GoveeLife Smart Countertop Ice Maker 2 Review

About the GoveeLife Smart Countertop Ice Maker 2 Pro

• Dimensions: 15.2 inches x 19 inches x 15.9 inches
• Weight: 40.3 pounds
• Ice type: Bullet
• Ice bucket capacity: 3 pounds
• Side water tank: 4.3 liters (roughly 1.1 gallons)
• Compatibility: Govee Home, Google Assistant, Alexa, Distributed Gateway
• Warranty: 3 years

The GoveeLife Smart Countertop Ice Maker 2 Pro is a countertop bullet ice maker designed for creating ice in a hurry—once it's running, it can go from empty to ice in your drink in four minutes. It has a 4.3-liter side tank (roughly 1.1 gallons) that enables continuous ice production, up to 3 pounds (roughly 8 cups in our measurements) at a time.

The machine makes three sizes of bullet ice (small, medium, and large) and has a self-cleaning mode. Bullet ice—cylindrical pieces with a hollow core down the center—forms quickly and chills rapidly. It's softer than traditional solid ice cubes (though it melts faster), but not as soft or chewable as nugget ice.

The Ice Maker 2 Pro is Bluetooth-enabled and compatible with the Govee Home app, as well as Alexa and Google Assistant. And like other Govee products, the ice maker has an RGB light strip that you can customize in color and movement pattern for some party-atmosphere flair.

Along with the machine, the Ice Maker 2 Pro comes with a side tank and clips, an inner tank pad, an inlet pipe, a cleaning brush and sponge, and an ice scoop.

How we tested

To find out how the GoveeLife Smart Countertop Ice Maker 2 Pro performed, we put it to work, installing it in the busy kitchen of a five-person household, including three kids who don't go anywhere without a water bottle and two adults who like ice in their drinks. We kept notes on how it looked, how it sounded, and how easy it was to use.

To further test how the Ice Maker 2 Pro measured up, we got out the tools. We timed how long it took to make ice of different sizes and in different amounts, and we used a thermometer to see how well the ice the machine created cooled our drinks, and how long the cooling lasted.

What we like

It's seriously fast

If getting ice in a hurry is your goal, the GoveeLife Smart Countertop Ice Maker 2 Pro delivers in spades.

In our testing, the machine could spit out nine small ice cubes—enough for a generously sized highball glass—in less than four minutes, or less than 10 for the largest bullets. Getting a completely full basket of ice, which we consistently measured at 8 cups, enough for a blender full of margaritas (or ice to drop in multiple water bottles or glasses), took around 90 minutes for the large ice cubes and less for the small ones (78 minutes, according to the ice journal).

And you can help yourself to ice as it makes it, so you can be filling glasses and blenders for a crowd as you go. No matter which size we made, we found we had several cups of ice by the 30-minute mark.

Ice, ice everywhere

Because the Ice Maker 2 Pro doesn't require access to a water line to crank out a continuous stream of ice, it's a versatile upgrade for any place you want ice. Want to cool things down in your basement bar or make ice out on the patio? No problem. Need a steady stream of ice for post-surgical packs, or want to keep your drinks cold while you live the RV life? It's handled. As long as there's an outlet and you can refill the tank, the GoveeLife Ice Maker 2 Pro will churn out a steady stream of bullet ice.

App controls

With the Govee Home app, you can see exactly how many cubes and how many pounds the machine produced that day, track exactly where the machine is in its production cycle, and see its current temperature. There's even an ice journal that lets you track exactly what kind of ice you made and when every day or week.

Functionally, it also lets you pause and restart ice making, change the size of the bullet being created, and change the light patterns on the front.

While we weren't able to test it, the app says it is compatible with major smart home platforms like Alexa and Google Home, which can help streamline your controls if you've got multiple devices.

It's quiet enough

No ice maker is silent, and like most makers we've used or tested, the Govee makes noise as it moves through its cycle, the most notable being the clattering of cubes falling into baskets. That said, the overall operation is quiet, with just the occasional rattle that, in our experience, is inescapable in production. You can also enable a customizable Do Not Disturb period that stops all production and its associated noise.

What we don't like

It's a space hog

While it's smaller and lighter than its sister product, the GoveeLife Smart Nugget Ice Maker Pro, it's still substantial. At approximately 40 pounds and 15 inches by 15 inches by 19 inches, it took up a substantial chunk of our counter space, and would have been far too big for the counters at some of our past residences. Its weight and bulk made transporting the box and installing the machine cumbersome as well: It's not a piece we would want to try to move alone, or move very often at all.

One other thing worth noting: Not only is it physically large, but it's also not the kind of appliance that hides in the background in your kitchen. It's black, shiny, and looks tech-y, with a glowing strip of lights built into the front that you can set or reset in different themes to match your mood or decor preferences (and that you can turn off). There's no missing this device.

The ice melts fast

There's a tradeoff for ice created so quickly—it melts just as fast.

Because the machine lets newly created ice melt back into the reservoir when unused, to be recycled into a fresh batch, if you go to get some ice any time that isn't immediately after creation, you may find your cubes are soft, wet, or even slushy.

Warranty

The GoveeLife Ice Maker 2 Pro has a 3-year warranty, although having the machine serviced or repaired by firms outside of Govee may void it.

Should you buy the GoveeLife Ice Maker 2 Pro?

Yes, if you need ice in a hurry or you entertain far from a water line

There's a lot to be said for speed. If your priority for entertaining or other uses is lots of fast ice, the Ice Maker 2 Pro (available at Amazon for $349.99) has you covered. The generous tank gives you the freedom to bring the ice to where you need it, too, not just where your plumbing runs. This isn't a portable device per se, but it offers flexibility and consistent performance where you need it.

If you're looking for other features, check out our guide to the best countertop ice machines to find the one that's perfect for you.