Opal Smart 2.0 Nugget Ice Maker

This is my second Opal machine. I love them until I hate them. They work great for a while and then they are going to start squealing and making noise. IF I get a third it will be with the understanding that I will need to weekly descale and sanitize the stupid thing. Which are pains in the butt. I love squishy ice but I haven’t decided if it is worth it

Shame on me for buying this, as this is the 2nd one of these I’ve purchased!! The first one started leaking after about a year, of course, no warranty after the year. So bought the same one again cause I love the nugget ice it makes! This is my brand new one that started making this noise after 2 days-i called GE-they told me, drain it, unplug it and let it sit for 20 minutes and start over! Ok, and this is 6 days later-same BS!! Called GE since I filled out the warranty immediately and they said return it to amazon-even though last time THEY replaced it even though i bought thru amazon. They MIGHT replace it after 30 days-but since oh, it’s 2 weeks old-nope! MAKES NO SENSE!! These are not fixable, as I paid $100 for repair guy for machine 1 to look at it and says oh it needs a whole new internal motor which cost more than the whole machine! Now I have to ship this POS back to amazon-and it’s heavy-i cannot lift it so need help taking to UPS store AND of course i threw the box away that it came in and it needs to be boxed! MORE MONEY!!!! Ok, I’m done!! Anyone have a recommendation for a reliable crunchy nugget ice machine!

This is one of the best on the market. I bought this because my son loved the ice it made. Too long of a story to include here, just know that his last hours on this earth included chewing on the perfect ice pellets made by this machine. I found that insulating the ice bucket caused the ice to last a bit longer. Although this machine recycles the melted ice water into new pellets, adding a small layer of rubber/foam insulation helps in keeping the ice box colder, and helps prevents the ice from melting too fast. I used 1 inch, 1/16 inch single sided adhesive rubber in a double layer on both sides and bottom of the ice box. This is the second machine I have bought. The first one lasted 20 months, using distilled water, about a gallon a day, and never ran it thru a cleaning cycle. I do not recommend that practice. I bought the extended warranty for this new one, and have a new filter shipped from Amazon every month, which aligns with the programmed cleaning cycle. It’s very easy to use, and the side water tank is so handy, as it holds about a gallon of water. Our tap water is very hard, which is why we chose distilled water to use is our machine. You’ll find that slime and algae will build up, plugging the filter, and interfering with the ice making auger in the ice cup. Keep it clean by flushing and sanitizing with bleach, and changing the filter after each cleaning. I’ll post an update on how long this one lasts. As far as I can tell, this one is the best counter top I’ve maker on the market today. Its size is perfect for our countertop, and you have to walk in the kitchen to hear it making its perfect ice. The noise level is not a problem with this one. I highly recommend this ice maker, with the side tank for your iced drink needs. You’re gonna love it.

Got this for about half off on sale. 500 for 300 and worth every penny. I've blown through a couple cheap ones within 6 months. This also has a timer feature so it won't overheat or break.

Just received it today so I can't comment on longevity. Otherwise, it was simple to setup, run the cleaning cycle and get my first batch of ice. I am an "ice snob" so I'm very particular about my ice. I was buying a bag every day from Sonic. I had figured out optimum time to get fresh ice from the top (which is cloudy and "soft") instead of ice that had been sitting there (that's clear and "icy"). I was worried this machine wouldn't make the SOFT ice. But it makes PERFECT, soft ice. So far, I couldn't be any happier. Update: After less than 8 weeks (I've already descaled it twice) today it suddenly stopped working. The add water button was on, but the reservoir was full. After watching several YouTube videos I kept seeing that the pump wasn't priming and to place my finger over the hole in the reservoir. That did nothing. Also said to try squeezing some water into the hole. Well, that's a problem, because the space to put something in the hole is not large. So I did some research and found the perfect little squeeze bottles that you can even get here on Amazon (I happened to get my at my local Walmart). They are called Joie Condiment Mini Squeeze Bottles. Additional Update: About a month ago I started to get the Add Water light even though I could see the water was actually being drawn out of the reservoir. If it turned the machine off and back on it would then make ice. This week even that stopped working and now the machines makes NO ice. Almost six months to the date I received it. So I have to return it and get a "new machine." I asked if it was actually new or refurbished and all I got was, it's being shipped from our warehouse. That doesn't answer the question. I figured out that based on how much ice I was buying from Sonic the Opal would pay for itself if it worked for at least 6 months, so I guess it was worth the purchase. It did make spectacular soft ice!

Wife loves to chew ICE. And this one is perfect for that ice that it produces! Definitely worth the investment.

