GE Profile - Opal 2.0 Ultra Nugget Ice Maker with Side Tank and Scale Inhibiting Filter - Stone White

GE OPAL 2.O ULTRA NUGGET ICE MAKER WITH SIDE TANK is the kitchen appliance that I didn't know that I needed. This nugget ice is comparable with what I have found in resturants, hotels, and our local hospital. It's the kind you can crunch. The GE Opal 2.0 Ultra arrived in a very large box. I thought there is no way this thing can sit on my countertop. The box contained everything that I needed to setup this ice machine. It comes with a manual, Quick set-up guide, side tank and base, side tank clip, ice bin, ice scoop holder, ice scoop, drip tray, water filter, screened intake cap, and the ice maker. Before using the icemaker, you should wash all accessories and wipe out the ice machine. I ran the cleaning cycle using a water and bleach. This water was drained and I then ran the rinse cycle 3 times. The Opal Ice Machine was now ready to make ice. I removed the screen intake cap and replaced it with the water filter. I attached the clip to the left side and filled the tank with tap water. The Opal 2.0 has built in WiFi to sync with your GE Profile. Just download the app and you can control your icemaker with your phone. After 7 days I received a notification that it was time to sanitize the ice machine. I repeated the steps that I did when setting up, fill the reservoir with water and 1teaspoon of bleach, then run the rinse cycle 3 times. Highly Recommend.

I absolutely love this thing! I didn't think I'd ever hear myself say that I'm excited to use an ice maker everyday but here we are! I've been using this GE Profile Opal 2.0 Ultra Nugget Ice maker for the past week for all of my iced coffee, soda, cocktail, and tea needs. This machine has been constantly producing perfect nugget ice without a hitch. The kind of ice that you'll typically find at your favorite fast food or gourmet restaurants. Best of all, as any unused nugget ice starts to melt away in the bin, the water gets re-circulated back into the water reservoir. This is a great water saving feature. I can't say enough good things about the build quality too. I went for the stainless steel variant and the stainless steel components are not only beautifully brushed, but also feel extremely solid. I'm a huge fan of the integrated touch-sensitive buttons that seem to seamlessly disappear into the sleek metal panel. The design of this ice maker was well thought out. Due it's sleek and modern appearance, it looks like a top-end appliance on my kitchen counter. The unit measures 15" Wide (with side tank) x 16.5" Tall x 19.5" Depth (including drip tray). I also love that GE includes a premium stainless steel ice scoop that attaches to a magnetized holster on the side of the unit. This is a very welcomed upgrade from the plastic ice scoop that they've used in the past. At first, I thought the setup and initial cleaning process was going to be a bit cumbersome. Thankfully, it was a fairly straightforward ordeal and didn't take too long. Total setup time for me was around 45 minutes. Once I had finished hand-washing the ice bin, side tank components, and ice scoop, I went through my first few cleaning cycles on the machine. This entailed filling the inner water reservoir to the fill line with fresh water (instructions say about 5 cups of water but in my experience it was closer to 9 cups) and a teaspoon of bleach. I then held down the "Clean" button for about 3 seconds and the cycle started. Once the initial cycle was finished, I simply unplugged the the hoses in the back of the unit to allow the water & bleach solution to drain in my sink. Once all of the solution was drained, I simply had to reconnect the hoses and refill the reservoir with water to the fill line. I repeated this clean cycle (with water only) 3 additional times to ensure all traces of bleach were rinsed out. Once these cleaning cycles were complete, I installed the supplied water filter, installed the side tank reservoir, and connected one of the labeled hoses to the side tank. At this stage, the machine was ready to make ice. The entire setup went smooth with no issues. I discovered that you technically don't even need to install the side tank if you don't want to. You can simply use the water reservoir underneath the ice bin. However, since I use the machine often, using the larger side tank reservoir prevents me from having to refill the water as frequently. I would like to note that while you're able to use any type of water to make nugget ice, I highly suggest going with GE's recommendation of using distilled water due it's purity. By using distilled water only, it should decrease the level of mineral buildup over time and keep the ice maker running optimally with minimal maintenance. This should help avoid having to descale the machine as often due to the typical water hardness of tap water. The water hardness will vary where you live and will determine how often you'll need to sanitize and descale your machine. When it comes to making the nugget ice, from the moment I hit the "Power" button, it takes about 10 minutes to get the first few nugget drops. After about 20 minutes of ice making, there's usually enough nugget ice to fill an entire 16 oz. cup. I have included pictures of how full the ice bin gets with 10 minutes of ice production as well as 30 minutes after initial startup. Bear in mind that this machine is designed to be left on at all times; and as long as you do, you'll always have a bin full of nugget ice ready to go. Since I don't have a big family household, I usually power mine down when not in use. The perfect middleground that I have found for my use case is scheduling the machine to turn on or off based on my daily routine. I LOVE the Android/iOS Smart HQ app that's been designed for use with this machine. I highly recommend downloading it to get certain features that are not available directly from the button panel on the ice maker. Since I usually have an iced latte every morning before work, I've scheduled the machine to turn on at 7:30am every morning, and turn off at 8:00am. When I go to my kitchen, I have plenty of fresh ice ready to go. This has also come in handy when I'm in the second floor of my townhome. I simply launch the app, turn on the machine, and continue working on whatever it is that I was doing. Once I'm done, I have ice ready for me downstairs in the kitchen. I also like that the Smart HQ app monitors the health of the water filter inside the unit and notifies you when it's time to replace it. I was also very pleasantly surprised as to how little noise this ice machine makes. It produces some low hums and churns that you would typically hear from a refrigerator compressor or a small power generator. It's not bothersome at all for me. As simple as the purpose of the product sounds, I've been having a blast making my favorite refreshments. The ice nuggets taste great too! I look forward, just that much more, to my everyday routine. I also like that I no longer have to make bi-weekly trips to the grocery store to pick up bags of ice. I really can't find any faults to complain about so far. If I HAD to complain about something, it would be that I wish the side tank reservoir was made of glass. Other than that, this machine has performed flawlessly thus far. If you love cold refreshments and you want the convenience of having perfect nugget ice readily available to you at all times, I highly recommend this GE Opal 2.0 Ultra ice maker!

