Customer Ratings & Reviews

The Opal Nugget Ice Maker is like having a commercial ice maker in a small package that sits on your counter. Pros: The ice is the greatest ice ever! It is the soft chewy ice that everyone looks for. I can have a soda with chewy ice at home without having to go out to get it. The ice starts up making again as you use some off the top so you never run out of ice. The side tank is a must have since you can just grab the water reservoir and fill it then put it back on the base and never miss a lick making ice. It allows the ice maker to refill itself 2 times and you never have to pull the ice bin out and pour any water in the bottom. The bin won’t fall out so you can tip it out like a larger commercial ice maker and use the included scoop to get ice then just push the bin back in. The build quality is excellent and feels like a commercial machine. The size of the machine is really not that large and fits on our counter just fine. This is because such care was taken to make the ice maker taller and deeper so it doesn’t have to be too wide. Cons: The unit is fairly heavy when you have to move it to clean and drain it. If you could position on your counter by a sink then that would eliminate any moving. The built in WiFi is not mentioned in the manual that I could find and I had to search the web to find that the SmartHQ app is the one that works correctly. The GE Opal app tries to connect with bluetooth but I could not get it to connect. Overall this is an excellent ice maker that works great and is easy to use. We love it and feel like we are being pampered.

Finally! An ice maker that is simple to set up, quiet in operation, quick to produce the ice and, most importantly, makes "cafe" quality ice pellets! The side tank attachment is pure gold! It allows me to add water far less frequently than other machines I have tried. I love the sleek look, the subtle indicator lights and even the ice tank lighting which can be dimmed. A few minor issues - the drain hoses are located on the rear of the unit meaning that you will have to be able to pull the machine out and turn it around when it comes time to clean it. Also, it is a bit of a beast size-wise so make sure you have a good chunk of counter space to dedicate to it. Now, here's what cost the unit a full star; the "WiFi" capability requires that you download an app that insists on having access to your photos and contacts! What??? In this age of constant security failures I elected to forgo any convenience that the app might have provided. Also, once again, the Bluetooth connectivity is sketchy and some of the functions either don't work or need better instructions. If GE can get this app up to snuff the unit will be a winner!

