I just love to sit on the patio with an ice tea when it’s hot outside. And I like to enjoy a nice cocktail in the evening. But it’s just not the same without ice.
Unfortunately, however, not everyone has room for one of those fancy refrigerators that makes ice for you, or a large enough freezer to make all the ice you want.
But, there’s an easy solution. If you were to invest in a portable ice maker, you can have ice whenever you want, and give your drinks that extra chill factor, and make them super refreshing.
We’ve been checking out and testing some of the best portable ice makers on the market. And, after much deliberation, we were able to handpick our top few favorites to review for you here today. Our reviews are unbiased and include both pros and cons.
But we get that choosing one can be tricky if you’ve never bought one before, which is why we’ve also put together a buying guide for you that will walk you through the key things to think about before you buy.
Then we’re going to top that off with a section where we answer some of your most frequently asked questions on the subject.
And without further ado, let’s get started!
Aglucky Portable Ice Maker
Now, this ice maker has been flying off the shelves, particularly at leading online retailer Amazon, where it’s a prominent bestseller and has been met with excellent customer ratings and reviews.
It’s a smart and sleek machine, available in 3 color options, namely black, red, or silver. It’s a very compact machine, measuring just 12.32 x 8.74 x 12.59 inches. So it won’t take up too much room on your kitchen countertop.
But despite its modest dimensions, it’s actually quite a powerful machine, capable of producing 26 pounds per 24 hours. It works in batches, producing 9 ice cubes at a time in just 6 to 8 minutes.
It’s worth noting at this point that this ice maker features an upgraded cooling system, and the energy generated by the machine does not make the machine heat up and instead the cooling system releases this heat straight into the air.
When we tested it out, we were quite pleased with how quickly it could produce ice for us. And we found that there was quite a bit of difference between the small and the large ice cubes.
It’s very easy to use, with an intuitive control panel and display. There are three handy indicator lights on the machine, one to let you know when the power is on, one to let you know when there’s a water shortage, and one to let you know when the ice bucket is full.
Once you’ve filled the reservoir, which has a decent capacity coming in at about a gallon, you simply switch the machine on, and select the size of ice cubes you want.
And once you have all the ice you want, you can either remove the ice bucket completely, or use the accompanying scoop to scoop the ice into a glass.
The ice bucket can hold up to 1.5 pounds of ice at a time. And it will stop producing ice until some of this ice has been removed.
Pros:
- Bestseller with excellent reviews
- Compact with modest dimensions
- Produces 9 cubes in 6-8 minutes
- Choose small or large ice cubes
- Handy indicator lights on display
Cons:
- The ice cubes are like hollow bullets rather than full solid cubes
- Some customers were unhappy with the noise level, but we thought it wasn’t too bad
Euhomy Portable Ice Maker
Now, the star feature of this portable ice maker is the number of color options available. It’s available in black, white, silver, fire hydrant red, and a greenish blue, so choosing the right one for your kitchen should be a breeze.
It’s a compact machine with dimensions measuring 12.59 x 9.64 x 12.59 inches. But, don’t let the size fool you – it can produce up to a whopping 26 pounds of ice per day. It does so in batches, and it can produce 9 ice cubes in as little as 8 minutes.
It produces hollow ice bullets in two different sizes. The large ones measure 1 inch by 1 inch, and the smaller ones measure 1 inch by 0.8 inches.
When we tested it out for ourselves, we found it very easy to use. You can fill the reservoir with up to 2.2 liters of water, select your preferred size of ice bullet, and it gets to work straight away.
Using the machine was actually quite fun, because you get to watch the ice being made through the transparent window.
There’s an infrared sensor in place which spots when the ice bucket is full, and an indicator comes on to alert you. At which point it will stop working until some of the ice has been removed. (There’s also an indicator light to let you know when there’s not enough water in the tank.)
You can then either remove the ice bucket from the machine entirely, or use the accompanying scoop to scoop the ice into glasses.
Having the transparent lid in place helps to maintain the cool temperature of the ice so that it doesn’t start melting before you’ve had chance to transfer it to glasses
We also love the fact that the machine recycles water in the tank, so that no water gets wasted. Very efficient.
What’s more, the unit comes backed by a 12-month manufacturer’s warranty.
It’s a prominent bestseller with the leading online retailers, where it’s been met with excellent customer ratings and reviews.
