Customer Ratings & Reviews

Loving this ice maker! It’s a bit big and clunky but the ice itself makes it worth it. I’ll be buying the water tank separately to go with it so I don’t have to refill all the time

Love my ge icemaker i will give 10 for the review.

Never ending noise while making ice wow cannot use as it is a high pitch screen sound.

I have been looking at the nugget self standing ice makers for a long time. I finally decided to take advantage of the black friday deals and take the plung. Let's start off with the best thing, it does make that small nugget ice you get at Sonic or other restaurants, which is really awesome, the family loves having it and you can chew it with ease. The second plus is that it came with the side water container and having that is great so you don't have to constantly refill the unit to make ice. With as much our family uses ice that is a giant plus. There are some things that prevent me from giving it 5 stars though. First off, you have to clean and descale the unit often per the instructions to keep it in optimal condition. We use purified water so that helps with the descaling and cleaning time frames, but if you are using tap it will need to be cleaned once a week. Is that a hard process, no, but inconvenient. The second thing is this machine is HUGE. Yes it makes a lot of ice and quickly, but the size of the machine really through me off. Make sure you have the counter space to put this thing. And last, each time you open to get ice some water drips out of the holder. Not a big dealer as it comes with a drip tray, just something to be aware of. Overall, happy with the purchase and ease of use with the machine itself. Not to mention, for some reason those little ice nuggets make the drinks taste better!

This is GE’s Nugget Ice Maker, and this ice maker does indeed make “nugget” sized ice. Many call this Sonic Ice. The ice is more chewable and tends to melt quickly in your mouth. I have found the ice to be a great compliment to most of my drinks at home. The best part about this ice is that it does not clump up! In this review, I will go into depth on my experience with GE’s Nugget Ice Maker. =============================================== IN-BOX/SET-UP: First, the box it shipped in did a wonderful job at protecting the ice maker. The downside to the excellent protection was that the box was awkwardly heavy. Regardless, GE did a great job at making it easy for the consumer to safely pull out the ice maker. The ice maker does come with a scoop, drip tray, quick start guide, and owner’s manual. Before starting the ice maker up, GE recommends that you take the ice maker through a couple of clean cycles. This is as simple as following the instructions included. There is a clean button that can be pressed to activate the cleaning cycle. I did this, and in under half an hour, I was ready to make some ice. To make ice, you need to remove the ice bin and pour water into the water reservoir. As soon as you do that, click the Power button, and the ice maker will start to make ice! =============================================== MY THOUGHTS:  The ice maker does an excellent job at producing ice. In about 20 minutes, you can start seeing nuggets of ice. The rate is around 1lb of ice per hour. o The ice bin tray holds about 24 lbs. of ice.  The ice maker uses capacitive buttons which essentially are buttons where they only require contact with the surface. o I didn’t run into any problems for the most part but there were a couple of times where the buttons were unresponsive. Hopefully, after extensive usage, they still hold up.  The ice maker does have a built-in light. There are three modes: Off, Dim, and On o I love the simple, yet aesthetic of the built-in light. Kudos to GE, the light does add a nice touch to the ice maker.  Overall noise of the ice maker is subjective. I did not find the ice maker to be too noisy. Yes, it has some noise to it but not enough to be a disturbance to others.  Cleaning is probably the downside to this ice maker. GE recommends that one cleans the ice maker at least once a week. The weight of the ice maker makes this task a bit tedious. o You need to have access to the back of the ice maker to drain the water which in most cases does require moving it. o Maybe GE could implement a front drain in the future?  The ice bin tray does not have any insulation, so if left for a while, the ice will melt back into the water reservoir. o I would’ve liked some insulation to keep the ice from melting but considering the water doesn’t stay in the ice bin, I’m okay with how it is.  The Ice Maker does have Wi-Fi capabilities to allow control from your phone with the Smart HQ app o I’m on Android and while the app does have a nice UI, I did find the app a bit buggy. o I did get connected to the appliance but I never was able to control the ice maker remotely o The app did show the current status of the ice maker but controlling the ice maker remotely unfortunately never worked. Hopefully, GE adds some updates in the future. =============================================== CONCLUSION: Overall, this ice maker has been a solid addition to my kitchen. I seriously enjoy having drinks with this nugget ice. I have been using the nugget ice mostly for water, seltzers, and alcoholic drinks but I certainly do see this being a great addition to a bar if you own one. While cleaning is likely the most tedious part about this ice maker, I still do recommend you try it out. I promise you will not be disappointed.