The good news for my family and I is that this unit -- the GE Profile Opal 2.0 nugget ice maker -- came around for testing when it did, as we were originally part of the initial KickStarter FirstBuild program and got one of the first units. Unfortunately, after having the appliance for several years, it did finally break. So, we have lots to compare it to. First of all, you are going to get what you pay for -- there are many other ice makers on the market that purport to produce the same type of chewy, crunchable ice as the Opal, but you'll find that they fall far short (unless you're into some other specific kind of ice). To be clear, this is the same type of ice that you get from Sonic or other food establishments (some even go so far as to only get ice from these places because they want it so much). I would also have to say that if you already have a previous version of the Opal ice maker, I don't think there are enough upgrades that have occurred (and there are a few) to warrant spending the money on this unit. However, if you've never had an Opal, this is definitely the one to get. To begin with, the ice nuggets that this unit makes appear to be slightly longer than previous units; I haven't technically measured, but this in no way detracts from the quality. In fact, I'd say that, over time, making this slight adjustment might make the ice last even longer in whatever container you're storing it in, though, to be honest, nugget ice has historically lasted longer because of the way it's made (it is an ice cube, but it's formed differently than "block" ice). Next, the unit housing has changed. Previous models were very squared off, this unit is more rounded on the corners, making the appliance even better-fitting into most kitchens or other areas needing ice. The front panel indicators have also changed. Initially, the Opal had a singular circle LED light that adjusted the still-included lighting as well as gave "animated" indicators as to whether it was making ice or needed more water. To clean, there used to be a slider switch on the back of the unit; this has been replaced with a touch-sensitive "button area" on the front. Speaking of cleaning, this unit performs significantly faster than previous units. When you first set things up, you have to go through and run the clean cycle at least four times -- once to get a mixture of water/bleach through, and then three times to rinse. In an older unit, draining all water from the cycle would take a good 2 - 3 minutes to complete. In this unit, it literally gets all water out in about 30 seconds. I was a bit floored, and I'm guessing GE changed the engineering of the unit such that it's a lot faster to drain (and, hence, faster to get back to making ice!), as there's no added motor to push the water out -- I checked for that on setup. I suspect this might have been in response to calls about trying to clean the unit or make sure dirt/hard water build-up was a lot easier to deal with, because now it's definitely a breeze. As far as noises are concerned, I believe this unit is a bit quieter as it's running, though when the refrigerant turns out, it's definitely quieter -- you almost have to go look and since if it's working when it's in the freeze stage. I noticed that the unit now has a Defrost cycle. As I'm still in the middle of testing, I haven't had a chance to observe what this is about, but according to the manual, if the refrigerant process gets frozen, it'll pause for about 45 minutes to thaw. Pretty smart and might also save GE on customer calls. The other main noticeable change is the plastic ice holder. It's now been rounded and has a protruding, width-length tab that you can use to pull it out. Also, there are no longer a set of holes towards the back and bottom of the container; there's now a spring-loaded anti-drip hole that only pushes open once the holder is fully inserted into the unit. That definitely keeps a mess from happening if you're removing the holder for major ice removal. And a word about leaking. The original Opal had a terrible time of leaking around the front and bottom of its ice holder, even if a level can prove you're sitting the appliance on a completely level surface. This issue has been completely eliminated from the appliance! I remember reading lots about that issue, and it's been fixed! Regarding the extra side tank, it's a welcome addition (this wasn't part of the original Opal appliance). It sits on a magnetic base (though this unit also has a plastic holder sitting underneath it to make sure it stays put), and one of the marked hoses simply attaches to the base (the hose is marked, as each hose serves a particular purpose). With this setup, all you have to do is simply make sure the side container is filled with water, and you never have to fully remove the ice holder again to pour water in! This helps to keep the area clean of spilt water. And lastly, regarding WiFi, I honestly didn't care much about it. Even with an earlier unit that was based on Bluetooth, all that the app honestly allows you to do is set up a schedule for when to make us (we make it all the time, so there's no need for that), turn the light through it's two different settings and off, and potentially order parts/accessories for the unit. Personally, that's more novelty than function, and maybe also the justification to raise the price another $50 - $75. However, as I mentioned previously, even though I knocked a piece of functionality, don't let that stop you from picking one of these units up. The Opal does exactly what it's supposed to do -- make great ice that crunches and lasts longer than standard ice. And if you were waiting for the right unit to get, this Opal 2.0 is the one to have. Its sleek look fits into any kitchen area, it's quieter than previous models, and certain engineering issues have since been rectified. My family and I definitely enjoy ours!

Great ice maker especially if you love “hospital ice”. Wife says it makes every thing taste “more delicious and refreshing”. Will admit, not in front of her though; that it is really good ice. Set up was pretty straightforward. Make sure you follow the sanitizing directions. It is a bit noisy when running but nothing too awful or uncomfortable. Makes lots of ice but definitely not enough if you are hosting a bbq or large gathering. If that’s your intention, bag the ice a day or so early and place in the freezer. Hope this last a good long time as the cost of this item is almost if not more than a drop in freezer. All in all, happy with the purchase. Definitely on the recommendation list of kitchen appliances.

