French Door Refrigerator With Ice Maker Review
Melding form with function, French-door refrigerators offer elegant double doors that open up to an enormous fridge on the top and a freezer drawer below. These refrigerators stand out because of their special features, like through-the-door dispensers and higher-end ice makers.
We sought out experts like Ladina Schopf, interior designer and architect, as well as the founder of LS Projects, for tips on picking the right one. They considered the storage capacity, layout, and energy efficiency among other features.
GE Profile Counter Depth French Door Refrigerator
Like its name implies, the GE Profile series is targeted at people who want to integrate cutting-edge features in their kitchens. This fridge is loaded with them 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. This fridge is expensive and I expected more.
Aside from that blip however, this refrigerator is a fantastic choice. It features a large freezer compartment that is not common for counter-depth French-door refrigerators. It also holds a lot of frozen food items compared to other models.
Inside the fridge, you'll find 17 shelves and compartments. french door refrigerator freezer has 18.5 cubic feet, which is standard for a French-door fridge at this price. It has a decent sized icemaker in the left door. But it's not the biggest one I've seen.
You can alter the shelving in both compartments to create customized storage arrangement for the items you need to store. The interior design of the GE PYE22PYNFS is attractive. The LED lighting is a nice feature. The in-door storage bins come with a third shelf that can be folded down to store tall objects. The drawers include temperature controls that allow you to set them to Meat, Beverage, or Deli settings. They're easy to open and close, although I found their textured plastic coatings to be a little difficult on the fingers.
The GE PGE29BYTFS Smart Refrigerator comes with all the features you'd 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 allows you to control your fridge from anywhere in world, and it has a ton of customization options. It will also send notifications when the door is unlocked and when the freezer or fridge needs to be defrosted, and when the filter needs to be changed.
It would be nice if the GE PYE22PYNFS had Precise Fill it's an option in a few other GE fridges that allow you to set the number of cups of water you'd like to disperse at a time. The fridge displays a countdown to show you how much water is left however 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 looks seamless and is an eye-catching piece. The fridge uses fingerprint-resistant stainless steel, which is a great feature for busy households. It also comes with a veggie compartment that keeps vegetables and fruits fresher for longer and dual compressors for maximum preservation of food. The ice maker we tested is one of the most efficient, and it produces the shape of a pyramid using only water. This fridge is perfect for a single household or kitchenette that needs a built-in appearance and top-of-the highest quality food preservation.
This refrigerator was rated as the most efficient in our Refrigerators Test for several reasons. Its freezer temperatures remained constant at just above 0°F and never fluctuated by more than a fraction, this is crucial to avoid freezing burn. The fridge section of the refrigerator also did well. It reached the temperature it was set within a matter of hours, and maintained that temperature throughout our testing.
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 that has the option of connecting to your home Wi-Fi as well as Bosch's Home Connect platform. The app allows you to monitor and control your refrigerator remotely from your smartphone or tablet. The refrigerator is costly and has great features and functionality at a reasonable price.
It is crucial to be aware of the limitations of your fridge. It has a narrow space for shelves, so you may require some creativity when storing tall objects. Also, the shelves are not sprillproof and can be easily stained or damaged 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 considering this refrigerator, be sure to read our reviews 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 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 fridge has an ordinary French-door design with gallon-sized door bins at each door as well as two rows of spill-capture shelves, and a set of sleeker drawers. The top shelf to the right can be folded down to make space for taller items. There's also a full-width drawer for deli items and an internal water dispenser.
This refrigerator is equipped with an ice maker making it easy to transfer the ice when needed. The freezer features thoughtful design elements, too, like sliding drawers that can help you to organize the place of items. french door fridge freezers has a large bin that holds plenty of frozen food and an ice storage bin.
Smart InstaView panel is a cool feature of the refrigerator. You can manage the temperature, lighting and other aspects of your fridge using your smartphone. It's a simple method to monitor your refrigerator and control it, especially when not at home.
Although the Smart InstaView is a neat feature, it does not necessarily enhance the overall performance of the refrigerator. This fridge took longer to chill food and defrost it than the other fridges we test. This could be due to its greater capacity.
Another issue with the doors of this refrigerator. The sunken handles allow smaller people to open them from the bottom. However taller people have a hard time closing them without slamming. It would have been much better if they had a front-mounted handles.
The LG Counter-Depth MAX is a excellent choice for those who want to combine the benefits of a French-door fridge's aesthetics with a more efficient layout. Its capacity is higher than average for a counter-depth model and it cools well and has a nice layout. It's also a bit cheaper than the most expensive counter depth refrigerator with an ice maker, making it a desirable option.
Frigidaire Counter Depth French Door Refrigerator
If you're looking for a French door fridge that doesn't break the bank, this Frigidaire is a solid option. It's a basic fridge that may not be as appealing like some of its competitors, but it still has enough features to make a suitable choice. Its most notable feature is the adjustable temperature drawer, helps to keep food items like vegetables and meat fresher for longer. It also comes with a huge water dispenser and a decent ice maker that operates quickly.
The "Chill Drawer", which sits over the two crisper bins, is another great feature. The drawer lets you redirect a portion of the fridge's cooling power to this area so that you can keep food items that require special attention. You can adjust the feature using an adjustable slider that is located just in the middle of the drawer. You can also use this to set a general cooling level for the entire fridge, but I've noticed that adjusting the general settings tends to be more effective than specific ones.
In my tests, I found that the temperatures in the refrigerator were fairly consistent across various parts of the refrigerator. Temperatures at the top and bottom of the fridge did not vary very far from 38 degrees, and even the middle of the fridge was within a degree of 36. This is a solid performance, but it 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. This fridge can be paired with a smart thermostat in order to gain more precise information 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 does a great job of preventing streaks and fingerprints from appearing, even compared to glossy stainless steel finishes on other appliances 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 product reviews for test products. She has over 15 years of experience in publishing and commerce mostly in retail and digital. Stephanie is passionate about finding the most effective products and recommending them to consumers. She is particularly interested in home goods and technology.
