What is the deal?

The GE Profile Opal 2.0 nugget ice maker is on sale for $464 for Amazon Prime Day — that is 23% off the same old worth.

Why this deal is ZDNET-recommended

• The GE Profile Opal 2.0 nugget ice maker is a brilliant kitchen equipment that sells for $599. 
• If you need these satisfyingly munchable ice pellets typically served at quick meals eating places, this machine will do the trick. It is also operable by way of a cellular app.
• It is expensive, particularly given what it’s, however I’ve discovered the machine properly definitely worth the funding.

Whether or not you name it the great ice, Sonic ice, nugget ice, or pellet ice, there isn’t any denying that the small, munchable ice pellets present in some quick meals eating places are positively addicting.

I depend myself among the many ice-chewing addicted. And whereas satisfying that craving used to imply a late-night restaurant run, I’ve discovered that ice is now accessible from the consolation of my kitchen with the GE Opal 2.0. And within the month I’ve had this machine, I’ve used it practically each single day. To this point, it is surpassed my expectations.

Like its predecessor, the Opal is a countertop ice maker that guarantees to ship munchable nugget ice proper into your individual house in a glossy, fashionable bundle. However the 2.0 model provides a plethora of good options to make getting it as straightforward as potential.

The unit is available in at 16.5″ excessive (that means it matches below most cupboards), 16″ deep, and 13.5″ vast (further waterside tank included). It takes up a hefty footprint in your countertop, however that is true of most gadgets on this class.

Establishing the machine was somewhat cumbersome, however wasn’t too horrible for a one-time course of. It concerned creating an account and password, verifying every, connecting to each Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, and getting into codes from a label on the again of the machine.

Whereas it is operating, the Opal 2.0 makes roughly a pound of ice an hour. There isn’t any cooler within the catch bin, so you are making ice as wanted, and any ice that melts within the bin is recirculated into the water reservoir beneath. 

However the place the Opal 2.0 shines above its competitors is its good connectivity. 

All of the good options for the ice maker reside within the Good HQ app, the present house of all GE good home equipment and merchandise. With the app, you may management the bin gentle (off, dim, or on), activate the maker, and set a schedule. 

You will additionally obtain app alerts when the unit wants cleansing and descaling (a course of that simply includes eradicating a filter, operating a really diluted bleach resolution by the tank, and draining the road), which is about as soon as a month for me, or if the ice bin wasn’t correctly changed.

To this point, the good options have labored flawlessly. I arrange a most popular schedule once I first obtained the system, and for over a month my ice maker has quietly whirred to life at 6 every morning Monday to Friday and the primary nuggets have hit the bin simply earlier than I get up at 6:15 a.m. Once I turned the schedule off for every week once I was out of city, the ice maker stayed silent.

The on/off function works as supposed, as I can toggle the ability button within the app and the machine responds just a few moments later. That is an particularly helpful function once I’m round city, as I can flip the maker on once I’m headed house and arrive at my favourite ice ready on me. 

In fact, it is also appropriate with Alexa and Google Dwelling. 

Do you want your ice maker to be Alexa-compatible? Nicely, it is awfully useful at occasions, like once you’re in the lounge and you would like a chilly drink. You may merely converse the command and ice is on the best way. I am a sucker for good house tech, and asking Alexa to “make ice” and listening to the machine start buzzing within the subsequent room nonetheless makes me smile each time.

Like quite a lot of good house options, I questioned at first whether or not it will be an choice I would even use, however rapidly discovered it turning into part of my day by day routine. 

There is only one subject with the GE Opal 2.0, and it may be a giant one. This can be a hefty product, and I do not imply the bodily dimension. The worth is available in at practically $600 (much more with the further facet reservoir), that means this actually is not an affordable ice maker. Sure, there are extra inexpensive choices, however none of these present the good capabilities of the Opal, which strikes the needle fairly a bit in my e-book.

GE does not tout the Opal 2.0 nugget ice maker as a budget-friendly choice. Bluntly, at greater than double the worth of inexpensive machines, it is fairly costly for what it’s, and that worth will completely be a barrier for some folks. 

ZDNET’s shopping for recommendation

This was a luxurious buy, and I knew that stepping into. But it surely’s been fully definitely worth the worth up to now. Past performing flawlessly each on the mechanical and technical facet, it is change into a little bit of a dialog piece as properly, as everybody who has ever seen it instantly says one thing alongside the traces of “Oh, it makes that ice!?”

So if you end up craving chewable ice as I do and do not thoughts splurging somewhat to get that ice on schedule robotically or on the faucet of a telephone button (and impress your mates within the course of), you will not discover a higher choice.