Customer Ratings & Reviews

The GE Profile Opal 2.0 Ultra is the latest iteration of the Opal line of nugget ice makers featuring a new scale inhibiting water filter, air filter for the coils, magnetic scoop storage, and improved display with detailed operation. I opted for the carbon black finish, which is a nice satin charcoal black color that blends in with modern aesthetics. Setup was a breeze, with the unit being fully assembled and well packaged. After unboxing you will run your first sanitize cycle, which includes multiple rinse cycles which took maybe 30 minutes total. During this cleaning you will need to have the unit near a sink or have large container to holder 5+ cups of water. For a nugget ice maker, the Opal is relatively compact at roughly 16” tall, 17’ deep, and 14” wide. The included water tank adds a couple inches of width and is optional to reduce refilling frequency. For my dated kitchen, the Opal was too tall to fit under our cabinets so it was relegated to a console in the dining room. This turned to be ideal placement as I have found the ice maker to be noisier than anticipated. While the compressor hum and fan are fairly quiet, the water pump can be heard in an adjacent room. Though it is a minor annoyance and not a major concern, you may want to consider placement in proximity to areas of your home you congregate. It is nice that the unit is standalone and does not need to be connected to a water supply line. Within 10 minutes the Opal had produced the first nuggets of ice, though the first useable amount of ice wasn’t ready until 30+ minutes and it took approximately an hour to fill the bin. Though you can control the operation of the Opal in the app and even schedule it to run during certain times, I found little benefit due to the rate of ice production. Though I feel it makes ice with adequate speed, I am not sure how often I will know I will need ice in advance and it is more convenient to have it make ice continuously as the bin level lowers. However, one downside to continuous operation is that the unit should be sanitized every 25 hours of ice production so we received that notification after using the Opal just a week. I only used RO filtered water so probably a premature alert but depending on your water quality you may have frequent maintenance. The bin holds approximately 2-3 pounds of ice and can quickly replenish ice supply thanks to the recirculation of the ice melt from the bin. One other downside I have encountered is the bin tends to have condensation on the bottom and water then collects along the front lip of the ice maker. When pulling out the ice bin, about a tablespoon of this water drips onto the counter (or floor depending on placement) nearly every time. Maybe the 3.0 could have an angled lip and bin bottom to encourage water to drip back into basin. Despite my minor issues, the Opal ice maker is great! Our family loves the chewable nugget ice it produces and has quickly become a routinely used device. If you have the space and are looking for nugget ice machine, the Opal 2.0 Ultra is the one to get!

The icemaker was great - very easy to set up. It’s very quiet and the ice it produces is amazing. I definitely recommend this product.

I got this ice machine and it is an excellent addition to my coffee bar area I love it so much it is amazing

Best ice maker with crunching ice that I love in all my drinks. The ice even is great after all the liquid is gone. My husband and I am so glad we purchased it. Hope it lasts a long time

Awesome ice maker makes the best ice and really fast

They are great and really take a beating we use ours constantly and have tried a few other models and they simply don’t hold up.

