If you crave the crunchy goodness of nugget ice, it might be time to outfit your kitchen or bar area with a device like the Ecozy Nugget Ice Maker Dispenser IM-ND481B. This Wi-Fi-enabled countertop appliance delivers up to 33 pounds of nugget ice per day and automatically dispenses it with the touch of a button. It also serves up water, has a self-cleaning option, and supports Alexa and Google voice commands. But at $599.99, it’s one of the more expensive ice makers I've tested, and it's also the noisiest. Moreover, its crowded onboard control panel can make you accidentally dispense water when you want ice. If you want a 2-in-1 smart countertop nugget ice maker and water dispenser, the 481B is one of your only options, but if you don’t mind scooping your own ice, the $499.99 Ecozy Mistalo is more affordable and much quieter.

Design and Features: A Sleek Look and Lots of Options

Price-wise, the $599.99 Ecozy 481B is on the high end for nugget ice makers. That said, it offers more versatility than most competing models, with the ability to both make ice and fill your glass with it (and water). The Mistalo, by comparison, doesn't dispense water, and you have to scoop your ice.

Featuring a dark gray finish and measuring 16.3 by 10.8 by 19.3 inches (HWD), the 481B is bigger than the Mistalo (15.5 by 14.0 by 9.3 inches) but still small enough to fit on most countertops. The front of the ice maker holds a full-color control panel with more than a dozen status icons and buttons, including power, ice making, ice dispensing, and water dispensing. You'll also find four individual water-dispensing buttons that provide 6, 12, 18, and 24 ounces of water, as well as clean, light, timer, and Wi-Fi controls, plus up and down arrows for setting the timer and the clock.

An LED screen in the middle of the panel contains a clock and current readings for Air Temperature, Water Temperature, and Total Dissolved Solids (TDS, an indicator of the amount of mineral and organic matter in your water). The LED also contains a snowflake icon that lights up when the machine is making ice, and an indicator when it's full. Other icons let you know when it's time to add water or clean the machine, and the status of the self-cleaning and timer modes.

(Credit: John Delaney)

Below the display, you'll find a removable tank that holds a little more than a gallon of water and a dispensing unit that handles both ice and water. As mentioned, there are buttons to start dispensing both. To stop, just tap the button again (unless you use one of the water presets, which automatically stop dispensing).

At the base, the machine features a removable drip tray, while the top holds a round ice basket that's protected by a transparent flip-up cover. On the left side of the enclosure, you'll find an air outlet, and the back panel houses the water drain hose and the power cord. The machine doesn't support a direct water inlet, so you need to manually fill it using the pull-out tank.

(Credit: John Delaney)

The 481B can make up to 33 pounds of ice per day and will store up to 2.2 pounds at a time. In comparison, the Ecozy Mistalo makes 44 pounds per day and can store up to 2.6 pounds.

The machine uses Wi-Fi (2.4GHz) and Bluetooth to connect to your home network and its companion mobile app. You can use Alexa and Google voice commands to turn the machine on and off, but the mobile app offers more granular settings. HomeKit and IFTTT applets are not supported.

While in the EcozyHome mobile app (available for Android and iOS), tapping the ice maker icon on the Devices screen opens a dashboard that displays a picture of the machine, the current water temperature, and the TDS measurement. Halfway down the screen are buttons to set the timer, to start making ice on demand, and to create an ice-making schedule.

(Credit: Ecozy/PCMag)

At the bottom of the screen, you'll find a Cleaning button. Ecozy recommends running a cleaning cycle—which takes about five minutes—at least once a week to ensure healthy ice. You should run the cycle weekly if the TDS reading is lower than 200ppm, or every three days if it is above 200ppm. Start by draining any remaining water from the machine, then add a new batch to the container, and press the Cleaning button. You can run the cycle as many times as you wish, but you’ll have to drain the machine after each cycle.

Installation and Performance: Fast But Noisy Ice Production

Preparing the 481B for first use is easy. I washed the water tank and the inside of the ice maker with warm water and ran a cleaning cycle with fresh water. Then I drained the ice maker, filled the water tank (Ecozy recommends using filtered or purified water), and pressed the Power button. The machine immediately went to work producing crunchy nugget ice. In a little under an hour, I was able to dispense ice. In testing, the ice nuggets it made were always crunchy and perfectly formed.

The ice dispenser also worked well in testing. The ice always landed squarely in my glass without any stray nuggets landing on the floor, and the water dispenser likewise hit the mark. However, with the two dispensing buttons so close together, I accidentally brushed the water button when I meant to get ice on more than one occasion, resulting in a wet mess on the floor. It would be nice if Ecozy could reprogram the control panel to perhaps require two water-button presses to prevent this from happening.

Alexa voice commands to turn the ice maker on and off worked as intended, and the device instantly responded to app controls. It followed my on/off schedules without issue, and the timer function worked flawlessly.

My biggest gripe with the 481B is that it is very noisy. While making ice, it emits a loud grinding sound that can be heard in the next room. Conversely, the Ecozy Mistalo is very quiet.