I am a huge fan of ‘the good ice’ as is my fiance. So, when we saw this ice maker was available to make gourmet nugget ice at home, we couldn’t pass it up. For years, this type of ice was only available if you went to hospitals, but now many different fast-food restaurants offer it as do gas stations. With that in mind, having nugget ice has been a ‘treat’ in our family because we only get it when we go out somewhere. But now, we can have it every day! My fiance loves being able to walk into the kitchen and grab a cup of ice whenever she wants something to chew on and I love being able to have it with sodas and water. The set-up of the machine is very easy. The maker is all one piece and the only external part is the drip tray that you just nestle under the front of the maker. The instructions walk you through a cleaning cycle that consists of running a bleach solution through the ice maker and then rinsing it a few times before running your first ice-making cycle. There is a ‘clean’ button that completes the cleaning for you and all you have to do is add the water and/or the cleaning solution. It’s recommended that the cleaning cycle is completed every so often. Once you have completed the cleaning cycle, you just fill the water reservoir and close the ice bin. The ice maker will automatically make ice until there is no water left in the tank. One of the unique things about this ice maker is that it recycles the ice. If ice is left in the bin, it will melt and drain into the water reservoir. At this point, the ice maker will reuse the melted ice water to make more ice. One night before bed I got a cup of ice and noticed that the ice bin was about a quarter of the way full, but the water reservoir was empty so the ice maker turned off at some point in the night. In the morning, the ice bin was nearly empty and there was water in the tank. So, I started the ice-making cycle again. There are very few negative things I have to say about this device. It does create a certain amount of noise while it’s running. And if you keep water in it, it will run almost constantly. I don’t really think of that as a negative or a reason not to use this ice maker since it produces amazing ice. I think it’s about what you would expect from a refrigerated device. The other thing I found was that when you pull the ice bin out - either to get ice or to refill the water - there is a good deal of condensation that gets spilled. That is why the drip tray is included, but it was still a surprise to find water every time we removed the bin. Finally, the shipping container seemed to be a little substandard. There was a small dent in the machine when we removed it from the box. This either had to happen before it was packaged or during shipping. It doesn’t seem to impede the operation of the ice maker, but it’s a cosmetic problem. Overall, we love this ice maker and now we can’t imagine our household without it. It’s been a great luxury and we love being able to offer people ‘the good ice’ when they visit.

My whole family loves this machine! My wife has been walking around with a cup of ice since the day we got it! The ice nuggets it produces are awesome and nothing else you can make at home competes with it. It makes drinks really cold and also works great for iced coffee. Pros - Ice nuggets are awesome. It will make you an ice snob. - Feels solid. Stainless steel. Sleek design. Led light for ice bin makes seeing the level easy and looks great. - Easy to use. Controls are straight forward. Status is displayed clearly on the front panel. - The iPhone app and Wi-Fi connections work great. Even when you are away you can easily turn it off and on, set up a schedule for making ice later, adjust the ice bin light and see the status (off, add water, ice bin full, making ice). I do wish it would warn me when it needs more water, but it is not a big issue. - Fits nicely on my counter, no issue clearing the upper cabinets (with 1.5 inches to spare) and it is exactly the same width as my 4-slice toaster. - Easily makes enough ice to keep up with my family of five. The 1lb of ice per hour in the specs seems spot on. - Includes an ice scoop and a removable drip tray. - Does not require a water connection. Giving you more choices on where you locate it and what water goes into it. Things to Consider - When making ice there is a low whirring noise. It is not loud but is noticeable in a quiet room. - The water reservoir is below the ice bucket - meaning you must remove it to add more water. We like the thinner profile, but we love this machine so much we are wondering if we should have gotten the one with the side tank! - The Wi-Fi setup is not in the instructions - you download the app and it guides you thru the process. Tip : To set up Wi-Fi you need the ID and password on the back of the machine (I didn't realize that until I had slid it in to place). - While the machine is considered "portable", because it does not require a water connection - it weighs just under 39lbs empty and has no handles. I recommend locating it near a sink or drain. The manual recommends cleaning the internals once a week with a bleach/water mixture and as part of this procedure you must fill/drain the machine 3 times. It also recommends draining it when you do not intend to use it for a few days.

