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 consulted experts such as Ladina Schopf, an interior designer architect, founder, and co-founder of LS Projects, for tips on picking the right one. They evaluated storage capacity, layout, energy efficiency, and other features.
GE Profile Counter Depth French Door Refrigerator
Like its name implies, GE’s Profile series is aimed at those who wish to incorporate cutting-edge technology into their kitchens. This refrigerator is packed with them, 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. The refrigerator is expensive and I expected more.
This refrigerator is a good choice, despite the blip. It has a large freezer compartment, which is uncommon in counter-depth French door fridges, and it holds a fair amount of frozen food in comparison to similar models.
The fridge has 17 shelves and compartments. The refrigerator compartment has 18.5 cubic feet of space, which is on what you would expect from an French door refrigerator that costs this much. It has a decent sized freezer in the left side. However it's not the most spacious one I've seen.
You can alter the shelving in both compartments to create customized storage arrangement for what you want to keep. The interior design of the GE PYE22PYNFS also looks attractive. The LED lighting is an attractive touch. The storage bins in the door have a third shelf which can be folded down to store tall items. The drawers have temperature controls, so you can set them for Beverage, Meat 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 comes with the complete set of features you'd expect from a fridge in this price range 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 fridge from anywhere in world, and offers many options for customizing. It also sends you notifications when doors are left open, when the fridge or freezer is in need of defrosting, and when it's time to change the filter.
It would be nice if the GE PYE22PYNFS included Precise fill which is an option that is available in a handful of other GE fridges that allows you to choose how many cups of water you'd like to pour out at a time. It also has a countdown feature on the fridge's display to display how much water you have remaining, but that's not as useful as Precise fill.
Bosch Counter Depth French Door Refrigerator
The Bosch French-door Refrigerator is a striking piece. french door fridge and freezer 's designed to look like a seamless piece in your kitchen. The fridge uses fingerprint-resistant stainless steel, which is a great feature for busy households. It also boasts a veggie compartment that keeps vegetables and fruits fresher for longer and dual compressors for the best food preservation. The ice maker we tested was one of the most efficient, and it produces an ice pyramid with only a little water. This refrigerator is ideal for a single family or a kitchenette that wants a built-in appearance and top-of-the highest quality food preservation.
This refrigerator was rated as the top in our Refrigerators Test for several reasons. The temperature of the freezer remained stable at a level that was just above 0 degrees Fahrenheit, never changing more than a fraction of an inch. This is essential to preventing freezing burn. The fridge's refrigerator section also performed well, reaching the temperature that was set for the initial setting within an hour and maintaining the temperature constant over the course of our tests.
Bosch is a household name for its top-quality appliances. Therefore, it's no surprise that Bosch's counter depth fridge Bosch counter depth refrigerator can be connected to your home Wi Fi and Bosch's Home Connect. This app lets you monitor and control your fridge from your smartphone or tablet. The fridge is a bit expensive, however it has top-quality features and functions for the price.
It is important to know the limitations of the fridge. french style fridge freezer has a narrow shelf space, which means you'll have to think creatively when storing tall items. Also, the shelves are not sprillproof and can be easily damaged or stained by sharp objects. It's easy to remove the refrigerator trays however, you must keep them clean to avoid mold growth.
If you are considering this refrigerator, make sure you look over our review of the French Door GE Appliances Refrigerator and 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 lots of space within a small frame. It has a sleek, fingerprint-resistant stainless-steel finish and features thick handles that make them comfortable to grip. The fridge features a standard French door design, with two rows of shelves that can be used to capture spills and a set crisper drawers. The top shelf to the right can be folded in order to create more space for taller items. There's also a full-width drawer to store products from the deli and an inside water dispenser.
One of the great features of this refrigerator is that its ice maker is inside the freezer, which makes it easy to move the ice to the refrigerator for use when needed. The freezer also has thoughtful design features, such as sliding drawers that can help you organize your belongings. It has a large bin to store frozen food items, and a separate one for ice.
Another awesome feature of this refrigerator is its Smart InstaView panel. It lets you control the fridge's temperature and lighting using your smartphone. It's an easy way to keep track of your refrigerator and control it, particularly when you're not at home.
Although the Smart InstaView is a neat feature, it does not necessarily add to the overall performance of the refrigerator. This fridge took longer to defrost food and chill it than other models we tested. This could be due to its greater capacity.
Another issue with the doors of this refrigerator. The sunken handles allow smaller people to open them from the bottom. However taller people have a difficult time closing them without slamming. It would have been more effective to have front-mounted handles.
The LG Counter-Depth MAX is a good option for those looking to combine the advantages of a French-door refrigerator's aesthetics with an efficient layout. Its capacity is above average 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 can make it an attractive option.
Frigidaire Counter Depth French Door Refrigerator
If you're looking for an French door fridge that doesn't cost you a fortune this Frigidaire is a great choice. It's a basic refrigerator that may not be as appealing like some of its competitors, but it still has enough features to make it a good option. Its most important feature, the adjustable temperature drawer helps to keep food items like vegetables and meat fresher longer. It also comes with a huge water dispenser and a decent ice maker that operates quickly.
The "Chill Drawer", which sits above the two crisper bins, is another great feature. The drawer allows you to divert some 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 by using an outside slider that is located inside the drawer. You can also adjust the general cooling settings for the entire fridge. I've found that the generic settings are more effective than the specific ones.
In my experiments, I noticed that the temperatures of the refrigerator were fairly consistent in different areas of the refrigerator. Temperatures at the top and bottom of the fridge didn't stray very far from 38 degrees, and even the middle of the fridge was within one degree of 36. This is a good performance but 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 to get more accurate readings on the internal temperature of your fridge.
The exterior of the Frigidaire is made from grey-bodied stainless with a "smudge proof" finish. It is capable of preventing streaks and fingerprints from appearing, even compared to glossier 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 guide and review of test products. She has more than 15 years of experience in commerce and publishing, primarily digital and retail. Stephanie is passionate about finding the most effective products and recommending them to customers. She is particularly interested in home goods and technology.