Best Portable Ice Maker For 2020

I’ve covered appliances since 2012, first for Reviewed.com and now for Wirecutter. I’ve also written our guides to freezers and portable air conditioners, so I know a bit about compressors and cold appliances.

For this guide, we acquired and tested six ice makers and ran each through a battery of tests. We also interviewed a couple experts, including Larry Portaro, director of FirstBuild (the company behind the Opal Nugget Ice Maker).

Portable ice makers (sometimes called countertop ice makers) are best suited for RVs or boats, camping, or tailgating—situations where you want ice but you’re near neither a fridge nor a cooler filled with store-bought ice. They might also have a place in offices or hotel rooms. But most people really don’t need a portable ice maker. Compared with a fridge’s ice dispenser, portable models are more likely to grow mold, can’t keep ice frozen indefinitely, and don’t work any faster. Even if you don’t have a fridge with an ice dispenser but you do need a bunch of ice for a party every now and then, it’s probably more convenient to buy bags of ice and stick them in a cooler. And don’t forget that ice cube trays are always an option.

First we made a spreadsheet with all the ice makers we could find at Amazon, Home Depot, Target, and Walmart. We found 33 different model names and numbers but discovered that many of them are very similar to one another. For example, look at the Magic Chef HNIM27SV and the Costway Portable Compact Electric Ice Maker: They’re the same machine with different labels and much different prices. Comparing the product photos and specs, we found just 13 unique designs.

Here are the features we looked for within that small group:

Important features

• Speed: The faster it makes enough ice for a drink, the better. We found in our testing that the quickest models make a batch of ice (enough for a couple small drinks) in about seven minutes, and the slow ones take 13 minutes. Smaller units tend to make batches of ice faster.
• Colder ice: It stays frozen longer. We found that smaller units tend to make colder ice than larger units do, and maintain those lower temperatures for longer (as long as the ice stays inside the machine).
• Small footprint, light weight: The most common places you’d use a portable ice maker are RVs and boats, we think, so they can’t take up too much space or be too heavy to move around. Sizes vary significantly, though, with some as small as coffee makers and others as big as a subwoofer. But even if the weight and footprint aren’t that important to you, remember that smaller models work faster and keep the ice colder than big ones.
• Underside drain plug: You should drain your ice maker when you’re done using it (otherwise it can get moldy). We found that it’s much easier to empty models that have a drain on the bottom, rather than the side.
• Mesh filter: These can help keep ice free of dirt, residue, or hair. Purification filters, on the other hand, are overkill. It’s more effective to filter your water before you put it into an ice maker. (Contrary to popular opinion, filtered water does not necessarily make clearer ice.)

Less-important features

• Large capacity: This is listed as the pounds of ice a machine can produce per day (for example, “26 lb/day”). The majority of models are rated to crank out between 26 and 28 pounds per day, so this barely matters. Speed is more important.
• Cube sizes: Most ice makers have two size options, some have three. Smaller ice cubes get made quicker, but they also melt faster. The actual size difference is negligible (just a few millimeters), so we don’t think the size options are very important. Every portable or countertop ice maker (except the Opal) also makes the same hollow bullet-shaped ice, so this isn’t a differentiating factor, either.
• Timer: We doubt most people would use this feature.
• Self-cleaning cycle: This feature’s value is pretty marginal because you’ll still have to manually supply it with a cleaning solution. We don’t know how well it works, either.

Looking at the 13 unique ice makers, we narrowed the list to four affordable, portable units with the most promising specs and tested them (along with one special model):

The most important test we ran was measuring the time to make the first batch of ice. It turned out to be the biggest differentiator between models. Most make nine cubes (or bullets) at a time. The best models finished a batch in seven minutes, and the slowest took up to 13 minutes. (The Opal spits out ice nuggets continuously, rather than in groups, so we measured the weight of the ice in 15-minute increments instead of timing it.)

We let the machines keep running after their first batch so that we could time how long it took for each model to either use all the water in its reservoir or totally fill its bin. This typically took a little over an hour for smaller machines and almost two hours for larger ones. Then we weighed the ice after the cycle completed. Smaller ice makers yielded 1 to 1½ pounds, with the largest ones making as much as 3½ pounds. The results of this test didn’t really impact our picks, though.

Using an infrared thermometer, we took the temperature of the ice a few times during the capacity test: once right after completing the first batch, another after the fourth batch, and again once the machine reached capacity. In most models, the temperature hovered just above freezing, which means the ice was melting in the bin. A few models (typically the smaller ones) stayed cold enough to keep the ice frozen during this testing period.

We also measured the noise level of each machine. Most of them run at about the same volume as a window air conditioner on its quietest setting, which makes sense because both products use compressors.

Finally, we took into account how easy it was to clean each machine, how easy it was to drain them, and how intuitive the control pad and indicators were.

Our pick

Frigidaire EFIC108

The best ice maker

In a category with little variety, this ice maker is the fastest and one of the most compact.