The icemaker was great - very easy to set up. It’s very quiet and the ice it produces is amazing. I definitely recommend this product.

I love this ice maker I already had the opal ice maker but this ultra is everything and more. With the filter and magnetic scoop holder was an absolute bonus GE did their Big one with the ultra with the added sanitize and clean features are a nice bonus as well.

I've used countertop ice makers for about 10 years and in that time, I've gone through perhaps five. They never worked great from the get-go, the ice production decreased over time, eventually leaked, or the compressor went. I like having ice on-demand. I don't have to worry about squeezing trays into the freezer and about the trays picking up smells. I'm excited to have the GE Profile Opal Nugget Ice Maker; in the week that I've had it, I've come to feel very confident about its longevity. And it just works...very beautifully. PROS, Opal: ***Loads of crystal clear ice, 38 pounds to be exact. I've never run into a situation where I ran out of ice. ***A great feature about the Opal is that ice production starts up immediately when the ice bin is closed, not when some sensor 'eye' detects a low ice level, as was the case for all other ice makers I've owned. It means your ice bin is at maximum capacity, or ice maker is working to get it there. It makes a huge difference. ***The Opal comes with a metal ice scoop and holder that is held to the side of the ice maker magnetically; the magnet is strong and does not move. ***There is the normal water reservoir below the ice bin, but also the extra tank on the side; it's extremely convenient to have this feature so you don't have to keep filling the reservoir during times of increased ice usage, like if you have company over ***The Opal has a light as many other ice makers have, but the one on the Opal has a setting to make the light dim. ***The Opal comes with a drip tray, to catch water when the ice bin is open. The one on the Opal is smaller in footprint, but the edges are a bit higher to contain the water. ***Amazon Alexa connectivity works very well. I've only tried the 'make ice' and 'dim light' commends, but they work as expected ***The manual was well-writen and depictions / pictures were accurate, with nothing really to infer. ***There is a built-in function that reminds you to perform a Sanitization every 25 hours of active ice making. Every 50 hours, you need to Descale the ice maker PROS, SmartHQ app Whenever I placed the Opal on Wifi and associated it with the SmartHQ app, I rolled my eyes; it has many benefits however. ***Placing the Opal on WiFi was very easy ***Once you create a SmartHQ account (quick process), the app found the Opal very quickly, did a quick firmware update, registered it, and checked the status. ***It gives the status of the unit itself, but also the status of things like the filter, and even lets you order a new one from inside the app. ***The other reason I appreciate the app is to check on the staus, especially after a power outage CONS: ***When the unit is making ice and the side tank is installed, there is a whine sound that can be annoying at times ***The frequency of Sanitization can be annoying, especially when you use a lot of ice. This outperforms any ice maker I've owned. Aesthetically, it looks great as well.