I love this. The description says it makes "fluffy" ice, or something like that, and they're right to point out the unique quality and texture of the ice cubes. They're pellet-sized, they break apart easily if they get stuck together, and they do a great job cooling down drinks quickly. And they work great for making smoothies in a blender. So -- get this just for the special ice cubes! Otherwise, it was pretty easy to set up, but it is a serious piece of equipment so you have to sanitize it first. It goes through the instructions on how to do that, but be sure you have an hour or two before you first need to use the machine to run bleach through it then rinse it out. The side tank is very convenient for filling the ice maker, so it's a welcome addition. Once you it going, you'll have plenty of ice within an hour. It's also nice how insulated the container is, so the ice stays good for a while. Of course, when the ice melts off, it just makes the melt-off into more ice cubes. That's when the cubes would be stuck together -- there's nothing to refrigerate the ice bin, so it does melt over time, but it will just make new ice on top of the old ice, and it sticks together in a giant clump. You can break up the clump by stabbing it with the scooper, so it's not that big a deal. Now the annoying stuff -- it has wifi IoT capability, but the instructions are all messed up -- the printed instructions point you to the wrong app (Android) and that app just won't connect. The help instructions for that wrong app point you to another wrong app. I had to get help from tech support -- they pointed me to the correct app, "SmartHQ." That app works, but it is a bit cumbersome to set up, and you have to create yet another login account for their service. As annoying as that was, it doesn't outweigh the awesomeness of the machine, and I hope they'll clean up their instructions.

This product showed up at just the right time for us. Our ice maker broke in our 9 year old refrigerator (expensive repair, not guaranteed fix), and I wasn't quite ready to spend the money on a new refrigerator yet. The setup was tedious for this ice maker. Because you aren't able to disassemble everything to clean it, you have to run a cycle of heavily diluted bleach water into the system by running the Clean cycle, then you have to drain all the water out which would have been easier for us if we would have been able to set the machine up next to our sink, but we couldn't so draining it each time was a little bit of a pain. You have to run clean filtered water through it 3 times to clean it all out. Then you can start making ice. The first 2 batches of ice that it made had a weird plastic chemical taste to it so I'm guessing that the bleach water wasn't enough to clean the system or it still wasn't rinsed enough. The third batch tasted fine. The ice pellets are nice. They melt quickly in liquid though, but if you like to chew on ice chips, they are perfect. Ability to change the shapes of the ice would be nice. I could see people wanting that feature. The extra water reservoir is a nice touch. I'm really the only one that likes ice so it's a little bit of overkill for me but I can see it being good to have when we have family and friends over. The machine is loud when it is making ice. I've never owned a tabletop ice maker before so this might be normal or even quiet compared to others. I'm not sure. We have an open concept kitchen/dining/living space so we hear everything. The product is pretty large and heavy. I needed help taking it out of the box and lifting it up on the counter. It fits on the counter right next to our refrigerator. You do need to have 3 inches of space around the whole thing so it will take up a bit of space. I'm still trying to figure out the WiFi capabilities but supposedly, like most appliances these days, you can control the ice maker from your smart phone. It would be nice if instructions for that were clear. The manual directs you to the website. The website has you download the app. The app tells you that it's not available. A little frustrating. Despite it's flaws, I still like the product. It does what it's supposed to.

Waste of money. We had the product for just a few months and it’s already malfunctioning and unable to make ice. Lots of maintenance involved. GE’s customer service is slow on response time. The item was way too expensive for the quality of the product.

Purchased this ice maker new and have been using for about a week. So far, it works great! Some have complained about the noise, but it is not that bad and only when it is making ice. The only negative is that we do not have it sitting next to a sink and have to pick it up and move it to the sink for the cleaning process and the unit is a bit heavy and cumbersome to move. I also thought it was a bit pricey, but it is a GE Profile and good quality, so hopefully we will get what we paid for. However, great unit that make good, nugget ice. Definitely recommend the side tank.