If you need a portable ice maker, get the Frigidaire EFIC108. In our testing, it was one of the quickest to make its first batch of ice, and it continued to crank out ice at one of the fastest paces until it reached capacity. It’s also one of the most compact and lightweight models we’ve come across, so it’s easy to move around and won’t take up much counter space. This model is cheaper than most, and also easier to empty after use. The downside—apart from portable ice makers in general not being all that useful for many people—is that it makes only hollow-bullet ice, in just two sizes. But that’s typical for this type of appliance, and we don’t think most people will mind.

The EFIC108 is lighter and smaller than most of the models we tested. It weighs a little over 20 pounds, with a footprint of 14.5 by 9.8 inches. The NewAir AI-215, by comparison, is 16.88 by 14.25 inches and about 38 pounds, and the FirstBuild Opal is 15.5 by 10.5 inches and a hulking 44 pounds. The EFIC108’s relatively small size is a good thing, because compact ice makers are easier to move around, make ice faster, and keep the ice colder than big machines. After our first batch, the surface temperature of the ice in the EFIC108 was just above 32 °F. At capacity, the temperature fell to 31.1 °F, cold enough for the ice to stay frozen. In contrast, the temperature was 33.4 °F in the ICE103 and 32.7 °F in the Magic Chef—warm enough for the ice to start melting.

The EFIC108 also has an underside drain plug, which makes it easier to empty at the end of your session than side-drain models. The interface is simple, with just a few buttons and indicator lights for when the unit is at capacity or needs more water. Like most (but not all) of the models we tested, it also has a mesh filter to keep debris and hair our of your ice.

Some portable ice makers can make three sizes of ice, but the Frigidaire EFIC108 can make only two. And like most portable models, it makes only bullet-shaped ice. We don’t think these things matter for most people. The difference between small and large cubes is only a few millimeters. Bullet ice is totally fine and totally typical—you’d have to pay a lot extra for the Opal and its nugget ice to get a different type.

The EFIC108 was one of the louder machines we tested, running at 61.2 decibels with the compressor running. That’s about the volume of a window air conditioner on the lowest setting, and louder than all but the Opal, which registered 64.3 decibels. The Igloo ICE103, by comparison, registered a much quieter 53.5 decibels—probably because its larger size muffled the sound of the compressor. The EFIC108 could stand to be quieter, but you won’t have to raise your voice while it’s running.

On Amazon, the Frigidaire EFIC108 has a so-so overall owner rating—though it’s hard to find any countertop ice maker with a rating better than 3.8 stars out of five. Most complaints we saw about the EFIC108 were the same we read about most other models: It takes too long to get a decent batch of ice, or the ice is too cloudy.

The most concerning complaints say that the EFIC108 never worked or stopped working after a few months. Again, we read similar things about other models. We think the problem has to do with the finicky nature of compressors. They need to stand upright for at least a day before use so the refrigerant gases settle in the right places. If yours is delivered sideways and you turn it on immediately, that can damage the unit permanently.

Runner-up

Della Premium Portable Ice Maker

Same model, different label

This model is almost the same as our main pick, so buy whichever one costs less when you’re shopping.

The Della Premium Portable Ice Maker is virtually identical to the Frigidaire EFIC108, with mostly cosmetic differences and a different motor. We think they’re close enough that you should get whichever one is cheaper when you’re shopping.

After we tested the EFIC108 and decided it would be our top pick, we bought this Della model to see if it was really as similar as it looked on paper. Aside from the color and the control panel, everything else looked the same as on the EFIC108—down to the placement of the packaging tape inside the box.

In our tests, we found only negligible differences in speed and temperature performance, which probably had more to do with environmental variations in our test space than the machines themselves. The Della was about 30 seconds slower than the EFIC108 on the first batch, the surface temperature was within a half degree, and the volume was within a decibel, too.

FirstBuild Opal Nugget Ice Maker

A nugget ice maker

Nugget ice has a cult following because of its soft, chewable consistency. The Opal is the only countertop model that makes this type.

The FirstBuild Opal Nugget Ice Maker is the only countertop ice maker we know of that makes nugget ice, which is probably the only type of ice that’s interesting enough to have a cult following (it’s a signature feature in drinks at Sonic Drive-In). This model is great for slushies, smoothies, and some specialty cocktails because the liquid can soak into the flaky nuggets and distribute the flavor of the drink. Some people just like to chew on this kind of ice, as it’s much softer than traditional cubes or bullets. All things considered, it’s probably more appetizing ice than the hard, hollow bullets you get from an Igloo or Magic Chef ice maker.

As far as we’ve seen, the Opal is a sturdy machine that works as advertised. But unless you’re obsessed with nugget ice, the steeper price tag (almost $400 extra at this writing) doesn’t give you anything you can’t get in a cheaper portable ice maker.

The Opal is slow—the slowest model we tested, actually. Most ice makers produce ice in batches, making nine or 12 cubes at a time. The Opal continuously produces little ice nuggets, but at a slower clip than any other machine we tested. After 30 minutes it had produced only 5.47 ounces of ice, which is enough to make just two or three large drinks. Our main pick had made enough ice for at least four large drinks by that point.

Although the Opal is the sturdiest and best-looking ice maker we’ve seen, it also weighs more than any other model (44 pounds) and takes up much more counter space (with a footprint of 15.5 by 10.5 inches). Even the cool-looking, single-button interface is a source of confusion at times because figuring out what the different colors and timed flashes mean is difficult.