GoveeLife Smart Nugget Ice Maker Pro Review

Design and Features

• Feels robustly made
• The water tank can go on either side
• Smart app

Although a countertop machine, the GoveeLife Smart Nugget Ice Maker Pro is quite heavy at 41.9lb. The weight is because there’s effectively a freezer compressor inside, but it does mean that this isn’t the kind of machine that you can easily move around, so think about where you might store it when not in use.

Heavy it may be, but the ice maker also has a reassuring build quality, complemented by the modern finish. Make no mistake, this is a premium ice maker, built to produce a lot of ice quickly.

It’s also thoughtfully designed. There’s a 2.2-litre water tank on top, which is where the ice is made from. This tank is automatically filled from the 4.9-litre side tank, which you fill with fresh water.

When I first unboxed the product, there was a bit of assembly to do, including choosing which side to mount the side tank on. That’s very useful, as the tank can be placed on the most convenient side for your kitchen.

It makes sense to have a side tank, as they’re easier to remove than rear tanks and offer better access.

The ice scoop then magnetically attaches to the opposite side of the water tank. That’s a neat little feature, as it makes it hard to lose the scoop.

Once plugged in and filled with water (I had to wait a couple of minutes for water to flow from the side tank to the main tank), the GoveeLife Smart Nugget Ice Maker Pro is ready to go. At its simplest, it can be used with the controls on the front by pressing the Start button to begin making ice. Neatly, the main screen shows the machine’s status and what it’s doing.

There’s also a light strip underneath (this is Govee, the smart lighting company, after all), that can show the machine’s status or display a lighting pattern. It looks quite neat, but it can be a little distracting, so you might want to turn it off.

Ice nuggets are made automatically, filling up the 3.5lb pull-out ice basket at the front. If the ice bucket is full, the screen shows a warning message, and you also get warnings if there’s not enough water.

As this basket is not kept cold, the nuggets should be used immediately or, for longer term storage, put into the freezer. Then, the GoveeLife Smart Nugget Ice Maker Pro is ready to go again.

By default, the GoveeLife Smart Nugget Ice Maker Pro reminds you after 100 hours to run the cleaning cycle, and then 100 hours later, the descaling cycle. Both options can be started by using the dedicated buttons on the front and by following the instructions in the manual.

This wouldn’t be a Govee product if it weren’t smart, and the GoveeLife Smart Nugget Ice Maker Pro connects to the Govee app via Wi-Fi. It’s well worth doing, as the app gives extra, useful features.

As well as letting you run all of the options on the front of the machine, there’s also a scheduling feature, so you can have the GoveeLife Smart Nugget Ice Maker Pro start making ice before a party, for example.

The app also lets me change the reminder time for descaling and cleaning, selecting between 24 and 168 hours. The manual gives some help in choosing this setting based on the state you live in, but I’d prefer a simpler option to set the water hardness level and let the GoveeLife Smart Nugget Ice Maker Pro choose the reminder time, similar to how a dishwasher works.

If you won’t be using the GoveeLife Smart Nugget Ice Maker Pro for a while it should be emptied and dried out. That’s easier said than done, as the side tank only has a small screw cap for the filler hole, so emptying it completely is a bit tricky.

Performance

• Makes ice fast
• Power efficient

Govee says that the Smart Nugget Ice Maker Pro can make ice in as little as six minutes, and that it has a duty cycle of 60lbs of ice per day, which is a lot.

Putting it to the test, I found that the first batch of ice came out in just over four minutes. The ice nuggets were perfectly formed and ideal for most types of drinks, from simple iced water to cocktails at a party. I made 3.4 pounds of ice in 1 hour and 47 minutes, which is great going.

In this period, the GoveeLife Smart Nugget Ice Maker Pro used 140Wh of power to make ice, showing that it’s efficient.

Having ice come through this quickly is really handy, as ice nuggets are never far away, and it means that you’ll never have to worry about running out partway through a party.

Should you buy it?