Up your kitchen's cool with these 8 French door fridges
See what this popular fridge style has to offer with eight models of a wide range of sizes, features and prices.
The increasingly popular French door fridge models tend to look extra stylish. They reduce the clearance you'll need to open the doors in half. And in theory, they also save energy since you only expose one side of the compartment to the outside air when grabbing small items.
With all of that in mind, maybe you're ready to make the upgrade and splurge for your very own stylish French door fridge. It will indeed be a splurge, as they cost more as a group than any other fridge type. Fortunately, even within the French door category, you can find quite a bit of variety in terms of price, features, style, and performance. These eight models from all ends of the French door spectrum can help you make sense of the field.
GE Slate 22.7 Cu. Ft. French Door Refrigerator (model GNS23GMHES)
Starting from the the bottom and moving up, this $1,600 model makes for an upstanding representative of budget-friendly French doors. If you want a French door model and need to spend under $2,000, you can probably stop right here. The GE GNS23GMHES has easily movable shelves so you can make the most of its relatively small capacity. It's lacking in features compared with many of the models below, but it cools as accurately and effectively as any model at any price.
Read the full review of the GE GNS23GMHES.
LG 22 Cu Ft French Door Refrigerator (model LFC22770ST)
Another interesting contender for under $2,000, the $1,800 LG LFC22770ST reinforces the idea that you don't need to spend big bucks for accurate performance. It's painful to use the shelves and it won't fit as many groceries as the GE GNS23GMHES, but it's still a highly competent, good looking fridge. Space-conscious buyers will be pleased to see its width measures a reasonable 30 inches.
Read the full review of the LG LFC22770ST.
Frigidaire Gallery 27.2 Cu. Ft. French Door Refrigerator (model FGHB2866PF)
It's hard to recommend the $2,600 Frigidaire FGHB2866PF. To an extent, this Frigidaire model suffers from being a bit of a middle child. It's not as awe-inspiring as the more expensive models below nor as simple, affordable and competent as the models above. Its smudgeproof, stainless finish looks good, but it's smaller than its 27.2 cubic feet would suggest and runs warm on its default temperature setting.
Electrolux French Door Refrigerator with IQ-Touch Controls (model EI28BS80KS4A)
Heading north of $3,000, the $3,100 Electrolux EI28BS80KS4A packs in lots of fancy-looking features and tries its hardest to convince you that this is the premium fridge you need. Except, a lot of those features actually end up hurting usability. For example, the glass shelves can double as serving trays, but the fact that they pull free makes it harder to adjust their position in the fridge. The EI28BS80KS4A also doesn't cool consistently as even the middle shelf of the main compartment was too warm for our liking at the default setting.
GE Profile Series 27.7 Cu Ft French Door Refrigerator (model PFE28RSHSS)
The $3,100 GE PFE28RSHSS tries the same trick as the Electrolux EI28BS80KS4A -- it packs in fancy features to try to convince you its lofty price tag is worth it. For this GE model, it kind of works. It's an OK performer temperature-wise and its 27.7 cubic feet of space feels surprisingly cramped, but it has the coolest in-door water dispenser we've ever seen. It'll automatically fill up your glass or pot, sensing when to stop on its own, or it'll dispense an exact amount of liquid. Something that snazzy on an otherwise adequate fridge makes it worth a look.
Frigidaire Professional 22.6 Cu Ft French Door Counter Depth Refrigerator (model FPBC2277RF)
At $3,500, the Frigidaire FPBC2277RF ups the style ante even higher with a counter depth build designed to look like a built-in model for less. I'm not a fan of that trend, since you pay more and lose space, but that aside, this Frigidaire Pro didn't live up to the lofty promises of the "Professional" moniker. It feels cramped when you try to load it with big food items, and the top shelf and doors averaged temps that missed the set point by more than four degrees.
LG 30.0 Cu Ft French Door Refrigerator (model LMXS30776S)
With high-tech looks that maintain an elegant simplicity, a clever mix of features including a custom-temp drawer, folding shelves, and a door-in-door panel, as well as high quality, accurate performance, the LG LMXS30776S sets the standard for impressive premium fridges. It's $4,000, but with lots of easily usable space and temperatures you can set and forget, this fridge earns its place near the top of the price spectrum.
Samsung Chef Collection 34 Cu Ft French Door Refrigerator (model RF34H9960S4)
Behold! This $6,000 Samsung is a sight to see. With a mammoth 34.3-cubic-foot capacity, a compartment that can switch between cooling like a freezer and cooling like a fridge, and a built in SodaStream carbonator, the Samsung RF34H9960S4 isn't for the faint of heart. For the price, you'll certainly have enough room for groceries and maybe a guest house, and though the performance wasn't as precise as we saw on other French door fridges, it's good enough that it doesn't take away from the sheer aura of awesome.