French Door Refrigerator With Ice Maker Review
Combining form and function, French-door refrigerators come with stylish double doors that open up to a spacious fridge up top and freezer drawer below. Special features like through-the-door dispensers, high-end ice machines and flex drawers that can be customized make them stand out from the rest.
We contacted Ladina Schopf - an interior designer, architect, and the founder of LS Projects - for her suggestions on how to pick the best one. They looked at the capacity of storage, layout, and energy efficiency among other features.
GE Profile Counter Depth French Door Refrigerator
Like the name suggests, GE's Profile series is geared towards those who want to incorporate cutting-edge features into their kitchen. This refrigerator has it all from a Keurig K cup coffee maker inside the door to a smart dispenser of water. But these flourishes don't mask mediocre performance, especially in the refrigerator's freezer and an ineffective temperature-controlled drawer. Since this refrigerator costs an extra amount, I'd like to see better.
This refrigerator is a good choice, despite the blip. It features a large freezer compartment, which is unusual for counter-depth French-door fridges. It also has a large capacity for frozen food, which is a big difference from other models.
Inside the fridge, you'll find 17 shelves and compartments. The fridge compartment is 18.5 cubic feet, which is standard for a French-door fridge at this price. It comes with a decent size freezer in the left side. However, it's not the largest one I've seen.
You can alter the shelves in both compartments to create a the perfect storage solution. The interior design of the GE PYE22PYNFS is attractive. The LED lighting is an appealing touch. The storage bins in the door include a third shelf that can be folded down to store tall objects. The drawers have temperature controls that allow you to 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 bit rough on the fingers.
The GE PGE29BYTFS Smart Refrigerator comes with the all the features you'd expect from a fridge at this price that includes Wi-Fi as well as app support via GE's SmartHQ software. The app is compatible with iOS and Android devices and lets you control your refrigerator from any place across the globe. It also comes with a lot of customization options. It also gives you notifications when a door is left open, when the refrigerator or freezer needs defrosting and when it's time to change the filter.
french door fridge freezers is nice if GE PYE22PYNFS offered Precise fill which is a feature found in a few GE refrigerators that allow users to set the number of cups they would like to dispense. The fridge displays a countdown to show you how much water remains however it's not as useful as Precise fill.
Bosch Counter Depth French Door Refrigerator
The Bosch French-door Refrigerator is a stunning piece of equipment. It's designed to appear like it's a seamless part in 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 to preserve food. The Ice maker is among the top we've tested, and it produces a pyramid-shaped form of ice that is low in water consumption. This fridge is perfect for a small household or kitchenette that needs an attractive design and top of the line food preservation.
This fridge was the top-rated refrigerator in our Refrigerators test for various reasons. The temperature of the freezer remained constant at just above 0°F and never fluctuated more than a tiny fraction - this is crucial to prevent freezing burn. The fridge's fridge section also performed well, achieving the temperature that was set for the initial setting within an hour and maintaining that temperature steady over the course of our testing.
Bosch is known for its high-end appliances, so 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 lets you monitor and control the refrigerator remotely using your tablet or smartphone. The refrigerator is pricey however, it offers excellent features and capabilities at a fair price.
While the fridge is a fantastic appliance but it's important to be aware of the limitations. You might need to be inventive with tall items since the fridge has a small shelf space. The shelves aren't resistant to spills and are easily stained or damaged by sharp objects. The trays are easily removed from the fridge. However, they should be cleaned regularly to prevent the growth of mold.
If you're thinking of buying this refrigerator, be sure to also review our opinions on the French Door GE Appliances Refrigerator as well as the Bosch Bottom Freezer Refrigerator.
LG Counter Depth French Door Refrigerator
The LG LRFLC2706S counter-depth refrigerator is a great choice for those who require a lot of space in a small frame. It has a sleek, fingerprint-resistant stainless-steel finish and features thick handles that make them comfortable to grip. Inside, the refrigerator has the standard French-door layout, with gallon-sized door bins on each door, two rows of spill-capture shelves and a set more spacious drawers. The top shelf on the right can be folded down to give tall items more space. You'll also find a full-width drawer for deli and an inside water dispenser.
The refrigerator comes with an ice maker, making it easy to move the frozen ice whenever you need it. 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 holds plenty of frozen food and a separate ice storage bin.
Smart InstaView panel is a cool feature of the refrigerator. It lets you manage the refrigerator's temperature and lighting from your smartphone. It's an easy way to monitor your refrigerator and control it, particularly when you're not at home.
The Smart InstaView feature is neat, but it doesn't necessarily enhance the performance of the fridge. In fact, it took longer to defrost and chill food in this refrigerator as compared to other fridges we test. This could be due to the bigger capacity.
The doors are another problem with this refrigerator. They have sunken handles on the front that allow smaller people to open them from the bottom, but they're still difficult for taller people to steer shut without slamming them. It would have been better to have front-mounted handles.
The LG Counter-Depth MAX is a ideal choice for those who want to combine the benefits of a fridge with a French door with a more efficient layout. Its capacity is superior for a counter-depth model and it cools evenly and has a great layout. It's also a little cheaper than the best counter-depth refrigerators that have an ice maker, which can make it a desirable choice.
french door fridge freezers
If you're looking for an French door fridge that doesn't break the bank, this Frigidaire is a great choice. It's a basic fridge that might not be as attractive as some of its competitors however it has enough features to make a good option. Its most important feature is the adjustable temperature drawer which helps keep food items such as meat and vegetables fresher for longer. It also has a large ice maker as well as a water dispenser.
Another feature that is worth mentioning is the "Chill Drawer" that sits above the two crisper bins. This drawer lets you redirect some of your fridge's cooling power into this area, so it can be used to store food items which need extra attention. You can adjust this feature by using the slider located on the outside of the drawer. You can also adjust the general cooling settings for the entire fridge. I've found that the generic settings are more effective than the specific ones.
During my tests, the refrigerator's temperatures were fairly consistent across all 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 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 measurements of your fridge's internal temperature.
The Frigidaire FGHB2866PF's exterior is made of stainless steel with a grey body that has a "smudge-proof" finish. It blocks streaks and fingerprints better than other stainless steel finishes I've seen.
Stephanie Cronk is the executive editor on Reviewed's Commerce/Product Reviews team and oversees the site's buyer's guide and review of test products. She has more than 15 years of experience in publishing and commerce, primarily digital and retail. Stephanie is passionate about finding the top products and recommending them to consumers. She focuses on home goods and technology.