We're all for a well-featured fridge and the Maytag MFI2266AE bottom-freezer refrigerator has certainly impressed us with its thoughtful details and quality feel throughout.

With its French door styling, the Maytag MFI2266AE combines many of the best features of side-by-side and bottom-freezer models in one. Most noteworthy, this fridge has a through-the-door water and ice delivery system that is a must-have for many homeowners. Ice and water is dispensed through an integral filter, so you will always have clean-tasting water and ice. This model has a smooth gliding freezer drawer as well, and since the icemaker is located in the fridge door, there's more room in the freezer to store food.

A great feature of the Maytag MFI2266AE bottom-freezer refrigerator is its Smart Seal, a narrow vertical panel that swings out from the right door to create a very tight seal with both right and left doors. Without this seal, the doors on French door models tend to rub together and in time will not maintain a good seal.

A medium-size fridge, the MFI2266AE has 21.8 cubic feet of space in both compartments combined. You will find 16.0 cubic feet of room in the fresh foods compartment and 5.8 cubic feet of room in the freezer. This model is best suited to a small family or couple, since its capacity would be insufficient for a large family. This model uses 532 kWh of energy a year, so you'll pay approximately $56 a year to run this appliance.

Besides the Smart Seal and through-the-door ice and water delivery, there are many additional interior performance and convenience features. The only drawback to the through-the-door ice and water delivery system is that it cuts down significantly on door storage. This model has two door bins, including a special beverage chiller compartment that can keep drinks a few degrees cooler than the rest of the fridge and a dairy compartment. Door bins are fixed in place and not adjustable, and there is no gallon door storage.

The interior compartment is much better featured than are the doors. There are two full-width slide-out adjustable shelves with a spillsaver feature to contain spills, plus two humidity-controlled crisper drawers. The drawers are a bit short in height to compensate for the space needed for the full-width glide-out deli drawer, which is temperature-controlled and has a divided compartment to allow you to organize the interior space. The freezer is the pull-out type and has two slide-out removable baskets. The freezer drawer pulls out very smoothly and allows a clear view of all frozen foods inside. Temperature controls are located on the through-the-door ice and water dispenser and are quite easy to use. The fridge's water filter is located in the bottom base grille and is easy to replace.

Maytag's MFI2266AE bottom-freezer refrigerator comes in a choice of white, bisque, black, stainless steel or Satina, which is a stainless-steel look. This fridge is a great choice for a small family looking for the convenience and features of a side-by-side model with the energy efficiency of a bottom-freezer model.


Pros: Through-the-door ice and water dispenser, some nice interior features, energy efficient
Cons: Crisper drawers are short, fixed and limited door storage

Warranty
1 year, parts and labor