French Door Refrigerator With Ice Maker Review
French-door fridges combine design and function. They feature stylish double doors that reveal the large fridge on top and a freezer drawer beneath. Special features like through-the-door dispensers, high-end ice machines and adjustable flex drawers make them stand out from the rest.
We asked Ladina Schopf - interior designer, architect and the founder of LS Projects - for her advice on how to choose the right home. They considered the capacity of storage and layout, energy efficiency, and other aspects.
GE Profile Counter Depth French Door Refrigerator
Like the name suggests, the GE Profile series is targeted at consumers who want to incorporate cutting-edge technology into their kitchen. This refrigerator has it all including the Keurig K cup coffee maker inside 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 and I was expecting better.
This fridge is a great option, despite the slight blip. It boasts a spacious freezer compartment, which is uncommon in counter-depth French door fridges, and it can hold a decent amount of frozen food compared to similar models.
The fridge has 17 shelves and compartments. The refrigerator compartment is 18.5 cubic feet, which is typical for a French-door refrigerator at this price. It has a decent sized icemaker in the left door. However, it's not the largest one I've seen.
You can adjust the shelves in both compartments to make a custom storage solution. The interior design of the GE PYE22PYNFS is attractive. Its LED lighting is a nice addition and the storage bins come with the third shelf, which folds up beneath itself so that you can store large items. The drawers come with temperature controls, so you can 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 includes all the features you would expect from a refrigerator within this price range. This includes Wi-Fi as well as app support, and GE's SmartHQ Software. The app, available for iOS and Android devices allows you to control your refrigerator from anywhere in the world, and offers numerous options for customization. It also gives you notifications when doors are left open, when the fridge or freezer needs defrosting and when it's time to change the filter.
It would be nice if GE PYE22PYNFS had Precise Fill, an option available in a handful of other GE refrigerators that allows you to preset how many cups of water you'd like to dispense at a time. The fridge shows a countdown to show you how much water is left however it's not as useful as Precise Fill.
Bosch Counter Depth French Door Refrigerator
Created to appear like a seamless part 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 boasts a veggie compartment that keeps fruits and vegetables fresher longer and dual compressors to ensure maximum food preservation. The Ice maker we tested is one of the most efficient and makes pyramid shaped ice using minimal water. This refrigerator is ideal for a single household or kitchenette that needs a built-in appearance and top-of-the line food preservation.
This refrigerator was rated as the top in our Refrigerators Test for several reasons. The freezer temperature remained steady at just above 0° Fahrenheit and never changed by more than a fraction, this is crucial to avoid the risk of a freezer burn. The fridge section of the fridge also performed well, reaching the temperature that was set for the initial setting within an hour and maintaining that temperature steady throughout the course of our testing.
Bosch is known for its top-of-the-line appliances, so 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 and Bosch's Home Connect platform. This app lets you monitor and control your fridge from your smartphone or tablet. The fridge is expensive however, it offers excellent features and capabilities at a fair price.
While the fridge is an incredible appliance, it's important to know the limitations. It has a narrow space for shelves, so you may need to be creative when storing tall objects. Additionally, the shelves are not impervious to sprills and could be damaged or stained by sharp objects. The trays are easily removed from the refrigerator. However, they should be cleaned regularly to prevent the growth of mold.
If you're considering this refrigerator, be sure to also read our reviews of the GE Appliances French Door Refrigerator and the Bosch Bottom Freezer Refrigerator.
LG Counter Depth French Door Refrigerator
The LG LRFLC2706S is an excellent counter-depth refrigerator that packs a lot of storage in 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 bins for the doors on each door as well as two rows of shelves that capture spills, and a set of crisper drawers. The upper right shelf can be folded down to give taller items more room. There's also a full-width drawer for products from the deli and an inside water dispenser.
One of the best things about this refrigerator is that its Ice maker is located in the freezer, which makes it easy to transfer frozen ice to the fridge to be used when it is needed. The freezer features thoughtful design elements, too, like sliding drawers to help you to organize the place of your items. It also comes with a large bin that holds plenty of frozen food items as well as an ice storage bin.
Smart InstaView panel is another cool feature of the refrigerator. It allows you to control the temperature of your fridge as well as lighting using your smartphone. It's a simple method to keep track of your refrigerator and control it, especially when not at home.
The Smart InstaView feature is neat however it doesn't enhance the efficiency of the fridge. In fact it took a bit longer to defrost and chill foods in this fridge than some of the others we tested. This is likely due to the greater capacity.
The doors are another problem with this fridge. The handles that are sunken allow shorter people to open them from the bottom. However, taller people still struggle to close them without slamming. It would have been better if they had handles mounted on the front.
The LG Counter-Depth MAX is a good option for those looking to combine the advantages of a fridge with a French door with an efficient layout. It has a capacity that is above average for counter-depth models and is able to cool evenly. french door fridge freezer 's also a bit cheaper than the top counter depth refrigerator that comes with an icemaker, 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 doesn't break the budget. It has a simple design that isn't as striking visually as some of the competition however it comes with enough features that make it a great pick. Its main feature is the temperature adjustable drawer which helps keep food items like meat and vegetables fresher for longer. It also comes with a huge water dispenser, as well as an excellent Ice machine that is fast.
Another feature that is worth mentioning is the "Chill Drawer" that sits over the two crisper bins. This drawer lets you direct a portion of the refrigerator's cooling power to the area so that you can keep food items which need extra attention. You can adjust this feature by using a slider that's located right outside of the drawer. You can also use this feature to set a general cooling level for the entire fridge, however, I've found that changing the general settings tends to be more effective than specific ones.
In my tests, the refrigerator's temperatures were fairly consistent across all areas of the fridge. The temperatures in the middle, top and bottom of the refrigerator didn't vary significantly from 38 degrees. This is a good performance, but doesn't 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 connect this fridge to an intelligent thermometer to get more precise readings of your fridge's internal temperature.
The exterior of the Frigidaire is made of gray-bodied stainless with a "smudge resistant" finish. It wards off streaks and fingerprints better than other stainless steel finishes I've tried.
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 retail and digital. Stephanie is passionate about finding the best products and recommending them to customers. She focuses on home goods and technology.