French Door Refrigerator With Ice Maker Review
French-door refrigerators are a perfect blend of functionality and form. They come with stylish double doors that reveal the large fridge on 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 crowd.
We asked Ladina Schopf - interior designer, architect and founder of LS Projects - for her suggestions on how to pick the right home. They considered the capacity of storage and layout and energy efficiency, among 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 has it 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. This fridge is expensive, so I expected better.
Apart from that minor flaw the fridge is a fantastic choice. It has a large freezer compartment, which is unusual for counter-depth French door fridges. It also holds plenty of frozen food compared to other models.
The fridge is equipped with 17 shelves and compartments. The refrigerator compartment is 18.5 cubic feet, which is standard for a French-door fridge at this price. It also has a decent-sized icemaker packed into the left door, though it's not the largest I've seen.
You can alter the shelves in both compartments to create a customized storage arrangement for whatever you have to store. The interior design of the GE PYE22PYNFS is also attractive. The LED lighting is a nice addition, and the in-door storage bins feature the third shelf, which can fold down to allow you to store large items. The drawers have temperature controls so that you can set them for Meat, Beverage or Deli settings. The drawers are simple to open and close, but I found the textured plastic coatings a bit hard on my fingers.
The GE PGE29BYTFS Smart Refrigerator comes with the complete set of features you'd expect from a refrigerator in this price range, including Wi-Fi and app support through GE's SmartHQ software. The app, which is available for iOS and Android devices, lets you control your fridge from anywhere in the world, and has many options for customizing. french door fridge freezers sends you notifications when the door is unlocked, when the freezer or fridge needs to be defrosted, and when the filter needs to be changed.
It is nice to have GE PYE22PYNFS had Precise Fill which is a feature found in a few GE refrigerators that allow users to set how many cups they want to dispense. It does have a countdown on the display of the fridge to display how much water have remaining, but that's not as useful as Precise Fill.
Bosch Counter Depth French Door Refrigerator
Created to appear like a seamless piece of your kitchen, Bosch's French-door refrigerator is an eye-catching piece. 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 dual compressors for maximum preservation of food. The ice maker we tested is one of the most efficient and produces the shape of a pyramid using only water. This refrigerator is a great option for households with a single member or kitchenettes who want an integrated look and top of the line food preservation.
This refrigerator was the highest-rated refrigerator in our Refrigerators Test for several reasons. The freezer temperatures remained steady at just a few degrees Fahrenheit, and never fluctuating more than a fraction one degree. This is crucial to preventing freezing burn. The refrigerator section of the refrigerator also performed well. It reached the initial temperature within an hour and maintained the temperature throughout our testing.
Bosch is a household name known for its high-end appliances. Therefore, it's not a surprise that Bosch's counter depth fridge Bosch counter depth fridge can be connected to your home Wi Fi and Bosch's Home Connect. This app lets you monitor and control your fridge from your tablet or smartphone. The refrigerator is costly however, it offers excellent features and functions at a reasonable cost.
While the fridge is an amazing appliance, it's important to know the limitations. You may need to get inventive with tall items since the fridge has a limited shelf space. Additionally, the shelves are not completely sprillproof, and can easily be damaged or stained by sharp objects. It is easy to take out the trays in the fridge however, you must clean them frequently to prevent the growth of mold.
If you're thinking about buying this refrigerator, be sure to also check out our reviews of the French Door GE Appliances 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 need 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. The fridge has the standard French door design, with two rows of shelves that can be used to capture spills and a set crisper drawers. The top shelf on the right can be folded down to give taller items more space. There's also a full-width deli drawer and an internal water dispenser.
One of the nice features of this refrigerator is that its ice maker is in the freezer, which makes it simple to move the ice to the refrigerator for use when needed. The freezer also comes with thoughtful design features, like sliding drawers that allow you to sort your things. It also comes with a large bin that holds plenty of frozen food items as well as a separate storage bin for ice.
Smart InstaView panel is a cool feature of the refrigerator. It allows you to manage the refrigerator's temperature and lighting via your smartphone. It's a simple way to monitor your refrigerator and manage it, especially when you're not at home.
The Smart InstaView feature is neat but it doesn't improve the efficiency of the fridge. In fact it took longer to defrost and chill foods in this refrigerator than some of the others we tried. This is probably due to its larger capacity.
Another issue with the door of this refrigerator. They have sunken handles on the front that allow smaller people to 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 had handles mounted on the front.
The LG Counter-Depth MAX is a ideal choice for those who want 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 a bit less than the best counter-depth refrigerator with an ice maker, which can make it an attractive option.
Frigidaire Counter Depth French Door Refrigerator
If you're looking for a French door fridge that doesn't cost you a fortune, this Frigidaire is a solid option. It's a basic fridge that may not be as attractive as some of its competitors however, it does have enough features to make it a good choice. Its main feature is the temperature adjustable drawer, which helps keep foods such as meat and vegetables fresher for longer. It also has a large water dispenser and a decent Ice machine that is fast.
The "Chill Drawer", which sits above the two crisper bins, is another excellent feature. This drawer lets you redirect some of the refrigerator's cooling power directly to this area, which means you can put away food items that require special attention. This feature can be adjusted using an outside slider that is located inside 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 temperatures of the refrigerator were fairly constant across the different areas of the refrigerator. Temperatures in the top and bottom of the fridge didn't 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 be among the top 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. You can also pair this fridge with a smart thermometer for more precise measurements of your fridge's temperature.
The Frigidaire FGHB2866PF's outside is made of stainless steel with a grey-bodied body with a "smudge-proof" finish. It is capable of removing streaks and fingerprints, even compared to glossier stainless steel finishes on other appliances I've tried.
Stephanie Cronk is the executive editor on 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 commerce and publishing mostly in retail and digital. Stephanie is passionate about finding the top products and recommending them to consumers. She focuses on home goods and technology.