French Door Refrigerator With Ice Maker Review
Combining form and function, French-door refrigerators offer stylish double doors that open up to an expansive fridge on the top and a freezer drawer below. These refrigerators stand out because of their distinctive features, including through-the-door dispensers and higher-end Ice makers.
We asked experts like Ladina Schopf, an interior designer architect, founder, and co-founder of LS Projects, for tips on choosing the right model. They considered storage capacity, layout and energy efficiency among other factors.
GE Profile Counter Depth French Door Refrigerator
Like the name suggests, GE's Profile series is targeted at the consumer who wants to incorporate cutting-edge features into their kitchen. This refrigerator has it all including 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. This refrigerator is costly, so I expected better.
This fridge is a good option, despite the slight blip. It has a huge freezer compartment that is not common for counter-depth French-door refrigerators. It also has a large capacity for frozen food items compared to other models.
Inside the fridge, there are 17 shelves and compartments. The fridge compartment is 18.5 cubic feet, which is the standard for a French-door refrigerator at this price. It also has an adequate-sized icemaker packed into the left door, though it isn't the largest I've seen.
You can alter the shelves in each compartment to create a custom storage setup for the items you need to keep. The interior design of the GE PYE22PYNFS is attractive. The LED lighting is a nice addition and the inside storage bins feature a third shelf that folds down to allow you to store tall items. The drawers come with temperature controls so you can set them for Meat, Beverage or Deli settings. The drawers are simple to shut and open however I found the textured plastic coatings a bit hard on my fingers.
The GE PGE29BYTFS Smart Refrigerator is equipped with a full suite of features you'd expect from a fridge in this price range that includes Wi-Fi as well as app support through 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 will also send notifications when the door is left unlocked, when the freezer or fridge needs to be defrosted, and when the filter requires a change.
It would be nice if the GE PYE22PYNFS had Precise Fill, an option available in a handful of other GE fridges that allow you to preset how many cups of water you'd like to dispense simultaneously. It does have an indicator on the display of the fridge to show 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 component of your kitchen. The fridge uses fingerprint-resistant stainless steel, which is a great feature for busy households. It also has a vegetable compartment which keeps vegetables and fruits fresher for longer and two compressors for preserving food items. The ice maker is one of the top we've tested, and it produces a pyramid-shaped form of ice that is low in water consumption. This fridge is the perfect option for households with a single member or kitchenettes that want a sleek design and top-of-the-line food preservation.
The fridge was rated the best refrigerator in our Refrigerators test, for various reasons. Its freezer temperatures held firm at a level that was just above 0 degrees Fahrenheit, and never changing more than a fraction of a degree--this is key to preventing freezing burn. The fridge's refrigerator section also performed well, reaching the desired initial set temperature within an hour and keeping that temperature steady over the course of our tests.
Bosch has a reputation for high-end appliances and appliances, so it's not a surprise that this counter-depth refrigerator is also a smart appliance with the option to connect to your home Wi-Fi network and Bosch's Home Connect platform. This app allows you to monitor and manage your fridge remotely using your tablet or smartphone. The fridge is expensive and has great features and functionality at a fair price.
It is important to know the limitations of the fridge. It has a small shelf space, which means you'll require some creativity when storing tall objects. Additionally the shelves aren't sprillproof and can be easily 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 thinking of buying this refrigerator, you should also read our review of the GE Appliances French Door Refrigerator and the Bosch Bottom Freezer Refrigerator.
LG Counter Depth French Door Refrigerator
The LG LRFLC2706S is a great counter-depth refrigerator that packs a lot of storage 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. The fridge is built with a standard French door design, and two rows of spill-capture shelving and a set of crisper drawers. The upper right shelf can be folded down to give tall items more room. You'll also find a full width drawer for deli items and an internal water dispenser.
One of the best things about this refrigerator is that the Ice maker is located in the freezer, making it easy to transfer frozen ice to the fridge to be used when it is required. The freezer also comes with innovative design features such as sliding drawers that allow you to organize your items. It also has a large bin that holds plenty of frozen food items and an ice storage bin.
Another cool feature of this refrigerator is its Smart InstaView panel. It lets you control the fridge's temperature as well as lighting from your smartphone. It's a nice way to control and monitor your refrigerator, particularly if you're away from home.
The Smart InstaView feature is neat but it doesn't improve the performance of the fridge. In fact it took a bit longer to defrost and chill food in this fridge as compared to other fridges we test. This is likely due to its larger capacity.
The doors are another problem with this fridge. They have handles that are sunken at the front, which allows smaller people to pull them open from the bottom, however they're still difficult for taller people to guide closed without slamming them. It would have been much better if they had a front-mounted handle.
The LG Counter-Depth MAX is a excellent option for those looking to combine the benefits of a fridge with a French door with a more efficient layout. It has a capacity that is above average for counter-depth models, and it cools evenly. It's also a little cheaper than the top counter-depth refrigerator that has 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 great choice. It's a basic refrigerator that might not be as eye-catching like some of its competitors however it has enough features to make a good option. Its most notable feature is the temperature adjustable drawer, which helps keep foods like meat and vegetables fresher for longer. It also has a large water dispenser as well as a good ice machine that works fast.
Another great feature is the "Chill Drawer" that sits over the two crisper bins. This drawer lets you redirect some of your fridge's cooling power to the area so it can be used to store food items which need extra attention. This feature can be adjusted using a slider on the outside of the drawer. You can also use this feature to set a general cooling setting for the entire fridge however, I've found that changing the generic settings tends to have a better effect than specific ones.
During my experiments, I noticed that the temperatures of the refrigerator were fairly consistent across different parts of the refrigerator. Temperatures in the top and bottom of the fridge didn't stray much from 38 degrees, and even the middle of the fridge was within one degree of 36. french door fridge freezer is a solid performance, but it 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. The fridge can be linked with a smart thermostat to get more accurate readings on the internal temperature of your fridge.
The Frigidaire FGHB2866PF's outside is made of stainless steel with a grey-bodied body with a "smudge-proof" finish. It blocks streaks and fingerprints better than other stainless steel finishes I've seen.
Stephanie Cronk is the executive editor of Reviewed's Commerce/Product Reviews team and oversees the site's buyer's guides and product reviews for test products. She has more than 15 years of commerce and publishing 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.