French Door Refrigerator With Ice Maker Review
French-door fridges combine form and function. They feature stylish double doors that reveal an enormous fridge on top, and a freezer drawer below. These refrigerators stand out due to their distinctive features, including door-to-door dispensers and more expensive Ice makers.
We consulted Ladina Schopf - interior designer, architect, and the founder of LS Projects - for her suggestions on how to pick the right one. We looked at the capacity of storage, layout, and energy efficiency among other aspects.
GE Profile Counter Depth French Door Refrigerator
Like its name implies, GE’s Profile series is aimed at people who want to integrate cutting-edge features in their kitchen. This fridge has them all, from the Keurig K cup coffee maker on 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. Given that this fridge costs more, I'd expect higher quality.
This fridge is a good choice, despite the blip. It has a huge freezer compartment, which is unusual for counter-depth French-door refrigerators. It also holds plenty of frozen food compared to other models.
Inside the fridge, you'll find 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 icemaker in the left door. However it's not the biggest one I've seen.
You can alter the shelving in both compartments to create a customized storage layout for whatever you have to store. The interior design of the GE PYE22PYNFS also looks attractive. The LED lighting is a nice addition, and the in-door storage bins come with a third shelf that can fold down so that you can store large items. french door fridge freezers come with temperature controls that allow you to set them to Meat, Beverage, or Deli settings. The drawers are simple to open and shut however I found the textured plastic coatings a bit hard on my fingers.
The GE PGE29BYTFS Smart Refrigerator is equipped with a full suite of features you'd expect from a refrigerator at this price that includes Wi-Fi as well as app support via GE's SmartHQ software. The app, which is available for iOS and Android devices can let you control your fridge from anywhere in world, and has numerous options for customization. It also sends you notifications when the door is unlocked and when the freezer or fridge needs to be defrosted, and when the filter needs to be changed.
It would be nice if the GE PYE22PYNFS had Precise Fill which is an option that is available in a few other GE refrigerators that allows you to preset how many cups of water you'd like to disperse at once. The fridge displays a countdown to show you how much water is left however it's not as effective as Precise Fill.
Bosch Counter Depth French Door Refrigerator
It is designed to look like a seamless piece 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 boasts a veggie compartment that helps keep vegetables and fruits fresher for longer and has dual compressors for the best food preservation. The Ice maker we tested is one of the most efficient, and it produces pyramid shaped ice using minimal water. This refrigerator is the ideal option for a single family or kitchenettes who 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. Its freezer temperatures remained constant at just above 0°F and never fluctuated more than a tiny fraction - this is crucial to prevent the risk of a freezer burn. The refrigerator section of the fridge also did well. It reached the initial temperature set within a matter of hours, and remained at the temperature throughout our testing.
Bosch is a household name known for its high-end appliances. Therefore, it's not a 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 from your tablet or smartphone. The refrigerator is costly, but offers great features and capabilities at a reasonable cost.
While the fridge is an incredible piece of equipment but it's important to be aware of the limitations. It has a small space for shelves, so you may require some creativity when storing tall items. The shelves are also not resistant to spills and are easily stained or damaged by sharp items. It's simple to remove the refrigerator trays However, be sure to clean them frequently to prevent mold growth.
If you're thinking of buying this refrigerator, make sure you read our review of the French Door GE Appliances Refrigerator and the Bosch Bottom Freezer Refrigerator.
LG Counter Depth French Door Refrigerator
The LG LRFLC2706S counter-depth fridge is a great choice for those who require a lot 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. Inside, the refrigerator has a standard French-door layout with gallon-sized door bins at each door and two rows of spill-capture shelves, and a set of more spacious drawers. The top shelf on the right can be folded down to make space for taller items. There's also a full-width drawer for products from the deli and an inside water dispenser.
This refrigerator is equipped with an ice maker, making it simple to transfer frozen ice whenever you need it. The freezer is designed with thoughtful elements, for instance, sliding drawers that can help you better organize the placement of items. It comes with a large bin for storing frozen food, and a separate bin for ice.
Another awesome feature of this refrigerator is its Smart InstaView panel. You can manage the temperature, lighting and more of your fridge from your smartphone. It's a simple way to monitor your refrigerator and control it, particularly when you're not at home.
The Smart InstaView feature is neat, but it doesn't necessarily enhance the performance of the fridge. In fact it took longer to defrost and chill foods in this refrigerator than other refrigerators we tested. This could be due to its greater capacity.
The other issue we have with the doors of this refrigerator. They have sunken handles at the front, which allows smaller people to pull them open from the bottom, but they're difficult for taller people to pull closed without slamming them. It would have been much better if they came with a front-mounted handle.
The LG Counter-Depth MAX fridge is an excellent choice for those looking to blend the aesthetics of a French-door refrigerator with a more efficient design. Its capacity is superior to counter-depth models and is able to cool evenly. It's also less expensive than the top counter depth refrigerators that have an ice maker, making it a desirable choice.
Frigidaire Counter Depth French Door Refrigerator
This Frigidaire French door refrigerator is a great choice when you're looking for a French door fridge that doesn't break the budget. It's a basic design that isn't as visually striking like some of the competitors however it comes with enough features to make it a solid option. Its most important characteristic is the adjustable temperature drawer that helps keep food items such as meat and vegetables fresher for longer. It also has a large water dispenser as well as a good ice maker that operates quickly.
Another great feature is the "Chill Drawer" that sits above the two crisper bins. This drawer lets you divert part of the refrigerator's cooling power directly to this area, so you can keep food items that require extra attention. This feature is adjustable using a slider on the outside of the drawer. It is also possible to use this to adjust the general cooling settings for the entire fridge, but I've noticed that adjusting the general settings tends be more effective than specific ones.
In my tests, the temperature of the refrigerator were fairly constant across the different areas of the fridge. Temperatures in the top and bottom of the fridge didn't stray very far 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 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 in order to get more accurate readings on the internal temperature of your fridge.
The Frigidaire FGHB2866PF's exterior is made of stainless steel with a grey body with a "smudge-proof" finish. It does a great job of repelling fingerprints and streaks even when compared with 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 as well as product test reviews. She has more than 15 years of commerce and publishing experience, with a focus on retail and digital. Stephanie is enthusiastic about finding and recommending the best products for consumers, with a an emphasis on home products and tech.