Customer Ratings & Reviews

I really, really love this machine. It has hugely improved my kitchen in so many ways. This, of course, produces the highly coveted nugget ice that so many people enjoy (which is enough reason alone to buy this product) but all of the additional features of this product are what truly sets it apart from the rest. The ice itself is perfect for any drink you can imagine (I love it in iced coffee and soda) and it’s especially great for smoothies or any other frozen drink, as this type of ice blends up perfectly smooth to give that texture you want in a frozen drink. It’s also great ice to use for a cooler and keeping food/drink cold. The bin is fully removable, which makes filling up a cooler very easy. It’s definitely the best designed, nicest looking ice maker available (comes in two colors as well) and it honestly doesn’t take up as much counter space as you’d think. It’s about a foot wide, so you’re only sacrificing a small portion of space for this. The auxiliary water tank provides even more convenience, only requiring refills every few days, depending on your ice consumption. There’s even a low powered magnet on the tank to keep it secured to the side of the machine while installed. It only requires you to relocate one of the tubes in the back to the base of the tank, taking less than a minute total. The machine itself begins making and producing ice within a couple minutes, and it can fill the entire bin up very quickly. There’s also a clever water recycle method that catches any melted ice below the bin and recycles it to produce new ice (the ice within the bin itself doesn’t melt much at all and if left to automatically make ice, you’ll always have a full bin of ice) There’s also a specific water filter made by GE for this machine that you can install below the ice bin for cleaner, better tasting ice. It also will keep the water lines cleaner than if using unfiltered water. Cleaning the machine itself is simple and relatively straightforward-remove the lines to drain in a sink or bucket and run a vinegar solution through to clean and remove any hard water deposits. GE recommends this be done every couple months, but the frequency depends on the water you use. This machine is also WiFi enabled, allowing you to connect it to an accompanying app and control it anywhere right from your device. You can use it to setup schedules to produce ice whenever you need it and set it to standby when you don’t. You can also control the led illuminated ice bin from the app, with varying levels of brightness (I quite like having it on at night to have a subtle ambient light in the kitchen) and can even control it with Alexa. There are other ice makers available for much less than this one, but they make the same ice as a typical fridge does, and are much slower and less attractive to have on your countertops. This machine also comes with a full warranty from GE in the event any part fails. It’s an investment, for sure, but it’s fully worth it-especially if you’re an ice lover. Definitely recommend.

Looking for the soft crunchy ice? Similar to that found at your favorite restaurants... this is it! We LOVE the ice this product produces! It’s so good - we no longer use our refrigerator ice maker except to fill ice chest on trips. This machine makes ice pretty quickly and has kept up with our demand without any problem (thus far). For the less than perfect product points -these should be considered. 1) This machine is pretty loud when making ice. In a smaller home - this could be considered annoyingly loud. 2) There is no cooling mechanism to keep the ice cold once made. It will melt (some) and will be recaptured and made back into ice again. 3) This appliance is expen$ive! As much as we love the ice produced - when I say the cost we paid aloud - I question my priorities some. One can buy a full (used) refrigerator with ice maker at this price point. My biggest concern (and reason for my title used ) is I have a long history in being disappointed in the quality of GE products. I have since moved to purchasing other brands when having that option. My normal go-to appliance manufacturers do NOT make this type of ice maker. So this is the ONE for me. An opportunity for GE to have made that one quality product that sways me to think they are on their A Game. Time shall tell. I hope this appliance meets my reasonable expectations. db

This icemaker is amazing!! It’s connects to WiFi to my phone so I can see if anything is wrong, or turn it on/off from my app. If you buy it, you definitely need to purchase the one with the extra water tank though. We refill the extra tank every day. To refill the regular reservoir you have to remove the ice bin and pour the water under it. My kids and I absolutely love it, the nugget ice is super soft, and crunchy!! The only downside is the price. But I hope it lasts a long time for over $600!!

