French Door Refrigerator With Ice Maker Review
Combining form and function, French-door refrigerators come with stylish double doors that open to an expansive fridge on top and freezer drawer below. These refrigerators stand out because of their special features, including through-the-door dispensers as well as higher-end ice makers.
We asked experts like Ladina Schopf, an interior designer architect, founder, and co-founder of LS Projects, for tips on choosing the right model. They considered storage capacity, layout, energy efficiency, and other factors.
GE Profile Counter Depth French Door Refrigerator
The name implies that the GE Profile series targets consumers who want to incorporate cutting-edge technology in their kitchen. french style fridge freezer is loaded with them, from an in-the-door Keurig K-cup coffee maker to a sophisticated 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, so I expected better.
Apart from that minor flaw however, this refrigerator is a fantastic choice. It has a large freezer compartment which is uncommon for counter-depth French door fridges. It also holds a lot of frozen food compared to other models.
Inside the fridge, there are 17 shelves and compartments. The fridge compartment offers 18.5 cubic feet of space, which is roughly on the same as an French door fridge costing this much. It has a decent sized freezer in the left side. However it's not the biggest one I've seen.
You can alter the shelves in both compartments to make a custom storage solution. The GE PYE22PYNFS's design for the interior is stylish, too. The LED lighting is a nice touch, and the in-door storage bins have an additional shelf that folds down so that you can store large items. The drawers have temperature controls that let you set them to Meat, Beverage or Deli settings. The drawers are easy to open and close however I found the plastic's textured coatings a bit hard on my fingers.
The GE PGE29BYTFS Smart Refrigerator comes with the all the features you'd expect from a refrigerator in this price range with Wi-Fi and app support through GE's SmartHQ software. The app, which is available for iOS and Android devices allows you to control your fridge from anywhere in the world, and offers a ton of customization options. It will also send you notifications when the door is unlocked and when the fridge or freezer must be defrosted and when the filter has to be changed.
It would be nice if the GE PYE22PYNFS came with Precise Fill, an option available in other GE fridges that allow you to choose how many cups of water you'd like to dispense at once. It also has a countdown feature on the fridge display to display how much water have left, but it's not as useful as Precise Fill.
Bosch Counter Depth French Door Refrigerator
Created to appear as a seamless element 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. It also boasts a veggie compartment that helps keep vegetables and fruits fresher for longer and dual compressors for the best food preservation. The Ice maker is among the top we've tested, and it produces a pyramid-shaped form of ice that is low in water usage. This refrigerator is ideal for a small household or a kitchenette with an attractive design and top of the highest quality food preservation.
This refrigerator was rated as the best in our Refrigerators Test for several reasons. Its freezer temperatures held firm at a level that was just above 0 degrees Fahrenheit, and never fluctuating more than a fraction an inch. This is essential in preventing freezer burn. The fridge section of the fridge also performed well, reaching the temperature that was set for the initial setting within a matter of hours and keeping that temperature steady throughout the course of our testing.
Bosch is a household name for its high-end appliances. Therefore, it's no surprise that the 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 from your smartphone or tablet. The refrigerator is costly however, it offers excellent features and functionality at a fair price.
It is important to know the limitations of the fridge. It has a small shelf space, so you may need to be creative when storing tall items. Additionally the shelves aren't sprillproof and can be easily damaged or stained by sharp objects. The trays are easily removed from the refrigerator. However, they must be cleaned regularly to prevent the growth of mold.
If you're considering this refrigerator, make sure to also check out our reviews of the GE Appliances French Door Refrigerator as well as the Bosch Bottom Freezer Refrigerator.
LG Counter Depth French Door Refrigerator
The LG LRFLC2706S is a top counter-depth refrigerator that packs a lot of storage in a compact frame. It has a sleek, fingerprint-resistant stainless-steel finish and features thick handles that make them comfortable to grip. The fridge features a standard French door design, with two rows of spill-capture shelving and a set crisper drawers. The upper right shelf can be folded down to give tall items more space. There's also a full-width drawer for deli items and an internal water dispenser.
The refrigerator comes with an ice maker, making it easy to transfer the frozen ice whenever you need it. The freezer has thoughtful design elements, too, like sliding drawers to help you better organize the placement of your items. It also has a large bin that can hold plenty of frozen food and a separate storage bin for ice.
Smart InstaView panel is another cool feature of the refrigerator. It allows you to control the fridge's temperature and lighting via your smartphone. It's a great way to monitor and manage 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. This fridge took longer to defrost food and chill it than the other fridges we tested. This could be due to its greater capacity.
Another issue with the doors of this refrigerator. They have sunken handles at the front, which allows shorter people to easily pull them open from the bottom, however they're not easy for taller people to guide closed without slamming the doors. It would have been much better if these had front-mounted handles.
The LG Counter-Depth MAX is a good option for those looking to combine the benefits of a French-door refrigerator's aesthetics with a more efficient layout. Its capacity is above average for a counter-depth model, and it cools well and has a nice layout. It's also less expensive than the most expensive counter depth refrigerator that comes with an icemaker, which makes it an attractive option.
Frigidaire Counter Depth French Door Refrigerator
This Frigidaire French door refrigerator is a good choice if you want a French-door fridge that won't break the budget. It's a basic refrigerator which may not be as attractive like some of its competitors, but it still has enough features to make it a suitable option. Its most notable feature is the adjustable temperature drawer which helps keep food items such as meat and vegetables fresher for longer. It also comes with a huge water dispenser as well as a good ice machine that works fast.
The "Chill Drawer", which is situated over the two crisper bins, is a excellent feature. The drawer lets you use the majority of the fridge's cooling power into this area, so that you can store foods 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 have found that the general settings are more effective than the specific ones.
During my experiments, I noticed that the temperatures of the refrigerator were fairly consistent in different parts of the fridge. Temperatures in the top and bottom of the fridge didn't vary very far from 38 degrees, and the middle of the fridge was within a degree of 36. This is a pretty good performance, but it doesn't quite be among the top in 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 connected with a smart thermostat to obtain more precise readings of the internal temperature of your fridge.
The Frigidaire FGHB2866PF's exterior is constructed of stainless steel with a grey body which has a "smudge-proof" finish. It blocks 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 as well as review of test products. She has more than 15 years of experience in publishing and commerce including retail and digital. Stephanie is adamant about finding the most effective products and recommending them to customers. She concentrates on home and technology.