French Door Refrigerator With Ice Maker Review
Combining form and function, French-door refrigerators offer stylish double doors that open to an enormous fridge on top and freezer drawer below. These refrigerators stand out because of their special features, including through-the-door dispensers and higher-end ice makers.
We sought out experts like Ladina Schopf, interior designer architect, founder, and co-founder of LS Projects, for tips on how to select the best one. They considered storage capacity as well as layout and energy efficiency as well as other features.
GE Profile Counter Depth French Door Refrigerator
The name of the series suggests that GE’s Profile series is targeted at consumers who want to incorporate cutting-edge technology into their kitchen. This refrigerator has it 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. Since this refrigerator is a premium, I expect higher quality.
This refrigerator is a good option, despite the slight blip. It boasts a spacious freezer compartment, which is quite uncommon in counter-depth French door refrigerators. Additionally, it can hold a decent amount of frozen food compared to similar models.
The fridge comes with 17 shelves and compartments. The fridge compartment has 18.5 cubic feet, which is typical for a French-door refrigerator at this price. It also has an adequate-sized icemaker in the left door, but it's not the biggest I've seen.
You can alter the shelves in both compartments to make an individual storage solution. The interior design of the GE PYE22PYNFS is attractive. french door fridge freezer is an attractive feature. The bins for storage inside have a third shelf which can be folded down to store tall items. The drawers have temperature controls that let you set them to Meat, Beverage or Deli settings. They're easy to open and close, although I found their plastic textured coatings to be a bit hard on the fingers.
The GE PGE29BYTFS Smart Refrigerator includes the full suite of features you'd expect from a fridge in this price range, including Wi-Fi and app support through GE's SmartHQ software. The app is compatible with iOS and Android devices and lets you control your refrigerator from any place across the globe. It also offers many options for customization. It also sends you notifications when the door is left unlocked, when the fridge or freezer needs to be defrosted, and when the filter requires a change.
It is nice it GE PYE22PYNFS could offer Precise Fill, an option found in a few GE refrigerators that allows users to choose how many cups they want to disperse. The fridge displays a countdown to reveal how much water is left but it's not as useful as Precise Fill.
Bosch Counter Depth French Door Refrigerator
It is designed to look as a seamless element of your kitchen Bosch's French door refrigerator is a standout. The fridge uses fingerprint-resistant stainless steel, which is a great feature for busy households. It also has a vegetable compartment that helps keep vegetables and fruits fresher for longer, and two compressors for the best food preservation. The Ice maker is among the top we've tested and produces pyramid-shaped ice with a low water usage. This refrigerator is a great choice for single household or kitchenettes that want a sleek design and top-of-the-line food preservation.
This refrigerator was the highest-rated refrigerator in our Refrigerators test, for a few reasons. The temperature of the freezer remained constant at just above 0°F and never changed more than a fraction - this is essential to avoid freezer burn. The fridge section of the fridge also performed well, reaching the desired temperature for initial set within a matter of hours and keeping that temperature steady over the course of our tests.
Bosch has a reputation for high-end appliances which is why it's no surprise that this counter depth refrigerator is also a smart appliance that has the option of connecting to your home Wi-Fi as well as Bosch's Home Connect platform. This app allows you to monitor and control your refrigerator remotely from your tablet or smartphone. The refrigerator is pricey however, it offers excellent features and functions at a reasonable price.
It is crucial to be aware of the limitations of your fridge. It has a small shelf space, which means you may need to be creative when storing tall objects. Additionally the shelves aren't impervious to sprills and could be stained or damaged by sharp objects. It is easy to take out the refrigerator trays, but be sure to clean them regularly to prevent the growth of mold.
If you're thinking of buying this refrigerator, make sure to read our reviews of the French Door GE Appliances Refrigerator as well as 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 into a compact frame. It has a sleek, fingerprint-resistant stainless-steel finish and features thick handles that make them comfortable to grip. Inside, the fridge has an ordinary French-door design with gallon-sized bins for the doors on each door, two rows of shelves that capture spills and a set sleeker drawers. The top shelf to the right can be folded down to make space for taller items. There's also a full-width deli drawer and an internal water dispenser.
The refrigerator comes with an ice maker, making it easy to move the frozen ice as needed. The freezer also comes with innovative design features like sliding drawers that can help you organize your items. It has a large bin for storing frozen food and a separate one for ice.
Smart InstaView panel is another awesome feature of the refrigerator. You can control the temperature, lighting and more of your fridge from your smartphone. It's an easy way to keep track of your fridge and manage it, especially when away from home.
The Smart InstaView feature is neat, but it doesn't necessarily improve the performance of the fridge. In fact it took longer to defrost and chill foods in this refrigerator than other refrigerators we test. This could be due to the bigger capacity.
The doors pose a problem with this refrigerator. They have sunken handles at the front, which allows smaller people to open them from the bottom, but they're difficult for taller people to guide closed without slamming them. It would have been better if they had front-mounted handles.
The LG Counter-Depth MAX is a ideal option for those looking to combine the benefits of a French-door fridge's aesthetics with an efficient layout. Its capacity is above average for a counter-depth model and it cools well and has a nice layout. It's also less expensive than the top counter depth refrigerator with an ice maker, which makes it a desirable option.
Frigidaire Counter Depth French Door Refrigerator
This Frigidaire French door refrigerator is a great choice for those looking for a French-door fridge that won't break the budget. It's a basic refrigerator which may not be as eye-catching as its rivals however, it does have enough features to make a good choice. Its most significant feature, the temperature adjustable drawer, helps to keep food items such as vegetables and meat fresher for longer. It also comes with a large ice maker and a water dispenser.
The "Chill Drawer", which is situated over the two crisper bins, is a nice feature. This drawer lets you redirect a portion of the refrigerator's cooling power directly into this area, so you can put away food items that require extra attention. You can adjust this feature using a slider that's located right in the middle of the drawer. You can also alter the general cooling settings for the entire fridge. I have found that the generic settings work better than the specific ones.
In my tests, I found that the temperatures in the refrigerator were fairly consistent across different areas of the fridge. french door refrigerator freezer in the top and bottom of the fridge did not vary significantly from 38 degrees, and the middle of the fridge was within a degree of 36. This is a great performance however it doesn't rank among the best 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 in order to gain more precise information on the internal temperature of your fridge.
The exterior of the Frigidaire is made of grey-bodied stainless that has a "smudge resistant" finish. It wards off streaks and fingerprints better than other stainless steel finishes I've seen.
Stephanie Cronk is the executive editor of Reviewed's Commerce/Product Reviews team and oversees the site's buyer's guides and review of test products. She has more than 15 years of publishing and commerce experience, with a focus on digital and retail. Stephanie is committed to finding and recommending the most effective products for consumers, with a focus on home goods and tech.