Upon delivery, the shipping box was soaking/dripping wet and water had absorbed up into the corregated box. It had not rained the day of delivery. The end of the Ice Maker was slightly dented in. Not what we expect from Best Buy. Unpacking is easy, set up is easy! The cleaning directions in the manual or different than the inserted cleaning sheet. You must remove the filter 1st to initially run the cleaning cycle. As advertised it made its 1st few nugget in 20 minutes. Noise is apparent but not obnoxious. It continuously makes a squeaky mouse sound. 3 hours it was 1/2 full. Its not fast. The side tank is a “bad” design. The washer in the side tank fill cap will fall off if you are not careful. If you have it located under a cabinet, it has to be moved out every time you add water. Water is added to the bottom of the side tank as you have to flip it upside down to add water. Thats 50 lbs you will move to get the side tank off for filling. You will be moving this 4-5 x a day with full use! I suggest placing it on a plastic tray you can slide/pull out. WiFi is an easy setup and programming for your run times. Dont buy this without the Geek Squad warranty. Recommend 4 years + the manufacturer warranty.

This icemaker is awesome. Gift for my Husband for Christmas for our basement bar- Kool Kel's Tavern. It makes a ton of ice, doesn't take up a lot of space and lights up so it looks cool. The ice is small and soft so you can chomp away on it if you like to eat ice. It makes a some noise when making ice but nothing crazy. If you have the tv on or tunes jamming then you won't even hear it. It starts making more ice immediately as soon as you take ice out so all you have to do is keep the water reservoir on the side filled.

If you're looking for that Sonic type ICE to have at home look no further then the GE Opal Ice Maker. Upfront this machine isn't cheap so spend the extra money and buy that 3 year warranty. Why if your like us this thing runs 24/7 and gets a workout especially is the grandkids are here. They love it, my wife who insisted on getting an ICE machine loves it. I like the design and the side tank is a must and the that it has an inline water filter. If you have any questions let me know and I'll try to answer them. I got mine for $130 off the asking price, way cheaper then anyone else and available locally. Plus way easier to return if you happen to have a problem. You need to make sure you have room on your countertop as this machine with the side tank needs at least 15 inches wide by 26 inches deep.

We've had this unit for about a month and are enjoying it. Our large ice machine "bit the dust" and we didn't want to spend a few thousand to replace so decided to try this one. The side tank is great for keeping extra water flowing. The ice comes out in soft nugget form. The only small issue is that if the ice piles up in the back it tells the sensor to stop making. We normally just move the ice if we see it to keep the tank full. We learned that if the machine stops making ice it will run some water before it starts again. At first we thought that was a problem with the machine then discovered it was normal. If having several guests over you'd probably want to bag the ice and freeze it in order to have plenty. There are just two of us, but probably enough ice for 4-5 if needed. Easy to clean. We use purified water since our main source is hard. Having seen that some people had problems we went ahead and purchased the extended warranty since the machine is fairly expensive. Wi-Fi doesn't do much so that's not a big selling point to me.

Gifted this to my wife for Mother’s Day and let’s just say “Happy wife, happy life”. The ice is soft and chewable and it makes about a pound an hour as advertised. It makes a small whirring noise when it’s making ice but nothing too disturbing. I dropped a star because of what I’m calling a design flaw as some water leaked from the device that makes the ice atop the ice bucket resulting in some water in the bottom of the bucket and some “wet” ice. (See pic). Otherwise extremely pleased with the product. Price is a bit steep but again if it makes the wife happy…

I love my Opal 2. I felt like it was an extravagant purchase but finally decided I'm worth it. I set it up on the counter near the sink in my laundry room as I was worried about noise based upon other reviews. I don't find it very noisy. It makes some noise when it is making ice but I can't hear it from the kitchen that's next to the laundry room. The one mistake I made was not ordering the water filter before the ice maker. I used filtered water to set it up and promptly ordered the GE Opal water filter from Amazon. I followed the instructions for cleaning, which were simple. I wasn't sure if I should put the ice bin back in while running the cleaning cycle. First I tried it with it in, then ran the rinse water without. My conclusion is I'll be running the cleaning cycle without the ice bin and washing the ice in by hand in the sink. The whole cleaning process took me maybe 5 minutes. It took longer to find the bleach that I need to make a mixture of tsp. of bleach to 5 cups water than it did to clean. Simple, poor it into the section under the ice bin, hold in the cleaning button, let it run, unhook the drain hoses and let the water drain out, repeat with clean water to rinse, drain, and voila. Cleaning the ice bin and the water reservoir is just a matter of a quick hand wash in warm soapy water. As for ice, it makes great ice. It didn't take long to start making ice and within about an hour it had made enough to fill 2 Tervis cups. I like that the ice bin stays attached and tilts out for ice scooping. I also was pleased at the sturdiness of the ice bin. The icemaker does have a 1 year warranty but I bought the extra warranty from Best Buy because, well, like I said, this was an extravagant purchase. I want to be happily making ice for many years.

