprints and streaks even when compared to the glossier stainless steel finishes on other appliances 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 test-product reviews. She has over 15 years of experience in publishing and commerce mostly 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 technology.