French Door Refrigerator With Ice Maker Review
Melding form with function, French-door refrigerators offer elegant double doors that open up to an expansive fridge on the top and a freezer drawer below. These refrigerators stand out because of their unique features, such as through-the-door dispensers as well as higher-end ice makers.
We consulted Ladina Schopf - interior designer, architect, and founder of LS Projects - for her advice on how to choose the best one. They evaluated storage capacity as well as layout and energy efficiency as well as other aspects.
GE Profile Counter Depth French Door Refrigerator
As the name suggests, GE's Profile series is targeted at consumers who want to incorporate cutting-edge technology in their kitchen. This refrigerator is packed with them, 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. Given that this fridge costs a premium, I expect better.
This fridge is a great choice, despite the blip. It boasts a spacious freezer compartment, which is uncommon in counter-depth French door refrigerators. Furthermore, it holds a good amount of frozen food compared to similar models.
Inside the fridge, there are 17 shelves and compartments. The refrigerator compartment has 18.5 cubic feet of space, which is roughly on the same as a French door refrigerator that costs this much. It also has an adequate-sized icemaker in the left door, though it's not the biggest I've seen.
You can adjust the shelves in both compartments to create a an individual storage solution. The GE PYE22PYNFS's interior design is attractive, too. The LED lighting is an attractive accent. The storage bins in the door come with a third shelf that can be folded down to store tall items. The drawers have temperature controls so you can set them to Beverage, Meat or Deli settings. They're easy to open and close, but I found their plastic textured coatings to be a little rough on the fingers.
The GE PGE29BYTFS Smart Refrigerator comes with 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, available for iOS and Android devices can let you control your fridge from anywhere in the world, and has a ton of customization options. It will also send notifications when the door is left unlocked and when the fridge or freezer requires defrosting, and when the filter needs to be changed.
It is nice if the GE PYE22PYNFS included Precise fill it's an option in a few other GE fridges that allow you to set the number of cups of water you'd like to disperse at once. It also has a countdown on the fridge's display to display how much water have remaining, but that's not as effective as Precise fill.
french door fridge and freezer -door Refrigerator is a stunning piece of equipment. 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 comes with a veggie compartment that keeps fruits and vegetables fresher longer and has dual compressors for the best food preservation. The Ice maker is among the top we've tested, and it produces a pyramid-shaped form of ice with a low use of water. This refrigerator is a great option for a single family or kitchenettes who want an integrated look and top of the line food preservation.
The fridge was rated the best refrigerator in our Refrigerators Test for several reasons. The temperature of the freezer remained stable at just above 0 degrees Fahrenheit and never fluctuating by more than a fraction a degree--this is key to avoiding freezer burn. The fridge's refrigerator section also performed well, reaching the desired initial set temperature within an hour and maintaining that temperature steady throughout the course of our tests.
Bosch is a household name known for its top-quality appliances. Therefore, it's no surprise that the Bosch counter depth fridge can be connected to your home Wi Fi and Bosch's Home Connect. This app allows you to control and monitor your refrigerator remotely from your tablet or smartphone. The fridge is expensive however, it offers excellent features and capabilities at a reasonable cost.
While the fridge is an amazing piece of equipment but it's important to be aware of the limitations. You might need to be creative with tall objects because the fridge is limited in shelf space. Additionally, the shelves are not impervious to sprills and could be damaged or stained by sharp objects. The trays can be easily removed from the fridge. However, they should be cleaned regularly to prevent the growth of mold.
If you're thinking of buying this refrigerator, be sure to check out our review of the French Door GE Appliances Refrigerator and the Bosch Bottom Freezer Refrigerator.
LG Counter Depth French Door Refrigerator
The LG LRFLC2706S is an excellent counter-depth refrigerator that packs plenty of storage in an extremely 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, with two rows of shelving with spill-capture and a set crisper drawers. The top 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.
One of the best aspects of this refrigerator is that the ice maker is inside the freezer, which makes it simple to move the ice to the refrigerator for use when needed. The freezer also has innovative design features such as sliding drawers that can help you sort your things. It also has a large container for storing frozen food and a separate container for ice.
Another awesome feature of this refrigerator is its Smart InstaView panel. It allows you to control the temperature of your fridge as well as lighting using your smartphone. It's a simple way to monitor your refrigerator and control it, especially when you're away from home.
But while the Smart InstaView is a neat feature, it doesn't necessarily enhance the overall performance of the refrigerator. The refrigerator took longer to defrost food and chill it than other models we tried. This could be due to its greater capacity.
The doors pose a problem with this refrigerator. The handles with a sunken design let shorter people open them from the bottom. However taller people will have a difficult time closing them without slamming them. It would have been better if they had front-mounted handle.
The LG Counter-Depth MAX fridge is an excellent choice for those looking to blend the look and feel of a French-door refrigerator with a more efficient design. It has a capacity that is higher than average for counter-depth models and is able to cool evenly. It's also a bit less than the best counter-depth refrigerators that have an ice maker, which can make it an attractive option.
Frigidaire Counter Depth French Door Refrigerator
If you're looking for a French door refrigerator that won't cost you a fortune this Frigidaire is a great choice. It's a minimalist design that isn't as striking visually as other models however it comes with enough features to make it a solid option. Its most important characteristic is the adjustable temperature drawer which helps keep food items like meat and vegetables fresher for longer. It also comes with a large water and ice maker dispenser.
The "Chill Drawer", which is situated over the two crisper bins, is another great feature. The drawer allows you to divert part of the refrigerator's cooling power directly into this area, so you can put away food items that require extra attention. This feature can be adjusted using an outside slider that is located inside the drawer. You can also use this to set a general cooling level for the entire fridge however, I've found that changing the general settings tends produce better results than specific ones.
During my tests, I found that the temperatures of the refrigerator were fairly consistent across different parts of the fridge. The temperatures in the top and bottom of the fridge did not vary significantly from 38 degrees, and the middle of the fridge was within one degree of 36. This is a solid performance, but it does not quite make it to the top of 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. This fridge can be paired with a smart thermostat in order to obtain more precise readings of the internal temperature of your fridge.
The exterior of the Frigidaire is made of grey-bodied stainless that has a "smudge resistant" finish. It is capable of removing streaks and fingerprints even when compared to the glossy stainless steel finishes on other appliances I've tested.
Stephanie Cronk is the executive editor of 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 best products for consumers, with a a focus on home goods and tech.