Samsung at CES 2026 First Look: Your Companion to AI Living Across TV, Home, and Health

Samsung's "Your Companion to AI Living" at CES 2026: What Product Teams Should Build Next

Samsung used The First Look at CES 2026 to make a clear point: AI is the product, not a feature. The company showed how its connected device stack - TVs, appliances, wearables and services - is shifting from single-device utilities to coordinated companions that act with context.

For product development teams, the signal is obvious. Ship experiences that sense, decide and assist across screens and spaces. Below is a breakdown of the launch and the practical takeaways that matter for your roadmap.

Strategy snapshot

• AI as philosophy: Companion behaviors embedded across categories (mobile, display, appliances, services).
• Scale advantage: 430M SmartThings users create data breadth and distribution for faster learning loops.
• OS commitment: Seven years of Tizen OS upgrades to keep TVs evolving post-purchase.
• Partnerships that matter: Google Gemini in Family Hub, Xealth for provider integration, HSB for insurance-linked benefits.
• Security foundation: Samsung Knox and Knox Matrix with model vetting and red-team analysis.

Entertainment Companion: Displays that think and assist

The centerpiece is the 130-inch Micro RGB TV. Microscopic red, green and blue diodes light independently for highly precise color. The Timeless Frame keeps design minimal, while the Micro RGB AI Engine Pro handles fine-grained control scene by scene.

Vision AI Companion (VAC) turns the TV into a full entertainment helper. It guides what to watch, what to eat and what to listen to, then pushes actions to other devices. See a meal on-screen? Ask for the recipe, get dietary-aligned options, then send it to kitchen appliances or the new Movingstyle device - all within the ecosystem.

• Personalization modes: AI Soccer Mode Pro tunes picture and sound to stadium-like feel. AI Sound Controller Pro lets you raise or lower crowd, commentary or music by voice.
• Lineup and formats: VAC spans Micro LED, Micro RGB, OLED, Neo QLED, Mini LED and UHD TVs. 2026 TVs add HDR10+ ADVANCED for brighter scenes, genre-aware tuning, tone mapping and smoother motion.
• Audio and design: Eclipsa Audio brings spatial sound across 2026 TVs. New WiFi speakers (Music Studio 5 and 7) share a dot-based design by Erwan Bouroullec. OLED S95H gets an ultra-thin profile and refined bezel.
• Portable viewing: The Freestyle+ projects on walls, ceilings and even corners, powered by VAC.
• Gaming: New Odyssey monitors debut, including the first 6K 3D Odyssey G9, with next-gen G6 and three G8 models focused on resolution, refresh and immersion.
• Longevity: Seven years of Tizen OS upgrades to extend feature life.

Home Companion: Appliances that plan, coach and execute

Family Hub levels up with AI Vision built with Google Gemini to recognize what goes in and out of the fridge and suggest meals accordingly. The flow is tight: "What's for Today?" gamifies choice, SmartThings Food gives step-by-step guidance, and Video to Recipe converts cooking videos into instructions you can follow hands-free.

• Weekly intelligence: FoodNote summarizes your food patterns, frequently used ingredients and restock needs. Now Brief adds richer widgets, while Voice ID personalizes the Family Hub screen per household member.
• Laundry and clothing care: Bespoke AI Laundry Combo removes load transfers and speeds cycles; Bespoke AI AirDresser uses air and steam jets for wrinkle care.
• Home robotics: Bespoke AI Jet Bot Steam Ultra (with Qualcomm Dragonwing) uses an Active Stereo 3D Sensor to detect liquid spills and doubles as a home monitor when you're away. Bixby gets more conversational for hands-free commands.
• Insurance tie-in: Partnership with Hartford Steam Boiler enables potential premium reductions for connected homes after a 2025 pilot, expanding across the U.S. and globally.

For teams building appliance experiences, note the loop: perception (vision, sensors) → suggestion (recipes, care steps) → execution (device-to-device handoff) → review (weekly insights). That's the template.

