Best Portable Ice Makers: Our Picks for Bullet and Nugget Ice

A portable ice maker drops a steady supply of ice onto your counter without a water line, a drain or a trip to the store. You pour water into the tank, switch it on, and the machine cycles ice into a bin for drinks, parties or an RV trip. Below are our picks from genuine countertop units, with only the specs each listing actually states.

Bullet, nugget and clear cube ice, and what these picks make

Portable ice generally comes in three styles. Bullet or standard ice is the firm, slightly hollow ice that most compact machines turn out, clear cube ice is the dense, slow melting ice some larger units specialize in, and nugget or pebble ice is the soft, chewable ice people know from restaurants. In this group the Silonn and Crzoe models state nugget or chewable pebble ice outright, so that is what you get from them. The compact units, the Frigidaire, Igloo, DollarDash and DUMOS, list their output and size but do not specify an ice shape in their listings, so we do not claim one for them. If chewable ice is the goal, the nugget models are the clear choice, and if you just want cold drinks fast, any of the compacts will do.

Daily output and first batch speed

The number that matters most is how much ice a unit makes in a day. The compact machines here all list 26 lb per day, which suits a household that tops up drinks through the day. The nugget models aim higher, with the Crzoe at 35 lb per day, one Silonn at 36 lb and the app controlled Silonn at 44 lb per 24 hours, the most in this list. The DUMOS listing does not state a daily figure, so we leave it blank rather than guess. These listings also do not quote a first batch time, so we do not either, compare them by the daily output above rather than by an unstated cycle time.

Size, water fill and portability

Every pick is a countertop unit you fill by hand, so the practical questions are footprint and how easily it moves. The DUMOS makes a point of this with a built in carry handle and a compact body, which is handy if the machine moves between the kitchen, an office and an RV. On water, only the app controlled Silonn states a tank size, a 3L reservoir, so it goes longer between refills, while the other listings do not give a tank figure. Because these are self contained, there is no drain to plumb, melted ice simply returns to the tank to be frozen again.

Self cleaning and no plumbing use

Upkeep is easier than a built in machine because there are no supply lines, just a reservoir to rinse. The DollarDash and both Silonn nugget models list a self cleaning function that runs a maintenance cycle for you, which helps keep the tank fresh. For any portable unit, an ice machine descaler or cleaning tablet clears the mineral scale that hard water leaves behind. That no plumbing design is the whole appeal here, set the machine on a counter, fill it, and it makes ice anywhere there is an outlet, from a home kitchen to an office break room to a camper.