Refrigerators, washing machines, ovens — these are home appliances that most of us update once every seven or eight years, perhaps even with a longer gap. Samsung has been quietly transforming the way users interact with these devices, as well as how they communicate with one another, through the technology at the company’s core: SmartThings.
The latest Samsung refrigerators, for example, keep track of what you place inside, alert you when food is approaching its expiry date, and can recommend recipes to help use up ageing ingredients. These refrigerators also make far better use of space than what most of us have been accustomed to. Kitchen counter-depth refrigerators, in particular, are well worth considering — not only do they make your kitchen feel more spacious, they are more energy-efficient and considerably easier to keep organised.
Wi-Fi is central to ensuring these appliances work in harmony, and also enables you to control them all through your Samsung Galaxy smartphone.
“Starting from 2026, we have enabled Wi-Fi across all of our home appliances to make them connected. We are also adding a screen — a nine-inch one — to all premium refrigerators and washing machines. Of course, we do not have an interactive display on air conditioners, but we do have Wi-Fi. That means every home device can be connected with your smartphone and also the television,” said JB Park, president and CEO of Samsung Southwest Asia, speaking to us earlier this year at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.
To ensure appliances run at their best, the company’s Home Appliances Remote Management service is continuously evolving. Designed for smart appliances connected to Samsung’s SmartThings platform, it enables remote diagnostics and troubleshooting by linking devices directly to Samsung’s service centres.
At the heart of the smart home
The SmartThings ecosystem is reshaping how people cook and manage their daily chores — and nowhere is this more apparent than in the humble refrigerator. For many households, it has become the centrepiece of the smart home. It is no longer simply a large appliance in the corner of the kitchen; it now connects to every other Samsung device in the house while integrating seamlessly with your digital life.
At a foundational level, smart refrigerators offer app connectivity for easier control. Samsung has built-in screens that display calendars, shopping lists, recipes, and music apps — helping busy households stay organised without adding clutter. At CES, and again a few months ago at Samsung’s headquarters in Suwon, South Korea, we saw this technology at work firsthand.
One of the most impressive features is the AI-powered camera inside the fridge, which tracks what you add and remove. You can check its contents remotely and receive recipe suggestions based on what is currently in stock. Place 10 eggs inside, and the refrigerator identifies them. Knowing how many you typically keep, it will alert you when supplies are running low. The Wi-Fi setup is seamless, pairing with your phone to manage settings and send timely alerts. But the refrigerator is really just the entry point — the most visible node in a far larger ambition.
A unified ecosystem
Samsung’s vision of the smart home diverges markedly from that of its competitors. Many homes today have smart devices scattered haphazardly throughout the space, operating largely in isolation. Samsung’s answer is to bring them all together.
Picture this: after the children have been packed off to school and the parents have left for work, a Samsung cleaner such as the Jet Bot+ automatically wakes up using geo-fencing technology and sets about its daily tasks. Every device in the house recognises that no one is home, allowing for optimal energy use. When you are a few kilometres away heading home, the devices spring into action — the TV surfaces content you are likely to want, such as the latest news, sports scores, or new film releases, while your cameras send security alerts directly to your phone.
By integrating the home connectivity hub into appliances that consumers are already purchasing, the science-fiction dream of the truly smart home is finally becoming a reality. AI is now quietly at work in fridges, washing machines, and nearly every other device the company makes.
Scale, of course, matters enormously here. Artificial intelligence is now at the heart of how Samsung designs its products — from smartphones to home appliances.
“As TM Roh, co-CEO of Samsung Electronics, mentioned in his ‘First Look’ announcement, about 400 million mobile devices already have AI, and he expects that number to reach 800 million globally by the end of this year. That is the future. AI will be across all of our devices above a certain price point through Wi-Fi connectivity,” said Park.
All of these devices are held together by SmartThings, “which supports an engine to monitor, manoeuvre, and control devices in a very energy-efficient way, and communicates both ways so you can have easier access to it”.
The screen on the refrigerator, then, is no gimmick. If the camera detects spring onions, chicken pieces, capsicum, baby corn, and condiments such as oyster sauce, soy sauce, and chilli sauce, it can suggest a curated list of recipes — effectively stepping in as your personal chef. The display also runs apps, controls music, and shows the weather, all through an interface that will feel immediately familiar to anyone who owns a Galaxy phone or tablet. Samsung’s One UI platform ensures that whether you are standing in your kitchen or sitting on your sofa, the experience is consistent and intuitive.
Behind it all, Knox security — built on private blockchain technology — quietly safeguards every connected device in the home, from the fridge to the washing machine to the air conditioner. The result is a home that does not merely respond to your presence, but anticipates it. Samsung is not simply selling appliances any more. It is indeed selling a way of living — and it is making that life feel remarkably effortless.