I’ve never really put much thought into my refrigerator before. Like many other household appliances, I’ve always stuck with the one that came with my apartment. But after months of my old fridge constantly breaking down, I decided it was time for a replacement —?and I was especially interested in LG’s Smart Mirror InstaView refrigerator.
There are a ton of different refrigerators on the market (The Home Depot alone offers over 1,000 fridges), but the LG Smart Mirror InstaView Counter-Depth Max French Door Refrigerator caught my eye because it makes a whopping four different types of ice. So LG sent me one to test, and I’ve been using it for the past four months — here’s my review.
This French-door refrigerator has a built-in water dispenser, dual ice makers that produce four types of ice, adjustable shelves and plenty of storage space. It also has smart capabilities that are surprisingly useful (like night modes and filter monitoring). It comes in stainless steel and black stainless steel, and both have a right door with a mirrored finish that we’re on the fence about.
What I liked about it
It’s spacious but compact
Even though this fridge has the same capacity as my old fridge (26 cubic feet), it takes up a lot less space in my small kitchen because it’s a Counter-Depth Max model. According to LG, that means it has the capacity of a full-size standard-depth fridge with the dimensions of a counter-depth fridge. It also has no bulky handles on the doors — instead, there are hidden pocket handles — which gives it a sleek appearance but takes some getting used to.
I was definitely impressed by how easy it was to stay organized with this refrigerator, especially with to the adjustable shelves and spacious bins. My fiancé and I both meal prep every Sunday, so we end up with shelves full of food storage containers.
I removed the top left shelf to make room for tall items, like half gallons of milk and liquor bottles. There’s also an expandable shelf that I keep expanded at all times for extra space. The door has plenty of bins as well, and though some are too small to use, the others are quite roomy. The doors have enough space for all of our condiments, jars of nut butter and jam and even the almond milk I use for my daily coffee. Plus, you can access these bins without opening the entire door, thanks to the Mirror InstaView window that half opens. (You can also knock twice while the door’s closed to see the inside —?a cool party trick but pretty useless IRL.)
The freezer is just as functional, with three tiers of storage space. The first tier houses the Craft Ice and mini ice cubes with room on the side (I keep my frozen fruit there). The second tier is pretty narrow, but I’ve found it perfect for ice packs, trays of frozen garlic/ginger and my freezable lunch bag from PackIt. The final tier is the deepest and comfortably fits everything else we need to store in the freezer.
Overall, this fridge makes it so easy to stay organized that I actually enjoy coming home from the grocery store and putting the food away.
It makes four types of ice
My favorite part about the LG fridge is that it makes four different types of ice: regular ice cubes, crushed ice, mini ice cubes and large ice spheres (LG calls it Craft Ice). The first two dispense from the door, while the latter two are in the freezer drawers. I use the mini ice cubes in my 40-ounce water bottle throughout the day, while the Craft Ice is perfect for my morning iced coffee or a fun cocktail on the weekend. (Since they have less surface area, ice spheres melt slower than traditional cubes, meaning a less watered-down drink.)
The Craft Ice maker can produce three clear ice spheres per day, or you can kick it up to six ice spheres per day if you don’t mind cloudy ice (I keep it on the six-per-day setting). If needed, you can always turn on the IcePlus mode, which gets the freezer temperature as low as possible to help make ice faster.
As someone who loves fancy ice, the ice maker on this fridge alone is enough to make it worth buying. I wish it came with an ice scoop, but I bought this Oxo scoop from Amazon for less than $10.
The smart features are actually useful
I never thought I would need a smart refrigerator, but it’s proven to be pretty useful over the past four months. With the LG Thinq app, I can check on the status of the ice makers and see whether the bins are full or making ice, turn on a night mode that dims the interior lights to prevent eye strain and see how much longer my water and air filters will last. I can even adjust the refrigerator and freezer temperatures with a few taps.
It’s easy to monitor energy use from the app too. I can see how many times I open the fridge each day, how much water I use and more. There’s also the option to turn on energy-saving modes. Plus, I get an alert on my phone (in addition to audible beeps) whenever the refrigerator or freezer door is open too long.
Great customer service
Though you can contact LG’s customer service via chat, email or phone, you can also get 1:1 support via the app. I was having an issue where the inner flap between the refrigerator doors was not lying flat, causing cold air to come through when the doors weren’t shut properly. I contacted customer service through the app, and they responded the next day with step-by-step instructions (as well as video links) to troubleshoot. Turns out that my doors were slightly uneven — all it took was a few minutes with a wrench that came with the fridge to level the doors and get them working perfectly again.
What I didn’t like about it
The mirrored door is a fingerprint magnet
The main thing that bothers me about this otherwise fantastic fridge is that LG claims it has a “Fingerprint & Smudge Resistant Exterior”?but doesn’t mention that it’s only applicable to the stainless steel parts of the appliance. The refrigerator’s right door, aka the Mirror InstaView door, is a fingerprint magnet. It comes with a small microfiber cloth that I keep right inside the fridge, but I feel like I’m wiping away fingerprints and smudges every other day. For that reason, I would not recommend this fridge to people with kids or anyone who hates fingerprint-covered surfaces.
You need to open both doors to access the crisper drawer
The crisper drawer has three different settings: meat, deli and produce. I love that it’s big enough for multiple packages of strawberries, mixed greens and more,?but I wish I could access my produce without opening both refrigerator doors. I’d prefer if it were split into two separate drawers so that I could open one side at a time. If that were the case, I’d use one for fruits and the other for veggies. It’s a minor inconvenience but one I think about often.
The price
Refrigerators are expensive, and there’s simply no getting around that. Even a basic, no-frills model from a reputable brand can cost you nearly $1,000. At $2,999 on sale, this LG refrigerator is far from affordable. But for a smart fridge with plenty of nice-to-have features, you’d expect to pay more anyway. For comparison, another Underscored editor recently tested and reviewed the Samsung Bespoke refrigerator, which has some similar features but a smaller capacity, fewer ice options and a more art-forward design. The cost of that model starts at around $2,000.
Bottom line
If you’re in the market for a new fridge, the LG Smart Mirror InstaView Counter-Depth Max French Door Refrigerator is a great option to consider. It’s far from the most affordable model on the market, but it’s loaded with features that make it more convenient to use, such as smart connectivity and the ability to make large ice spheres (a true luxury).
It also packs a lot of storage space into a relatively compact frame, making it great for small homes. As long as you don’t mind wiping away fingerprints, this smart refrigerator is worth the splurge for those who love the idea of having four different types of ice ready at all times.
