Samsung’s 2026 AI home experience is about appliances that understand how you live

Samsung’s idea of a smart home is changing. The company no longer wants connected appliances to simply respond to commands. It wants them to understand your routines, work with other devices and take care of some everyday tasks while helping manage energy consumption. At Samsung India’s ‘The Brief’ event in Gurugram, Digit got to see the company’s latest AI Home experiences and speak to the teams demonstrating them.

Samsung also announced its 2026 Bespoke AI appliance lineup at the event, but the demonstration was not limited to new hardware. The company also showcased AI and software features coming to existing appliances. Together, these experiences form what Samsung calls its ‘True Home Companion’ vision, where AI-powered appliances can understand users, adapt to their routines and handle certain tasks with less intervention. SmartThings acts as the connecting tissue, allowing compatible devices to work together and share context across the home.

From connected appliances to a ‘True Home Companion’

Samsung’s AI Home strategy has evolved over the past three years.

In 2024, the company focused on an AI-powered connected home. In 2025, the messaging moved towards an ‘AI Home’, where connected appliances could make everyday life more convenient. For 2026, Samsung says it is moving towards a ‘True Home Companion’, where AI becomes more proactive and personalised.

At The Brief, Samsung organised this experience around four pillars: ‘AI Understands You’, ‘AI Adapts to You’, ‘AI Connects Your Home’ and ‘AI Cares for You’.

The idea is fairly straightforward. Instead of asking the user to operate every appliance, Samsung wants the appliances and SmartThings to use information about the user’s home and routines to decide when an action may be useful.

That could mean suggesting what to cook, adjusting an AC after you fall asleep, changing a washing cycle based on the clothes inside or alerting you when an appliance needs attention.

AI in Samsung refrigerators: what to expect

The Family Hub refrigerator was one of the biggest demonstrations at The Brief. It showed how Samsung wants the refrigerator to become a central interface for the home. This uses Samsung’s own AI Vision and AI Food Manager app with Google Gemini.

The refrigerator can recognise food items, help manage use-by dates and suggest recipes. Besides the Search for Video Recipe, the 32-inch Family Hub serves as a central space for Now Brief, Notes, schedules, and entertainment. Localised features include Family Care and Pet Care.

During the demonstration, a camera mounted inside the refrigerator tracked food going in and out. The system then updated the digital food list. Certain recognised items could receive expiration information, with ingredients approaching their assigned expiration date highlighted for attention.

The refrigerator could then use ingredients such as spinach and paneer to generate recipe suggestions. Samsung also demonstrated video-based recipe discovery, with Gemini being used to generate recipe ideas and YouTube providing relevant cooking videos.

There are limitations. Samsung said the experience is based on a defined database of food items, so products outside that database may not receive the same functionality.

Still, this is a useful example of where Samsung sees AI making a difference. The refrigerator is no longer just storing food. It is being positioned as a tool for managing it.

Samsung confirmed that the updated experience will come to older fridges, which shows Samsung’s commitment to keeping existing premium appliances relevant through software.

Adaptive air conditioning: what about it

The second demonstration focused on air conditioning.

Samsung’s WindFree AC range uses AI Energy Mode to analyse usage patterns and indoor and outdoor conditions to optimise compressor operation. The company says this can help reduce unnecessary compressor frequency fluctuations and improve energy efficiency.

If you wear a Samsung Galaxy Watch, then sleep patterns recorded by it will be used to adjust room temperature and overall AC experience. Even connected fans can be controlled to work alongside the AC, and the user need not adjust them individually.

One of the new products in the showcase was Samsung’s Infinite 1-Way Cassette AC with WindFree, which is said to be designed specifically with Indian homes in mind. The AC uses 23,000 micro-holes for draft-free cooling and supports AI Energy Mode, which Samsung says can reduce energy use by up to 30%. It also supports SmartThings and Home Appliance Remote Management. The company says the new cassette AC starts at Rs 1,60,000 and comes in 3.5kW, 5.2kW and 7.1kW cooling capacities.

