French Door Refrigerator With Ice Maker Review
Combining form and functionality, French-door refrigerators have elegant double doors that open up to an enormous 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 crowd.
We asked Ladina Schopf - interior designer, architect and founder of LS Projects - for her suggestions on how to pick the best one. They considered the capacity of storage and layout, energy efficiency, and other features.
GE Profile Counter Depth French Door Refrigerator
As the name suggests, GE's Profile series targets consumers who want to incorporate cutting-edge technology into their kitchen. The refrigerator is brimming with features, from an in-the-door Keurig K-cup coffee maker to a sophisticated water dispenser. But these flourishes don't mask mediocre performance, especially in the refrigerator's freezer and an ineffective temperature-controlled drawer. Since https://www.frydge.uk/categories/french-door-style-fridge-freezers costs a premium, I expect better.
This fridge is a good choice, despite the blip. It has a large freezer compartment, which is quite uncommon in counter-depth French door refrigerators. Additionally, it holds a good amount of frozen food in comparison to similar models.
Inside the fridge, there are 17 shelves and compartments. The fridge compartment is 18.5 cubic feet, which is typical for a French-door refrigerator 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 largest I've seen.
You can adjust the shelves in both compartments to create a an individual storage solution. The interior design of the GE PYE22PYNFS is good-looking, too. The LED lighting is a nice touch, and the in-door storage bins come with the third shelf, which can fold down so that you can store tall items. The drawers have temperature controls that let you set them to Meat, Beverage, or Deli settings. The drawers are easy to open and close however I found the textured plastic coatings a bit hard on my fingers.
The GE PGE29BYTFS Smart Refrigerator is equipped with a all the features you'd expect from a refrigerator in this price range that includes Wi-Fi as well as app support via GE's SmartHQ software. The app is available on iOS and Android devices and lets you control your refrigerator from any place around the world. It also has many options for customization. It also sends you notifications when doors are left open, when your fridge or freezer needs defrosting and when it's time to change the filter.
It would be nice if the GE PYE22PYNFS came with Precise Fill, an option 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 display of the fridge to show how much water you have remaining, but that's not as effective as Precise fill.
Bosch Counter Depth French Door Refrigerator
The Bosch French-door Refrigerator is an impressive product. It's designed to appear like it's a seamless part of your kitchen. The fridge uses fingerprint-resistant stainless steel, which is a great feature for busy households. It also has a veggie compartment which keeps vegetables and fruits fresher for longer and two compressors for preserving food. The ice maker is one of the best we've ever tested, and it produces a pyramid-shaped form of ice with a low water usage. This refrigerator is the ideal option for a single family or kitchenettes who want a built-in look and top-of-the-line food preservation.
This fridge was the top-rated refrigerator in our Refrigerators test for various reasons. The freezer temperatures remained steady at just above 0 degrees Fahrenheit and never fluctuating by more than a fraction an inch. This is essential in preventing freezer burn. The refrigerator section of the fridge also performed well. It reached the initial temperature within a matter of hours, and remained at the temperature throughout our tests.
Bosch has a reputation for top-of-the-line appliances which is why it's no surprise that this counter depth refrigerator is also a smart appliance with the option to connect 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, but it offers top-quality features and functions for the cost.
While the fridge is an incredible piece of equipment but it's important to be aware of the limitations. You may need to get creative with tall objects because the fridge has a limited shelf space. The shelves are not spillproof and can easily be stained or damaged by sharp items. It's simple to remove the trays in the fridge however, you must clean them frequently to prevent mold growth.
If you're thinking about buying this refrigerator, make sure to 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 counter-depth refrigerator is a great option for those who require a lot of space in the space of a compact frame. It has a sleek, fingerprint-resistant stainless-steel finish and features thick handles that make them comfortable to grip. Inside, the refrigerator has an ordinary French-door design with gallon-sized door bins at each door and two rows of shelves that capture spills and a set sleeker drawers. The top shelf to the right can be folded to provide more space for taller items. There's also a full-width deli drawer and an internal water dispenser.
This refrigerator is equipped with an ice maker making it easy to move the frozen ice as needed. The freezer also comes with innovative design features like sliding drawers that allow you to organize your belongings. It also comes with a large bin that can accommodate plenty of frozen food and a separate ice storage bin.
Another cool feature of this refrigerator is its Smart InstaView panel. It allows you to control the temperature of your fridge as well as lighting using your smartphone. It's a great way to control and monitor your refrigerator, especially when you're away from home.
Although the Smart InstaView is a neat feature, it doesn't necessarily improve the overall performance of the refrigerator. In fact it took a bit longer to defrost and chill food in this fridge as compared to other fridges we tested. This is likely due to its greater capacity.
The other issue we have with the doors of this refrigerator. They have handles that are sunken on the front, which allow smaller people to open them from the bottom, but they're difficult for taller people to pull closed without slamming them. It would have been much better if they had a front-mounted handles.
The LG Counter-Depth MAX is a good choice for those who want to combine the benefits of a French-door fridge'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 refrigerator that has an ice maker, which helps make it a desirable choice.
Frigidaire Counter Depth French Door Refrigerator
If you're looking for a French door fridge that doesn't break the bank and isn't expensive, this Frigidaire is a great choice. It has a simple design that isn't as striking in appearance like some of the competitors, but it has enough features to make it a good option. Its most notable feature is the adjustable temperature drawer helps to keep food items such as meat and vegetables fresher for longer. It also comes with a huge water and ice maker dispenser.
The "Chill Drawer", which is located over the two crisper bins, is another excellent feature. The drawer lets you direct some of your fridge's cooling power into the area so it can be used to store food items which need extra attention. This feature can be adjusted by using a slider on the outside of the drawer. You can also set the general cooling settings for the entire fridge. I've noticed that the general settings work better than the specific ones.
In my tests, I discovered that the temperatures of the refrigerator were fairly consistent across different parts of the refrigerator. The temperatures in the top, bottom and middle of the fridge didn't differ much from 38 degrees. That's a good performance, but it doesn't quite rank among the best in 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 an intelligent thermometer to get more precise measurements of your fridge's internal temperature.
The Frigidaire FGHB2866PF's exterior is made of grey-bodied stainless steel with a "smudge-proof" finish. It is capable of removing streaks and fingerprints even when compared to the 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 commerce and publishing experience, with a focus on digital and retail. Stephanie is adamant about finding the most effective products and recommending them to consumers. She is particularly interested in home goods and technology.