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 the top and a freezer drawer beneath. Special features such as through-the-door dispensers, higher-end ice machines and flex drawers that can be customized make them stand out from the crowd.
We sought out experts like Ladina Schopf, an interior designer, architect, and founder of LS Projects, for tips on choosing the right model. They looked at the capacity of storage, layout, and energy efficiency among other factors.
GE Profile Counter Depth French Door Refrigerator
Like its name implies, GE’s Profile series is aimed at people who want to incorporate cutting-edge technologies into their kitchens. This fridge is loaded with them all, from the Keurig K cup coffee maker in 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 is an extra amount, I'd like to see higher quality.
Aside from that blip the fridge is a fantastic choice. It has a huge freezer compartment which is uncommon for counter-depth French-door refrigerators. It also holds a lot of frozen food compared to other models.
The fridge comes with 17 shelves and compartments. The fridge compartment is 18.5 cubic feet of space, which is about par for a French door refrigerator that costs this much. It also has an adequate-sized icemaker in the left door, but it's not the largest I've seen.
You can alter the shelving in both compartments to create custom storage setup for whatever you have to keep. The GE PYE22PYNFS's interior design is stylish, too. Its LED lighting is a nice addition and the storage bins feature a third shelf that folds up beneath itself to make it possible to store items that are tall. The drawers come with temperature controls that let you set them to Meat, Beverage, or Deli settings. The drawers are simple to shut and open, but I found the plastic's textured coatings a bit hard on my fingers.
The GE PGE29BYTFS Smart Refrigerator is equipped with a complete set of features you'd expect from a refrigerator in this price range with Wi-Fi and app support via GE's SmartHQ software. The app is available for iOS and Android devices and allows you to manage your refrigerator from anywhere across the globe. It also has numerous options for customizing. It also sends you notifications when a door is left open, when your fridge or freezer is in need of defrosting, and when it's time to change the filter.
It would be great it GE PYE22PYNFS had Precise Fill which is a feature that is available in a few GE refrigerators that allow users to choose the number of cups they would like to disperse. It also has a countdown feature on the display of the fridge to display how much water have left, but it's not as effective as Precise Fill.
Bosch Counter Depth French Door Refrigerator
The Bosch French-door Refrigerator is a striking piece. It's designed to appear like a seamless piece in your kitchen. The fridge uses fingerprint-resistant stainless steel, which is a great feature for busy households. It also features a veggie compartment that keeps vegetables and fruits fresher for longer and dual compressors to preserve food items. The ice maker is one of the top we've tested and produces pyramid-shaped ice that is low in water consumption. This refrigerator is the ideal option for a single family or kitchenettes that want an integrated look and top of the line food preservation.
This refrigerator was the highest-rated refrigerator in our Refrigerators test for several reasons. Its freezer temperatures remained constant at just above 0°F and never fluctuated more than a fraction - this is crucial to prevent freezer burn. The fridge's fridge section also performed well, achieving the desired temperature for initial set within an hour and keeping the temperature constant over the course of our tests.
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 Home Connect. This app allows you to monitor and control your refrigerator remotely on your tablet or smartphone. The fridge is expensive, but it offers great features and capabilities for the cost.
While the fridge is an amazing appliance however, it is important to understand the limitations. It has a small shelf space, so you'll need to be creative when it comes to storing large items. The shelves aren't spillproof and can easily be stained or damaged by sharp items. The trays are easily removed from the fridge. However, they must be cleaned regularly to prevent the growth of mold.
If you're thinking about buying this refrigerator, make sure to also check out our reviews of the GE Appliances French Door Refrigerator and the Bosch Bottom Freezer Refrigerator.
LG Counter Depth French Door Refrigerator
The LG LRFLC2706S is a top counter-depth refrigerator that packs a lot of storage in a compact frame. It has a sleek, fingerprint-resistant stainless-steel finish and features thick handles that make them comfortable to grip. Inside, the refrigerator has a standard French-door layout with gallon-sized bins for the doors on each door as well as two rows of shelves for spill-capture, and a set of more spacious drawers. The top shelf on the right can be folded to provide more space for taller items. There's also a full-width drawer for deli items and an internal water dispenser.
One of the nice aspects of this refrigerator is that its ice maker is inside the freezer, which makes it simple to move ice into the fridge to use as required. The freezer has thoughtful design elements, for instance, sliding drawers to help you to organize the place of your items. It also has a large bin that can hold plenty of frozen food items and an ice storage bin.
Another cool feature of this refrigerator is its Smart InstaView panel. You can control the temperature, lighting and other aspects of your fridge using your smartphone. It's a simple method to keep track of your refrigerator and manage it, especially when away from home.
But while the Smart InstaView is a neat feature, it doesn't add to the overall performance of the refrigerator. The fridge took a bit longer to chill food and defrost it than the other fridges we test. This is likely 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 open them from the bottom, however they're still difficult for taller people to steer shut without slamming them. It would have been more effective if these had front-mounted handles.
The LG Counter-Depth MAX is a ideal option for those looking to combine the advantages of a French-door fridge's aesthetics with a more efficient layout. Its capacity is above average for a counter-depth model and it cools evenly and has a great layout. It's also less expensive than the best counter depth refrigerators that have an icemaker, which makes it a desirable option.
Frigidaire Counter Depth French Door Refrigerator
If you're looking for an French door refrigerator that won't break the bank this Frigidaire is a solid option. It's a basic fridge that may not be as eye-catching as its rivals however it has enough features to make a suitable option. Its most notable feature is the temperature adjustable drawer, helps to keep food like meat and vegetables fresher for longer. It also has a large water dispenser as well as a good Ice machine that is fast.
french door fridge freezer ", which sits above the two crisper bins, is another great feature. This drawer lets you redirect some of the fridge's cooling power directly to this area, so you can put away food items that require extra attention. You can alter this feature using a slider that's located right outside of the drawer. You can also set the general cooling settings for the entire fridge. I have found that the generic settings work better than the specific ones.
During my tests, I discovered that the temperatures in the refrigerator were fairly consistent across different areas of the refrigerator. Temperatures in the top and bottom of the fridge did not vary significantly from 38 degrees, and the middle of the fridge was within a degree of 36. This is a pretty good performance however it doesn't 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. The fridge can be linked with a smart thermostat in order to obtain more precise readings of the internal temperature of your fridge.
The Frigidaire FGHB2866PF's exterior is constructed of stainless steel with a grey-bodied body that has a "smudge-proof" finish. french style fridge freezer blocks streaks and fingerprints 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 experience in publishing and commerce, primarily digital and retail. Stephanie is enthusiastic about finding and recommending the top products for consumers, with a an emphasis on home products and technology.