French Door Refrigerator With Ice Maker Review
French-door fridges combine functionality and form. They come with stylish double doors that show the large fridge on top and a freezer drawer beneath. Special features such as through-the-door dispensers, high-end ice machines and adjustable flex drawers make them stand out from the rest.
We consulted Ladina Schopf - an interior designer, architect and the founder of LS Projects - for her tips on how to select the right home. They evaluated storage capacity, layout and energy efficiency, among other factors.
GE Profile Counter Depth French Door Refrigerator
The name implies that the GE Profile series is targeted at those who want to incorporate cutting-edge technology into their kitchen. This refrigerator is packed with these, from an inside-the-door Keurig K-cup coffee maker to a smart 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 higher quality.
Apart from that minor flaw however, this refrigerator is a great option. It comes with a huge freezer compartment, which is quite uncommon in counter-depth French door refrigerators. Additionally, it holds a good amount of frozen food when as compared to similar models.
Inside the fridge, you'll find 17 shelves and compartments. The fridge compartment has 18.5 cubic feet, which is the standard for a fridge with a French door at this price. It also has a decent sized ice maker that is tucked away in the left-hand door, although it's not the biggest I've seen.
You can alter the shelves in both compartments for an individual storage solution. The GE PYE22PYNFS's design for the interior is stylish, too. The LED lighting adds an attractive accent. The bins for storage inside have a third shelf which can be folded down to store large items. The drawers have temperature controls that let you set them to Meat, Beverage or Deli settings. They're easy to open and close, but I found their plastic textured coatings to be a little difficult on the fingers.
The GE PGE29BYTFS Smart Refrigerator includes the complete set of features you'd expect from a fridge at this price with Wi-Fi and app support through GE's SmartHQ software. The app, available for iOS and Android devices, lets you control your refrigerator from anywhere in the world, and has a ton of customization options. It also alerts you when a door is left open, when the refrigerator or freezer is in need of defrosting, and when it's time to change the filter.
It is nice if the GE PYE22PYNFS came with Precise Fill, an option available in other GE fridges that allow you to set the number of cups of water you'd like to dispense at once. It does offer an indicator on the fridge display to display how much water have remaining, but that's not as helpful 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 one of a kind. The fridge uses fingerprint-resistant stainless steel, which is a great feature for busy households. It also boasts a veggie compartment to keep vegetables and fruits fresher longer and has dual compressors to ensure the best food preservation. The Ice maker is among the most efficient we've ever tested, and it produces a pyramid-shaped form of Ice with low water consumption. This fridge is ideal for a small household or kitchenette that needs an elegant design and top of the line food preservation.
french door refrigerator freezer was the highest-rated refrigerator in our Refrigerators test for a few reasons. The freezer temperatures remained steady at just a few degrees Fahrenheit and never moving more than a fraction a degree--this is key to preventing freezing burn. The refrigerator section of the refrigerator also did well. It reached the temperature it was set within an hour and maintained that temperature throughout our testing.
Bosch is known for its high-end appliances which is why it's no surprise that this counter depth refrigerator is also a smart appliance, with the option of connecting to your home Wi-Fi network and Bosch's Home Connect platform. This app lets you monitor and control your refrigerator remotely from your tablet or smartphone. The fridge is a bit expensive, but it comes with excellent features and functionality for the price.
It is crucial to be aware of the limitations of your fridge. It is possible to be inventive with tall items since the fridge is limited in shelf space. The shelves are not resistant to spills and are easily damaged or stained by sharp objects. The trays are 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, 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 is a great counter-depth refrigerator that packs a lot of storage into the frame's compact size. 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 door bins on each door, two rows of shelves that capture spills and a set of crisper drawers. The top shelf on the right side can be folded down to make space for taller items. There's also a full-width drawer to store food items and an internal water dispenser.
One of the nice things about this refrigerator is that its ice maker is inside the freezer, which makes it easy to transfer the ice to the refrigerator for use when required. The freezer features thoughtful design elements, as well, such as sliding drawers that help better organize the position of items. It comes with a large bin for storing frozen food, and a separate container for ice.
Another cool feature of this refrigerator is its Smart InstaView panel. It lets you manage the refrigerator's temperature and lighting via your smartphone. It's a good way to monitor and manage your refrigerator, particularly if you're away from home.
Although the Smart InstaView is a neat feature, it doesn't necessarily add to the overall performance of the refrigerator. In fact, it took longer to defrost and chill food in this refrigerator than other refrigerators we tried. This is likely due to the greater capacity.
The other issue we have with the door of this refrigerator. They have handles that are sunken at the front, which allows shorter people to easily open them from the bottom, however they're not easy for taller people to steer closed without slamming the doors. It would have been better if they had a front-mounted handles.
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. It has a capacity that is above average for counter-depth models and also cools evenly. It's also less expensive than the top counter-depth refrigerators that have an ice maker, which helps make it an attractive option.
Frigidaire Counter Depth French Door Refrigerator
This Frigidaire French door refrigerator is a good option when you're looking for a French door fridge that won't break the budget. It's a minimalist design that's not as striking visually like some of the competitors, but it has enough features to make it a good choice. Its most important feature, the adjustable temperature drawer, helps to keep food items such as vegetables and meat fresher longer. It also comes with a huge ice maker and a water dispenser.
Another feature that is worth mentioning is the "Chill Drawer" that sits over the two crisper bins. The drawer lets you direct the majority of the fridge's cooling power to this area, so it can be used to store food items that require extra attention. You can alter this feature by using the slider located on the in the middle of the drawer. You can also set the general cooling settings for the entire fridge. I've found that the generic settings work better than the specific ones.
In my tests, the temperatures of the refrigerator were fairly constant across the different areas of the refrigerator. 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 great performance, but isn't quite at the top of 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. 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 that has a "smudge resistant" finish. It wards off streaks and fingerprints better than other stainless steel finishes I've tested.
Stephanie Cronk is the executive editor of Reviewed's Commerce/Product Reviews team and oversees the site's buyer's guides and test-product reviews. She has more than 15 years of experience in publishing and commerce including retail and digital. Stephanie is passionate about finding and recommending the top products for consumers, with a an emphasis on home products and technology.