French Door Refrigerator With Ice Maker Review
Combining form and function, French-door refrigerators come with elegant double doors that open to an expansive fridge on top and freezer drawer below. Special features such as through-the-door dispensers, higher-end ice machines, and customizable flex drawers make them stand out from the rest.
We consulted experts such as Ladina Schopf, an interior designer and architect, as well as the founder of LS Projects, for tips on choosing the right model. They considered storage capacity, layout and energy efficiency, among other features.
GE Profile Counter Depth French Door Refrigerator
The name of the series suggests that GE’s Profile series is targeted at those who wish to incorporate cutting-edge technologies into their kitchen. This fridge has them all, from the Keurig K cup coffee maker on the door to a sophisticated 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.
Apart from that minor flaw however, this refrigerator is a great option. It comes with a huge freezer compartment, which is quite uncommon in counter-depth French door refrigerators. Additionally, it can hold a decent amount of frozen food when compared to similar models.
Inside the fridge, you'll find 17 shelves and compartments. The refrigerator compartment is 18.5 cubic feet, which is the standard for a French-door fridge at this price. It has a decent sized icemaker in the left door. But it's not the most spacious one I've seen.
You can adjust the shelves in both compartments to make a custom storage solution. The interior design of the GE PYE22PYNFS is attractive. The LED lighting is a nice feature, and the in-door storage bins come with an additional shelf that can fold down to allow you to store items that are tall. The drawers include 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 a bit hard on the fingers.
The GE PGE29BYTFS Smart Refrigerator comes with all the features you would expect from a refrigerator within this price range. It has Wi-Fi as well as app support, and GE's SmartHQ Software. The app, available for iOS and Android devices can let you control your refrigerator from anywhere in the world, and offers many options for customizing. It will also send notifications when the door is left unlocked as well as when the freezer or fridge must be defrosted and when the filter needs to be changed.
It is nice if the GE PYE22PYNFS had Precise Fill, an option available in a handful of other GE refrigerators that allows you to preset how many cups of water you'd like to pour out simultaneously. The fridge displays a countdown to show you how much water remains, but it's not as useful 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 an eye-catching piece. The fridge uses fingerprint-resistant stainless steel, which is a great feature for busy households. french door refrigerator freezer boasts a veggie compartment that helps keep fruits and vegetables fresher longer and has dual compressors to ensure maximum 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 perfect for a small household or a kitchenette with a built-in appearance and top-of-the best food preservation.
The fridge was rated the best refrigerator in our Refrigerators test, for several reasons. The temperature of the freezer remained stable at just a few degrees Fahrenheit, never fluctuating more than a fraction a degree--this is key in preventing freezing 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 throughout the course of our testing.
Bosch is a household name known for its high-end appliances. It's therefore no surprise that the Bosch counter depth refrigerator can be connected to your home Wi Fi and Bosch's Home Connect. The app lets you monitor and control your refrigerator remotely on your tablet or smartphone. The refrigerator is expensive, but it comes with top-quality features and functions for the price.
It is important to know the limitations of your fridge. It is possible to be creative with tall items because the fridge has a small shelf space. Additionally, the shelves are not completely sprillproof, and can easily be stained or damaged by sharp objects. The trays can be easily removed from the refrigerator. However, they must be cleaned frequently to stop the growth of mold.
If you're considering this refrigerator, make sure to read our reviews of 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 need a lot of space in an extremely 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 the standard French-door layout, with gallon-sized door bins at each door, two rows of spill-capture shelves and a set of sleeker drawers. The top shelf on the right can be folded down to give taller items more room. 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 is designed with thoughtful elements, for instance, sliding drawers to help you better organize the placement of items. It also has a huge bin that can hold plenty of frozen food items and a separate ice storage bin.
Smart InstaView panel is a cool feature of the refrigerator. You can manage the temperature, lighting, and more of your fridge from your smartphone. It's a nice way to monitor and manage your refrigerator, especially if you're away from home.
Although the Smart InstaView is a neat feature, it doesn't necessarily enhance the overall performance of the refrigerator. The refrigerator took longer to chill food and defrost it than the other fridges we tried. This could be due to its larger capacity.
The doors pose a problem with this fridge. The handles that are sunken allow shorter people to open them from the bottom. However taller people have a difficult time closing them without slamming them. It would have been much better if they had a front-mounted handles.
The LG Counter-Depth MAX is a ideal option for those looking to combine the benefits of a fridge with a French door with an efficient layout. Its capacity is higher than average for a counter-depth model and it cools evenly and has a good layout. It's also a little cheaper than the best counter-depth refrigerator with an ice maker, which can make it a desirable choice.
Frigidaire Counter Depth French Door Refrigerator
This Frigidaire French door refrigerator is a good option when you're looking for a French door fridge that doesn't break the budget. It's a basic refrigerator which may not be as attractive as some of its competitors however it has enough features to make a an excellent choice. Its most notable characteristic is the adjustable temperature drawer, which helps keep foods like veggies and meat fresher for longer. It also comes with a large ice maker and a water dispenser.
Another great feature is the "Chill Drawer" that sits above the two crisper bins. This drawer allows you to redirect the majority of the fridge's cooling power into this area, so it can be used to store food items that require extra attention. This feature can be adjusted using an outside slider that is located inside the drawer. You can also adjust the general cooling settings for the entire fridge. I have found that the general settings are more effective than the specific ones.
During my tests, I found that the temperatures of the refrigerator were fairly consistent in various parts of the fridge. Temperatures in the top and bottom of the fridge didn't stray very far from 38 degrees, and even the middle of the fridge was within a degree of 36. This is a good performance but isn't quite at the top of 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 pair this fridge with a smart thermometer to get more precise readings of 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 wards off streaks and fingerprints better than other stainless steel finishes I've tried.
Stephanie Cronk is the executive editor on 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 retail and digital. Stephanie is adamant about finding the top products and recommending them to customers. She concentrates on home and technology.