hOmeLabs Portable Ice Maker Machine Review

Being currently in the market for a ice maker to make itself a mainstay in the kitchen, I have done quite a bit of research into this category of home appliances.

Ice cube shortages have been a recurring occurrence at home. And it only dawned on me recently to get this issue resolved once and for all because it’s becoming disturbingly frequent my drinks were not as chilled as I would like.

As I entered the world of ice makers, I was introduced to a huge variety of products to choose from that delivers good value for the average household.

One of which that made a lasting impression was hOmeLabs HME010019N portable ice maker machine.

From the first look, this product resembled an elongated washing machine that has bee shrunk down to sit on the countertop.

But soon it became apparent that this is a proven design as many top quality ice makers in the market spot this look.

hOmeLabs HME010019N is a lightweight ice maker weighing 19.4 pounds and dimensions measuring 12.9 x 9.5 x 14 inches.

This is light enough, in fact one of the lightest, to be easily moved from counter to counter, table to table, or even house to house. No doubt that it is very portable to bring it on your trips too.

The size of this product is amazingly compact and allows you to slot it into empty corners and spaces in the kitchen.

This is why it is astonishing that it manages a production capacity of up to 26 pounds of ice cubes in 24 hours.

Build quality

The housing of the hOmeLabs ice maker is made of ABS plastic. This is one reason how the weight of device is kept low for portability.

While this can sound fragile to some, the material serves as an additional layer of insulation to keep the ice in the ice basket for melting prematurely.

Even though you won’t get a premium feel when touching this ice maker, it is far from feeling like a cheap product.

The top cover spots a transparent window for you to observe the ice cubes dropping into the basket so that you can have a good idea the amount of ice is has under the hood.

A circular air outlet is located on the side protected by metal grills fabricated in a circular fashion.

Upon flipping up the top cover, there is a slot to keep the ice scoop right above the ice basket where ice is stored.

Performance

We were very excited to test out the speed at which this machine churns out ice cubes by the bucket loads.

Capable of creating slightly more than 1 pound of ice an hour, how can any chilled beverage lover not be?

After filling the water tank with water to just below the water level mark indicator, just select between small and large for the size of the ice cubes, and press start on the touch display panel.

The control panel consist of 2 push-buttons and 5 indicator lights.

• Power ON/OFF button
• Ice cube size selection button
• Indicator lights for Water, Full, Power, Small, Large

Small ice cubes are suitable for drink glasses, while the bigger ice cube are suitable for ice buckets meant to keep the champagne cold or for other uses like air coolers.

Ice cubes are dispensed in batches of nine within 10 minutes!

It was delightful to find that there is enough ice cubes to go around for 4 people after less than an hour of running the ice maker. So getting the machine to start churning about an hour before dinner should give you an abundant amount of ice cubes by meal time.

An ice full sensor signals the machine to automatically stop when the ice basket is full. This means that if you wish to make more than a basket of ice, you need to remove the ice and store them in the freezer or a cooler box.

With an ice basket that can hold up to 1.5 pounds of ice, you will find it filled to the brim slightly more than an hour after switching the ice maker on.

For the power behind this tiny machine, it has an amazingly quiet cooling compressor.

To tell you the truth, I didn’t even notice the noise it makes until a colleague made me aware of it.

Let’s not talk about the seemingly impressive 26 pounds of ice a day. For practical real world use, the speed and amount of ice cubes this ice maker makes will be sufficient for the consumption needs of the average household.

And it’s not exactly silent while in operation, it goes about it’s job without being loud enough to notice when you are doing something else nearby.

I can see it serving any household well as a standard countertop ice maker even though it’s designed with a focus on portability.

Portability

At less than 20 pounds, this is not too heavy for an adult to carry around. It’s also small enough to fit into small spaces should you like to keep it in the cabinet after each use.

The rectangular share makes it easy to slot into storage areas that are already packed with other items.

However, do be mindful that with every electrical appliance, there will always be the chance that item mechanisms can be damaged with knocks during transport.

In this aspect, you might find that the hOmeLabs ice maker might be too lightweight making it prone to bouncing about when put in the boot of the car. So do secure it with elastic bands when bringing it for trips.

It’s portability makes it ideal to tag along on your camping trips, short getaway vacations, or even to the RV or boat.

Please avoid checking it in at the airport. Because I predict it’s death by the time it comes out from the luggage collection conveyor belt.

Overall, hOmeLabs HME010019N is one of the best portable ice makers in the market today.

Pros and cons of hOmeLabs portable ice maker machine HME010019N

hOmeLabs has conceptualized a dependable household ice maker while keeping the price very affordable.

This also means that there will be trade-offs that they have to painfully make.

Here are it’s pros and cons.

Pros

• Capacity of 26 lbs of ice a day
• Ice cube in 2 sizes
• Removable 1.5 lbs ice basket
• Automatically stops when ice basket is full
• Light weight at 19.4 lbs
• BPA free plastic ice scoop
• Compact rectangular size at 12.9 x 9.5 x 14 inches
• 2 year warranty or 2.5 year with product registration
• Lifetime technical support
• ETL Certified
• Affordable retail price

Cons

• 1.5 pound ice basket might be insufficient depending on your needs
• Plastic material housing surface
• Available in only 1 color (gray)

This is not just one of the best ice makers for budget conscious buyers, it also delivers some of the best value compared to the competition.

Should you buy hOmeLabs HME010019N?

If you are not especially demanding on aesthetics and x-factor, hOmeLabs HME010019N is a great portable countertop ice maker to have in the house.

While it might come a little short for consumers who demand the form-factor, it serves it’s primary function effortlessly and delivers undeniable results.

To put it simply, you shouldn’t be buying this if you intend to make it a centerpiece. But it won’t look out of place on the countertop of a granite kitchen island and will play it’s primary role of ice making very well.

So confident are the people at hOmeLabs about this product that they offer a standard 2-year warranty on it and extended to 2 and a half years if you register the product with them.

That is at least double the warranty period of it’s competitors!

And if you are looking at a bargain portable ice maker, this is one of the best to buy.

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