French Door Refrigerator With Ice Maker Review
French-door refrigerators blend form and function. They feature stylish double doors that reveal the large fridge on top and a freezer drawer below. These refrigerators stand out due to their distinctive features, like door-to-door dispensers and more expensive Ice makers.
We sought out experts like Ladina Schopf, interior designer and architect, as well as the founder of LS Projects, for tips on picking the right one. They weighed the capacity of storage, layout, energy efficiency, and other features.
GE Profile Counter Depth French Door Refrigerator
The name implies that the GE Profile series targets the consumer who wants to incorporate cutting-edge features in their kitchen. This fridge is loaded with them all from the Keurig K cup coffee maker on 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 and I was expecting better.
Aside from that blip, this fridge is a great choice. It has a huge freezer compartment that is not common for counter-depth French door fridges. It also has a large capacity for frozen food items compared to other models.
The fridge has 17 shelves and compartments. The refrigerator compartment is 18.5 cubic feet, which is the standard for a French-door fridge at this price. It has a decent sized freezer in the left side. But, it's not the largest one I've seen.
french door fridge freezers can alter the shelves in both compartments to make the perfect storage solution. The interior design of the GE PYE22PYNFS is also attractive. Its LED lighting is a nice touch and the inside storage bins come with a third shelf that folds up beneath itself so that you can store large items. The drawers come with temperature controls so that you can set them to Meat, Beverage, or Deli settings. The drawers are easy to shut and open, but I found the textured plastic coatings to be a bit rough on my fingers.
The GE PGE29BYTFS Smart Refrigerator comes with all the features you'd expect from a refrigerator within 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 fridge from anywhere in the world, and it has a ton of customization options. It will also send notifications when the door is left unlocked as well as when the freezer or fridge requires defrosting, and when the filter has to be changed.
It would be nice if GE PYE22PYNFS came with Precise Fill, an option available in a handful of other GE refrigerators that allows you to set the number of cups of water you'd like to disperse at a time. The fridge displays a countdown timer to display how much water is left, but it's not as effective as Precise fill.
Bosch Counter Depth French Door Refrigerator
Created to appear like a seamless piece of your kitchen, Bosch's French-door refrigerator is an eye-catching piece. 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 two compressors to ensure maximum preservation of food. The ice maker we tested was one of the most efficient and makes the shape of a pyramid using only water. This refrigerator is the ideal choice for single household or kitchenettes looking for an integrated look and top of the line food preservation.
This fridge was rated as the most efficient in our Refrigerators Test for a variety of reasons. The freezer temperature remained steady at just above 0° Fahrenheit and never fluctuated more than a tiny fraction - this is crucial to prevent freezer burn. The fridge section of the fridge also did well. It reached the initial temperature set within a matter of hours, and remained at that temperature throughout our testing.
Bosch is a household name known for its high-end appliances. It's therefore no surprise that the Bosch counter depth fridge can be connected to your home Wi Fi and Bosch's Home Connect. The app allows you to monitor and control your refrigerator remotely on your tablet or smartphone. The fridge is expensive, but it comes with great features and capabilities for the price.
It is important to know the limitations of your fridge. It has a narrow shelf space, so you'll have to think creatively when storing tall items. Additionally, the shelves are not completely sprillproof, and can easily be damaged or stained 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're thinking of buying this refrigerator, be sure to also check out our reviews of the French Door GE Appliances 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 need 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 features the 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. You'll also find a full width drawer for deli items and an internal water dispenser.
One of the great things about this refrigerator is that the Ice maker is located in the freezer, making it simple to move the ice to the refrigerator to use as required. The freezer is designed with thoughtful elements, as well, such as sliding drawers to help you to organize the place of items. It comes with a large bin for storing frozen food, and a separate container for ice.
Smart InstaView panel is another awesome feature of the refrigerator. It lets you control the fridge's temperature and lighting via your smartphone. It's an easy way to keep track of your refrigerator and control it, especially when 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 food in this fridge than other refrigerators we tested. This is likely due to the bigger capacity.
The doors are a different issue with this refrigerator. They have sunken handles on the front that allow shorter people to easily open them 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 a front-mounted handle.
The LG Counter-Depth MAX fridge is an excellent choice for those who want to combine the aesthetics of a French-door refrigerator with an efficient design. Its capacity is above average for counter-depth models and also cools evenly. It's also a little less than the most expensive counter depth refrigerator with an ice maker, making it a great choice.
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 great choice. It's a basic refrigerator that may not be as eye-catching as its rivals, but it still has enough features to make it a an excellent option. Its most important feature is the temperature adjustable drawer which helps keep food items like veggies and meat fresher for longer. It also comes with a huge water dispenser, as well as an excellent ice machine that works fast.
Another nice feature is the "Chill Drawer" that sits over the two crisper bins. The drawer allows you to divert a portion of the refrigerator's cooling power directly into this area, so you can put away food items that need extra attention. You can alter the feature using the slider located on the outside of the drawer. It is also possible to use this to set a general cooling level for the whole fridge, however, I've found that changing the general settings tends to be more effective than specific ones.
During 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 didn't vary significantly from 38 degrees. This is a pretty good performance however it doesn't 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. The fridge can be linked with a smart thermostat to obtain more precise readings of 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 blocks 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 test-product reviews. She has more than 15 years of commerce and publishing experience, mostly in retail and digital. Stephanie is committed to finding and recommending the top products for consumers, with particular focus on home items and technology.