From anti-glare TV to an AI fridge that sees your food: 5 things that struck me at Samsung's ‘House of Wonder'
I've yet to see the S95F in an actual living room, or had the opportunity to play with the settings, but some of the offshore reviews have been off the charts.
TechRadar saw the S95D, 'Delivering staggering brightness levels that produce punchy vibrant colours, as well as rich contrast, black levels and extremely realistic textures.'
And Tom's Guide praised, 'Exceptional picture quality, an ultra-thin design, a game-changing anti-glare display that's significantly brighter than last year's model, and easy-to-use AI features.'
Another change for 2025: Samsung's Neo QLED 8K (pitched as dual flagship with the 4K S95F) has gained the Glare-Free coating as well.
Samsung's The Frame Pro television.
Frame TV goes Pro
Samsung's The Frame was a landmark in overcoming the Partner Objection Factor (known as the Wife Objection Factor or WOF in less enlightened times). That is, when your other half isn't so big on a big screen TV - especially if it's going to be a lifeless black slab when it's switched off.
2025 sees the launch of The Frame Pro which, like the original Frame, can display your choice of artwork on a matte anti-reflective screen when not in use as a telly.
The Pro models offer a choice of larger displays (65, 75 or 85-inch) than the 'lifestyle' series of The Frame, which comes in 43, 55 and 55in versions in NZ).
Samsung has also made its Art Store available across nearly all of its Neo QLED and QLED models. That means, with its bezel, a Neo QLED has quite a The Frame look and feel - if not the various magnetic clip-on, clip-off frame options of The Frame proper.
Look Ma, no wires
And The Frame Pro series also get the new, wireless version of Samsung's One Connect Box, which houses HDMI, ethernet, USB-C and other connectors) to the TV only needs a power cord, allowing for a super-thin design that helps to mimic an artwork - especially if you want to hang it flush against the wall
The Wireless One Connect Box will work anywhere within 10m of your TV. It's also available for the new Neo QLED 8K QN990F.
The Wireless One Connect Box recessed into a wall. You can't make out much, but that's kinda the point.
All five HDMI connections on the Wireless One Connect support up to 8K/120Hz and 4K/240Hz frame rates over Wi-Fi 7 (the former is claimed as a world first for wireless).
Reviewers have found the lag time from 35 milliseconds to sub-10ms (a millisecond being a thousandth of a second). That is, it won't be of concern unless you're a wolf-eyed professional online gamer.
The Wireless One Connect Box looks like it will be great for for delcutter and increasing placement options, but like any Wi-Fi device, exact performance will depend on distance and housing. A metal enclosure is a no-no, and you won't want to stick it behind a concrete wall.
4. AI everything
The Neo QLED 8K series brings Samsung's Art Store to 8K displays for the first time, alongside Vision AI's new Generative Wallpaper feature, which lets you create your own on-screen art pieces based on your preferences.
Artificial intelligence is imbued through the South Korean giant's new products.
Across the its TV range, it helps you match the best video and audio modes for differentypes of content. It can do everything for you or coach you toward the best selections for your particular viewing preferences.
Then there's Samsung's SmartThings platform, which helps your appliances, AV and gadgets work together. If, say, there's suddenly a problem with your washer/dryer, an alert can be popped up on your smart TV.
And your smart fridge can not only suggest a recipe based on the ingredients in your fridge, but send the right cooking instructions - say, 40 minutes fan bake at 180 degrees to your smart oven.
For the most part, it requires and all-Samsung household, but other brands can be brought into the fold. For example, the latest Family Hub smart fridge can display video from select Amazon Ring video doorbells.
5. A smart fridge that sees your food
Samsung's flagship Family Hub fridge now features a 32-inch touchscreen that can be used as a family calendar, to leave notes for other family members, display a recipe or, via its built-in wi-fi, sync it to a Samsung smart TV or compatible phone to continue watching, say, streamed TV as you move from living room to kitchen.
Samsung has doubled the size of the touchscreen on its top-of-the-line Family Hub smart fridge to 32-inches.
The fridge has a 25w sound system if you just want ot play tunes.
If you've got mucky hands from cooking, there are hands-free (wave a knee) and light-touch (tap a corner of the door) to open various models of fridges in the Family Hub series. Though then you've stil got to use your paws to grab something from the interior.
Hands-free opening a Samsung Family Hub smart fridge pic.twitter.com/ApK31sqPxZ — Chris Keall (@ChrisKeall) August 2, 2025
There's also an AI vision camera that you can hold groceries up to as you put them into the fridge. It can recognise 33 different fruits and vegetables - the better to track how long they've been stored (and how long til they spoil), and help you generate shopping lists and suggest recipes.
But there are a couple of limitations. The primary one is you have to neatly stack your fruit and vegetables on the main shelves of your fridge in the manner of an Instagram influencer. AI Vision can't see into the door bins or the freezer, or into any scrunched-up brown paper bags.
And there's no AI magic to the expiry dates the display shows you for items in your fridge. You have to enter those manually when you fill it with your supermarket shop.
But it shows where we're heading with AI and fridges - and it's a very Jetsons direction of travel.
Chris Keall is an Auckland-based member of the Herald's business team. He joined the Herald in 2018 and is the technology editor and a senior business writer.
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If, say, there's suddenly a problem with your washer/dryer, an alert can be popped up on your smart TV. And your smart fridge can not only suggest a recipe based on the ingredients in your fridge, but send the right cooking instructions - say, 40 minutes fan bake at 180 degrees to your smart oven. For the most part, it requires and all-Samsung household, but other brands can be brought into the fold. For example, the latest Family Hub smart fridge can display video from select Amazon Ring video doorbells. 5. A smart fridge that sees your food Samsung's flagship Family Hub fridge now features a 32-inch touchscreen that can be used as a family calendar, to leave notes for other family members, display a recipe or, via its built-in wi-fi, sync it to a Samsung smart TV or compatible phone to continue watching, say, streamed TV as you move from living room to kitchen. Samsung has doubled the size of the touchscreen on its top-of-the-line Family Hub smart fridge to 32-inches. 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And there's no AI magic to the expiry dates the display shows you for items in your fridge. You have to enter those manually when you fill it with your supermarket shop. But it shows where we're heading with AI and fridges - and it's a very Jetsons direction of travel. Chris Keall is an Auckland-based member of the Herald's business team. He joined the Herald in 2018 and is the technology editor and a senior business writer.