We bought the OPAL 2. We have to return it, as it constantly gives us an "Add water" alarm, and won't make ice until the alarm clears. We have followed all possible combinations of procedures to get the ice maker functioning again. Absolutely nothing cleared the alarm for more than a day or two. Other times it would take a full day or two before it would clear, and start making ice again. Our previous OPAL 1 lasted almost a year, which seemed too soon for a $400.00 appliance. But we took a chance on this new one since the ice is exactly what we like, and our side reservoir plugs right in to the new one. SO...we are going to try a new OPAL 2 under AMAZON's return policy. We didn't need to involve the manufacturer, which we have heard is a frustrating process. We are giving this one star because this $400.00 unit never functioned correctly. If our new unit does what it should, I'm very sure we will give it a high rating. The quality of the ice and the size of the ice bin are both great features.

One of the best purchases ever! We only use distilled water and we have put at least 70 gallons of it thru this wonderful machine. It has worked flawlessly for a year. There are 6 girls in the house from age 8 to 58 and each one of them use this ice daily to refill their water bottles (we live near Tucson Arizona). The baby loves out to! They all love the ice and we have never run out. We must refill the side tank every other day or so and it's totally worth it. The "cleaning" light has been flashing for a few months- I don't know what that means but I don't really care as long as it keeps churning out fantastic ice. And it always looks great- very classy. When the teenage girls have sleepovers, they push the machine to it's limits but it never lets them down. Don't waste your money on a cheaper option (including buying this one as a return- they are nasty)- I have tried 2 other cheaper counter top options that don't even compare to this one. I was even tempted to buy the big, built in unit but, after buying this, I see it totally wasn't necessary. Couldn't be happier with this purchase!

Fantastic ice quality, replaceable filters allow for clean water. BUT! Numerous mechanical problems await prolonged ownership, so descale, unplug and allow it to defrost very often if you want to get more than the year and a half I got out of this $500 brick. I used distilled water in my ice maker and was told by Opal support that my device failed in part because I didn't routinely descale it. If you have any mechanical problems, get it replaced before 12 months of ownership otherwise Opal support will just tell you to buy another unit for $500. They do not vend replacement OEM parts, so either planned obsolescence or inferior internal design choices have hamstrung what would have been an otherwise amazing household amenity. There are online communities centered around the ownership and upkeep of these machines due to their proclivity to malfunction. If you purchase this, know you may be searching for aftermarket replacement parts in the not-so-distant future. I would look up troubleshooting guides to this ice maker before purchase to make sure you're up to the task of owning one of these doomed investments. UPDATE: After months of correspondence, the customer support via email threw me a bone and extended a courtesy warranty replacement on the entire unit. This was no easy ask and I don't expect everyone else to have the same luck as I did with all of my persistence, but they even threw in free return postage to send back my broken unit! Went from 1 to 3 stars for that one; thanks! My major critiques still stand and OEM parts should still be available for sale so we could service these machines ourselves instead of giving into what could be planned obsolescence or poor design. Potential buyers should know that distilled water can corrode/damage metal components, so filtered water may be a safer bet with regular descaling (though no parts of my failed unit were in contact with water that went through the ice maker).

I am very familiar with countertop icemakers and was excited to purchase the opal 2.0 from ge I thought there would be an oem port to plumb my distilled water line into for auto fill...there is not and the aux side tank is on perpetual backorder from Amazon and ge direct. The 2.0 is well made and quiet. The instruction manual is easy to follow and very informative. Cleaning is easy and a must do as with all icemakers for longevity and tasty ice. The simple to read display uses words and not symbols that you would otherwise need a legend to decipher. The added view light is a great addition as very few icemakers offer this. Do not confuse this light with the uv light that is also built in. The uv light is hidden in the unit and it's sole purpose is to kill any bacteria in the water supply...some reviewers of this item and competing items make this mistake. 2.0 comes with a tilt ice bin and a bottom tray that partially slips under the unit and the reason is everytime you tilt bin open or remove it to fill reservoir with water...the ice bin leaks water onto tray or countertop and, in my case, down my lower cabinet doors and floor. So keeping a towel nearby is a must. It makes ice surprisingly quick for a nugget ice maker and since I did a thorough initial cleaning and only use distilled water, the ice tastes great. The 2.0 has built in wifi for management of unit and monitoring and scheduling...that is, if you can get it to connect to your router. I was unsuccessful regardless if it was on an open or secure network or 2.4ghz or 5ghz. GE needs to improve this function or eliminate it and lower price point. For all the positives the opal 2.0 has, the negatives outweigh it when there are similar options out there that you can plumb direct and are less messy at a lower price point. If ge fixes wifi or eliminates it to lower price, corrects the messiness of retrieving ice, and offers an autofill option, I would try it again.