2026 test12 productsHome Appliances
Which Countertop Ice Maker Brand Wins?
We compared 12 countertop ice maker options head to head. GE Profile Opal 2.0 Ultra Nugget came out on top. See the measured results, the runner-up, the budget pick, and a link to the full test video.
Winner
GE Profile Opal 2.0 Ultra Nugget
Price shown in test: $500, the most expensive machine tested
Check price on Amazon
Affiliate link. We may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
Runner-up
Typhur and Kismile (tied)
Price shown in test: $150
Check price on Amazon
Affiliate link. We may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
Budget pick
Frigidaire
Price shown in test: $88
Check price on Amazon
Affiliate link. We may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
The measured results
Every number below is read straight from the test. Scroll sideways to see all measurements. Products are listed in the order they finished.
| Product | Measured water tank capacity | Power draw | Noise | 4-hour maximum ice production | Ice production rate | Melting/clumping resistance (subjective 1 to 5 rating) | Average finish across all measured categories | First batch of ice | Large ice cube capacity | Second batch of ice |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1GE Profile Opal 2.0 Ultra Nugget$500, the most expensive machine tested | over 93 fl oz (2.75 L), the largest of all 12 machines, first place | close to 154 watts, the most of any machine tested | 51.3 dB, third quietest overall | 3.35 lb of ice, by far the most of any machine, first place, though it took the longest to fill its basket at 162 minutes (over 2.5 hours) | 9.4 g of ice per minute, first place | best possible score of 1, tied with Typhur; in a direct comparison the presenter felt GE produced a slightly more consistent pellet shape and texture than Typhur | 1.4, the best of all 12 machines, first place in every category except noise | not tested | not tested | not tested |
| 2Typhur$222 | 48.66 fl oz | close to 100 watts | 56.6 dB, the loudest of all 12 machines tested | 1.76 lb of ice, second place, taking about 96 minutes to fill its basket | 8.3 g of ice per minute, tied for third place with Frigidaire | best possible score of 1, tied with GE | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested |
| 3Kismile$150 | just over 41 fl oz | around 54 watts, much less than most other brands tested | 51.9 dB, relatively quiet | 1.52 lb of ice, third place, taking by far the longest of the bullet/pellet-style machines at that point to fill its basket at 82 minutes 46 seconds | 8.4 g of ice per minute, second place | 2.5, described as making crushed, non-uniform pellet ice unlike the more consistent pellet shapes from Typhur and GE | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested |
| 4Frigidaire$88 | about 65 fl oz, the most of any bullet-ice machine at that point in testing, third place overall | close to 97 watts | 54.5 dB | 1.04 lb of ice, taking about 57 minutes to fill its basket, took the lead among bullet-ice machines at that point | 8.3 g of ice per minute, tied for third place with Typhur | not tested | not tested | 9 nuggets weighing 57.7 g, finished in 8 minutes 5 seconds, took the lead over Dumas at that point | 0.96 lb, second place among the machines that make large cubes | not tested |
| 5GoveeLife$123 | 67.5 fl oz, second place overall behind GE | around 110 watts | 53.5 dB | 0.86 lb of ice, taking just over 58 minutes to fill its basket | not tested | not tested | not tested | only a partial batch of 3 nuggets weighing 26.3 g in just over 8 minutes | 0.99 lb, the best of all machines that make large cubes, first place | 9 nuggets in 15 minutes 32 seconds; combined with the first batch, total weight 92.59 g (66.29 g for the second batch alone) |
| 6Silonn$75 | about 45 fl oz, close to Cowsar's result | around 107 watts | 54.1 dB | about 0.75 lb of ice, the fastest of all 12 machines to fill its basket at just over 49 minutes | not tested | not tested | not tested | 9 nuggets weighing 42.97 g, finished in 6 minutes 55 seconds, second fastest first batch of all 12 machines | 0.89 lb, third place among the machines that make large cubes | not tested |