The Opal 2.0 has so far been a great machine. It makes the great crunchy ice that you get from some fast-food restaurants. Set-up was fairly simple. Slimmer then I expected (which is good for counter space). The instructions were clear on how to clean the unit. Took a few minutes to run. Connecting the ice maker to WiFi and the SmartHQ app was easy as well. It uses the same app that my GE appliances are connected to so everything is in one place. Now for the ice making. It's awesome. For parties, this will work out perfect. After filling up the water reservoir, ice will start popping out after maybe 30 minutes. But to fill the entire ice tray you'll need to wait a few hours. Luckily you can start making ice through the app and even schedule it to start at a certain time. I'm extremely happy with it. If you crave the crunchy nugget ice, the Opal 2.0 makes it with no problems. The quality seems great and I hope it'll last for years.

----- Summary ----- Verdict: Not all ice is created equal. I call nugget ice “Sonic ice” or “the good ice”, and having it at home is awesome. If you are looking to elevate your drinks with nugget ice or you are a chewable ice fanatic, the Opal 2.0 is for you. Pros: - Modern, high-quality design - Makes nugget ice quickly - Quiet operation - Wi-Fi connectivity Cons: - No app push notifications ----- Details ----- Design: With its elegant design, the Opal 2.0 looks great wherever you put it. For now, I have mine on top of my mini-fridge in the basement, but I will eventually be building a bar, and this ice maker will be the perfect addition. It is by far the most stylish ice maker I have seen. At the top, you will find the touchscreen controls: power, light (on, dim, off), and clean. You will also find the status indicators, which show if it is making ice, defrosting, cleaning, water needs to be added, and if Wi-Fi is connected (for app features - more on that later). Much of the Opal ice maker’s exterior is high-quality stainless steel and having the controls, status indicators, and ice bin all illuminated is a nice touch that completes the Opal’s modern design which is sure to please. Setup: Included in the box are an owner’s manual, quick start guide, drip tray, and a scoop. Before first use, there are cleaning instructions to follow but thankfully they are easy and do not take long at all. The only steps required are to rinse the ice bin, water reservoir, and internal components. The bin should be washed with warm soapy water and the water reservoir should just be wiped with a damp sponge or cloth. Rinsing the internal components is a more extensive process that involves circulating five cups of water and one teaspoon of bleach through the machine using the ‘Clean’ button, then draining it and repeating the process three times with fresh water. Once complete, I filled the water reservoir with fresh water again, touched the power button, and the first ice-making process began. I appreciated that all the steps were outlined in detail with diagrams in the quickstart guide. Pairing the ice maker with the SmartHQ app was easy as well. Since this was my first appliance compatible with the app, I created an account, then I added the Opal Nugget Ice Maker, followed the on-screen instructions, and held the power and light buttons on the ice maker until the Wi-Fi indicator started flashing. After that, the app prompted me for the ice maker’s password and the last four digits of its SSID (located on the back), then I selected my Wi-Fi network, entered its password, and within a minute the ice maker was connected. Features & Performance: It is hard to say what the top feature of the Opal 2.0 ice maker is because in my mind there are two: it produces ice quickly, and it makes delightfully chewable little nuggets. Within about 20 minutes, the first batch started filling the bin (which holds up to 3lbs), and after about three hours it was full. That is the Opal’s consistent performance, so it lives up to the advertised pound of ice per hour or 24 pounds per day. Even when hosting small gatherings, there is always plenty of ice. What I find interesting and innovative about the way the Opal functions is that instead of acting as a freezer that preservers ice until it is used, it recirculates melted ice into the water reservoir so that it can be made into fresh ice. This method effectively avoids clumping and ensures that freshly made ice is always provided. I was pleasantly surprised that it does this while making ice quickly and operating quietly. What also helps the ice always taste crisp and clean is the built-in filtration system and UV sanitizing light. Every batch of ice is as good as the first, and I am a big fan of the nugget ice shape. Whether I am just drinking water or soda, or if I am making cocktails, the difference between using traditional, hard ice cubes and crunchable nugget ice is night and day. The craveable little nuggets elevate every drink. Another feature of the Opal 2.0 that is worth mentioning is the Wi-Fi connectivity which enables useful features in the SmartHQ app like setting up an ice-making schedule, checking the status, and adjusting the lighting (on, dim, off). My only wish is that there were push notifications for status changes like when it goes from “Making Ice” to “Ice Bin Full”.

