Samsung is launching a smart refrigerator for the new year that includes some interesting artificial intelligence features, including an internal camera that can identify individual foods and a connected app that can suggest recipes based on inventory. The company plans to launch a customized 4-door Flex refrigerator with AI Family Hub+ in 2024 at CES next year. Users can mirror their Galaxy phone’s display to the 32-inch Family Hub touchscreen, and there are even separate TikTok and YouTube video apps.
While neither the built-in camera nor the Family Hub app are new (2023 models also include an AI camera and can generate recipes), both have been upgraded with more features. The Samsung Food app (which you can access directly on your refrigerator through Home Center) can connect to your Samsung Health profile and customize recipes based on your dietary needs. It also includes an Image-to-Recipe feature (with better visual artificial intelligence) that can identify meals and food items from photos and generate recipes. There’s also a personalization feature to customize recipes for gluten-free, pescatarian, dairy-free, vegetarian, fusion and other dietary preferences.
The refrigerator still has some limitations (Samsung says its Vision AI feature can recognize up to 33 foods), so don’t expect it to recognize anything also Exotic. Users can manually enter expiration dates on the Family Hub touchscreen, which will post notifications before individual items are due.
Although Samsung has been releasing smart refrigerators since 2016, this new model appears to be the first to emphasize its artificial intelligence capabilities rather than IoT integration. Looking back at the first smart refrigerator, it’s clear that both smart home and artificial intelligence technology have come a long way.exist edgeIn our review of the 2016 refrigerator, we noted that the Family Hub app was slow to load and the touch screen wasn’t great, but the refrigerator did have a camera that allowed you to see its contents without opening the door .
Now, Samsung’s marketing for the 2024 model suggests that it sees the refrigerator as central to Samsung’s other AI kitchen products, such as its AI ovens, and the broader Samsung ecosystem. Also coming next year is a 2024 Samsung range (called the Anyplace induction cooktop) that includes a slide-in range so you can install it between kitchen cabinets. Both the cooktop and slide-in cooktop feature a 7-inch LCD display that allows you to view recipes from the Samsung Food app while cooking.
edge Samsung has been contacted for release date and pricing information and will update once we hear back.
