Home ice makers produce four shapes: bullet, clear cube, pebble, and crescent. The machine decides the shape, and no setting changes one into another. The “ice size” button on many models adjusts dimensions of the same shape, nothing more. So pick the shape that matches how you drink, then pick the machine.
Every model below is in our ice maker collection. Every number comes from the manufacturer spec sheet on the product page.
Bullet ice: the fast one
Bullet ice is the small cylindrical piece most countertop portables make. Its selling point is speed. The published cycle times run shorter than any other shape in our catalog.
- The NewAir 28 lb countertop ice maker drops 9 bullets per cycle and offers three bullet sizes. It makes up to 28 lbs a day from a 176-ounce reservoir.
- The NewAir AI-250W is the volume pick: up to 50 lbs a day, with a fresh batch every 6 minutes.
- The Magic Chef 27 lb portable yields 9 cubes per cycle in as little as 7 minutes, in a housing 9.5 inches wide. Magic Chef pitches it for RVs, boats, and offices as well as kitchens.
- Bullet ice is not limited to portables. The Whynter FIM-450HS freestanding machine produces up to 44 lbs of bullet ice a day and stores 7.7 lbs in its bin.
Bullet ice suits soda, water bottles, coolers, and any situation where you want pounds of ice sooner rather than prettier ice later. It forms fast, and fast ice is cloudy. If your drinks deserve better than cloudy, keep reading.
Clear ice: the cocktail one
Clear cube machines run longer cycles and charge more per pound of daily output. NewAir's product copy states the case for the trade: clear ice “melts more slowly, keeps drinks colder for longer, and reduces carbonation loss.” Slower melt matters in a whiskey glass. Nobody ever complained about it in a cooler.
- The NewAir ClearIce40 makes up to 40 lbs of clear cubes a day, a batch every 7 minutes, in a stainless housing with a 2-year warranty. That warranty is double what most machines on this page carry.
- The Luma Comfort IM200SS produces up to 28 lbs of clear ice a day on a 15-minute cycle from a 74-ounce reservoir. Compare that cycle against the 6-minute bullet machines and you can see the cost of clarity.
- The Silhouette 15-inch built-in brings clear ice under the counter: up to 32 lbs a day in three cube sizes, with a built-in drain pump and a 24-month in-home warranty. It is the machine for a permanent bar rather than a countertop.
Pebble ice: the chewable one
One machine in the catalog makes pebble ice, the soft small-piece style that drink chains built a following on. The Danby 25 lb countertop ice maker lists its shape as pebble, produces up to 25 lbs a day, stores 2 lbs at a time, and includes a self-cleaning function that most portables skip. Danby publishes one size for it. Pebble fans do not seem to mind.
Pebble ice packs into a glass and chills fast, which is why bars reach for it in crushed-ice drinks. It also melts faster than a solid cube, so it waters down a slow sipper. Match it to drinks you finish.
Crescent ice: the everyday one
Crescent ice is the half-moon piece a refrigerator door dispenser makes. The Whynter UIM-155 built-in produces up to 12 lbs of crescent ice a day and stores 6 lbs, with front venting for undercounter installation and no drain required. Modest daily output, but half of it sits stored and ready, which is a better ratio than any portable here. Crescent ice goes in everything and flatters nothing. For a family kitchen, that is the point.
Picking by how you drink
- You host parties and fill coolers: bullet, and buy daily pounds. The AI-250W's 50 lbs a day is the ceiling in our catalog.
- You care about what is in the glass: clear. Countertop if you rent, the Silhouette built-in if the bar is staying put.
- Your household chews ice or loves crushed-ice drinks: the Danby pebble machine, and its self-clean function earns its keep with daily use.
- You want a quiet, permanent supply for everyday glasses: the crescent-making UIM-155 or the clear-cube Silhouette, both built-in.
Shape is half the decision. The other half is how the machine's daily production matches its storage bin, and those two numbers diverge more than most buyers expect. Our capacity guide covers that next. Browse the full ice maker collection to compare every machine's numbers side by side.