Best Frigidaire Countertop Ice Makers of 2026

Where our top pick is a plastic box, this one wraps the same 26-pounds-a-day output in brushed stainless, and on a counter that already has a fridge and a range in the same finish, that matters more than it sounds. It is also the least expensive metal-bodied machine of the ones we recommend, which is the unusual part.

Two cube sizes are the feature we keep coming back to: small for a cocktail that should not get diluted, larger for a water bottle you'll carry around. The window and the digital panel do what they should, and a batch lands every seven minutes — a minute behind the fastest machine here, which nobody notices across an evening of pouring drinks.

It draws 500 watts, the most of any bullet machine on this list, so don't add it to a counter outlet that already has a kettle and a grinder on it. Everything else is familiar territory: a 2.1-quart tank, a scoop in the box, and the same melt-and-refill rhythm as every machine here.

This is the least expensive machine we recommend, and it is the only one here that looks like it was designed on purpose. The rounded blue case reads retro rather than industrial, which is either the whole reason you want it or completely irrelevant to you — there is not much middle ground on a machine that sits out on the counter.

Underneath, it is not a toy. First cubes land in under six minutes, the reservoir sits beneath the basket so a refill is one pour from a pitcher, and the bin holds 2.2 pounds — half a pound more than the stainless model above. At 8.7 inches wide it ties the vanilla EFIC0513 for the narrowest machine here, which makes it the easy fit on a short stretch of counter.

We point people here when the budget is the binding constraint but the machine still has to work every day: 26 pounds a day, two cube sizes, and lights for a full bin and an empty tank. The plastic shell is the honest trade — it wipes clean and shrugs off water spots, but it will not wear the way metal does.

The oversized bucket is the pitch, and it is worth translating. Nothing in this category freezes, so a bigger basket only buys you more time between scoops. At 2.2 pounds this one holds about half again as much as the stainless EFIC117, which is the difference between one round of drinks and two before you are back with the scoop.

The self-clean function is the part we actually value. A cycle you can start and walk away from beats a bottle brush and a basket taken apart on the counter, and it is the feature that stops a busy household from putting the job off until the reservoir smells like a pond.

Set the size control to large and you may still get the small cube; that selector is the least dependable thing about this machine, so buy it for the ice it makes and the stainless finish rather than for a choice of cubes. The footprint is a compact 11.6 by 8.7 by 11.4 inches and it draws 120 watts while running, among the lowest here.

We recommend it to anyone who wants stainless, the biggest bullet-ice basket in this group, and the least cleaning fuss, and who can live without picking a cube size. If choosing between small and large actually matters to you, the EFIC117 offers that choice.

Clear square cubes change a drink in a way bullet ice cannot: they are denser, they give up more slowly, and they do not cloud a glass of bourbon the moment they land. This is the only machine in the group that makes them, and we think the trade in footprint is worth it if you notice your ice at all.

The output is the other half of the argument — 40 pounds a day and 24 squares in under 15 minutes, drawn from a 2.3-quart reservoir that does not need topping up halfway through the evening. A bowl for a party fills in a couple of cycles rather than an afternoon, which is the difference between this machine and a 26-pound one when guests arrive at once.

It is the biggest machine here at 14 by 11 by 15 inches, and stock on it comes and goes, so check availability before you plan a party around it. If you mostly make iced tea for two, the smaller bullet machines are easier to live with; if you set out a bar, this is the one that earns its counter.

Nugget ice is why people go looking for a machine like this: soft, chewable pellets that pack into a glass and crunch instead of cracking. If you order every drink with extra ice because you eat it, the bullet machines here will disappoint you and this one will not.

We think the nugget maker justifies its premium. The bin holds 3 pounds, more than any other machine on this list, and it turns out up to 33 pounds a day with the first nuggets landing in 10 to 15 minutes. Nuggets also pack a tumbler full in a way loose cubes do not, which is why this is the ice people ask for by name at a drive-through window.

The costs are real. The reservoir is 1.2 quarts, the smallest here, so refills come often; the draw is 960 watts, which dwarfs everything else in this group; and at 15.5 inches tall it is the tallest machine on the list, so measure the clearance under your cabinets before you fall for the ice.

Two-point-three quarts is the number to notice here. That is as large a reservoir as any bullet machine in this group, and it means fewer trips to the sink with a pitcher while people are waiting on drinks. Fill it once at the start of the afternoon and it keeps going.

The cycle runs about every six minutes, quick for the 26-pound class, so the bin refills itself while you are doing something else. Two cube sizes give you the option to keep cocktails from diluting or to fill a water bottle faster.

Depth is 14.1 inches, more counter than the 12-inch machines want, so measure the corner before you commit it. The housing is metal, the window is wide enough to read at a glance, and the digital panel is the plain sort you learn in a minute.

This is the machine for a household that runs it all afternoon rather than in bursts: the tank and the cycle time are the two things that cut the labor, and it has both. It overlaps heavily with our top pick, though, so treat the reservoir and the metal housing as the tiebreaker rather than a different class of machine.

Ten-point-six inches is short for a countertop ice maker — short enough to sit on a shelf under a wall cabinet or on a baker's rack where nothing else on this list would clear. That height, not the output, is the reason to look at this one at all.

Underneath it is a normal 26-pound machine: a 2.3-quart reservoir that runs a good while between refills, a flat touch panel instead of raised buttons, and a 105-watt draw that is the lightest here. The vanilla finish is a soft off-white rather than a stark white, which is worth knowing if it is going next to a colored wall.

We like it for small kitchens and for anyone who wants an ice maker that reads as a countertop appliance rather than a mini fridge. It is not the machine for filling a cooler for the beach; it is the one to buy when the space makes the decision and the ice is secondary to it fitting at all.