Samsung Home Hub uses A.I. to make your home smarter

By Joni Blecher Published January 6, 2022

Samsung has been connecting its appliances with the company’s SmartThings ecosystem for years, and now we’re seeing the culmination of those efforts with the Home Hub. Designed to help you run your home more efficiently, the Home Hub’s 8.4-inch tablet brings control of all those SmartThings apps into one central location.

The Home Hub doesn’t just create one place for users to monitor their Samsung appliances. It also uses A.I. to deliver a more customized solution for you and your family. SmartThings learns your preferences to make relevant suggestions. The SmartThings ecosystem works with a myriad of products, not just Samsung. Now that SmartThings also supports Matter, the number of products you can connect through the company’s Home Hub just got larger.

Samsung Home Hub Main screen. — Image used with permission by copyright holder

Since Home Hub will be able to connect with every product in your SmartThings ecosystem, you’ll be able to control and monitor just about everything smart in your home. The A.I. mode is designed to help analyze usage patterns and find savings to help reduce energy bills, while SmartAir will focus on the air quality in your home by managing air purifiers and air conditioners. The new Home Care wizard will monitor your smart appliances and let you know when replacements or service are needed.

Recommended Videos

The tablet has two microphones and speakers, so you can go ahead and ask Bixby to do things for you. You’ll also be able to keep an eye on your pet and streamline making meals.

One thing is clear: Samsung is officially throwing its hat in the ring for control of your home. We’ll just have to wait and see how will it compete against the likes of Apple HomeKit, Google’s Nest, and Amazon Echo devices?

It’s good to finally see a Samsung-focused home hub, especially after the disappointment of the Galaxy Home Mini. The device had been promised over and over again, but never saw a Western release. This new Home Hub isn’t what we pictured, but it’s a welcome addition to the SmartThings lineup.

Topics

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Joni Blecher has been reviewing consumer tech products since before cell phones had color screens. She loves testing products…

Smart Home

Samsung Ballie is a rolling smart home hub with a built-in projector

Samsung Ballie being chased by a dog.

Samsung first revealed Ballie -- its rolling smart home hub -- at CES 2020. Now, at CES 2024, the adorable robot is making a triumphant return, this time sporting a new built-in projector. Samsung didn't have a physical Ballie roving around at CES, but the team showed off a home bot demonstration video, revealing how the robot has evolved over the years.

If you're unfamiliar with Ballie, think of it as a roving smart home hub, capable of taking orders from you and syncing with the rest of your smart home. Along with dishing out commands to your connected gadgets, it can serve as a patrolling security guard, giving you a live stream of your home while at work or on vacation.

Smart Home

Kohler reveals luxurious smart home products that turn your bathroom into a spa

The Kohler Anthem+ on a white table.

Kohler showed off a bevy of new products at CES 2024, including a luxurious lineup of new smart home gadgets, all of which are designed to transform your bathroom into a "personal sanctuary." Along with updates to the Numi 2.0 smart toilet and high-end Stillness Bath, Kohler showed off a new fan, sink, and bidet, as well as smart valves and more.

The Anthem+ Digital Control was one of the most intriguing items at the Kohler booth, as can power nearly all aspects of your bathroom from a single control panel. Via its touch display, it allows you to control water, light, sound, and steam. All told, it can connect to 12 water outlets to power a variety of sprayers, showerheads, and body sprays.

Smart Home

Samsung SmartThings learns a bunch of useful new tricks at CES 2024

A person sitting on a couch with SmartThings products in the foreground.

Samsung SmartThings -- an application designed to connect and control your smart home devices -- doesn't quite get the same attention as platforms like Google Home or Apple HomeKit. However, it made some big announcements at CES 2024, and it's shaping up to be a big year for Samsung's first-party platform. Along with enhanced support for TVs and new uses for QR codes, SmartThings is rolling out a brilliant Map View feature, which creates a digital map of your home and shows you exactly where all your connected devices are located.

Here's how it works. Instead of scrolling through a list of all your devices or jumping between groups in your smartphone app, Map View lets you see a 3D representation of your home on your smartphone. Inside this map, you'll find icons for all your smart home gadgets corresponding to their actual physical location. That means you can quickly find exactly which device you want to control without needing to scroll through a long list.