Pros:
- Small but efficient machine
- Makes 9 ic bullets in 8 mins
- Makes small or large bullets
- Handy indicator lights on front
- Transparent lid for viewing ice
- Backed by a 1-year warranty
Cons:
- The ice cubes are like hollow bullets rather than full solid cubes
- Some customers have reported malfunctions that could not be fixed, resulting in replacements
Igloo ICEB26BK Portable Ice Maker
Now, this ice maker comes from one of the biggest names in the industry. It’s been selling in its thousands with the leading online retailers, where it’s a prominent bestseller. What’s more, it has received excellent customer ratings and reviews.
It’s available in three different colors, namely black, white, and a really nice aqua. It’s quite compact and modest in size, measuring 9.61 x 14.69 x 12.4 inches.
Yet despite its relatively small size, it’s powerful enough to produce a whopping 26 pounds of ice over a 24-hour period.
Where this ice maker stands out against the other ones that made our shortlist is in its capacity. It sports a generous 3 quart water tank capacity, and an ice bucket capacity of up to 2 pounds of ice.
It’s also very fast, too, able to make 9 ice cubes in as little as 7 minutes. And you can choose between small or large ice cubes.
When we tested it out, we found it very easy to use, and fun too – you get to watch the ice cubes forming through the transparent lid over the ice bucket. All you have to do is add the water, select your preferred ice cube size, and you’re all set.
When the ice cubes are done, you can either remove the ice bucket entirely or use the accompanying scoop to scoop the ice into glasses.
And once you have all the ice you want, you can remove the drain plug to drain out excess water, to help maintain the machine.
There are handy indicator lights that come on to let you know when the ice bucket is full, or when the water tank is running low.
We expected the machine to be relatively loud, given its large capacity, but it was surprisingly quiet.
Pros:
- Comes from a top, well-established brand
- Large water tank and ice bucket capacity
- It can make 9 ice cubes in as little as 7 mins
- Choose between small or large ice cubes
- Handy indicator lights on the display on top
- Transparent lid for watching the ice form
Cons:
- The ice comes out a little wet, but that shouldn’t bother most people, because they will simply use the scoop to transfer the ice
- The ice cubes are like hollow bullets rather than full solid cubes
Frigidaire EFIC101 Portable Ice Maker
Again, here we have an ice maker from a top, well-established brand. And once again it’s a prominent bestseller with the leading online retailers. Customers love it and give it excellent ratings and reviews.
It’s available in 4 color options, namely black, fire hydrant red, silver, and white. It’s quite compact in size measuring just 14.1 x 9.5 x 12.9 inches. And it can produce quite a lot of ice, up to 26 pounds a day in fact. It works in batches, producing 9 ice cubes every 7 to 15 minutes.
But the real beauty of this machine is that rather than produce semi opaque ice cubes, these are completely clear.
When we tested this machine out for ourselves, we found it very easy to use. Both of the indicator lights worked just fine, one for a full ice bucket and one for an empty water tank.
Incidentally, while the machine has a 2.3 quart water tank capacity, we found that the capacity of the ice bucket was a little small and needed frequent emptying.
The ice cubes came out nice and smooth, and you get to choose what size you want, large or small. The ice cubes came out really smooth, and it was fun to watch them being formed through the transparent window in the lid.
Amazon occasionally has deals on this particular ice maker – simply click on “Check price” to see if there happens to be a deal on now.
Pros:
- Comes from a top, well-established brand
- It produces perfectly transparent ice cubes
- It can make 9 ice cubes in as little as 7 mins
- Choose between small or large ice cubes
- Handy indicator lights on the display on top
- Transparent lid for watching the ice form
Cons:
- The ice bucket is a little small and needs frequent emptying
- The ice cubes are like hollow bullets rather than full solid cubes
hOmeLabs Portable Ice Maker
Here’s yet another portable ice maker we deemed worthy of our shortlist.
Again it has been selling in its thousands on the leading online retailer websites, where it is a bestseller in the category of ice makers, and has enjoyed excellent customer ratings and reviews.
It also happens to be the most powerful ice maker on our shortlist, capable of producing a whopping 35 pounds of ice per day. This is thanks to the large water tank capacity, coming in at 2.2 liters, and the fact that it can produce a batch of ice cubes in just 6 to 10 minutes.
But despite being such a powerful machine, it has relatively compact dimensions, measuring just 9.5 x 12.9 x 14 inches. So it should fit on most kitchen counter worktops.
The ice bucket capacity comes in at 1.5 pounds of ice, so it won’t need quite as frequent emptying as some of the other ice makers on our shortlist.
When we tried it out for ourselves, we found it very simple and straightforward to use.
You simply fill up the reservoir, select what size of ice cubes you want, you can choose large or small, and you get ice cubes in virtually no time at all. We enjoyed watching them form through the large transparent window in the lid.
