The earliest versions of Samsung’s Family Hub refrigerators offered what many considered little more than a tablet inset into a refrigerator door experience. But remember, Samsung is the same company that lead the charge with super-sizing phones, nearly single-handedly creating the market for large screen mobile devices known then as “phablets.” No surprise Samsung is taking a similar committed route within the kitchen, maximizing their smart home dashboard and SmartThings ecosystem to an impressive extreme.
The new Samsung Bespoke 4-Door Flex Refrigerator with Family Hub+ is a smart home enabled appliance outfitted with an enormous 32-inch, bezel-less, full-HD screen designed to assist in everyday tasks: following recipes, scheduling/planning, monitoring myriad of smart home controls, or even just catching up on some streaming programming.
Samsung’s newest Family Hub+ powered fridge doubles the screen size of their previous model; it’s now nearly as large as one of the refrigerator doors. With support for Google Photos, users won’t have to clutter their fridge with paper and magnets.
Like other Samsung Bespoke refrigerators, this new Family Hub+ model will eventually allow customization of color and finishes to match the rest of your kitchen. Bespoke Family Hub+ is available in full depth ($4,999) and counter depth ($5,099) models.
Over the span of eight iterations Samsung has committed to making their line of Family Hub technology enhanced smart refrigerators a standard in the evolution of kitchen appliances, integrating ever larger and more capable app-powered displays right into the refrigerator doors.
One benefit of this much larger fridge screen is the option to check the contents within without even opening the door. Built-in AI cameras inside allow a peek inside to determine if you should even bother opening the fridge or get working on a new grocery list.
If you already bring a tablet or phone into the kitchen to view recipes, text friends/family, or stream content while cooking or eating, the utility of a 32-inch screen is going to be obvious. Daily tasks like meal planning, creating shopping lists, viewing family calendars, and monitoring connected smart home devices are made more easily accessible and legible. Samsung has integrated 190 Samsung TV Plus free channels to watch from the refrigerator screen (albeit with a vertical aspect ratio), with picture-in-picture (PIP) viewing as an option – such is the benefit of a screen nearly as large as a small 4K television nearly stretching the entire expanse of one of the fridge doors.
The sleek front of the fridge hides behind one of its doors a hidden interior water dispenser and AutoFill Water Pitcher, complemented by a Dual Auto Ice Maker offering both cubed ice or smaller bite-sized cubes.
Of course the benefits of this latest, or any of the Bespoke Family Hub+ powered refrigerators, is magnified if you’re already invested in Samsung’s own SmartThings ecosystem. Samsung hopes to entice users to buy into their whole range of connected devices – from Galaxy phones, to washers and dryers, smart watches, and this fridge. But even sans that degree of brand/app loyalty, the convenience and options proposed by a built-in 32-inch display is undeniably a unique proposition, one that may warrant reconsideration of what a fridge is capable of offering beyond what the appliances have always done.
The new Samsung Bespoke 4-Door Flex Refrigerator with Family Hub+ is available now for $4999 for Full Depth and $5099 for Counter Depth.
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