Samsung also announced the Bespoke AI WindFree Pro AC at Rs 69,990. The company positions this as a new-generation platform with AI-enabled controls, PM1.0 purification and SmartThings-based climate management. We also got a demo of the Triple Motion Wings on the WindFree Pro, allowing users to control airflow direction according to different situations.

Samsung wants AI to make laundry less complicated

Samsung’s Bespoke AI top-load washing machines can detect fabric types by analysing changes in water absorption and motor behaviour. The system can distinguish between fabric categories and automatically adjust parameters such as water level, washing time and spin speed. Samsung claims this can reduce abrasion on delicate fabrics by 25%.

The Bespoke AI Laundry Combo takes this further. Samsung says it can detect the wash load, fabric, water level, soil level, detergent level and drying level, then adjust the wash and drying process accordingly.

The company has also added a Pet Care Wash Cycle to its 25kg washer-dryer, designed to handle pet hair, stains and odour from pet-related items.

There was another India-specific feature demonstrated at the event, Wrinkle Prevent. Samsung says the SmartThings feature can help reduce creasing by periodically managing the laundry after the wash cycle.

These are not necessarily reasons to replace a working washing machine. But for someone already considering a premium appliance, they show how Samsung is trying to turn AI into automation rather than another setting buried inside an app.

Software is at the center of Samsung AI Home experience

Samsung says its SmartThings-connected appliances can receive up to seven years of software updates.

Just like the 2024 Family Hub refrigerator, Samsung also said existing AI Laundry Combo users will receive new software features. The company’s message is that an expensive appliance should not become technologically obsolete simply because newer software features are introduced.

Samsung’s long-term strategy is increasingly centred around SmartThings. The company says India is now its third-largest market globally for SmartThings monthly active users. Samsung also claims that every second Samsung appliance sold in India is now a Bespoke AI appliance.

At the event, Samsung also talked about SmartThings can connect appliances with compatible third-party devices using standards such as Matter and Zigbee. The aim is to allow users to build a connected home without having to buy every smart device from Samsung.

Also Read: How does a split AC actually work? Here is what happens after you press the power button

Family care and security were other key features

For Family Care, Samsung showed how users could add family members living elsewhere and receive information such as their first and latest activity and step count. The system can also send reminders, such as asking an elderly family member to take medicine or make a call. This is called Proactive Care.

The company demonstrated a scenario where an unusual change in a family member’s routine could trigger an alert. For example, if someone normally becomes active at a particular time but has not done so, the system can prompt the user to check on them.

The experience can become more detailed as more compatible devices are added to that person’s home. Samsung explained that current insights may come from a smartphone, while adding appliances such as an AC or refrigerator can provide additional context about activity in the home.

And since a lot of data is involved in this, Samsung is ensuring protection of your information through its multi-layered Knox security system, and there is also Knox Matrix that allows devices to monitor each other and respond to detected security threats.

Samsung’s Home Appliance Remote Management (HRM) system is another part of this approach. It can monitor appliance performance, identify potential problems and alert users. With user consent, Samsung’s remote advisor can access appliance logs and provide troubleshooting assistance, potentially reducing the need for a technician visit.

Samsung says HRM is available in 120 countries and that its AI trust certification is being implemented in India through a software update.

Samsung’s real bet is on the ecosystem

The important takeaway from The Brief is not that Samsung has suddenly launched a completely new generation of AI appliances. What’s interesting is the company’s strategy. Its pitch and goal is for its smart home ecosystem to understand how you live, not just respond to commands.

Whether consumers actually see enough value to build an entire connected home around this idea will depend on how reliably these features work outside Samsung’s controlled demonstrations.

And for those interested, Infinite 1-Way Cassette AC is available at a starting price of Rs 1,60,000 through authorised channel partners nationwide. The Family Hub is priced at Rs 400,690. The Bespoke AI WindFree Pro Air Conditioner is available at a price of Rs 69,990.

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