Overall this is a pretty good ice maker. This is my first, but I feel this was the best one to have. Out of the box the unit is VERY heavy, if possible try to have 2 people carry it as per instructions. The cleaning process was pretty easy and very straight forward. You definitely are going to want to go through the cleaning process prior to the first batch of ice being made. The biggest thing you'll want to remember is to make sure the hoses on the back of the unit are hooked up to the right place. The unit is very easy to assemble. An added bonus is the ice scooper so you dont have to put your hands in the unit to get ice for hygienic purposes. Once you have assembled, cleaned and filled the tank up with water the ice making process takes place. I will say it was quiet as a mouse. I sat in the kitchen waiting to hear the thuds of the ice hitting the tray, and I didnt hear a single thing. It was not until I physically got up to check on the unit did I notice it had already coated the bottom with ice. That was surprising to me and a a great feature. It makes about 3 pounds of "good ice" the little nuggets that you find at SOnic for instance. That is much appreciated instead of the clunky, bulky ice cubes. The unit itself isn't too loud, but there is a noticeable consistent hum and it can be a little annoying honestly. Its surprising that the ice itself being dropped in the container is as quiet as mouse, but the unit itself is a little noisy. The cleaning cycle is also a little nosey as well. This unit was a little bigger than I expected. It is compact but definately takes up a good amount of counter space. The 3 light settings that you can keep on to light up the tray is a really nice touch. Very soft lighting and not distracting at night. Being able to start the machine with the app, and be able to tell how much ice has been made is a really cool feature. Overall, this is a decent solid unit to have as a first time portable ice maker.

We have our Opal ice maker set up in a wet bar area of our home. It looks great and compliments the granite counter top and other GE Profile stainless steel appliances nicely. It looks expensive and the ice bin light (which can be dimmed or turned off) looks great. It churns out ice quickly in the form of little pellets that are about 3/4" long and 1/4" diameter. They are great for drinks, it feels like you are at a nice restaurant. Be sure to use decent-tasting water because the ice will taste like the water you use. I like that the ice maker is self-contained, it doesn't need to be connected to a water source or a drain. In fact, you can't connect it to a water source or drain. You fill the water reservoir with water and that's it. The water from melted ice is recirculated and turned back into ice. The only time you need to drain it is when you clean it, which is an easy process and something that most other machines like this make difficult. The only glitch I had during setup was that the included instructions pointed you to the wrong information about how to connect the machine to a phone app. They were for an older unit that used Bluetooth instead of WiFi. You need to use the GE SmartHQ app, not the Opal app. Using the SmartHQ app is easy and works great with the ice machine. At first I thought having an app and remote access to an ice machine was kind of a worthless thing. However, I use it all the time now. You can schedule times for when ice should be made, turn it on and off, turn the light on or off, and see the current status. GE recommends that you turn off the machine when you are not using much ice. With remote access you can turn the machine on before you leave work and have nice fresh ice when you get home. Which sounds kind of weird, but once you've had this good ice it's funny how it becomes a real nice treat. Some people say the machine is noisy. That hasn't been the case with mine. While it is making ice it sounds kind of like a loud desktop computer, mostly fan noise. When it's on but not making ice, it is completely silent.

Love the ice machine! Makes ice quick and love the little nuggets. Gave this 4 star as we bought, brought it home and it started making some loud noises. Took back to store to get another. Machine work great must of gotten a fluke, but… once in a while it does make this loud sound and stops. It’s been a month so get warranty.

Sonic ice at home. I think I may have died and gone to heaven!! This countertop ice maker makes that great crushable ice like Sonic at home. It is a t=little noisy but it is dropping ice after all. If your house is like ours you’ll be bagging this stuff up so it keeps making more. It has a WiFi function but I was not able to get it to work which is the reason for 4 stars. Look forward to many crunching days ahead.

It does what it says. But, after 1 week of the unit powered on and working, it still doesn't "connect to wifi" like the box says. And that's literally all that says it. VERY little instructions on if you have to do more than just open the app and hit "connect". Poor documentation here. The ice it makes is exactly what you want - that's for sure. It uses quite a bit more water than I expected since it (supposedly) "recycles" the melted ice back into the system. Nevertheless it is, of course, delicious :) The slide-out container that holds the ice has an apparent deisgn flaw, though. We took it to the neighbor's for a dinner party one evening and I just put the bucket on their counter. An hour later their entire counter and floor was wet - despite the spring-loaded mechanism to drain water from the bucket it had been leaking out of there the entire time. So just buyer-beware on this if you plan on transporting the ice. Power consumption is about 155w according to the Wemo Insight switch I have hooked up to it. I use this to shut off the ice maker overnight and turn it back on in the morning. Amazingly enough, there is plenty of ice in it when it starts back up in the morning which impressed me. However, it doesn't seem to automatically power back on sometimes when the switch re-engages. Not a huge deal, but might be a minor inconvenience for some. Haven't worked out what the actual reason for this is.

