French Door Refrigerator With Ice Maker Review
Melding form with functionality, French-door refrigerators have stylish double doors that open to an enormous fridge on top and freezer drawer below. Special features such as through-the-door dispensers, high-end ice machines, and customizable flex drawers make them stand out from the rest.
We contacted Ladina Schopf - an interior designer, architect, and founder of LS Projects - for her advice on how to choose the right home. They evaluated the capacity of storage, layout and energy efficiency, among other aspects.
GE Profile Counter Depth French Door Refrigerator
The name of the series suggests that the GE Profile series is targeted at consumers who want to incorporate cutting-edge technologies into their kitchens. This fridge has them all from a Keurig K cup coffee maker in the door to a sophisticated 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 more, I'd expect higher quality.
This fridge is a good choice, despite the small blip. It has a huge freezer compartment which is uncommon for counter-depth French-door fridges. It also has a large capacity for frozen food items compared to other models.
Inside the fridge, you'll find 17 shelves and compartments. The refrigerator compartment has 18.5 cubic feet of space, which is about the same as the size of a French door refrigerator that costs this much. It comes with a decent size icemaker in the left door. However it's not the most spacious one I've seen.
You can adjust the shelves in both compartments to create a an individual storage solution. The interior design of the GE PYE22PYNFS is attractive, too. Its LED lighting is a nice touch and the inside storage bins feature the third shelf, which folds up beneath itself to make it possible to store tall items. The drawers come with temperature controls so you can set them to Meat, Beverage or Deli settings. The drawers are simple to open and close however I found the plastic's textured coatings to be a bit rough on my fingers.
The GE PGE29BYTFS Smart Refrigerator has all the features you would expect from a refrigerator in this price range. It has Wi-Fi as well as app support, and GE's SmartHQ Software. The app, available for iOS and Android devices can let you control your fridge from anywhere in the world, and it has numerous options for customization. It also gives you notifications when doors are left open, when your fridge or freezer is in need of 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 set the amount of cups they wish to pour out. The fridge displays a countdown timer to display how much water is left, but it's not as useful as Precise Fill.
Bosch Counter Depth French Door Refrigerator
The Bosch French-door Refrigerator is a striking piece. It's designed to look like it's a seamless component of your kitchen. french door fridge and freezer uses fingerprint-resistant stainless steel, which is a great feature for busy households. It also comes with a veggie compartment that keeps vegetables and fruits fresher for longer and dual compressors for maximum food preservation. The ice maker we tested is one of the most efficient and makes an ice pyramid with only a little water. This refrigerator is a great choice for single household or kitchenettes that want a sleek design and top of the line food preservation.
This fridge was rated the most efficient in our Refrigerators Test due to a variety of reasons. The freezer temperature remained steady at just above 0° Fahrenheit and never changed by more than a fraction, this is crucial to avoid freezing burn. The fridge section of the fridge also performed well, reaching the desired temperature for initial set within an hour and keeping the temperature constant over the course of our testing.
Bosch is known for its premium appliances and appliances, so it's not a surprise that this counter depth refrigerator is also a smart appliance, with the option of connecting to your home Wi-Fi and Bosch's Home Connect platform. The app lets you monitor and control your fridge remotely from your smartphone or tablet. The fridge is expensive however, it offers excellent features and capabilities at a reasonable price.
It's important to understand the limitations of the fridge. You might need to be creative with tall objects because the fridge has a small shelf space. Additionally the shelves aren't sprillproof and can be easily damaged or stained by sharp objects. The trays are 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, make sure you read our review of the GE Appliances French Door 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 require a lot 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 refrigerator has the standard French-door layout, with gallon-sized door bins at each door as well as two rows of spill-capture shelves and a set of crisper drawers. The upper right shelf can be folded down to give tall items more room. There's also a full-width drawer for food items and an internal water dispenser.
This refrigerator has a freezer with an ice maker, making it simple to transfer ice when needed. The freezer also comes with clever design features, like sliding drawers that can help you organize your belongings. It has a large bin for storing frozen food and a separate bin for ice.
Another awesome feature of this refrigerator is its Smart InstaView panel. It allows you to manage the refrigerator's temperature as well as lighting using your smartphone. It's a simple method to monitor your refrigerator and control it, particularly when you're away from home.
The Smart InstaView feature is neat but it doesn't enhance the performance of the fridge. In fact, it took longer to defrost and chill food in this refrigerator than some of the others we tested. This could be due to the bigger capacity.
Another issue with the doors of this refrigerator. The handles that are sunken allow smaller people to open them from the bottom. However taller people will have a hard time closing them without slamming. It would have been better if they came with a front-mounted handles.
The LG Counter-Depth MAX is a ideal option for those looking to combine the benefits of a fridge with a French door with an efficient layout. Its capacity is above average for counter-depth models and is able to cool evenly. It's also less expensive than the top counter depth refrigerator with an icemaker, which makes it a great option.
Frigidaire Counter Depth French Door Refrigerator
If you're looking for a French door refrigerator that won't break the bank, this Frigidaire is a solid option. It's a simple fridge that may not be as appealing as its rivals however, it does have enough features to make a good option. Its most notable characteristic is the adjustable temperature drawer, which helps keep foods like veggies and meat fresher for 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 redirect a portion of your fridge's cooling power to the area so it can be used to store food items which need extra attention. This feature can be adjusted using a slider on the outside of the drawer. You can also use this to adjust the general cooling settings for the whole fridge, though I've found that adjusting the general settings tends to produce better results than specific ones.
During my tests, the refrigerator's temperatures stayed fairly consistent across different areas of the refrigerator. The temperatures in the top, bottom and middle of the fridge didn't differ significantly from 38 degrees. This is a great performance, but it doesn't quite make it into the top ten in 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. You can also combine this fridge with a smart thermometer to get more precise readings of your fridge's internal temperature.
The exterior of the Frigidaire is made of grey-bodied stainless with a "smudge proof" finish. It does a great job of repelling fingerprints and streaks even when compared to the glossy stainless steel finishes on other appliances 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 product reviews for test products. She has more than 15 years of publishing and commerce experience, primarily in digital and retail. Stephanie is adamant about finding the top products and recommending them to consumers. She focuses on home goods and technology.