French Door Refrigerator With Ice Maker Review
French-door fridges combine form and function. They come with elegant double doors that open to reveal the large fridge on top, and a freezer drawer beneath. These refrigerators stand out because of their unique features, like through-the-door dispensers as well as higher-end ice makers.
We consulted Ladina Schopf - interior designer, architect and the founder of LS Projects - for her suggestions on how to pick the right home. They evaluated storage capacity, layout, energy efficiency, and other features.
GE Profile Counter Depth French Door Refrigerator
The name of the series suggests that GE’s Profile series is aimed at consumers who want to incorporate cutting-edge technology into their kitchens. The refrigerator is brimming with these, from an inside-the-door Keurig K-cup coffee maker to a smart water dispenser. But these flourishes don't mask mediocre performance, especially in the refrigerator's freezer and an ineffective temperature-controlled drawer. Since this refrigerator is more, I'd expect better.
This refrigerator is a good choice, despite the blip. It has a large freezer compartment, which is uncommon in counter-depth French door fridges, and it can hold a decent amount of frozen food in comparison to similar models.
The fridge has 17 shelves and compartments. The refrigerator compartment is 18.5 cubic feet, which is standard for a fridge with a French door at this price. It also has a decent-sized icemaker in the left-hand door, although it's not the biggest I've seen.
You can alter the shelves in each compartment to create a customized storage arrangement for the items you need to store. The interior design of the GE PYE22PYNFS is stylish, too. The LED lighting is a nice accent. The storage bins in the door include a third shelf that can be folded down to store tall items. The drawers have temperature controls so that you can set them to Beverage, Meat, or Deli settings. They're easy to open and close, although I found their textured plastic coatings a bit hard on the fingers.
The GE PGE29BYTFS Smart Refrigerator is equipped with a full suite of features you'd expect from a fridge at this price with Wi-Fi and app support through GE's SmartHQ software. The app, available for iOS and Android devices allows you to control your refrigerator from anywhere in the world, and it has many options for customizing. It also sends you notifications when doors are left open, when the fridge or freezer needs to be defrosted and when it's time to change the filter.
It would be nice if the GE PYE22PYNFS had Precise Fill, an option available in a few other GE refrigerators that allows you to set the number of cups of water you'd like to dispense at once. The fridge shows a countdown to reveal how much water is left, but it's not as helpful 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 one of a kind. 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 for longer, and two compressors for the best preservation of food. The ice maker we tested was one of the most efficient and produces pyramid shaped ice using minimal water. This fridge is the perfect option for households with a single member or kitchenettes looking for a built-in look and top-of-the-line food preservation.
This refrigerator was the highest-rated refrigerator in our Refrigerators test, for several reasons. Its freezer temperatures held firm at a level that was just above 0 degrees Fahrenheit, never fluctuating by more than a fraction one degree. This is crucial to avoiding freezer burn. The fridge's fridge section also performed well, reaching the desired initial set temperature within a matter of hours and keeping that temperature steady over the course of our tests.
Bosch is a household name known for its high-end appliances. Therefore, it's no surprise that Bosch's counter depth fridge Bosch counter depth fridge can be connected to your home Wi Fi and Bosch's platform Home Connect. The app lets you monitor and control your refrigerator remotely from your tablet or smartphone. The fridge is expensive, but offers great features and capabilities at a reasonable price.
While the fridge is an amazing appliance but it's important to be aware of the limitations. You might need to be creative with tall objects because the fridge has a small shelf space. Also the shelves aren't impervious to sprills and could be damaged or stained by sharp objects. The trays are easily removed from the fridge. However, they must be cleaned frequently to stop the growth of mold.
If you're thinking of buying this refrigerator, be sure to check out our review of the French Door GE Appliances Refrigerator and the Bosch Bottom Freezer Refrigerator.
LG Counter Depth French Door Refrigerator
The LG LRFLC2706S is a top counter-depth refrigerator that packs plenty 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. The fridge has an ordinary French door design, and 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 headroom. There's also a full-width drawer to store food items and an internal water dispenser.
One of the nice things about this refrigerator is that its ice maker is inside the freezer, making it easy to transfer frozen ice to the fridge for use when needed. The freezer also features clever design features, like sliding drawers that help you sort your things. It also has a large container for storing frozen food and a separate one for ice.
Smart InstaView panel is another cool feature of the refrigerator. It allows you to control the fridge's temperature, lighting, and more from your smartphone. It's a simple method to keep track of your fridge and manage it, especially when away from home.
The Smart InstaView feature is neat however it doesn't enhance the performance of the fridge. The fridge took a bit longer to chill food and defrost it than other models we tried. This is likely due to the bigger capacity.
The doors are a different issue with this refrigerator. The sunken handles allow shorter people to open them from the bottom. However taller people struggle to close them without slamming. It would have been much better if they had a front-mounted handle.
The LG Counter-Depth MAX fridge is a great choice for those looking to combine the look and feel of a French-door refrigerator with a more efficient design. 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 a popular choice.
Frigidaire Counter Depth French Door Refrigerator
If you're looking for an French door fridge that doesn't cost a fortune, this Frigidaire is a great choice. It's a basic fridge that may not be as appealing as some of its competitors however it has enough features to make a suitable choice. Its most important feature is the temperature adjustable drawer, which helps keep foods like veggies and meat fresher for longer. It also comes with a huge water dispenser and a decent ice maker that operates quickly.
Another feature that is worth mentioning is the "Chill Drawer" that sits over the two crisper bins. This drawer lets you use some of your fridge's cooling power into the area so it can be used to store food items that require special attention. You can adjust this feature by using a slider that's located right outside of the drawer. french door fridge and freezer can also use this feature to adjust the general cooling settings for the whole fridge, though I've found that adjusting the general settings tends be more effective than specific ones.
During my tests, the refrigerator's temperatures stayed fairly consistent across different areas of the fridge. The temperatures in the top, bottom and middle of the refrigerator did not differ much from 38 degrees. This 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. This fridge can be connected with a smart thermostat to get more accurate readings on the internal temperature of your fridge.
The Frigidaire FGHB2866PF's exterior is made of grey-bodied stainless steel that has a "smudge-proof" finish. It repels fingerprints and streaks better than other stainless steel finishes I've tested.
Stephanie Cronk is the executive editor on 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, mostly in retail and digital. Stephanie is passionate about finding the best products and recommending them to consumers. She concentrates on home and technology.