The opal 2.0 is a good size. It is larger then what I would call “portable” but with a little effort you can move it around the kitchen fairly easy. It Makes ice quickly and the tray holds a good amount so you can fill multiple cups without having to wait for it to make more. It is not too noisy. Easy to assemble and operate. I do recommend running several cycles through first before eating the ice, the first batch of ice had a funny taste but after we cycled it one more time it was great. The ice at the bottom is more “pebbley” the new ice that drops out is a bit harder but if you scoop from the bottom it’s nice and soft.

I couldn't be more satisfied (unless the price was lowered by half. In that case I would buy 3 more and gift them to my kids). This unit has run for over a year, non stop, except for cleaning purposes. I does one thing and one thing only. It makes the nugget ice that goes so well with drinks you want cooled with ice. And this unit, when you start with a full bin of ice, keeps up well with several people needing ice at the same time. Now, I have had no breakdowns of any kind. One time I had a piece of paper block the compressor cooling air intake located on the side of the machine. The unit did shutdown do to overheating which is an automatic function. When it cooled off, it started right back up and went on making ice. And I have had no problems since. There was an unexpected bonus too. I was checking my bluetooth settings on my phone and saw the OPAL Bluetooth was available. I downloaded the app and was able to connect to the OPAL and now I am able to manage a few functions on the machine. There is wifi on 2.0 version. I recommend to get extended warranty on this.

Compact unit that performs well and looks good. This ice maker does makes some notable noise while running and could be a factor where you place it. Build quality is really good. Makes ice faster than our Monogram refrigerator. We are running it 24 x 7 and using RO water. Ice pellets are nice and crunchy. WiFi capable with simple APP. Purchased the Geek Squad service to have 5 year of worry free service.

We have looked at these for years but was dissuaded from purchasing until GE bought started making these and their reliability improved. Have had this machine for a couple weeks so far, and we love it. Even the dog loves it. It takes a little bit of effort following the directions to get it set up and running making clean ice, but once that was done it has been working flawlessly. We have been using this ice so exclusively, that I shut off the ice maker on my fridge/freezer. You'll be surprised how fast this makes ice. We don't understand the noise complaints in other reviews. We have an open living style home, and don't really notice it running. It also shuts off when it recognizes the bin is full, so it doesn't run constantly. The machine may seem expensive, but if it lasts even just a couple years (we bought an extended warranty), we figure we're spending about $1 per week on the exact kind of ice we like. We're finding we are drinking a lot more water and unsweet iced tea with this kind of ice readily available. We didn't buy the separate water filter for this, we just use filtered water from our fridge dispenser to fill the side tank on the nugget ice maker. We love this machine so far!

Compact, easy to operate, great ice. Only gripe it’s pretty noisy when making the cubes.

I have a Samsung French-door refrigerator. Downside to almost all of these styles is the lack of ice. Like always running out. Ended up going with the bullet style ice makers, which makes a small amout of ice when needed. Problem is, it makes too little ice and have to constantly empty it out and put ice in freezer bags and store in freezer. Im sure i spend more in electricity to make all that ice (and hours of time) vs running to the store to buy bags. When i came across a big sale (and open box) on my dream GE Opal, i just had to buy. Perfect timing for a party i was hosting. This ice maker delivered on ice. It makes a lot in a short time. Love the water tank. Just awesome. Stored in 5lb ice bags i found online. Now for the huge design flaw… the ice size. Because of how small the ice is, it melts instantly, watering down your drinks. You could fill a cup to the very top, pour a cold soda, and in a minute or two 3/4 of the ice is melted. Now drinking a watered down soda. Ugh. And this is when going straight from the freezer bag to your drink. Ugh, might be returning. Also note for 1st time users, it takes a lot of troubleshooting to get this thing to work. I had to deal with the dreaded “add water” message. I called support, very little help. Watch YouTube videos, meh. Secret is filling the water compartment under the ice ben with water, remove the filter/screen part, exposing the white rubber o-ring. Had to use one of those air raft inflatable tools (handheld) to fit snug over the o-ring and start pumping water into it. The advice customer service uses, is to put your fing over it and pump water, like your trying to unclog a toilet. The finger trick didnt work. Only the inflatable tool worked. Mine was open box but never used and this issue happens to a lot of owners (according to customer service).

