French Door Refrigerator With Ice Maker Review
French-door refrigerators blend functionality and form. They have elegant double doors that open to reveal the large fridge on top and a freezer drawer beneath. These refrigerators stand out due to their distinctive features, like door-to-door dispensers and more expensive ice makers.
We consulted Ladina Schopf - an interior designer, architect, and the founder of LS Projects - for her advice on how to choose the right home. They weighed storage capacity, layout and energy efficiency, among other aspects.
GE Profile Counter Depth French Door Refrigerator
Like its name implies, GE’s Profile series is targeted at people who want to integrate cutting-edge features in their kitchens. This fridge is loaded 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. Since this refrigerator is more, I'd expect higher quality.
Aside from that blip the fridge is a fantastic choice. It boasts a spacious freezer compartment, which is quite uncommon in counter-depth French door refrigerators. Furthermore, it holds a fair amount of frozen food when in comparison to similar models.
The fridge is equipped with 17 shelves and compartments. The fridge compartment is 18.5 cubic feet, which is typical for a fridge with a French door at this price. It has a decent sized freezer in the left side. But it's not the biggest one I've seen.
You can adjust the shelves in both compartments to make a custom storage solution. The interior design of the GE PYE22PYNFS is stylish, too. The LED lighting adds an appealing feature. The in-door storage bins include a third shelf that can be folded down to store tall objects. The drawers come with temperature controls that let you set them to Meat, Beverage or Deli settings. The drawers are simple to open and shut, but I found the textured plastic coatings a bit hard on my fingers.
The GE PGE29BYTFS Smart Refrigerator includes the full suite of features you'd expect from a fridge in this price range, including Wi-Fi and app support via GE's SmartHQ software. The app is available on iOS and Android devices and lets you control your refrigerator from any place across the globe. It also has numerous options for customizing. It will also send you notifications when the door is left unlocked as well as when the fridge or freezer must be defrosted and when the filter has to be changed.
It would be nice if GE PYE22PYNFS could offer Precise Fill the option that is available in a handful of GE refrigerators that allow users to set the amount of cups they wish to dispense. The fridge shows a countdown to display how much water is left but it'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 look like a seamless piece of your kitchen. The fridge uses fingerprint-resistant stainless steel, which is a great feature for busy households. It also boasts a veggie compartment to keep fruits and vegetables fresher longer and dual compressors to ensure maximum preservation of food. The ice maker is one of the top we've tested, and it produces a pyramid-shaped form of ice that is low in water usage. This fridge is perfect for a single family or a kitchenette that wants an attractive design and top of the best food preservation.
This refrigerator was the highest-rated refrigerator in our Refrigerators test, for various reasons. The freezer temperature remained steady at just above 0°F and never changed more than a fraction - this is crucial to prevent freezer burn. french door fridge freezers of the fridge also performed well. It reached the initial temperature within an hour and maintained the temperature throughout our testing.
Bosch is a household name known for its high-end appliances. Therefore, it's not a surprise that the Bosch counter depth fridge can be connected to your home Wi Fi and Bosch's platform Home Connect. This app lets you monitor and control your fridge remotely from your smartphone or tablet. The fridge is expensive however, it offers excellent features and functions at a reasonable price.
It is crucial to be aware of the limitations of the fridge. It has a small shelf space, which means you may require some creativity when storing tall objects. Additionally the shelves aren't impervious to sprills and could be damaged or stained by sharp objects. It is easy to take out the refrigerator trays However, be sure to keep them clean to avoid mold growth.
If you're thinking of buying this refrigerator, be sure to review our opinions on the GE Appliances French Door Refrigerator as well as 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 plenty of space in the space of a compact frame. It has a sleek, fingerprint-resistant stainless-steel finish and features thick handles that make them comfortable to grip. The fridge has an ordinary French door layout, with two rows of shelving with spill-capture and a set of crisper drawers. The upper right shelf can be folded down to give taller items more room. You'll also find a full width drawer for deli items and an internal water dispenser.
This refrigerator has a freezer with an ice maker making it easy to move the frozen ice whenever you need it. The freezer is designed with thoughtful elements, for instance, sliding drawers that help better organize the position of your items. It also has a large bin that can accommodate plenty of frozen food and a separate ice storage bin.
Smart InstaView panel is another awesome feature of the refrigerator. It allows you to control the fridge's temperature, lighting, and more from your smartphone. It's a good method of monitoring and managing your refrigerator, particularly if you're away from home.
Although the Smart InstaView is a neat feature, it doesn't add to the overall performance of the refrigerator. This fridge took longer to chill food and defrost it than the other fridges we test. This is likely due to its larger capacity.
The doors pose a problem with this refrigerator. They have handles that are sunken on the front that allow shorter people to easily pull them open from the bottom, however they're still difficult for taller people to steer shut without slamming them. It would have been better if these 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. It has a capacity that is higher than average for counter-depth models, and it cools evenly. It's also a little less than the top counter depth refrigerators that have an ice maker, making it a great option.
Frigidaire Counter Depth French Door Refrigerator
If you're looking for a French door refrigerator that won't cost you a fortune and isn't expensive, this Frigidaire is a good choice. It's a minimalist design that isn't as striking visually like some of the competitors but it does have enough features that make it a great option. Its most important characteristic is the adjustable temperature drawer, which helps keep foods such as meat and vegetables fresher for longer. It also has a large ice maker and a water dispenser.
Another great feature is the "Chill Drawer" that sits over the two crisper bins. This drawer lets you use the majority of the fridge's cooling power into this area so that you can keep food items which need extra attention. This feature can be adjusted using an outside slider that is located inside the drawer. You can also set the general cooling settings for the entire fridge. I've noticed that the general settings are more effective than the specific ones.
In my tests, the refrigerator's temperatures were fairly consistent across all areas of the fridge. The temperatures in the top and bottom of the fridge didn't vary much from 38 degrees, and even the middle of the fridge was within one degree of 36. This is a pretty good performance however it doesn't be among the top 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. The fridge can be linked 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 which has a "smudge-proof" finish. It wards off streaks and fingerprints better than other stainless steel finishes I've tested.
Stephanie Cronk is the executive editor on Reviewed's Commerce/Product Reviews team and oversees the site's buyer's guides as well as review of test products. She has more than 15 years of publishing and commerce experience, with a focus on digital and retail. Stephanie is adamant about finding the most effective products and recommending them to customers. She focuses on home goods and technology.