Yep, that’s what I always called it growing up. Not “crunchy ice” or “nugget ice” or “chewable ice.” We called it what it looked like – rabbit pellets! And I absolutely love it and now I can have it 24/7 in my own home thanks to the GE Opal 2.0 Ultra Ice Maker! PROS: - Nice Soft Ice always at the Ready - Fairly Easy to Setup - Makes ice Fairly Quickly - Plenty of Ice with Side Tank - Connects to WiFi for easy control in App or via Alexa - Perfect Size (Plenty of Ice without being too big) - Premium Looks - Great Magnetic Side Scooper CONS: - Side Tank should just be built in, not separate - Side Tank refilling could be easier - Must use Distilled/Calcium Free Water OR do complex de-calcification process FREQUENTLY I absolutely LOVE this machine! And I didn’t really get it for myself – it was my spouse who’s wanted one for years. We’ve had several other ice makers that made the round ice with the hole in the center as well as one that come pretty close to making pellet ice like this one – but those machines were just not designed in such a way that you’d want to leave them on your counter permanently and/or didn’t make ice that was so great it was worth always using them, so we’d use them occasionally, but leave them in the garage stored most of the time. That won’t happen with this GE Profile Opal 2.0 Ultra Ice Maker! This thing is like magic for anyone who loves the soft crunchy pellet ice like you get at some of your favorite restaurants. The ice is perfect – soft enough to eat without breaking your teeth, but hard enough that it doesn’t melt the second you pour your beverage over it. I’m super impressed by how they have it at just the right temperature to achieve that. And this thing looks good on the counter and doesn’t take up too much space considering how large the ice bin is. It fits nicely under cabinets, doesn’t come too close to the edge of the counter and is fairly sleek width-wise. And it looks great – like it belongs on your counter rather than like you just left it there. Getting this machine running does take a little time initially, but not too bad. You need to clean it thoroughly before use and the included guide steps you through the process. Once done, you attach the side tank, turn it on, and let it get to work. I do wish the side tank was just built-in to the machine or that the machine wider to hold more water without needing the separate side-tank. The thing is you can’t just pour water into the side tank. You have to remove it from it’s stand because it’s basically like a jug with a valved lid you turn upside down to put into it’s base. Anyway, it’s not horrible and you can put the side tank on either side which is good I guess though I can’t honestly see how that would make much difference unless you were putting the machine really close to a corner wall. I still think it would be better to have that extra water reservoir space just built into the machine and have an easy way to pour water in from the top, but I’m not an engineer and maybe there’s a really good reason they didn’t do that. And the good thing is the side tank works great once set up. The machine makes ice fairly quickly. We used it when we had some guests over and even with lots of people using it, we never ran out of ice. It helps that the bin is quite large and we started with the bin full of ice. And it’s simple to pull the drawer out, scoop out some ice, and push it back into place. And you can have this running 24/7 as we do. As the ice melts (and yes, it does melt because in order to be crunchy ice, it can’t be hard frozen) it just drains back into the bin and the water gets recycled into new ice. It’s really a quite ingenious machine that does a great job at keeping you stocked up with the best kind of ice. There is also a scooper included that really is the perfect size scoop for this ice and they included a magnetic holder for it that can stick to the side of the machine for easy access – that’s a small touch that says a lot about how much thought they put into the design. This particular model also has WiFi and connects to the GE Smart app so you can turn it on/off as well as turn the light inside on/off in the app. You can also connect that app to Alexa so that you can turn it on/off using your voice if you so desire. The machine has been given the GE Profile designation which so far as I know is reserved for the higher quality premium designed appliances and it certainly deserves it. It looks great sitting on our counter. While most of our major appliances are stainless steel, our smaller appliances that sit on the counter are all black, so we got the black Opal and it looks super stylish on the counter. Makes us feel bougie! One important thing to note is that calcium found in tap water is the enemy of this machine! If you use tap water, you’re going to have to descale the machine and that is a lot of work. Depending on how high the calcium level is where you’re at, GE would recommend you do this anywhere from bi-weekly to every 4 weeks. And it’s a cumbersome process. This Ultra model does include a scale inhibiting filter which is supposed to help remove a lot of the calcium and other stuff, but it’s not fool-proof and even with it, GE still recommends the frequent descaling process. We’ve chosen to just buy distilled water and use that for this machine. After all, if you invest in a machine like this you want to keep it working well. And we definitely didn’t want to have to descale it every two weeks to keep it running. Anyway, just something you should know before pulling the trigger on buying this. But well worth it for us. GE really did a great job with the Opal 2.0 machine. It produces true rabbit pellet soft crunch ice. It makes a lot of it and makes it pretty quickly. It looks great and isn’t too difficult to set up. Once you get it running, so long as you use distilled water, the maintenance is minimal and the result is that you get that wonderful drive-in style chewable ice you’ve always dreamed of in your own kitchen!

Works as advertised; very fast, low noise, and say cleaning

I've used countertop ice makers for about 10 years and in that time, I've gone through perhaps five. They never worked great from the get-go, the ice production decreased over time, eventually leaked, or the compressor went. I like having ice on-demand. I don't have to worry about squeezing trays into the freezer and about the trays picking up smells. I'm excited to have the GE Profile Opal Nugget Ice Maker; in the week that I've had it, I've come to feel very confident about its longevity. And it just works...very beautifully. PROS, Opal: ***Loads of crystal clear ice, 38 pounds to be exact. I've never run into a situation where I ran out of ice. ***A great feature about the Opal is that ice production starts up immediately when the ice bin is closed, not when some sensor 'eye' detects a low ice level, as was the case for all other ice makers I've owned. It means your ice bin is at maximum capacity, or ice maker is working to get it there. It makes a huge difference. ***The Opal comes with a metal ice scoop and holder that is held to the side of the ice maker magnetically; the magnet is strong and does not move. ***There is the normal water reservoir below the ice bin, but also the extra tank on the side; it's extremely convenient to have this feature so you don't have to keep filling the reservoir during times of increased ice usage, like if you have company over ***The Opal has a light as many other ice makers have, but the one on the Opal has a setting to make the light dim. ***The Opal comes with a drip tray, to catch water when the ice bin is open. The one on the Opal is smaller in footprint, but the edges are a bit higher to contain the water. ***Amazon Alexa connectivity works very well. I've only tried the 'make ice' and 'dim light' commends, but they work as expected ***The manual was well-writen and depictions / pictures were accurate, with nothing really to infer. ***There is a built-in function that reminds you to perform a Sanitization every 25 hours of active ice making. Every 50 hours, you need to Descale the ice maker PROS, SmartHQ app Whenever I placed the Opal on Wifi and associated it with the SmartHQ app, I rolled my eyes; it has many benefits however. ***Placing the Opal on WiFi was very easy ***Once you create a SmartHQ account (quick process), the app found the Opal very quickly, did a quick firmware update, registered it, and checked the status. ***It gives the status of the unit itself, but also the status of things like the filter, and even lets you order a new one from inside the app. ***The other reason I appreciate the app is to check on the staus, especially after a power outage CONS: ***When the unit is making ice and the side tank is installed, there is a whine sound that can be annoying at times ***The frequency of Sanitization can be annoying, especially when you use a lot of ice. This outperforms any ice maker I've owned. Aesthetically, it looks great as well.