Perfect countertop ice maker. After one year of owning this machine, I will say we are still very satisfied with the unit. The wife loves it more than me as she fills her Stanley mug each day before leaving for work. Please consider using the GE Opal water filters and use only distilled water in the machine. You won't regret it. I change filters every 90-days. You MUST clean the machine regularly with white vinegar or it won't make ice. I also recommend dis-assembing the unit once a year according to the YouTube videos for a good, thorough cleaning. You will have a chance to clean the interior water tank and the floats inside the tank that are crucial for proper function. It's not hard if you take your time and watch the videos. They show you step-by-step how to do it. Overall, this machine, although very pricey is worth the purchase.

We originally purchased the insigna counter top ice maker from Best Buy. After almost a year of faithful service, and monthy cleaning and descaling, that nugget counter top ice maker failed. Thanks to Totaltech, I took that failed unit back to my local BestBuy and traded up for the GE Opal with side tank. This thing is quiet. My kitchen is just a dozen feet from my bedroom and I don't hear anything as this unit produces pounds of perfect nugget ice. The side tank makes refilling so much easier than the classic counter top ice maker. This ice maker tells you when it's time for a cleaning, and that is a very important feature when you have hard water. Run the cleaning cycle with a descaler / cleaner and you are ready for another month of wonderful ice nuggets. You can expect to need to clean the unit every 3 to 4 weeks depending upon your water quality. We had our previous counter top nugget ice maker for almost a year. We've had this unit for just a little over a month, and it blows our old unit away. Nearly silent operation and pounds of clean nugget ice each day make this my 5 star ice maker of choice.

A little expensive but our refrigerator ice maker stopped working. Bought this instead. My wife loves the ice. Easy to install and perform the initial pre cleaning. Takes about an hour. We use it to make shakes/drinks and my dogs love eating the ice.i gave it a 4 because I haven’t had the unit long enough to grade its durability. Also I haven’t had a chance to see the difference in my electric bill. We keep it on all the time so that we don’t have to wait for ice. We use distilled and RO water and clean every month or two to prevent scaling. Very cool machine.

This machine makes fantastic ice nugget but it is poorly built. The ice maker started making hissing sounds within a few months of use. Even with weekly descaling and cleaning this is not user friendly. The fan motor which is lacking lubrication started hissing and vibrating. Then just about a few days ago now the motor gears have started grinding - this is another well known issue as water calcium build ups under the auger gear gets obstructed against contaminent. The main gear is made of brittle plastic and rubs against metals ones inside a poorly design process. It disitengrates and ends up breaking and stop making ice. To get to the gear box you need to disasemble the whole machine which is time consuming and cumbersome. You get to the see the inner of the machine and how much mold, grime and calcium build up live inside the machine. The inner tubbing are also poorly made and accumulates build ups even though weekly cleanings have been done with GE discaling product. The calcium build up is horrendous due to poor design and materials. Do not count on the non existant GE service team to assist you or finding parts as they would rather sell you a new machine. There are 3D printed gears available by non approved vendors which are nylon base which you can rebuild or buy complete rebuillt used gear boxes you can find online but you are left repairing a complexe machine by yourself with the certainty of having to redo the work all over again in a few months or years as something else is bound to break. This is a highly unreliable machine designed by a less than customer friendly brand. As an engieneer this is an outrage for a $500+ machine. I do not expect the machine to last 30 years but at that price I am expecting to at least give me more than a few years of work.

This thing is awesome! It’s replacing a three-year-old Opal 1.0. This 2.0 is a nice upgrade. It’s faster, quieter, and smarter than the original. It’s Wi-Fi vs the original’s Bluetooth and the app is much better and faster. The side tank is a must! Also a must? Distilled water!