NewAir NIM033BK00 33lbs Portable Ice Maker Review

NewAir NIM033BK00 portable ice maker can produce up to 33 lbs of ice in 24 hours which is 27% more than most other similarly priced models which usually make up to 26 lbs. However despite the good ice output it’s probably not the ice machine you should buy. Why? Let’s find out!

Ice production

NewAir NIM033BK00 does produce quite a lot of ice but the quality isn’t best. It’s not terrible but ice cubes come out a bit too soft and not frozen enough. On top of that it seems like ice maker is badly insulated because ice cubes melt super fast if left inside. You have to take them out almost immediately after they are made.

Once you get the ice maker first batch can have weird taste so you should clean ice maker by letting water run through it and throwing first couple batches away.

Although you can choose between two size settings: small and large, the so called large ice cubes are small.

NewAir NIM033BK00 portable ice maker makes a batch of 9 bullet shaped ice cubes with hollow inside every 8-12 minutes.

Control panel

NewAir NIM033BK00 portable ice maker has pretty basic control panel. There are only 2 buttons: for turning the unit on/off and selecting ice cube size.

It also has 4 indicator lights: 2 of them are for indicating what ice cube size setting you have chosen, the other two are for warning then ice bin is full or water reservoir empty.

Reliability

One issue that cannot be ignored is that NewAir NIM033BK00 seems to be less reliable according to consumer reports compared to some ice machines we have reviewed before. Most feedback is positive however the amount of complaints about reliability are concerning.

Features

NewAir NIM033BK00 has sensors that detect when ice bin is full or water reservoir empty and if it detects either it pauses ice production (although it struggles to fill up bin due to ice cubes melting fast). Problem is sometimes water pump gets frozen and unit mistakenly thinks there’s no water when there actually is. In that case you have to turn the unit off and wait until water pump unfreezes for 30-60 minutes.

All of the parts that touch water/ice are BPA-free.

Conclusions

NewAir NIM033BK00 can produce a lot of ice fast, but ice quality is mediocre, it seems to be less reliable than other models and water pump is prone to freezing up. Maybe this review is a bit too harsh – it’s not a terrible ice maker but nonetheless there are better models for similar pricing. If you are looking for a good ice maker machine you might want to read our Best Portable/Countertop Ice Makers article.

NewAir NIM033BK00 Portable Ice Maker Details/Specs:

• Type: Freestanding/Built-in
• Ice production capacity: up to 33 lbs/24h
• Ice size options: 2