Excellent ice maker, easy set up and it works so well.

I absolutely love it. Is a great product. Had a Frigidare nugget ice maker before this one and it made so much noise. This one is much better.

Just upgraded our home bar area with the GE Opal 2.0 Icemaker and are very pleased. The icemaker is very efficient and quiet. The cleaning process takes some time but overall, well worth it.

Save money on buying ice and it never run out love it Best Buy I made in a long time

Love the ice machine when it was working. Had to return 2 to defect with not making ice when filter in place

I loved it at first and it worked perfectly. Now after having it for six weeks it stop producing ice and all I get is the error add water when the both side take and water reservoir are full.

It doesnt work half the time. I clean it as instructed. It still doesnt work

GE Profile Opal 2.0 Ultra Nugget Ice Maker with Side Tank in Stone White is a great addition to my countertop and family usage!! This came boxed really well and protected. The Ice Maker is quite heavy and took 2 of us to get it out of the box and onto the countertop. It is a very well-made GE product, sturdy and solid and took up a big part of the countertop where I placed it. After unboxing and going thru the pieces and reading all the instructions, I was ready to get busy making ice! The instructions were easy enough to read thru and there is a quick set up guide to help. You can also download and refer to the app on your phone for videos and setting up as well if you choose to use it. The 1st part to tackle was sanitizing and cleaning the components and main ice maker. The most time-consuming part was the water and bleach cleansing of the unit and then rinsing it 4 times to make sure all the bleach was cleaned out, note: I did this near the sink and then moved it back to complete the setup. After the machine was cleaned and rinsed, I set it in its new home, inserted the filter, added cold filtered water in the tank and waited for the ice to appear! To fill the water tank you need to do it upside down and then re-sit the container on the stand. It would have been better if you could fill it from the top instead of having to turn upside down and sit in the holder... but it works. The water reservoir and stand have a bottom clip and magnetic area to attach to either side of the ice maker. The metal scoop also has a magnetic holder to attach to the other side. There is a small drip tray that you place in the front of the machine to catch the drips from scooping out the ice - I feel this could be bigger and possibly made of a rubber material instead of plastic in my opinion. After about 15 minutes of running, the ice started producing and then a few hours passed to get a full bin of ice. The nuggets it produces are a great size and they are similar to a chicken restaurant we like to go to. They are soft enough to chew and keep the beverages cold too! Love the size and consistency! The melted ice is recycled back into the machine to continue making ice so you will always have a full bin. I like the bin opening towards you and the scoop fits nicely to enable getting ice into any size glass/cup/mug. If you load the app, you can manage when you want the ice and turn it on and off as well as lights and a few other options. If there were "negatives" I would say it is a little loud, but not a deal breaker - we are used to it as our refrigerators ice maker made noise too. Also, the cost of filters may be concerning to some as they average $20 but depending on your usage you may be able to go 8-12 months without replacing. Would definitely recommend this ice maker!!

The GE Opal 2.0 Nugget Ice Maker delivers exactly what nugget‑ice lovers want: consistently soft, chewable ice that feels like it came straight from a high‑end drink station. It cools quickly, looks sleek on the counter, and the Wi‑Fi controls are a surprisingly useful upgrade. While it’s not the quietest machine and requires regular cleaning to keep things running smoothly, the overall experience is excellent. If you’re serious about nugget ice and want a reliable, premium machine, the Opal 2.0 is one of the best options available.

Makes perfect soft ice - better than crushed ice. Improvements over the 1.0 model include: Machine operates very quietly and older model is really loud. Makes ice quickly - older model took MUCH longer to make ice. With the 2.0 my ice bin stays full even with heavy use. New features added to remind you when to clean your machine - has a sanitize light and a descale light which come on when machine needs that service. Cleaning machine is much easier than the older model. Machine has a replaceable water filter. You are supposed to use only filtered or distilled water, but this feature gives you double filtered water for great tasting ice. Drip tray added with the 2.0 which keeps messes from spilled ice to a minimum. The footprint of the 2.0 is smaller than the 1.0 without giving up anything. I chose black for the 1.0 model and stainless for the 2.0 model. Both look equally nice in my kitchen. The only negative I have found is that the stainless model is definately NOT fingerprint resistant. If you are like me, you will be constantly wiping fngerprints and smudges. Overall, this is an amazing countertop ice machine. The only improvement I wish for with a 3.0 model would be to have an option to directly plumb the water source instead of having to refill it manually.

Purchased as open box excellent condition. Was not excellent was used has water classification in reservoir and smelled also scratched up at the bottom very disappointed in Best Buy reconditioning process box means never used.