I was hesitant about this purchase but I ended up purchasing this ice maker and I’m so glad I did. I use it ALL THE TIME. I will try to make a long story short… We do not have an ice maker hooked up to our fridge because about three years ago our water line to ours busted in our home. It was a huge mess and insurance claim, it flooded our entire house. So we have an ice maker in our garage. Every time we needed ice we had to walk out to the garage to get it. I did my research and this model seemed to be what I was looking for. I’ve had it for about a month now and I’m really enjoying it. I’m happy with the purchase and I would purchase again.

My first impression of the nugget ice maker was, MAN this is huge. It weighs about 47 lbs. and is 16 by 10 by 15. So make sure you have plenty of counter space for this beast (3 inch air clearance needed). But then again it has to be big in order to have enough horse power to be able to make 24 lbs. of ice a day. The instructions are straight forward, after cleaning the system. I ran my first test and added about 9 cups of water and started the machine. Within about 20 minutes I had about ½ a cup of wet nuggets, but future ice was perfect until it was full. When the ice melts it will go back to the water tank and be made in to ice again. The water will flow back through a filter that GE says to change every 3 months. The instructions say there is a built in UV light to help with cleaning and to keep bacteria at a minimum, but I couldn’t find much else on the web about this process. If you are in a high humidity area, the unit will defrost itself while it is making ice. I had this happen to me so it delayed the making of ice for about 20 plus minutes, then it continued. The sound it makes when on, can be a little loud. I would liken it to a newer dishwasher sound or hum. I also did notice this thing can put off some heat when making ice. We have a medium size kitchen and I could feel the heat every time I walked by was a few degrees warmer. When the ice was made, I couldn’t keep it full as my daughters will fill their cups to the top so my machine ran nonstop all day the first day. The tray hold up to 3lbs of ice. Cleaning is a snap, put in your cleaning solution and just hit the button, when done unhook and drain the tubes in the back and run 3 more plain water cycles through it. So if you have the space, don’t mind a little noise, this is a great nugget maker that will have many miles put on it in a short time at our house. If you want there is the option to join your opal to your network via the SmartHQ app. for updates and Status of your machine. It actually let me know when it needed water and was making ice. I was able to start ice making when I was away and knew I was going to need ice. GREAT feature!! I can also turn the light on or dim for the tray. If I need ice just on certain days I can actually set up a schedule to turn it on and off. I love my ice now with everything I drink, and it doesn’t melt fast as you would think in the tray. The ice is just right for chewing, it isn’t too wet or too crunchy (like bust your teeth tuff). Everyone needs the “Good Ice”. I would recommend this to friends and family

I bought this machine for my partner for Christmas. We fell in love with the nugget ice in demand. It makes it in minutes, the texture is awesome, and it is really easy to use. But it is a pain to maintain. It doesn’t tell you to use distilled water, but you will quickly realize it’s a requirement. The cleaning process is a nightmare. I’ve had to disassemble this machine several times to clean it. Overall it was a pain, but manageable until the last six months or so. It makes awful noises. It won’t make ice. It goes into defrost mode. It says to add water in spite of having a full reservoir. GE needs to get it together. This costs almost as much as a major appliance and it is not reliable at all. Somehow water has been leaking out and corroding the bottom and the last straw was it saying it needed water, it went into defrost mode and then water was leaking out everywhere. Thank goodness I was home, it would have ruined my floors. Do not buy unless you have an extended warranty or in three years or less, like me, you’ll be selling it for parts to some poor sap who hasn’t yet had enough. Out of warranty, one year, GE won’t do squat.

Love this little ice maker! I previously had a full size nugget ice maker that was nothing but trouble. But this little guy just runs. We use it daily. The only complaint I have about it is the noise. Sometimes it will just make a load squealing noise that sounds like the belts of a car. This happens about every 2 or 3 days and is very annoying. So make sure you don’t put this somewhere where the noise will be upsetting. The ice is great. Plenty of ice for 2 or 3 people to get what they need.

I’ve had this machine for a little over a month now and I have to say it’s been the best one I’ve had. It’s easy to set up, quick to start making ice and it holds over a good amount of ice. It did start to make a slightly odd noise about a month in but running the cleaning and descaling cycle corrected the issue.

I wanted a nugget Ice maker for a long time. When my little bullet ice maker finally died... we upgraded to this and I love it. It's a little putzy to clean but works great and i have fresh chewable ice all the time.

