French Door Refrigerator With Ice Maker Review
French-door fridges combine design and function. They come with stylish double doors that reveal an enormous fridge on top and a freezer drawer beneath. Special features like through-the-door dispensers, high-end ice machines and adjustable flex drawers make them stand out from the crowd.
We asked Ladina Schopf - interior designer, architect and founder of LS Projects - for her tips on how to select the best one. They considered the capacity of storage, layout, and energy efficiency, among other aspects.
GE Profile Counter Depth French Door Refrigerator
The name of the series suggests that the GE Profile series is targeted at people who want to incorporate cutting-edge technologies into their kitchen. This refrigerator has it all, from the Keurig K cup coffee maker inside the door, to a clever dispenser of water. But these flourishes don't mask mediocre performance, especially in the refrigerator's freezer and an ineffective temperature-controlled drawer. Given that this fridge costs an extra amount, I'd like to see higher quality.
Other than that, this fridge is a great option. It has a huge freezer compartment which is uncommon for counter-depth French door fridges. It also has a large capacity for frozen food compared to other models.
The fridge comes with 17 shelves and compartments. The refrigerator compartment has 18.5 cubic feet of space, which is about the same as an French door refrigerator that costs this much. It has a decent-sized icemaker in the left door. However it's not the biggest 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 stylish, too. The LED lighting is a nice feature and the inside storage bins have an additional shelf that can fold down to make it possible to store large items. The drawers come with temperature controls so you can set them to Beverage, Meat, or Deli settings. They're easy to open and close, however I found their plastic textured coatings to be a bit hard on the fingers.
The GE PGE29BYTFS Smart Refrigerator includes the complete set of features you'd expect from a refrigerator at this price that includes Wi-Fi as well as app support through GE's SmartHQ software. The app is compatible with iOS and Android devices and allows you to control your refrigerator from any place around the world. It also has numerous options for customizing. It also gives you notifications when doors are left open, when your fridge or freezer is in need of defrosting, and when it's time to change the filter.
It would be great to have GE PYE22PYNFS had Precise Fill, an option found in a few GE refrigerators that allows users to set how many cups they want to pour out. The fridge displays 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 as a seamless element of your kitchen Bosch's French door refrigerator is a standout. The fridge uses fingerprint-resistant stainless steel, which is a great feature for busy households. It also has a vegetable compartment that helps keep vegetables and fruits fresher longer and dual compressors to ensure maximum food preservation. The ice maker is one of the most efficient we've ever tested and produces pyramid-shaped Ice with low water usage. This refrigerator is the ideal option for a single family or kitchenettes that want an integrated look and top of the line food preservation.
This fridge was rated as the most efficient in our Refrigerators Test due to a variety of reasons. The freezer temperatures remained steady at just above 0 degrees Fahrenheit, never moving more than a fraction an inch. This is essential to avoiding freezer burn. The refrigerator section of the fridge also did well. It reached the initial temperature within an hour and maintained the temperature throughout our tests.
Bosch has a reputation for top-of-the-line appliances which is why it's no 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 control and monitor your refrigerator remotely on your tablet or smartphone. The fridge is expensive, but it comes with great features and capabilities for the cost.
While the fridge is an incredible piece of equipment however, it is important to understand the limitations. It has a narrow space for shelves, so you'll have to think creatively when storing tall objects. The shelves are not spillproof and can easily be damaged or stained by sharp objects. The trays can be easily removed from the refrigerator. However, they should be cleaned frequently to stop the growth of mold.
If you're thinking of buying this refrigerator, make sure to review our opinions on the French Door GE Appliances Refrigerator and the Bosch Bottom Freezer Refrigerator.
LG Counter Depth French Door Refrigerator
The LG LRFLC2706S counter-depth fridge is a great option for those who require 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. The fridge is built with the standard French door design, with two rows of shelving with spill-capture and a set crisper drawers. The top shelf on the right can be folded to provide more space for tall items. There's also a full-width storage drawer for food 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 also features thoughtful design features, like sliding drawers that can help you organize your belongings. It comes with a large bin for storing frozen food, and a separate bin for ice.
Another cool 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 simple way to keep track of your refrigerator and manage it, particularly when you're not at home.
The Smart InstaView feature is neat but it doesn't enhance the performance of the fridge. This fridge took longer to chill food and defrost it than some others we test. This could be due to the larger capacity.
The other issue we have with the doors of this refrigerator. They have sunken handles at the front, which allows smaller people to pull them open from the bottom, but they're difficult for taller people to steer closed without slamming the doors. It would have been much better to have front-mounted handles.
The LG Counter-Depth MAX is a good choice for those who want to combine the advantages of a French-door fridge's aesthetics with an efficient layout. french door refrigerator freezer is higher than 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 refrigerators that have an ice maker, which helps make it a popular choice.
Frigidaire Counter Depth French Door Refrigerator
If you're looking for an French door refrigerator that won't cost a fortune, this Frigidaire is a good choice. It has a simple design that isn't as visually striking as other models but it does have enough features that make it a great choice. Its main feature is the temperature adjustable drawer that helps keep food items like meat and vegetables fresher for longer. It also has a large ice maker and a water dispenser.
Another feature that is worth mentioning is the "Chill Drawer" that sits above the two crisper bins. This drawer lets you divert a portion of the refrigerator's cooling power directly into this area, meaning you can put away food items that need extra attention. This feature is adjustable using a slider on the outside of the drawer. You can also use this to set a general cooling setting for the whole fridge, though I've found that adjusting the general settings tends be more effective than specific ones.
In my tests, the temperatures of the refrigerator stayed fairly consistent across different areas of the fridge. Temperatures at the top and bottom of the fridge did not vary very far from 38 degrees, and the middle of the fridge was within one degree of 36. This is a great performance, but does not quite make it to 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. This fridge can be connected with a smart thermostat in order 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-bodied body that has a "smudge-proof" finish. It does an excellent job of repelling fingerprints and streaks even when compared to the glossier stainless steel finishes on other appliances I've tried.
Stephanie Cronk is the executive editor of Reviewed's Commerce/Product Reviews team and oversees the site's buyer's guides as well as test-product reviews. She has over 15 years of experience in publishing and commerce including retail and digital. Stephanie is committed to finding and recommending the best products for consumers, with an emphasis on home products and technology.