The Frigidaire EFIC452-SS is the clear-ice specialist here, making transparent square cubes instead of cloudy bullets or soft nuggets. IceArtisan rates it 3 out of 5 and IceMakerSpot 4 out of 5, both praising the clarity while noting the cubes emerge fused in sheets you have to break apart. Up to 40 lbs a day and a 2.3-quart tank suit a home bar; slower cycles and manual cleaning are the price.
Full review
24 clear cubes in roughly 15 minutes
Clear ice is the entire purpose of this machine and it delivers it. A batch of 24 square cubes takes roughly 15 minutes, there are two size options, and the rated output is up to 40 lbs a day.
The 2.3-quart tank allows long runs between refills and the bin holds 2.4 lbs. The trade against a bullet maker is speed: at 15 to 18 minutes a batch this is slower, because freezing ice clear takes longer than freezing it fast.
Cubes arrive fused in a sheet
IceArtisan notes that current countertop clear-ice makers, this one included, turn out batches of 24 cubes that stick together, so each batch emerges as a sheet you have to tap apart.
It is an annoyance rather than a fault: the sheet breaks up easily and the cubes underneath are genuinely clear. IceMakerSpot, rating it 4 out of 5, treats the clarity as worth the extra handling.
Quiet apart from cubes hitting the bin
The machine runs quietly, with the loudest sound being cubes dropping into the bin, which makes it easier to live with in a kitchen or entertaining space than a compact bullet maker.
The stainless housing with a viewing window looks like a bar accessory, and the larger tank means fewer refills during a party. It is a mid-size countertop unit, bigger than the compact bullet makers and much smaller than anything built in.
No self-cleaning cycle, and some early failures
There is no self-cleaning function, so cleaning and descaling are entirely manual, which is more upkeep than makers that automate it. IceArtisan's 3 out of 5 reflects those practical caveats alongside the good ice.
Durability is the other worry: some owners report units failing within weeks, which is a real risk on a machine at this price. Output is also slower than the bullet makers, so this is a specialist rather than a volume producer.
Cheaper than the Opal, dearer than the bullets
There is no direct substitute in this lineup if presentation ice is the goal. Against the bullet-ice Frigidaire EFIC189 and Magic Chef MCIM22SV it makes better-looking, slower-melting ice, more slowly and for more money.
Against the nugget-ice GE Profile Opal 2.0 it is much cheaper but makes a completely different product: clear cubes for sipping rather than soft nuggets for chewing. The choice comes down entirely to which kind of ice you want.
Strengths
- +Makes genuinely clear, square cocktail-grade cubes
- +Up to 40 lbs a day from a generous 2.3-quart tank
- +Two cube sizes with a first batch in about 15 minutes
- +Quiet apart from cubes dropping into the bin
- +Much cheaper than the nugget-making GE Profile Opal 2.0
Watch-outs
- −Cubes come out fused in sheets that have to be broken apart
- −No self-cleaning, so descaling is a manual job
- −15 to 18 minute cycles are slower than a bullet maker's
- −Some owners report units failing early
How it compares
The only clear-cube maker among these picks, producing presentation ice that differs from the bullet ice of the Frigidaire EFIC189 and Magic Chef MCIM22SV and the nugget ice of the GE Profile Opal 2.0 and Frigidaire Gallery EFIC255. It costs more and runs slower than the bullet makers but far less than the Opal.
Rating sources
“While clear ice is appealing at first glance, remember that all current countertop clear ice makers, including the Frigidaire EFIC452-SS, produce batches of 24 ice cubes that stick together.”
“It reliably produces beautiful transparent square cubes that far outperform the cloudy crescents from a standard freezer, with quiet operation.”
Our 3.5 score is the average of these published ratings. Ratings marked * were derived from the reviewer’s written analysis or video transcript — the publisher didn’t print an explicit numeric score, so we inferred one from their own words. Click through to verify. More about methodology.
