GE Profile PYE22PYNFS French-Door Refrigerator Review

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GE’s Profile series is intended for the consumer who cares about using cutting-edge features in their daily meal preparation and wants to use smart home technology to get the job done.

The GE Profile PYE22PYNFS French-door refrigerator proves the concept with an in-door Keurig K-cup coffee maker; tiny LED lights that illuminate inside the fridge; shelves that slide in, out, up, or down; rubber tray-lined fridge door compartments; and—wait for it—voice-control capabilities. Back in 2017, we tested the GE Cafe Series CYE22UELDS French-door fridge and it was our Best of Year pick. So we know the GE Profile PYE22PYNFS comes from good stock.

My first impression: This is a fridge I want in my house. So, we put it through its paces in the Reviewed lab.

About the GE Profile PYE22PYNFS French-door refrigerator

• Dimensions: 69.875” x 35.75” x 31.25”(H x W x D)
• Capacity: 11.51 cu. ft. (7.73-cubic-foot fridge, 3.79-cubic-foot freezer)
• Depth: Counter depth
• Finishes: Fingerprint-resistant stainless steel
• Special features: Advanced water filtration technology, LED interior lighting
• Dispensers: Cold and hot water dispenser, ice maker, Keurig K-cup coffee maker
• Smart capabilities: Built-in Wi-Fi; compatible with Alexa, Google, IFTTT, and Sonos
• User manual: GE Profile PYE22PYNFS user manual

What we like about the GE Profile PYE22PYNFS French-door refrigerator

Solid fridge and freezer temps don’t waver

Not to overstate the obvious, but the main goal you want your fridge to achieve is to keep your food cold over a span of time, which allows you to shop for perishables in advance. According to the FDA, you want your fridge to maintain temperatures below 40°F, which is the temperature at which food will start to grow bacteria and spoil. The ideal fridge temperature is a steady 37°F.

The GE Profile PYE22PYNFS averages 38.76°F, well within the safe zone, and almost exactly at the average mark for fridge temperature across the competitive space. What’s more is that it held extremely steady at 38.76°F and did not waver, despite the door being opened frequently over 72 hours. In fact, its temperature consistency score during testing was almost perfect.

The freezer performed even better than the fridge. In general, temperatures should never rise above 0°F, doing so can lead to food spoilage or freezer burn. Hint: It’s not OK to eat food that’s been frozen, thawed, and then refrozen.

Inside the bottom-mount freezer drawer, temperatures averaged between 0°F and 1.2°F for the entire 72-hour duration of our testing. Not only is this an advantageous temperature, it’s remarkably consistent. You won’t find runny popsicles or solid blocks of corn here.

Humid crispers are great for those who like leafy greens

We test moisture retention in a fridge’s crispers over the course of a few days using wetted florist’s foam that simulates the properties of fresh produce.

The PYE22PYNFS handles moisture retention like a pro with excellent readings—literally off the chart—that promise to keep your leafy greens crisp as well as or better than most fridges on the market, including the top-tier GE Cafe CVE28DM5NS5, which is priced similarly.

There's lots of freezer space

There are a number of variations when it comes to French-door refrigerators, and most of these apply to what’s below the deli drawer. Some have an extra drawer between the refrigerator compartment and the freezer compartment that has flexible temperature options. Others have two doors that open outward exposing two separate freezer compartments. And some have five compartments. Regardless of what your French-door looks like there’s only so much space to go around, and consumers will have to decide between flexible temperature options and storage space.

The GE Profile PYE22PYNFS has one freezer compartment with two full-width storage baskets, which allows spacious room for storing frozen foods compared to other counter-depth French-door models. So, if you like to stock up on orange chicken or cauliflower gnocchi when it’s finally in stock at Trader Joe’s, this fridge is for you.

Storage options are elegant and the open design is easy to see into

There are a total of 17 shelves and compartments inside the GE Profile PYE22PYNFS; six of them can move, and two of them are flexible.

Among the pretty cool options, a shelf that retracts into itself allows you to store taller items in front of it, like soda bottles or pitchers of iced tea. A tray that drops down below the door-suspended butter dish offers enough space for a carton of eggs of additional sticks of butter.

This Profile fridge also features rubber tray liners inside of all the fridge door compartments, which keep the bins clean and can also be removed and run through your dishwasher.

And lastly, at 5'2", I’m a pretty short person, and I am able to see straight into the fridge’s top shelf without having to go up on my toes. What a luxury!

The in-door dispenser offers unique options, like a Keurig K-cup coffee maker

While many modern fridges feature water and ice dispensers, the GE Profile PYE22PYNFS takes in-door beverage options to a whole new level with a built-in Keurig K-cup single-serve coffee maker—a feature that appears to be unique to refrigerators under the GE brand umbrella. Who wouldn’t appreciate pop-and-press access to coffee within arm’s reach of creamer or oat milk when you’re standing glassy-eyed and foggy-brained in your kitchen at 6 am?

