What we love: The Frigidaire Compact Ice Maker is a truly compact and affordable countertop ice maker that will make lots of ice quickly and can make up to 26 pounds of it in 24 hours. If you don’t mind cloudy bullet-shaped ice (versus clear or nugget ice), it’s a great option. It starts making ice within minutes of setup and a clear door on the top of the machine allows you to see how much ice you have at any given time. It’s also very easy to clean; you simply remove a plug on the bottom of the machine to drain and rinse the water reservoir. Because it’s so compact and portable, it’s a good option for small kitchens and RVs. It’s worth noting that all three of the bullet ice makers I tested were eerily similar, but I’ve selected this Frigidaire as the budget pick because, at the time of publishing, it’s the least expensive.
What we’d leave: For the price, you really can’t complain too much about this ice maker. No, the ice isn’t as small or chompable as what you’d get from a nugget maker, but it’s still pleasantly chewable because it’s much softer than what you’d get by freezing water in ice trays. Also, don’t get too excited about the two ice sizes promised in the product copy; they’re very similar in size.
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How we selected and tested countertop ice makers
For this review, I tested popular specialty ice makers (nugget and clear) as well as more affordable bullet ice makers. Because there are far more options for bullet ice makers on the market, I stuck with machines from household names and well-reviewed brands we know (Frigidaire, Newair, and Igloo) and kept away from some of the random brands that primarily pop up on Amazon, like Aglucky or Silonn.
I unboxed each countertop ice maker and, if instructed, let it rest in an upright position for the recommended amount of time, because, like refrigerators, the coolant should settle before the machine is plugged in. I then cleaned each machine according to the manual before adding purified water to start making ice. I ran multiple ice-making cycles in each machine (and, of course, chomped lots of the ice each produced), then drained and maintenance-cleaned each according to the manufacturer’s instructions.
What makes a good countertop ice maker?
An ice maker makes ice. That’s it’s one job, so I looked at how quickly the ice machines started to produce ice and how long it took to make a full batch.
I looked at how much ice the machine could produce in a single batch, which depended on how much ice the ice drawer or ice basket could hold. To be clear, that is not the same number as the “pounds of ice” listed on an ice maker’s product description—unless you’re trying to keep a body on ice or you’ve turned your spare bedroom into a speakeasy, you don’t need to worry about this number. That’s because all it tells you is what the machine could, theoretically, produce in 24 hours. And that kind of ice production would only be possible if you completely emptied the machine as soon as a batch of ice was ready and ensured the water reservoir was constantly filled. The chances you will ever bother with all that are basically zero, so it shouldn’t matter if you have a 24-pound ice machine or a 26-pound ice machine. The more important figure is the capacity of the ice basket, bin, or drawer.
I looked for machines that produced the best version of the ice they were supposed to, whether that was nugget ice (should have a nice chomping texture and isn’t necessarily clear), clear ice (should, of course, be clear), or bullet-shaped ice (we’re less picky here).
The ice you get from a countertop nugget ice maker is directly related to how much you’re willing to spend. As of 2025, you can get a small, comparatively affordable model—but the ice pellets it makes have a different (a.k.a. less satisfying) texture than what you’ll get from a high-end, specialty nugget ice maker. So in addition to assessing the standard unboxing, setup, and cleaning of multiple nugget ice machines, I really focused on the chewability of the nugget ice they produced. After chomping lots of ice, I found that though the machines were similar in style, price, and function, the ice they produced varied in clarity and texture.
Dispenser bin functionality
An ice drawer or basket isn’t an actual freezer, but it should be insulated enough to keep the ice cold for at least a few hours (the ice will eventually melt and the water drains back into the reservoir to form fresh ice). I found it was easier to get ice from machines with drawers on front versus baskets on top. A clear drawer or cover also makes it easy to see how much ice is in the machine without having to open it.
Machine size and appearance
Even the more compact portable ice makers are pretty bulky gadgets, so I took into consideration the footprint, height, and overall appearance of the machine.
Each machine had a slightly different setup, and some required intensive cleaning cycles before the first use, while others had simpler requirements. I took into consideration how long it took to set up the ice maker, how intuitive the buttons and control panel were, and how much ongoing maintenance was required for each.
Most small appliances make at least a little noise, but if you read reviews of just about any countertop ice maker on Amazon, one of the top complaints is noise. So while I didn’t expect any ice maker to be whisper quiet I did take note of how noisy the ice makers were when producing a fresh batch of ice. Some were quite loud.
Bullet ice makers are relatively easy to clean, but specialty ice makers usually boast a self-cleaning feature, and different machines require different solutions and effort on the part of the user. I considered how easy or tedious each cycle was in comparison to the ice the machine produced. In other words, is the ice this machine produces worth the effort it takes to maintain it? (For GE Opal nugget ice, the answer is yes!)