French Door Refrigerator With Ice Maker Review
French-door refrigerators are a perfect blend of functionality and form. They come with elegant double doors that open to reveal a large fridge on top and a freezer drawer beneath. Special features like door-to-door dispensers, ice machines with higher-end features and flex drawers that can be customized make them stand out from the rest.
We asked Ladina Schopf - an interior designer, architect, and founder of LS Projects - for her tips on how to select the right home. They weighed the capacity of storage, layout and energy efficiency as well as other factors.
GE Profile Counter Depth French Door Refrigerator
As the name suggests, GE's Profile series targets consumers who want to incorporate cutting-edge features into their kitchen. This fridge has them all from the Keurig K cup coffee maker on 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. The refrigerator is expensive and I expected more.
Aside from that blip however, this refrigerator is a great option. It features a large freezer compartment, which is unusual for counter-depth French door fridges. It also holds a lot of frozen food compared to other models.
The fridge has 17 shelves and compartments. The fridge compartment has 18.5 cubic feet, which is standard for a French-door fridge at this price. It also has a decent-sized icemaker that is tucked away in the left door, but it's not the biggest I've seen.
You can alter the shelves in both compartments for a custom storage solution. The interior design of the GE PYE22PYNFS is attractive. The LED lighting is a nice addition and the storage bins feature an additional shelf that folds up beneath itself so that you can store tall items. The drawers are equipped with temperature controls, so you can set them to Meat, Beverage, or Deli settings. They're easy to open and close, although I found their plastic textured coatings to be a bit difficult on the fingers.
The GE PGE29BYTFS Smart Refrigerator includes the complete set of features you'd expect from a fridge in this price range, including Wi-Fi and app support via GE's SmartHQ software. The app is available on iOS and Android devices and allows you to control your refrigerator from any place in the globe. It also comes with numerous options for customizing. It also gives you notifications when a door is 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 included Precise fill it's an option in other GE refrigerators that allows you to set the number of cups of water you'd like to dispense at a time. It does offer a countdown on the fridge display to display how much water you have remaining, but that's not as useful as Precise Fill.
Bosch Counter Depth French Door Refrigerator
The Bosch French-door Refrigerator is a striking piece. It's designed to look 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 boasts a veggie compartment to keep vegetables and fruits fresher longer, and two compressors to ensure maximum preservation of food. The Ice maker is among the most efficient we've ever tested and produces pyramid-shaped ice that is low in water usage. This refrigerator is a great option for households with a single member or kitchenettes looking for an integrated look and top-of-the-line food preservation.
This refrigerator was rated as the best in our Refrigerators Test due to a variety of reasons. Its freezer temperatures held firm at a level that was just above 0 degrees Fahrenheit, and never moving by more than a fraction a degree--this is key in preventing freezing burn. The refrigerator section of the fridge also performed well. It reached the initial temperature set within an hour, and remained at that temperature throughout our testing.
Bosch has a reputation for 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 allows you to control and monitor your refrigerator remotely from your smartphone or tablet. The fridge is expensive, but it offers great features and capabilities for the cost.
It's important to understand the limitations of the fridge. It has a narrow shelf space, so you'll have to think creatively when storing tall objects. Additionally, the shelves are not completely sprillproof, and can easily be damaged or stained by sharp objects. It's easy to remove the trays in the fridge however, you must keep them clean to avoid mold growth.
If you're thinking of buying this refrigerator, be sure to also review our opinions on the French Door GE Appliances Refrigerator and the Bosch Bottom Freezer Refrigerator.
LG Counter Depth French Door Refrigerator
The LG LRFLC2706S is an excellent counter-depth refrigerator that packs plenty of storage in an extremely compact frame. It has a sleek, fingerprint-resistant stainless-steel finish and features thick handles that make them comfortable to grip. The fridge features a standard French door design, with two rows of shelves that can be used to capture spills and a set of crisper drawers. The top right shelf can be folded down to give tall items more space. There's also a full-width storage drawer for products from the deli and an inside water dispenser.
This refrigerator has a freezer with an ice maker making it easy to transfer the frozen ice as needed. The freezer also has clever design features, such as sliding drawers that allow you to organize your belongings. It also has a large bin that holds plenty of frozen food items as well as a separate 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 refrigerator from your smartphone. It's a great way to monitor and manage your refrigerator, especially if you're away from home.
The Smart InstaView feature is neat however it doesn't enhance the efficiency of the fridge. The refrigerator took longer to chill food and defrost it than the other fridges we tried. This is likely due to its larger capacity.
The doors are another problem with this fridge. The sunken handles allow smaller people to open them from the bottom. However, taller people still have a difficult time closing them without slamming them. It would have been much better if they had front-mounted handle.
The LG Counter-Depth MAX fridge is an excellent choice for those looking to blend the aesthetics of a French-door refrigerator with more efficient design. Its capacity is above average for a counter-depth model and it cools evenly and has a great layout. It's also a little less than the top counter depth refrigerators that have an icemaker, which makes it a great choice.
Frigidaire Counter Depth French Door Refrigerator
If you're looking for a French door refrigerator that won't break the bank, this Frigidaire is a solid option. It's a simple fridge that might not be as appealing as its rivals however it has enough features to make a an excellent choice. Its most significant feature, the adjustable temperature drawer, helps to keep food items such as vegetables and meat fresher for longer. It also comes with a large ice maker as well as a water dispenser.
Another nice feature is the "Chill Drawer" that sits above the two crisper bins. The drawer lets you direct some of your fridge's cooling power to this area, so that you can store foods that require extra attention. This feature can be adjusted by using a slider located outside the drawer. french door fridge freezers can also set the general cooling settings for the entire fridge. I have found that the generic settings work better than the specific ones.
During my tests, the temperatures of the refrigerator were fairly constant across the different areas of the fridge. The temperatures in the middle, top and bottom of the refrigerator didn't vary much from 38 degrees. This is a pretty good performance however it doesn't rank among the best 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 combine this fridge with a smart thermometer for more precise readings of the internal temperature of your fridge.
The Frigidaire FGHB2866PF's outside is made of grey-bodied stainless steel with a "smudge-proof" finish. french door fridge freezer blocks streaks and fingerprints better than other stainless steel finishes I've tried.
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 experience in publishing and commerce mostly in retail and digital. Stephanie is passionate about finding and recommending the best products for consumers, with a focus on home goods and tech.