French Door Refrigerator With Ice Maker Review
Combining form and functionality, French-door refrigerators have stylish double doors that open to an expansive fridge on top and freezer drawer below. These refrigerators stand out because of their special features, including through-the-door dispensers as well as higher-end Ice makers.
We consulted Ladina Schopf - an interior designer, architect and founder of LS Projects - for her advice on how to choose the best one. They considered the capacity of storage, layout, energy efficiency, and other factors.
GE Profile Counter Depth French Door Refrigerator
Like its name implies, GE’s Profile series is aimed at consumers who want to incorporate cutting-edge technology into their kitchen. The refrigerator is brimming with features, from an in-the-door Keurig K-cup coffee maker to a smart 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 is an extra amount, I'd like to see higher quality.
Apart from that minor flaw however, this refrigerator is a fantastic choice. It has a large freezer compartment, which is quite uncommon in counter-depth French door refrigerators. Additionally, it can hold a decent amount of frozen foods as compared to similar models.
Inside the fridge, you'll find 17 shelves and compartments. The refrigerator compartment has 18.5 cubic feet of space, which is on the same as an French door fridge costing this much. It comes with a decent size freezer in the left side. But, it's not the largest one I've seen.
You can alter the shelves in both compartments to create custom storage setup for what you want to keep. The GE PYE22PYNFS's interior design is stylish, too. The LED lighting adds an attractive accent. The storage bins in the door have a third shelf which can be folded down to store tall objects. The drawers include temperature controls that let you set them to Meat, Beverage, or Deli settings. They're easy to open and close, however I found their textured plastic coatings to be a little rough on the fingers.
The GE PGE29BYTFS Smart Refrigerator has all the features you would expect from a refrigerator within this price range. It has Wi-Fi as well as app support, and GE's SmartHQ Software. The app is available for iOS and Android devices and lets you manage your refrigerator from anywhere across the globe. It also offers a lot of customization options. It also sends you notifications when a door is left open, when the fridge or freezer needs defrosting and when it's time to change the filter.
french door fridge ice maker would be nice it GE PYE22PYNFS offered Precise fill, an option found in a few GE refrigerators that allows users to set the amount of cups they wish to pour out. The fridge displays a countdown timer to display how much water is left but it's not as helpful as Precise fill.
Bosch Counter Depth French Door Refrigerator
It is designed to look like a seamless part of your kitchen Bosch's French-door refrigerator looks seamless and is one of a kind. The fridge uses fingerprint-resistant stainless steel, which is a great feature for busy households. It also has a veggie compartment which keeps vegetables and fruits fresher for longer and two compressors to preserve food. The Ice maker is among the best we've ever tested, and it produces a pyramid-shaped form of ice that is low in water consumption. This refrigerator is the ideal option for a single family or kitchenettes who want an integrated look and top-of-the-line food preservation.
This fridge was rated the most efficient in our Refrigerators Test due to a variety of reasons. The temperature of the freezer remained constant at just above 0°F and never changed by more than a fraction, this is crucial to prevent freezer burn. The fridge's fridge section also performed well, achieving the temperature that was set for the initial setting within a matter of hours and keeping that temperature steady throughout the course of our testing.
Bosch has a reputation for premium 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 as well as Bosch's Home Connect platform. This app lets you monitor and manage your fridge remotely using your tablet or smartphone. The refrigerator is expensive, however it has excellent features and functionality for the cost.
It's important to understand the limitations of the fridge. It has a limited shelf space, which means you'll require some creativity when storing tall items. Also the shelves aren't impervious to sprills and could be damaged or stained by sharp objects. It's easy to remove the trays in the fridge however, you must clean them regularly to prevent mold growth.
If you are considering this refrigerator, you should also check out 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 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. Inside, the fridge has a standard French-door layout with gallon-sized door bins on each door, two rows of shelves that capture spills and a set of sleeker drawers. The top shelf on the right side can be folded down to make space for tall items. There's also a full-width drawer for products from the deli and an inside water dispenser.
This refrigerator has a freezer with an ice maker making it simple to transfer frozen ice whenever you need it. The freezer also has innovative design features like sliding drawers that can help you sort your things. It also has a huge bin that can hold plenty of frozen food items and an storage bin for ice.
Smart InstaView panel is a cool feature of the refrigerator. You can manage the temperature, lighting, and other aspects of your fridge using your smartphone. It's a simple way to monitor your refrigerator and manage it, especially when you're not at home.
Although the Smart InstaView is a neat feature, it doesn't necessarily enhance the overall performance of the refrigerator. In fact, it took longer to defrost and chill food in this fridge than other refrigerators we tried. This could be due to its greater capacity.
The other issue we have with this refrigerator is its doors. They have sunken handles at the front, which allows shorter people to easily pull them open from the bottom, but they're still difficult for taller people to guide closed without slamming them. It would have been better if they came with a front-mounted handle.
The LG Counter-Depth MAX fridge is an excellent option for those who want to combine the look of a French door refrigerator with more efficient design. It has a capacity that is above average for counter-depth models and also cools evenly. It's also a little cheaper than the best counter-depth refrigerator with an ice maker, which helps make it an attractive option.
Frigidaire Counter Depth French Door Refrigerator
If you're looking for an French door fridge that doesn't cost you a fortune, this Frigidaire is a solid option. It has a simple design that isn't as striking in appearance as other models but it does have enough features to make it a good pick. Its most notable feature is the adjustable temperature drawer which helps keep food items such as meat and vegetables fresher for longer. It also comes with a large ice maker as well as a water dispenser.
Another feature that is worth mentioning is the "Chill Drawer" that sits above the two crisper bins. This drawer allows you to use the majority of the fridge's cooling power to the area so that you can store foods that require extra attention. This feature can be adjusted by using a slider located outside the drawer. It is also possible to use this to set a general cooling setting for the entire fridge but I've noticed that adjusting the generic settings tends to produce better results than specific ones.
In my tests, I found that the temperatures of the refrigerator were fairly consistent in various parts of the refrigerator. Temperatures in the top and bottom of the fridge didn't stray very far from 38 degrees, and the middle of the fridge was within one degree of 36. This is a solid performance, but doesn't quite make it to the top of 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. This fridge can be connected with a smart thermostat to get more accurate readings on the internal temperature of your fridge.
The Frigidaire FGHB2866PF's outside is made of grey-bodied stainless steel that has a "smudge-proof" finish. It does a great job of repelling fingerprints and streaks even when compared to the glossy stainless steel finishes on other appliances I've tested.
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 a particular focus on home items and technology.