If you’re more of a tea drinker, the water dispenser also pumps out hot water for tea—in 6, 8, or 10 ounces—and you can schedule it to heat up in advance through the GE Kitchen App.

You can also pull out the entire dispenser easily, for cleaning purposes, which is a boon for those who don’t love coffee splatter all over their stainless steel fridge. (We saw this first hand, but more on that later.)

Whether you’re drinking hot water or cold, this fridge has an advanced water filtration system that, according to GE, “reduces trace pharmaceuticals from water and ice,” including ibuprofen, atenolol, fluoxetine, progesterone, and trimethoprim.

We don’t test for this in our lab, not to mention that these pharmaceuticals may not even be present in your water. We reached out to GE and asked about the PYE22PYNFS’ filter mechanism itself, which they told us is made from activated carbon derived from coconut shells. Activated carbon is another name for activated charcoal.

Reviewed’s chief scientist Dave Ellerby says, “Activated charcoal would also remove lead. Pharmaceuticals are a concern as an environmental contaminant, but I haven't heard much about them as a major concern in domestic water supplies. PFAS and other ‘forever chemicals,’ as well as lead, are a much bigger problem, in my opinion. This filter type should reduce PFAS as well as lead. A filter like this is a benefit, particularly if you live in an area with known drinking water contamination issues.”

What we don’t like about the GE Profile PYE22PYNFS French-door refrigerator

The freezer is really hard to open and it wobbles

One of the PYE22PYNFS’ freezer’s best assets is its size—you can fit a serious amount of stuff in there! Unfortunately, to get the freezer open you have to pull on it really hard. I even had to brace myself against the top part of the fridge to keep it in place so that the whole unit wouldn’t slide forward as I yanked at the freezer.

Once open, the freezer drawer doesn’t slide super easily, either. It wobbles, which isn’t a huge deal, except that for the price, I’d expect it to slide like butter. It doesn’t.

Lower than average fridge space

While the GE Profile PYE22PYNFS’ freezer compartment is quite spacious, its refrigerator compartment is much smaller than average for a French-door fridge, making it a not-great option for families or people who grocery shop and then lazily order take-out all week. It’s also a counter-depth model—traditionally shallower than the standard-depth variety—which is another reason you just can’t jam as much inside as you may want to.

The Keurig dispenser is unintuitive and kind of messy

While I absolutely love the idea of a Keurig right on our fridge, the GE Profile PYE22PYNFS’ execution of this coffee machine is messy, at best.

The first time I used it, I stood in front of the fridge trying to figure out where to insert the K-cup. After messing around with the dispenser for a bit, I finally realized you have to pull the Keurig maker out of the fridge, open it from behind, pop in the pod, and slide it back in.

My next mistake was to hit the Brew Dispense button, because, well, nothing happened. Instead, when making coffee, you will need to hit the Start Heating button and wait for it to heat, which takes upwards of 5 full minutes from a cold start. You can hit Brew Dispense when the digital display indicates it is 100% heated.

Once I finally got it brewing into a mug, the coffee splashed up all over the stainless steel backing of the dispenser, leaving coffee drips there. It’s not a good look, especially since this fridge is so pretty.

All in all, the learning curve is a minor convenience that is resolved after using it once. Unfortunately, the drippy mess will plague you.

Warranty

GE Appliances offers a limited one-year warranty for all its refrigerators, from date of purchase, which includes any defective parts and labor or service to replace the defective parts. For Profile models, GE offers a five-year warranty on any part of the sealed refrigeration system that may fail due to a defect, and which includes any defective parts and labor or service to replace the defective parts.

GE does not cover such things including improper installation, loss of food due to spoilage, and damage to the appliance caused by accidents or acts of God.

What owners are saying about the GE Profile PYE22PYNFS French-door refrigerator

The majority of consumer reviews of the GE Profile PYE22PYNFS are glowing, with people loving its look, the ease of having a coffee maker in the door, and its open interior. Within the negative reviews, owners have complained about faults with the Keurig brewing system and the water heating element, a sometimes loud motor, and a lack of storage space in the fridge.

Should you buy the GE Profile PYE22PYNFS French-door refrigerator?

Yes, this is a solid fridge with fun flourishes

If you are in the market for a French-door refrigerator, the GE Profile PYE22PYNFS should be on your list of serious contenders. When it comes to the price, there is no bargain to be had here, and that’s by design. GE’s Profile series is for the consumer who cares about using cutting-edge features in their daily meal preparation—hence the in-the-door Keurig K-cup coffee maker, the water filtration system, innovative shelving, and smart integration.

GE doesn’t use these flourishes to mask a poor performance. The PYE22PYNFS has solid, stable temperatures that will keep your food chilled consistently.

If you are a GE devotee, but still want options, check out the GE Cafe CVE28DM5NS5, which has a fancier, more design-oriented look but spot-on temperature control at around the same price. Otherwise, you can’t go wrong with our favorite French door ever, the Frigidaire Gallery FG4H2272UF, which offers excellent performance, incredible storage space, and even a “snack zone” for about $600 less.

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Prices were accurate at the time this article was published but may change over time.