Is the Kismile Nugget Ice Maker Worth It?
Worth it, with one habit change
By Daniel Kruger, tech & home gear · updated 2026-07-23
Worth it if you go through ice fast and hate the wait, not if you need a machine that also stores it

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You're refilling a glass at nine at night, the freezer tray is bone dry, and the only ice left is a solid frozen brick you'd need a chisel for. That's the exact itch a countertop nugget maker like the Kismile is built to scratch, but it's worth understanding what you're actually paying for before it takes up permanent real estate next to your coffee maker.
Here's the part the listing doesn't spell out: a nugget ice maker doesn't freeze water into a solid shape the way your fridge does. Inside, a chilled cylinder grows a thin skin of ice, an auger scrapes it off continuously, and the machine compacts those shavings into soft little nuggets. That's why the ice comes out chewable and porous instead of hard and clear, and why it soaks up whatever you pour over it. The Kismile pushes out up to 33 pounds of it a day, which matters less for total volume and more for the fact that you're never standing around waiting for a tray to set. The catch, and it's the same catch on every machine built this way, is that there's no actual freezer compartment. The bin just holds the nugget ice at close to melting point, so ice you don't use in a day or so slowly turns back into water and gets recycled through the system. The self-clean button and the full-ice and low-water indicator lights exist to manage that reality: they tell you when to run maintenance and when to top off the reservoir, so the machine keeps making fresh batches instead of sitting idle.
So you're not buying a freezer replacement, you're buying a tap for soft, drink-ready ice whenever you want it, on the condition that you actually use it regularly. Ice that sits unused just melts back down, which is the whole trade for skipping the wait.
Worth it if
- You go through ice most days and hate waiting on trays
- You have steady counter space near a power outlet and don't mind refilling water
- You want soft, chewable ice for drinks rather than hard cubes
Skip it if
- You need ice stored for days without running the machine
- You only need ice occasionally and don't want another appliance out
- You're tight on counter space in a small kitchen
If you or someone in your house goes through ice daily, cocktails, iced coffee, smoothies, this earns its counter space without much thought. If you want a machine that can also store a week's worth of ice for a party, it can't do that, so plan to run it the morning of instead.
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Before you go
Does the Kismile nugget ice maker keep ice frozen?
Not really, it holds ice near melting point rather than freezing it solid, so unused ice slowly melts back into water and gets recycled, which is normal for this type of machine, not a fault.
How to work a Kismile ice maker?
Fill the water reservoir, press the one-touch control to start, and let it cycle continuously, the indicator lights tell you when the bin is full or water is low so you know when to refill or empty it.
Are Kismile ice makers any good?
The mechanism is the same auger-and-compaction system used across most countertop nugget makers, so it works as designed, the real question is whether your ice habits match a daily-use, on-demand machine rather than a storage one.
Full spec sheet
| Brand | Kismile |
|---|---|
| Model Name | ice maker |
| Product Dimensions | 13.58"D x 6.5"W x 16.14"H |
| Capacity | 33 Pounds |
| Voltage | 115 Volts |
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