Earlier this month at Unpacked 2025, the flagship new Galaxy phone stole all of the headlines (they always do) but there was also some meaty updates on the smart home front as well.
Samsung used its big annual launch event to announce a big step toward its “AI for All” vision, revealing how its SmartThings platform will evolve to make the smart home more intelligent, more personalized, and – crucially – more invisible.
For years, the idea of an “ambient” smart home has been the dream: a space that anticipates your needs without requiring endless app-tapping or voice commands.
Samsung’s answer to this is Home AI; a system that uses its connected appliances as motion and sound sensors to understand your habits and automate your home accordingly.
Instead of relying on standalone motion detectors scattered around the house, Samsung’s approach builds sensing into everyday devices; without you even needing to know where they are.
Think TVs, Music Frame speakers, and even Family Hub refrigerators, all of which will soon be able to detect movement and sound, using that data to fine-tune your environment.
This could mean SmartThings recognizing when you’re exercising and adjusting the lighting or guiding your form through a Samsung TV.
It might also detect when you’ve dozed off in front of the screen and shut everything down for the night. Or hear your hairdryer and dispatch the robot vacuum to sweep up stray strands.
Or if your dog hops onto the couch, SmartThings can trigger an air purifier to clear the air of allergens.
This kind of automation requires precision, and while Samsung hasn’t explicitly confirmed mmWave radar tech as of yet, it’s likely part of the equation.
Other smart home brands, such as Aqara and Meross, are already using mmWave sensors in smart home sensors, for advanced presence detection.
Naturally, turning every appliance into a sensor raises questions about privacy. Samsung’s answer is local processing. Unlike cloud-dependent systems, all data gathered by Home AI stays within the SmartThings hub, ensuring that your habits and movements aren’t being sent to external servers.
Another major upgrade is coming to Map View, SmartThings’ digital home layout feature. With generative AI, users will be able to scan real-world objects like furniture, creating a more realistic, personalized 3D map of their home.
Samsung hasn’t provided exact launch dates for these updates, but they’re expected to roll out through 2025 and 2026. What remains to be seen is how open the platform will be to third-party sensors. Given SmartThings’ track record of working across brands, it’s likely that devices from other brands will also be able to tap into these new AI-powered automations.
