French Door Refrigerator With Ice Maker Review
Combining form and functionality, French-door refrigerators have 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, ice machines with higher-end features, and customizable flex drawers make them stand out from the crowd.
We contacted Ladina Schopf - interior designer, architect and founder of LS Projects - for her advice on how to choose the right home. They considered storage capacity, layout and energy efficiency, among other features.
GE Profile Counter Depth French Door Refrigerator
The name implies that the GE Profile series is targeted at consumers who want to incorporate cutting-edge features in their kitchen. This fridge has them all including 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. Since this refrigerator is a premium, I expect better.
Apart from that minor flaw the fridge is a great option. It comes with a huge freezer compartment, which is uncommon in counter-depth French door fridges, and it holds a fair amount of frozen food when as compared to similar models.
The fridge has 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 also has a decent sized ice maker that is tucked away in the left-hand door, although it's not the largest I've seen.
You can adjust the shelves in both compartments to create a a custom storage solution. The interior design of the GE PYE22PYNFS is stylish, too. The LED lighting is an appealing feature. The storage bins in the door come with a third shelf that can be folded down to store tall objects. The drawers have temperature controls so you can set them to Beverage, Meat, or Deli settings. french door fridge freezer are easy to open and shut, but I found the plastic's textured coatings a bit hard on my fingers.
The GE PGE29BYTFS Smart Refrigerator includes the complete set of features you'd expect from a refrigerator at this price with Wi-Fi and app support through GE's SmartHQ software. The app, available for iOS and Android devices can let you control your refrigerator from anywhere in the world, and it has many options for customizing. It also alerts you when doors are left open, when the refrigerator or freezer needs defrosting and when it's time to change the filter.
It is nice if GE PYE22PYNFS could offer Precise Fill, an option that is available in a few GE refrigerators that allow users to select the number of cups they would like to dispense. The fridge displays a countdown timer to reveal how much water is left however it's not as effective as Precise Fill.
Bosch Counter Depth French Door Refrigerator
Designed to look 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 has a vegetable compartment that keeps vegetables and fruits fresher for longer, and two compressors for preserving food. The Ice maker we tested is one of the most efficient, and it produces an ice pyramid with only a little water. This fridge is the perfect option for a single family or kitchenettes that want a sleek design and top of the line food preservation.
This fridge was rated as the best in our Refrigerators Test for a variety of reasons. Its freezer temperatures held firm at just a few degrees Fahrenheit, and never fluctuating more than a fraction of one degree. This is crucial in preventing freezer burn. The refrigerator section of the fridge also performed well. It reached the initial temperature within a matter of hours, and maintained that temperature throughout our testing.
Bosch is a household name for its high-end appliances. Therefore, it's no surprise that Bosch counter depth refrigerator is one of them. 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 remotely from your smartphone or tablet. The fridge is expensive, but offers great features and functions at a reasonable price.
It is important to know the limitations of the fridge. It has a limited space for shelves, so you may require some creativity when storing tall objects. The shelves are not resistant to spills and are easily damaged or stained by sharp items. It is easy to take out the trays in the fridge However, be sure to clean them frequently to prevent mold growth.
If you're thinking of buying this refrigerator, be sure to 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 is a top counter-depth refrigerator that packs a lot of storage space into a compact frame. It has a sleek, fingerprint-resistant stainless-steel finish and features thick handles that make them comfortable to grip. The fridge is built with a standard French door design, and two rows of shelving with spill-capture and a set crisper drawers. The top shelf on the right can be folded in order to create more space for tall items. There's also a full-width storage drawer for food items and an internal water dispenser.
One of the nice aspects of this refrigerator is that its ice maker is inside the freezer, making it easy to transfer frozen ice to the fridge for use when required. The freezer also has innovative design features like sliding drawers that allow you to organize your items. It also has a large bin that can hold plenty of frozen food items as well as an container for storing ice.
Smart InstaView panel is a cool feature of the refrigerator. It lets you manage the refrigerator's temperature, lighting, and more from your smartphone. It's an easy way to monitor your refrigerator and manage it, especially when not at home.
Although the Smart InstaView is a neat feature, it doesn't add to the overall performance of the refrigerator. In fact it took a bit longer to defrost and chill food in this refrigerator as compared to other fridges we tested. This could be due to its bigger capacity.
The other issue we have with the doors of this refrigerator. They have sunken handles on the front, which allow smaller people to open them from the bottom, but they're still difficult for taller people to pull shut without slamming them. It would have been more effective if these had front-mounted handles.
The LG Counter-Depth MAX is a good option for those looking to combine the advantages of a fridge with a French door with a more efficient layout. It has a capacity that is above average for counter-depth models and also cools evenly. It's also a bit cheaper than the most expensive counter depth refrigerator that comes with an ice maker, which makes it a desirable option.
Frigidaire Counter Depth French Door Refrigerator
If you're looking for a French door refrigerator that won't cost a fortune, this Frigidaire is a good choice. It's a basic refrigerator which may not be as attractive like some of its competitors however, it does have enough features to make it a suitable 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 large ice maker and a water dispenser.
The "Chill Drawer", which sits over the two crisper bins, is a nice feature. This drawer lets you redirect a portion of the refrigerator's cooling power directly to this area, so you can store foods that require extra attention. This feature can be adjusted by using an outside slider that is located inside the drawer. It is also possible to use this to adjust the general cooling settings for the entire fridge, though I've found that adjusting the generic settings tends to be more effective than specific ones.
During my tests, the temperature of the refrigerator were fairly consistent across all areas of the fridge. The temperatures in the top, bottom and middle of the refrigerator didn't vary much from 38 degrees. This is a good performance, but it isn't quite at 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. You can also connect this fridge to a smart thermometer to get more precise readings of your fridge's temperature.
The exterior of the Frigidaire is made of gray-bodied stainless with a "smudge proof" finish. It blocks streaks and fingerprints better than other stainless steel finishes I've tried.
Stephanie Cronk is the executive editor on Reviewed's Commerce/Product Reviews team and oversees the site's buyer's guide and product reviews for test products. She has over 15 years of experience in commerce and publishing, primarily digital and retail. Stephanie is passionate about finding the top products and recommending them to consumers. She concentrates on home and technology.