The track was mixed by Jaycen Joshua, with assistance from Trehy Harris at Larrabee Sound Studios, and mastered by Chris Gehringer.
[1] Originally presented to Beyoncé for inclusion on her album 4, it was later shopped to Jennifer Hudson, Mariah Carey, and then Mary J. Blige before reaching Cole.
[11] Ken Capobianco of The Boston Globe suggested the song's main concept as "making choices while staring down tough truths",[12] and a writer from Jet identified it as the strongest track from the album.
[8] John Ricard of BET viewed "I Choose You" as a "slow song about an ex-flame" and praised Cole's "strong" vocals.
[9] Tamika Alexander of Southern News viewed "I Choose You" as a "soft song" compared to her usual work and praised Cole for "show[ing] off her vocals" throughout the track.
[19] Prior to its release, Cole had posted a photo of herself while filming the music video, which featured her wearing the shoes from her Steve Madden collection.
[20] In the black-and-white video directed by Ethan Lader, a story is displayed of Cole being in love with two men and struggling to choose the one whom she ultimately wants to be with.