Care Companion: From reactive to proactive health

Samsung outlined a proactive care model using phones, wearables, displays and appliances to reduce risk before issues surface. Expect personalized exercise and sleep coaching, recipe suggestions aligned to your fridge's contents and alerts when patterns look off.

When something needs attention, health metrics can be shared with providers via Xealth for remote consultations. Research is expanding into dementia detection using wearable signals like mobility, speech and engagement patterns.

Platform and privacy

Knox and Knox Matrix guard data across devices and services. As models change, Samsung says it is auditing AI training processes and approving models through red-team workflows to reduce risk. For any companion product, that kind of continuous security posture is table stakes.

What this means for product teams

• Build companion behaviors: Move from "respond to input" to "anticipate and assist." Tie AI to clear user jobs: decide, suggest, execute.
• Personalization loops: Design weekly summaries, per-user views and opt-in profiles that get more useful over time.
• Multi-device flows: Treat phones, TVs, appliances and wearables as one surface. Push tasks between them without friction.
• Voice with context: Support natural, short commands that adapt to scene, content and user identity.
• Longevity promise: Commit to multi-year OS and model updates. Signal it upfront to build trust and reduce churn.
• Partner where it counts: Pair internal AI with targeted partners (health platforms, insurers, LLM providers) to unlock outcomes users value.
• Edge + cloud: Mix on-device inference for latency with cloud for heavy lifting and aggregation.
• Data governance: Bake in permissions, local processing options and audit trails. Make privacy legible in-product.

Questions to pressure-test in discovery

• Which real-time signals (vision, audio, biometrics, context) actually improve decisions - and by how much?
• What's the latency and reliability budget for each assist? What happens when data is missing?
• How do we handle misclassification or bad suggestions without eroding trust?
• What consent model makes sense for multi-user households and shared devices?
• How will orchestration work across vendors and network conditions?
• Which partner APIs (health, food, insurance) deliver measurable user value in v1?

Opportunities to prototype now

• Content-to-action: Turn any how-to video into stepwise guidance with voice control and pause-free progression.
• Intent-driven audio mixing: Voice-adjustable audio layers for live sports, movies and games.
• Coaching triggers: Sleep or activity anomalies that trigger lightweight, timely nudges - not nags.
• Insurance-linked telemetry: Opt-in device data that proves safer behavior and returns real savings.

Specs and highlights at a glance

• 130-inch Micro RGB with Micro RGB AI Engine Pro and Timeless Frame design.
• Vision AI Companion across Micro LED, Micro RGB, OLED, Neo QLED, Mini LED and UHD TVs.
• HDR10+ ADVANCED across the 2026 lineup, plus Eclipsa Audio on all 2026 TVs.
• Odyssey monitors led by the first 6K 3D Odyssey G9; new G6 and three G8 models.
• Music Studio 5 and 7 WiFi speakers; ultra-thin OLED S95H; The Freestyle+ projector.
• SmartThings now serving 430M users.
• Family Hub with AI Vision using Google Gemini; "What's for Today?", SmartThings Food, Video to Recipe, FoodNote, Now Brief, Voice ID.
• Bespoke AI Laundry Combo; Bespoke AI AirDresser with Auto Wrinkle Care.
• Bespoke AI Jet Bot Steam Ultra with Qualcomm Dragonwing and Active Stereo 3D Sensor; smarter Bixby.
• Seven years of Tizen OS upgrades for 2026 TVs.

Related resources

• Google Gemini for multimodal perception and reasoning in consumer experiences.
• Xealth for provider-connected digital health workflows.

Upskill your team

If you're aligning your roadmap to companion-style AI products, a focused learning plan helps. See role-based options at Complete AI Training.

The Samsung Exhibition Zone is open Jan. 4-7 at CES. The bigger message: the next wave of consumer products acts with context, spans devices and earns trust with clear privacy and long-term support. Build for that reality.