French Door Refrigerator With Ice Maker Review
Melding form with function, French-door refrigerators come with elegant double doors that open up to an expansive fridge on the top and a freezer drawer beneath. Special features such as through-the-door dispensers, higher-end ice machines and adjustable flex drawers make them stand out from the rest.
We asked experts like Ladina Schopf, interior designer and architect, as well as the founder of LS Projects, for tips on choosing the right model. They considered the capacity of storage, layout, and energy efficiency, among other factors.
GE Profile Counter Depth French Door Refrigerator
Like its name implies, the GE Profile series is aimed at those who wish to incorporate cutting-edge technology into their kitchens. This refrigerator has it all, from the Keurig K cup coffee maker in 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. This fridge is expensive, so I expected better.
Aside from that blip the fridge is a fantastic choice. It boasts a spacious freezer compartment, which is uncommon in counter-depth French door refrigerators. Additionally, french door fridge and freezer holds a good amount of frozen food when compared to similar models.
Inside the fridge, there are 17 shelves and compartments. The fridge compartment is 18.5 cubic feet of space, which is roughly on what you would expect from a French door refrigerator that costs this much. It has a decent sized refrigerator with an ice maker in the left door. But, it's not the largest one I've seen.
You can alter the shelves in both compartments to make a custom storage solution. The GE PYE22PYNFS's design for the interior is stylish, too. The LED lighting is an attractive accent. The storage bins in the door have a third shelf which can be folded down to store tall objects. The drawers have temperature controls that let you set them to Meat, Beverage or Deli settings. They're easy to open and close, however I found their plastic textured coatings to be a little hard on the fingers.
The GE PGE29BYTFS Smart Refrigerator comes with all the features you would expect from a refrigerator within this price range. It has Wi-Fi, app support and GE's SmartHQ Software. The app, which is available for iOS and Android devices, lets you control your refrigerator from anywhere in the world, and it has many options for customizing. It also sends you notifications when the door is left unlocked and when the freezer or fridge must be defrosted and when the filter needs to be changed.
It would be nice it GE PYE22PYNFS offered Precise fill which is a feature found in a few GE refrigerators that allows users to select how many cups they want to dispense. It does offer a countdown feature on the fridge's display to show how much water you have remaining, but that's not as helpful as Precise Fill.
Bosch Counter Depth French Door Refrigerator
The Bosch French-door Refrigerator is a stunning piece of equipment. It's designed to look like a seamless piece of your kitchen. The fridge uses fingerprint-resistant stainless steel, which is a great feature for busy households. It also features a veggie compartment that keeps fruits and vegetables fresher for longer periods, and dual compressors to preserve food items. The Ice maker we tested is one of the most efficient and produces pyramid shaped ice using minimal water. This fridge is perfect for a small household or kitchenette that needs an elegant design and top of the highest quality food preservation.
This refrigerator was the highest-rated refrigerator in our Refrigerators Test for a few reasons. Its freezer temperatures remained constant at just above 0° Fahrenheit and never changed more than a fraction - this is essential to avoid freezing burn. The fridge 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 premium appliances, so it's no surprise that this counter-depth refrigerator is also a smart appliance, with the option of connecting to your home Wi-Fi as well as Bosch's Home Connect platform. The app allows you to control and monitor your refrigerator remotely from your smartphone or tablet. The refrigerator is pricey, but offers great features and capabilities at a reasonable cost.
It's important to understand the limitations of the fridge. It has a limited shelf space, so you may have to think creatively when storing tall objects. Additionally, the shelves are not impervious to sprills and could be stained or damaged by sharp objects. It's simple to remove the refrigerator trays however, you must clean them frequently to prevent mold growth.
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 is a great counter-depth refrigerator that packs plenty of storage space 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 the standard French-door layout, with gallon-sized bins for the doors on each door, two rows of shelves that capture spills and a set of sleeker drawers. The top shelf on the right can be folded in order to create more space for taller items. There's also a full-width storage drawer for deli items and an internal water dispenser.
One of the great aspects of this refrigerator is that its ice maker is in the freezer, making it simple to move ice into the fridge to use as needed. The freezer features thoughtful design elements, as well, such as sliding drawers to help you to organize the place of your items. It also has a huge bin that holds plenty of frozen food items and an additional storage bin for ice.
Another awesome feature of this refrigerator is its Smart InstaView panel. You can control the temperature, lighting, and other aspects of your fridge using your smartphone. It's a simple way to monitor your refrigerator and manage it, especially when not at 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 foods in this fridge than other refrigerators we tested. This is likely due to the greater capacity.
The doors are a different issue with this refrigerator. They have handles that are sunken on the front that allow shorter people to easily open them from the bottom, but they're difficult for taller people to steer shut without slamming them. It would have been much better if they came with a front-mounted handles.
The LG Counter-Depth MAX fridge is an excellent choice for those who want to combine the look of a French door refrigerator with a more efficient design. Its capacity is higher than average for a counter-depth model and it cools evenly and has a good layout. It's also a little less than the top counter depth refrigerator that comes with an icemaker, which makes it an attractive choice.
Frigidaire Counter Depth French Door Refrigerator
This Frigidaire French door refrigerator is a good choice for those looking for a French-door fridge that doesn't break the budget. It's a basic fridge which may not be as appealing as some of its competitors however, it does have enough features to make a good option. Its most notable feature is the adjustable temperature drawer helps to keep food items like vegetables and meat fresher longer. It also comes with a large ice maker as well as a water dispenser.
The "Chill Drawer", which is situated over the two crisper bins, is another great feature. The drawer lets you direct the majority of the fridge's cooling power to the area so that you can keep food items that require special attention. This feature can be adjusted using a slider on the outside of the drawer. You can also adjust the general cooling settings for the entire fridge. I've found that the general settings are more effective than the specific ones.
In my tests, I discovered that the temperatures in the refrigerator were fairly consistent in different parts of the fridge. The temperatures in the middle, top and bottom of the fridge didn't differ much from 38 degrees. This is a solid 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. You can also pair this fridge with a smart thermometer to get more precise readings of the internal temperature of your fridge.
The Frigidaire FGHB2866PF's exterior is constructed of stainless steel with a grey-bodied body which has a "smudge-proof" finish. It does an excellent job of preventing streaks and fingerprints from appearing, even compared to shiny stainless steel finishes on other appliances I've tested.
Stephanie Cronk, executive editor of Reviewed's Commerce/Product Reviews Team, oversees the site’s buyer’s guides and product test reviews. She has more than 15 years of publishing and commerce experience, mostly in digital and retail. Stephanie is adamant about finding the top products and recommending them to customers. She focuses on home goods and technology.