This thing started leaking water all over my countertops 5 days after my two year Best Buy warranty expired. Now I have a $500 worthless appliance.

We first bought the 2022 addition with the ice disposal. it never worked. We returned it and Best Buy had this model and we bought it. Also, I think there will be a lot of trouble with the latest model. You can't see the ice so when it said it was making ice it wasn't. I thought the automatic dispenser would be better so you didn't have to pull the ice container out. However, we love, love love this model instead. fewer pieces to create a problem, you can view how full the basket is and easy to fill your glass. we use it all day and fill up a container to freeze the left over ice at night. the next day we start with that in the bin and continue to make ice when needed. we have a professional ice maker that cost over $2,000,00 at another house and this is a great item when you don't want to install a direct line and spend that much money. lastly, it makes great ice!!! this is the most positive review I've ever written but when something is this good they deserve it. Fingers crossed that it keeps working. we have used it for about 3 weeks. FYI: we bought filters for it on ebay so you don't have to use distilled water. I highly recommend that. the newer model came with one but this one didn't. So I guess my suggestion would be to include one to get the customers started with the ease of using tape water and not bottled water. All the prices were close but I bought it at Best Buy so I could pick it up and return it if needed quickly. Boy, was that the right thing to do!

Have had this ice machine for going on 2 years and from the first month in it’s given me problems. I’ve cleaned and gone the manual countless times and usually once a week it stops working for weeks at a time. Our water is filtered and I use ice machine cleaner. I have called tech support and many times and the answer comes up the same. “It should be working now”. Well, I’m beyond frustrated now. 3/10 would not recommend. The good ice is NOT worth the trouble. Go to Sonic for the good ice lol.

I purchased my Icemaker about 5 months ago. First of all I purchased the nugget icemaker that was not as pricey, originally. It was about. $ 399.00. It did not have the refrigeration in the casing that stores the ice. So when it makes ice it melts. So I returned it. To get this one which was about $500.00 something. This ice maker is the absolute best. I only use bottled water in it. Which I suggest always. It never stops making ice. It’s so nice continuously. It taste good it’s refreshing. It will make ice nonstop as long as you add water. Its stores easily on the countertop it looks attractive. And it performs. and it keeps the ice refrigerated.

Love the ice it makes but the sounds it would start making when needing to be cleaned out were loud!! Overall decent ice machine.

I have used this icemaker for several weeks with no issues. It makes the sonic type ice. The side tank makes refilling less often. only negative is that it is difficult to clean.

I love ice. It doesn't matter what beverage, I want enough ice to keep my drink cold and I don't want to run out of ice before my drink is empty. There have been times when we've had guests over and our refrigerator ice maker can't keep up. Which means we'd have to plan ahead and make a container of ice. It works, but it's less than ideal. The GE Profile Opal makes a lot of ice. Not only does it make a lot of ice, it makes little ice pellets that you'll find in restaurants. Ice cubes that can fit in water bottles. Ice cubes that you can chew if that's your thing. To give an idea of how quickly this makes ice, I wasn't timing but I think I had enough ice for a 12oz can of LaCroix in about 30 minutes. My refrigerator would have taken hours. Because the cubes are smaller, they freeze faster and it just keeps churning them out. GE claims the side tank allows you to get 3 times more ice than using the internal tank. It was more than enough to fill the entire ice reservoir. The tank has a nice plunger mechanism that keep you from spilling water all over when you load it onto the ice maker. Because the ice reservoir isn't cooled, as the cubes melt they drip back down into the water tank to get frozen again. If they were frozen, they'd stick together giving you a big clump of ice. I learned this the hard way by empying the ice into an ice bucket. Whoops. I will say, the Opal is really big. You've gotta have a lot of counter space or some place where it won't get in the way. This is a great option for people who have refrigerators without ice makers or a bar/man cave where extra ice is always nice to have on-hand.