Purchased 3 weeks ago, and initially, I was thrilled with my GE Profile Opal 2.0 Ultra Nugget Ice Maker. The machine produced ice quickly and delivered that perfect nugget texture I was looking for. However, my excitement didn’t last. Now, after just three weeks, the machine has completely stopped making ice. It continuously displays a "add water" alert, even though both the side tank and reservoir are full. I've tried everything to troubleshoot, but nothing works.* *For the price and brand reputation, I expected far better performance. Instead, I'm left with a bulky appliance that takes up counter space and does nothing. This has been a frustrating and disappointing experience, and I’ll be returning it to Best Buy as soon as possible. I can’t recommend this product at all and suggest potential buyers think twice before investing in this unreliable machine.

I loved it at first and it worked perfectly. Now after having it for six weeks it stop producing ice and all I get is the error add water when the both side take and water reservoir are full.

This machine is worth the money! I had a different brand before that broke so I needed a new one. I love this machine and how well it makes the ice. It’s very specific on how you clean it after so long!

This is my second ice maker. The GE Profile Opal 2.0 Ultra is replacing a more basic one that I got to dip my toe into homemade perfect crunchable ice game. Before that it was a trip to that fast food place that sells it by the bag. What a pain to drive to the fast food place…. But for summer parties or just that perfect cocktail or soda….you got to have the right ice. The first ice machine…just really wasn’t the one-and-done I was hoping for BUT it did show me just how cool perfect homemade ice can be and I knew there had to be a solution…THEN CAME THE OPAL 2.0 Ultra! The first thing I noticed about the Opal 2.0 was the quality of the parts. Solid, well-built with premium material. It looks amazing…and since I plan to keep it out and running all year round, that’s important. The real clincher for me is it is a one and done perfect ice making machine! I load it with water and there is ice literally when ever I want it. It melts and recycles into fresh new ice! Got it out and read the instruction…I hate reading instructions, but you do need to run it through the cleaning cycle. It was easier than I thought but keep in mind, this is an appliance that will take some maintenance…it needs to be cleaned and maintained. It has a water filter and it has an air filter and a tank that will need to be cleaned from time to time and be sure to clean it. If your ok with that…you will have fresh perfect ice all the time! The perfect Ice is so worth it. I plan to only use filtered water going into the unit as well as the descaling filter that comes with it (but you will need to order replacements). Got it out of the box (it’s heavy… fyi) and prepped it. It was time! The basket pulls out and that’s where the main water reservoir is kept. The basket is solid and thick and opens up nicely to allow for easy scooping. I poured the water in and filled the side tank. The side tank adds some space to it but if you make a lot of ice it’s really nice as you do not have to add water continually. Without the extra tank, I got about 5 days of moderate use. It’s just me and my spouse so if you have more than that…the side tank is a must! The set up of the tank is easy and they put a sticker on the hose that goes to it…fool proof. I wish they had wheels on the bottom of the Opal so I could roll it out from the floor or cabinet to drain for cleaning. Time to make the ice. It does make noise. The noise is two factors: 1. The ice dropping into the basket 2. The sound of the pump moving the water into the cooling unit. BUT wayyyy less noise than my cheaper unit. Part of that is the solid heavy plastic of the basket that keeps the “tick” sound down when the ice is being made….but understand that it is not “silent”. It is noticeable but once the ice has been made… it is absolutely silent. A couple of scoops and it starts making ice and you’ll have the sound again until it makes the ice. In my book…the slight noise is worth the trade-off for the ice. I also like the light inside that gives the ice a tempting glow that says, “come scoop me.” You can turn the light off or dim it as well. The scoop is magnetic as well and can go on either side…same with the tank. The basket holds a good amount of ice. When I throw a party I will have to stockpile ice in a freezer for a group of 10 or more. For a group of 4-8… the tank will be sufficient to keep the ice going but I will have the noise around when that is happening. I was so excited about the set up and Ice…I forgot about the app. I forgot about it because it really is not needed. It does have some features that are ok. It can tell you about the water filter and has an “order” button for a new filter. It has a “make fresh ice” button…but the Opal is so self-sufficient that it just goes….I don’t need to babysit it or tell it to make ice. Ect…It does it. Which is way better than having to force it to make ice ect…the ice is there and ready without my input…I like that way better! Other than that, the app has cleaning and care videos and the owners manual (which you get paper as well). It also has the light dim and off buttons in the app. Overall not a bad app…just redundant. In summary… the closest thing I have seen to the perfect Ice-making unit out there! Soooo much better than my entry unit was. The ice is absolutely phenomenal and once I turned the Opal on, I haven’t done anything to it except open the ice drawer and scoop out the best ice out there ( 5 days before adding water)…the ice is even better than the fast food place… and for an “ice-o-phile” that’s saying something! Also cleaned it twice so far. Really not to bad. I will probably clean 1 a month and de-scale every 6 months.