GE Profile Opal Ultra Nugget Ice Maker Features

I keep an older Opal 2.0 running on my kitchen counter, and last month I finally ran an opal ultra nugget ice maker beside it for a couple of weeks. Same soft, chewable pebbles I already loved, but the Ultra kept the bin fuller during a weekend when four people were emptying it into glasses of sweet tea all afternoon.

That is really the whole story of the Ultra. GE did not reinvent the machine. They took the thing people already liked and fixed the parts that ran out first: bin space, speed, and refill patience.

Here are the features that actually separate the Ultra from earlier Opal units, based on running both side by side.

1. A larger ice bin that keeps up with a crowd

The most useful change is the bigger bin. Earlier Opals held roughly 3 pounds of ice at once, which sounds fine until three people raid it for a barbecue and it empties faster than the machine can catch up.

The Ultra bumps that up, and in practice it meant I refilled fewer glasses from an empty bin. During normal weekday use, one or two drinks at a time, you may never notice the difference. During a party, you do.

2. Faster production so the bin refills sooner

GE claims the Ultra cranks out ice quicker than the 2.0, and my rough kitchen timing backed that up. First nuggets still showed up in about 15-20 minutes from a fresh tank, but the Ultra reached a fuller bin noticeably sooner over the first hour.

The daily output figure is where the gap shows most. Older Opals land around 24 pounds per day under steady use. The Ultra is rated meaningfully higher, closer to the high 30s in ideal conditions.

Real numbers depend on your room. A hot kitchen slows any nugget maker down. If you want to understand why that daily figure swings so much, I break it apart in my piece on how much nugget ice a maker produces per day.

3. A refreshed SmartHQ app and control experience

All the recent Opals use GE’s SmartHQ app over WiFi, but the Ultra’s app experience feels tidier. Scheduling, ice-level checks, and cleaning reminders are all there, and the connection held steadier for me than my aging 2.0, which occasionally dropped off the network.

Practically, that means you can tell the machine to have a full bin ready by the time you get home, or shut it down remotely when you leave for a trip. It is a convenience, not a miracle.

If app control is the feature you care about most, it is worth comparing across brands, because some budget units do it surprisingly well. I go wider on that in my look at nugget ice maker app and WiFi control.

The Ultra’s smarts are not the reason to buy it. The bigger, faster ice supply is. The app is a nice bonus on top.

4. Side tank ready, straight out of the box

Like the 2.0, the Ultra supports GE’s side tank, the roughly gallon-plus reservoir that clips onto the machine and feeds it automatically. This is the single upgrade I recommend most to heavy users.

Without it, you are topping off the built-in tank once or twice a day. With it, you refill every couple of days instead. On the Ultra, that pairs well with the higher output, because a faster machine drinks water faster.

The side tank does not change ice quality or fix melting. It only extends the runtime between refills. I cover exactly what it does and does not solve in my note on the nugget ice maker side tank.

5. Easier cleaning and maintenance

Nugget makers get gunky. Mineral scale builds on the parts that touch water, and if you ignore it, output drops and the ice can taste off. The Ultra leans on a guided cleaning routine through the app, with reminders that nudge you before it gets bad.

I found the cycle straightforward: add the cleaning solution, start the routine, walk away. The reminders are the real win, because the most common maintenance mistake is waiting until the machine already looks dirty. By then scale is already slowing it down.

Filtered water helps a lot here. If your tap runs hard, you will descale more often, and you can check your local water’s mineral load through the USGS explainer on water hardness. Softer water means fewer cleaning cycles and better-tasting ice.

6. The same great nugget texture, unchanged

Here is the reassuring part: the ice itself is the same soft, cloudy, chewable pebble the Opal has always made. The Ultra did not mess with the texture people fell in love with.

That texture comes from how these machines work, freezing a thin flake of ice on a chilled cylinder and compressing it into nuggets. If you are curious about the mechanics behind that chew, I explain it in how nugget ice makers make soft chewable ice. The Ultra just makes more of the same good stuff, faster.

7. Where the Ultra fits against older Opals

Put the three generations next to each other and the Ultra’s role is clear: it is the volume model.

If you already own a 2.0 and it keeps up with your household, the Ultra is not a required upgrade. The jump matters most if you regularly run the bin dry. For the full generation-by-generation comparison, see my Opal 1.0 vs Opal 2.0 breakdown.

• Bigger bin holds more ice for crowds.
• Faster cycle refills the bin sooner.
• Refreshed SmartHQ app with steadier WiFi.
• Side tank ready for longer runtime.
• Guided cleaning with reminders.
• Same soft chewable nugget texture.

Making the call

The Opal Ultra is the model to reach for if you are the house that goes through ice fast: iced coffee every morning, a chewer or two, and weekends where the bin gets hit hard. The bigger bin and quicker output are the features you will actually feel.

If you sip one drink at a time and your current Opal keeps up, save your money. The Ultra shines under demand, not on a quiet Tuesday. Either way, it keeps the ice quality that made the Opal worth buying in the first place, and that is the part GE was smart enough to leave alone. If you are still weighing the whole category before committing to a brand, my nugget ice maker guide frames the tradeoffs across every option.