Samsung Smart Fridge: How They Really Work

The Samsung Smart Fridge is a residential-grade refrigerator available at many appliance stores. It's able to connect to the internet, use Bixby, add memos and more, all because of the 21-inch touchscreen display on the front of the unit. It's literally where all of the smart and connected capabilities live.

You use it like you would any normal refrigerator, but thanks to its extra brains, you can interact with it (or not) to make your life (hopefully) easier.

What Is Samsung Family Hub?

Samsung Family Hub is a 21-inch touchscreen display on the right door of your fridge. It gives you access to Bixby, apps, and plenty more.

The Samsung Family Hub runs on a Tizen operating system and has access to all sorts of different apps from memos to Pandora, to access to the internet itself. You can access Family Hub at the fridge, or by connecting it to your Samsung SmartThings app. This means you can also access SmartThings right from your fridge.

The Family Hub 3.0 software update has made some additions to what the Samsung Smart fridge can do by adding voice integration and a number of different apps. The voice integration uses Bixby to interact with Family Hub, which is how you get the fridge to do what you ask it to.

Family Hub aims to make the Kitchen the center of your family. Making it easier to stay up to date with not only what is going on in your life, but also what is going to be for dinner. It gives you access to features that work to make the little things in life a little bit easier for you to handle.

That can be easier said than done though because Family Hub has a lot of different options for you to take advantage of. When you initially set up your fridge you'll want to decide which widgets and apps are right for you and your family.

Bixby Voice Integration on Samsung Smart Fridge

One of the biggest features of the Samsung Smart Fridge is the full voice integration with Bixby. Full voice integration is a new addition with Family Hub 3.0 and it means once Bixby is set up and acclimated to your voice, you can access the Smart Fridge features from anywhere in the kitchen.

This means that when you have a question for Bixby you'll need to say the wake-up phrase and then ask your question. In response, you'll get both a voice response, as well as a display of information on the screen of your fridge. The default wake-up phrase is "Okay Bixby" but you can change this from within the Family Hub Settings menu.

Bixby's voice integration on the smart fridge also allows you to access many of the features it gets from Family Hub. You can search for recipes, ask about the schedule and more, simply by talking to your refrigerator.

Using this method you can even ask to see what's inside the fridge without opening it since there are no less than 3 cameras in there. That's where Bixby's other function comes in handy. The Samsung Smart fridge can use Bixby Vision to spot expired foods so you never need to try and remember when the milk goes bad again.

If you've never used Bixby before, this is going to be a bit of a jarring process. That's because Bixby will learn your voice and inflection the more you talk to her. This can mean folks with strong accents may have issues in the beginning, but Bixby does learn and will get the hang of things.

Bixby voice integration isn't mandatory either. You can turn it off in the settings, just like on your phone. This also means you can change the wake-up phrase, and which voice Bixby uses when responding to your questions.