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 standard value.
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Why this deal is ZDNET-recommended
- The GE Profile Opal 2.0 nugget ice maker is a great 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 through a cellular app.
- It is dear, particularly given what it’s, however I’ve discovered the machine nicely well worth the funding.
Whether or not you name it the great ice, Sonic ice, nugget ice, or pellet ice, there is not any denying that the small, munchable ice pellets present in some quick meals eating places are positively addicting.
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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 obtainable 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 almost each single day. To date, 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 personal dwelling in a smooth, trendy bundle. However the 2.0 model provides a plethora of good options to make getting it as simple as potential.
The unit is available in at 16.5″ excessive (that means it matches underneath most cupboards), 16″ deep, and 13.5″ huge (further waterside tank included). It takes up a hefty footprint in your countertop, however that is true of most units on this class.
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Organising 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 coming into codes from a label on the again of the machine.
Whereas it is working, the Opal 2.0 makes roughly a pound of ice an hour. There is no cooler within the catch bin, so you make 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 stay within the Sensible HQ app, the present dwelling of all GE smart appliances and products. With the app, you possibly can management the bin gentle (off, dim, or on), activate the maker, and set a schedule.
You may additionally obtain app alerts when the unit wants cleansing and descaling (a course of that simply includes eradicating a filter, working a really diluted bleach answer via 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.
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To date, the good options have labored flawlessly. I arrange a most well-liked schedule once I first bought 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. After 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 facility button within the app and the machine responds a couple of moments later. That is an particularly helpful function once I’m round city, as I can flip the maker on once I’m headed dwelling and arrive at my favourite ice ready on me.
After all, it is also suitable with Alexa and Google House.
Do you want your ice maker to be Alexa-compatible? Properly, it is awfully useful at occasions, like whenever you’re in the lounge and you would like a chilly drink. You may merely converse the command and ice is on the way in which. I am a sucker for good dwelling tech, and asking Alexa to “make ice” and listening to the machine start buzzing within the subsequent room nonetheless makes me smile each time.
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Like lots of good dwelling 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 every day routine.
The ice bin pulls out for straightforward scooping.
Artie Beaty/ZDNET
There is only one concern with the GE Opal 2.0, and it may be a giant one. It is a hefty product, and I do not imply the bodily measurement. The worth is available in at nearly $600 (much more with the additional side reservoir), that means this definitely 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 value of inexpensive machines, it is fairly costly for what it’s, and that value will completely be a barrier for some individuals.
ZDNET’s shopping for recommendation
This was a luxurious buy, and I knew that getting in. But it surely’s been utterly well worth the value up to now. Past performing flawlessly each on the mechanical and technical facet, it is turn out to be a little bit of a dialog piece as nicely, 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 routinely or on the faucet of a cellphone button (and impress your folks within the course of), you will not discover a higher choice.