| 7COWSAR$70 | 42.56 fl oz, second place behind Dumas at that point in testing | around 110 watts, the most of any machine at that point in testing | 53.8 dB | about 0.75 lb of ice, the fastest of all 12 machines to fill its basket at 51 minutes 3 seconds | not tested | not tested | not tested | 59.83 g, finished in 8 minutes 41 seconds, second place behind Dumas at that point but slower than the two prior brands tested | not tested | not tested |
| 8EUHOMY$70 | 43.7 fl oz, close to Cowsar's result | very close to 100 watts | 53.8 dB, same as Cowsar | 0.775 lb of ice, taking 57 minutes 6 seconds to fill its basket, slightly slower than Cowsar but produced more total ice | not tested | not tested | not tested | 52.78 g, finished in 8 minutes 36 seconds, slightly less ice than Cowsar's first batch | not tested | not tested |
| 9Electactic$65 | 41 fl oz | around 103 watts, the most of any machine at that point in testing | 54.8 dB, the noisiest of any machine at that point in testing | just over 0.75 lb of ice, taking 57 minutes 54 seconds to fill its basket, took the lead among bullet-ice machines at that point in testing | not tested | not tested | not tested | 9 nuggets weighing 52.65 g, finished in 8 minutes 17 seconds, second place behind Antarctic Star for speed and second place behind Dumas for batch weight at that point | 0.66 lb, trailing Dumas and Antarctic Star, not in the final top 3 for this test | not tested |
| 10Antarctic Star$63 | 28.66 fl oz, about half of Dumas's capacity | around 98 watts, close to Dumas | 52.4 dB, louder than the manufacturer's claimed under-40 dB | about 0.5 lb of ice, taking 51 minutes 8 seconds to fill its basket | not tested | not tested | not tested | 6 nuggets weighing 31.15 g, finished in 6 minutes 42 seconds, the fastest first batch of all 12 machines tested | 0.72 lb, second place at that point among machines making large cubes, not in the final top 3 | 8 nuggets in 13 minutes 25 seconds, the fastest second-batch time of all machines up to that point |
| 11Dumas$50 | 55.5 fl oz | just under 98 watts | 51.1 dB, second quietest overall | about 0.75 lb of ice, taking just over 72 minutes to fill its basket | not tested | not tested | not tested | 9 nuggets weighing 57 g, finished in about 9.5 minutes, far better than Iceman's 2 g first batch | 0.81 lb | 9 more nuggets, 15 minutes 53 seconds total |
| 12ICEMAN$43, the least expensive machine tested | the transcript reads 'close to 41 12 flu ounces,' likely a caption merge of two separate numbers; kept verbatim, flagged as ambiguous | close to 95 watts | 50.2 dB, the quietest of all 12 machines tested | the transcript states 'just over 14 pound of ice in 4 hours,' which is inconsistent with this machine's very poor individual batch results (about 2 g per batch); very likely a caption error, possibly meant to read roughly a quarter pound (0.25 lb); kept verbatim and flagged as unreliable | not tested | not tested | not tested | just over 2 g of ice in 13 minutes 10 seconds, described by the presenter as far less than expected ('I was expecting more than one nugget of ice') | not tested | finished at a total elapsed time of 21 minutes 38 seconds |
How it was tested
- measured maximum water tank capacity
- power draw while making ice (watts)
- noise level (dB)
- time and ice weight for the first and second batches of ice
- 4-hour maximum ice production and time to fill the ice basket
- ice production rate (grams per minute)
- large ice cube making capacity, for machines that offer this size
- subjective 1 to 5 rating for resistance to ice melting and clumping together
- overall average finish ranking across all measured categories
“the GE came out on top with the best average finish at 1.4. It finished in first place in every category except for noise. Even so, it's still a very quiet machine. While it does make some super premium pellet ice, it's very expensive at a price of around $500.”