There are handy indicator lights to let you know when the ice bucket needs emptying or when the reservoir has started to run low on water.
The ice bucket is removable, and it also comes with a handy ice scoop. And we also love the fact that the machine reuses water from any leftover melted ice to make even more ice for you.
Pros:
- Powerful, best-selling ice machine
- Makes a batch of ice in just 6 mins
- Makes up to 35 pounds of ice a day
- Choose between small or large ice cubes
- Handy indicator lights on the display on top
- Transparent window in the lid for viewing
Cons:
- The ice cubes are like hollow bullets rather than full solid cubes
- The ice comes out a little wet, but that’s not really an issue because you can use the scoop to transfer it to glasses
Buying Guide
As promised, here’s your buying guide. Let’s walk you through some of the key things to think about before you buy.
Managing Your Expectations
Portable ice makers are smaller than their larger counterparts, and can only produce a small amount of ice at a time. For this reason, we don’t recommend using a portable ice maker to fill a large cooler up with ice.
Aesthetic
Thankfully, most portable ice maker machines look very smart and sleek. But where they do tend to differ a little is in the available color options. In addition to typical colors such as black, white and gray, you can sometimes get other colors such as fire hydrant red, or a subtle pale blue.
Simply choose one that suits your taste or your kitchen/bar decor.
Dimensions
If, like many people, you don’t have a whole lot of kitchen countertop space, then you also need to consider the dimensions of the ice maker. Especially when you consider that most portable ice makers are too large to be kept in a cupboard.
This is why we included the dimensions of the ice maker in each of our reviews, so you can work out how well you can accommodate it on your kitchen countertop.
Ice Production Capability
How Much Ice It Can Make
If you like to entertain or throw parties, you’re going to want your ice maker to make its cubes rapidly, and make as much ice in one go as possible. But if there’s just one or two of you, then this isn’t quite as important.
As a guide, most portable ice makers these days can produce 26 pounds of ice over 24 hours.
Shape Of The Ice
Some ice makers make solid full blocks of ice, and some create hollow ice cubes. So if the shape of the ice is important to you, be sure to check which sort of ice your potential ice maker can make.
Adjustability
And just as some people like different shapes of ice cubes, some people like to have different sizes of ice cubes.
For example, people who like to drink from a larger glass may prefer larger ice cubes than those drinking from a smaller glass. Some portable ice makers allow you to select from a range of different ice cube sizes.
Reservoir Capacity
You also need to consider the capacity of the machine’s water reservoir. This is the measure of how much water you can pour into the machine at a time.
If you want to make a lot of ice, then having a machine with a large reservoir capacity will save you from having to keep constantly refilling the reservoir.
Easy To Use
Whenever you’re buying an appliance for your home, be it big or small, you want to feel confident that you can use it as intended.
That’s why we’ve only selected ice makers that are easy to use for our shortlist, and we tested each of them to see how easy they are to use.
Indicator Lights
Most portable ice makers will stop working when the machine has run out of water or when the ice bucket gets too full.
But without indicator lights to let you know that this is the case, this could very easily escape your attention. For this reason, only ice makers with indicator lights made our shortlist.
Special Features
One of our personal favorite special features on an ice maker machine is a transparent lid, or a transparent window within the lid. This way you get to watch the ice cubes being formed, which can be quite mesmerizing.
Value For Money
Portable ice makers can vary quite considerably in price, with some costing as little as $99, while at the other end of the spectrum you can expect to pay as much as $275. But in our view, cheaper does not always mean better value for money.
We deliberately don’t include prices in our reviews in case they change, but you can easily check prices as you go along, just by clicking “Check price” which will open up the product page on a separate tab.
Answers To Your Most Frequently Asked Questions
What Is The Best Portable Ice Maker Out There?
This is actually quite a hard question to answer because it depends on what you’re looking for in your ice maker.
Some make loads of ice over the course of a day, some can make up a batch of ice cubes really quickly, and others are really compact and take up hardly any room on your kitchen counter worktop.
Any of the 5 portable ice makers that made our shortlist would make an excellent choice.
Which Brand Of Ice Maker Is Best?
Our favorite ice maker brands are Igloo and Frigidaire. We see them as the best in the industry and have included the best portable ice makers in their offering from each of these two brands in our shortlist.
Do Any Portable Ice Makers Make Clear Ice?
We are pleased to report that some portable ice makers do make clear ice. This includes our number 4 pick, the Frigidaire EFIC101 Portable Ice Maker.
