French Door Refrigerator With Ice Maker Review
French-door fridges combine form and function. They come with stylish double doors that show the large fridge on top and a freezer drawer beneath. These refrigerators stand out because of their distinctive features, like through-the-door dispensers as well as higher-end Ice makers.
We asked Ladina Schopf - an interior designer, architect, and founder of LS Projects - for her tips on how to select the right home. We looked at the capacity of storage, 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 those who wish to integrate cutting-edge features in their kitchen. The refrigerator is brimming with features, from an in-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. This refrigerator is costly and I expected more.
This fridge is a good choice, despite the blip. It has a huge freezer compartment which is uncommon for counter-depth French door fridges. It also has a large capacity for frozen food items compared to other models.
The fridge is equipped with 17 shelves and compartments. The fridge compartment is 18.5 cubic feet of space, which is on what you would expect from a French door fridge that costs this much. It has a decent-sized icemaker in the left door. But it's not the biggest one I've seen.
You can adjust the shelves in both compartments to make the perfect storage solution. The interior design of the GE PYE22PYNFS also looks attractive. Its LED lighting is a nice addition and the storage bins feature the third shelf, which folds down so that you can store large items. The drawers come with temperature controls that allow you to set them to Meat, Beverage, or Deli settings. The drawers are easy to open and shut however I found the plastic's textured coatings a bit hard on my fingers.
The GE PGE29BYTFS Smart Refrigerator comes with all the features you'd expect from a refrigerator in 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, lets you control your fridge from anywhere in world, and has many options for customizing. It also sends you notifications when a door is left open, when your fridge or freezer needs defrosting and when it's time to change the filter.
It would be nice if the GE PYE22PYNFS came with Precise Fill it's an option in a handful of other GE refrigerators that allows you to preset how many cups of water you'd like to dispense at a time. The fridge shows a countdown to reveal how much water remains, but it's not as effective as Precise Fill.
Bosch Counter Depth French Door Refrigerator
Designed to look like a seamless piece 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 has a vegetable compartment that keeps vegetables and fruits fresher for longer and has dual compressors to ensure the best food preservation. The Ice maker is among the top we've tested and produces a pyramid-shaped ice that is low in water usage. This refrigerator is ideal for a small household or kitchenette that needs an elegant design and top of the line food preservation.
The fridge was rated the best refrigerator in our Refrigerators test for several reasons. The temperature of the freezer remained constant at just above 0° Fahrenheit and never changed more than a tiny fraction - this is crucial to avoid freezing burn. The fridge's fridge section also performed well, reaching the desired temperature for initial set within an hour and maintaining the temperature constant over the course of our testing.
Bosch is a household name known for its top-quality appliances. Therefore, it's not a surprise that Bosch counter depth refrigerator is one of them. Bosch counter depth refrigerator can be connected to your home Wi Fi and Bosch's Home Connect. The app allows you to monitor and control your refrigerator remotely on your smartphone or tablet. The fridge is expensive, however it has excellent features and functionality for the price.
It is important to know the limitations of your fridge. It has a narrow space for shelves, so you'll need to be creative when storing tall items. The shelves aren't spillproof and can easily be damaged or stained by sharp objects. It's simple to remove the trays from the fridge however, you must keep them clean to avoid the growth of mold.
If you're thinking about buying this refrigerator, be sure to check out our reviews of the French Door GE Appliances Refrigerator and 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 lots of space within a small frame. It has a sleek, fingerprint-resistant stainless-steel finish and features thick handles that make them comfortable to grip. Inside, the fridge features an ordinary French-door design with gallon-sized door bins on each door, two rows of shelves for spill-capture and a set crisper drawers. The upper right shelf can be folded down to give taller items more room. You'll also find a full-width deli drawer and an internal water dispenser.
One of the best things about this refrigerator is that its ice maker is inside the freezer, making it easy to transfer ice into the fridge for use when needed. The freezer also comes with innovative design features like sliding drawers that allow you to organize your items. It also has a large container to store frozen food items, and a separate one for ice.
Another great feature of this refrigerator is its Smart InstaView panel. You can control the temperature, lighting and other aspects of your refrigerator from your smartphone. It's a nice way to control and monitor your refrigerator, especially when you're away from home.
Although the Smart InstaView is a neat feature, it doesn't enhance the overall performance of the refrigerator. In fact, it took longer to defrost and chill foods in this fridge than some of the others we tried. This could be due to its bigger capacity.
Another issue with this refrigerator is its doors. The sunken handles allow smaller people to open them from the bottom. However, taller people still have a difficult time closing them without slamming. It would have been much better if they had a front-mounted handles.
The LG Counter-Depth MAX fridge is an excellent option for those who want to combine the aesthetics of a French-door refrigerator with more efficient design. Its capacity is superior to counter-depth models, and it cools evenly. It's also a little cheaper than the best counter-depth refrigerator that has an ice maker, which can make it an attractive option.
Frigidaire Counter Depth French Door Refrigerator
This Frigidaire French door refrigerator is a great choice when you're looking for a French door fridge that doesn't break the budget. It's a basic design that isn't as striking visually as other models but it does have enough features to make it a good choice. Its most important feature, the adjustable temperature drawer, helps to keep food items like meat and vegetables fresher for longer. It also comes with a huge ice maker and a water dispenser.
The "Chill Drawer", which is located over the two crisper bins, is a nice feature. This drawer lets you redirect a portion of the fridge's cooling power directly to this area, which means you can keep food items that require special attention. You can adjust this feature by using the slider located on the on the outside of the drawer. You can also alter the general cooling settings for the entire fridge. I've found that the general settings are more effective than the specific ones.
During french door fridge freezer , I noticed that the temperatures in the refrigerator were fairly consistent in different areas of the fridge. The temperatures in the top, bottom and middle of the refrigerator didn't vary much from 38 degrees. This is a good performance, but it 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. 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 body which has a "smudge-proof" finish. It repels fingerprints and streaks 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 experience in commerce and publishing including retail and digital. Stephanie is adamant about finding the most effective products and recommending them to customers. She is particularly interested in home goods and technology.