An Ice maker is just what we needed during this time, and I got to see exactly what temperatures it could handle making ice in. Once your temperature gets above about 90 degrees it takes extra long to get usable ice because the first ice to land melts extremely fast. How many people will be using this indoors above 90 degrees, hopefully very few. After about an hour the ice got high enough that it was usable. So, it is still usable in hot weather, we were able to keep ice going nicely in our air-conditioned space that sat at about 96 (It hit 118 outside). At about half capacity a quarter of the ice melted overnight at 70 degrees indoors. If you are an ice chewer this is amazing. I love the consistency of the ice and the perfect softness that it has. It is amazing for making any type of drink you want with. This machine can actually keep up with our ice consumption unlike the one in our freezer that always runs on empty during the summer months (especially now that I work from home). If this is your only ice machine you might not be the happiest with smoothie consistency, try freezing a bag of this ice to make sure it is nice and solid at least. But that isn’t what this is designed for this is designed for those that enjoy ice. I’d fill up a large cup halfway throw in some cranberry juice, pineapple juice, maybe a little orange juice, and Caribbean rum and be ready for the sun after work. During work the last few days I’d start my day with an iced American that just hit the spot. Then I’d just keep my cup full of water with the chewable ice. Usability wise, there are vents on both sides so I gave it a little space on both sides. The water reservoir is a little annoying to get to, it being directly under the ice bucket and seeing the water level isn’t possible in anyway except pulling the ice bucket out a little. The app enables me to turn the device on and off, set schedules, turn the light on/off, and shows that it wants to be cleaned. Once I set it up on one device it is available on any device I log into their app on. I wish push notifications could be enabled especially for water level but if you check the app you can see when it wants you to add water. Lastly, it is a tad loud, not annoyingly loud, just noticeable.

I am absolutely loving my ice machine. The only complaint I have is the cleaning of the device really sucks if it is not near a sink and I wish there was a better solution recommended than bleach. It was an easy set-up, always have ice readily available.

We love our Opal ice maker. We use it constantly. I am not sure how much ice it will make in one day, but we never run out. Despite multiple members of the house having iced drinks, sodas, water bottles, and whatever else. Others have complained that theirs didn't last. This is my second unit. The first lasted 4 years. I may have got lucky. I only cleaned it every few months. I only upgraded to this one because it was on sale and I gave the old one to a friend of mine. He completely took the machine apart and cleaned out all the scale and it still works great.

I bought this based on a recommendation from my stepdaughter and have loved it. It is pricey buy the crushed ice it produces is a nice addition to any drink. It makes ice quickly, within an hour you will have a pound of crushed ice, and keeps the supply full. I also find the Wi-Fi programming is easy and accurate. Occasionally it does make a grinding sound but it is brief and generally the machine is quiet. The only hassle is it requires draining and descaling weekly but it is more a time issue than difficult.

I bought an Opal 2.0 just over 2 years ago (the other SKU with the side tank) and it failed on me, but I love this ice maker and I bought the protection plan so it took a little trip to the Best Buy service center and they approved a store credit exchange so I bought this one. It's the exact same model and fits with the side tank I kept from the old one. Once I set it up, I was a bit surprised. It's absolutely identical to the old one that failed, but it's off to a noticeably better start! First thing I noticed was when I did the initial cleaning cycle. I did many cleaning cycles on my old one and the water always just dribbled through, but on this one it comes pouring out like a fountain. I dealt with hard water deposits and mold in my old one and I think it's because the cleaning cycle wasn't strong enough. That's probably why it failed after 2 years. Second thing I noticed was no weird noises and squeaks like my old one did for the first couple of weeks we used it. That one kept making some odd noises and then switched itself into defrost mode. I think I must have had a defective one that still managed to last 2 years because this new one is just quietly making perfect ice with no delays. I highly recommend this ice maker. I love it and I bought another protection plan with my replacement. You should definitely consider one too, but if you buy one and the cleaning cycle doesn't push water through fast enough to splash everywhere, or it makes weird noises and switches to defrost mode right after you just bought it, take the thing back and get a different one. Also, be prepared to take good care of this thing. It's meant to be turned off when you're not needing any ice, and so there's standing water near a lot of heat that was produced by the compressor and mold will grow in addition to any hard water deposits. It needs to be cleaned and sanitized monthly, which requires it to be near a sink or have a bucket handy with some bleach and descaling chemical handy. Not a trivial task. I still recommend it. It makes the best ice all day long.