French Door Refrigerator With Ice Maker Review
French-door refrigerators blend functionality and form. They come with elegant double doors that open to reveal an enormous fridge on top and a freezer drawer beneath. These refrigerators stand out due to their distinctive features, including through-the-door dispensers and higher-end Ice makers.
We contacted Ladina Schopf - an interior designer, architect and founder of LS Projects - for her tips on how to select the right home. They weighed the capacity of storage as well as layout and energy efficiency, among other features.
GE Profile Counter Depth French Door Refrigerator
The name implies that GE's Profile series is geared towards those who want to incorporate cutting-edge features into their kitchen. This fridge is loaded with features, from an in-the-door Keurig K-cup coffee maker to a clever water dispenser. 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.
Other than that however, this refrigerator is a great option. It has a large freezer compartment which is uncommon for counter-depth French-door fridges. It also holds a lot of frozen food compared to other models.
Inside french door refrigerator freezer , there are 17 shelves and compartments. The fridge compartment is 18.5 cubic feet of space, which is on par for a French door refrigerator that costs this much. It comes with a decent size freezer in the left side. However it's not the biggest one I've seen.
You can alter the shelving in each compartment to create a customized storage layout for whatever you have to store. The GE PYE22PYNFS's interior design is stylish, too. The LED lighting is a nice feature and the storage bins feature the third shelf, which folds down so that you can store large items. The drawers come with temperature controls that allow you to set them to Meat, Beverage or Deli settings. They're easy to open and close, however I found their textured plastic coatings to be a bit difficult on the fingers.
The GE PGE29BYTFS Smart Refrigerator includes the complete set 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, available for iOS and Android devices, lets you control your refrigerator from anywhere in the world, and has numerous options for customization. It also sends you notifications when a door is left open, when your fridge or freezer needs defrosting and when it's time to change the filter.
It would be nice if GE PYE22PYNFS offered Precise fill, an option found in a few GE refrigerators that allow users to set the amount of cups they wish to pour out. It does have a countdown on the fridge's display to show how much water you have remaining, but that's not as effective as Precise fill.
Bosch Counter Depth French Door Refrigerator
Created to appear like a seamless part 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. french door fridge and freezer features a veggie compartment which keeps vegetables and fruits fresher for longer, and dual compressors to preserve food items. The ice maker is one of the top we've tested, and it produces a pyramid-shaped form of Ice with low water usage. This refrigerator is a great option for households with a single member or kitchenettes looking for an integrated look and top-of-the-line food preservation.
The fridge was rated the best refrigerator in our Refrigerators test for a few reasons. Its freezer temperatures remained constant at just above 0°F and never fluctuated by more than a fraction, this is crucial to avoid freezing burn. The fridge section of the refrigerator also performed well. It reached the temperature it was set within a matter of hours, and maintained the temperature throughout our tests.
Bosch is known for its high-end appliances. Therefore, it's no surprise that Bosch counter depth refrigerator is one of them. Bosch counter depth fridge can be connected to your home Wi Fi and Bosch's platform Home Connect. The app lets you monitor and control your refrigerator remotely from your tablet or smartphone. The fridge is expensive, however it has great features and capabilities for the price.
While the fridge is an amazing piece of equipment but it's important to be aware of the limitations. It is possible to be creative with tall items because the fridge is limited in shelf space. The shelves are not impervious to spills and could easily be stained or damaged by sharp items. The trays can be easily removed from the refrigerator. However, they must be cleaned frequently to stop the growth of mold.
If you're thinking of buying this refrigerator, make sure to check out our reviews of 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 fridge is a great option for those who require plenty of space in a small 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, two rows of shelves that capture spills and a set more spacious drawers. The top shelf to the right can be folded down to make space for taller items. There's also 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 transfer the frozen ice whenever you need it. The freezer features thoughtful design elements, for instance, sliding drawers that can help you better organize the position of items. It also has a large container for storing frozen food, and a separate bin for ice.
Another great feature of this refrigerator is its Smart InstaView panel. It allows you to manage the refrigerator's temperature and lighting via your smartphone. It's a good way to monitor and manage your refrigerator, especially if you're away from home.
The Smart InstaView feature is neat however it doesn't improve the performance of the fridge. The fridge took a bit longer to chill food and defrost it than some others we tried. This could be due to the larger capacity.
The doors are another problem with this refrigerator. They have sunken handles on the front that allow shorter people to easily open them from the bottom, but they're still difficult for taller people to guide closed without slamming the doors. It would have been more effective if they had handles mounted on the front.
The LG Counter-Depth MAX fridge is an excellent option for those looking to combine the aesthetics of a French-door refrigerator with an efficient design. Its capacity is superior for a counter-depth model and it cools evenly and has a good layout. It's also less expensive than the top counter depth refrigerators that have an ice maker, which makes it a desirable option.
Frigidaire Counter Depth French Door Refrigerator
If you're looking for a French door fridge that doesn't break the bank, this Frigidaire is a good choice. It's a basic fridge that may not be as appealing like some of its competitors, but it still has enough features to make it a an excellent option. Its most important feature, the adjustable temperature drawer, helps to keep food items like vegetables and meat fresher longer. It also has a large ice maker as well as a water dispenser.
Another great feature is the "Chill Drawer" that sits above the two crisper bins. This drawer lets you divert a portion of the refrigerator's cooling power directly into this area, meaning you can put away food items that require special attention. You can alter this feature using the slider located on the in the middle of the drawer. You can also use this to set a general cooling setting for the entire fridge, but I've noticed that adjusting the general settings tends to be more effective than specific ones.
During my tests, the temperature of the refrigerator stayed fairly consistent across different areas of the refrigerator. Temperatures in the top and bottom of the fridge didn't vary significantly from 38 degrees, and even the middle of the fridge was within a degree of 36. This is a pretty good performance however it doesn't be among the top 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. You can also pair this fridge with a smart thermometer for more precise readings of your fridge's temperature.
The exterior of the Frigidaire is made from grey-bodied stainless that has a "smudge resistant" finish. It repels fingerprints and streaks better than other stainless steel finishes I've seen.
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, mostly in digital and retail. Stephanie is passionate about finding and recommending the most effective products for consumers, with an emphasis on home products and tech.