Samsung SmartThings CES 2019 Preview

January 20, 2019 at 4:15pm

The Samsung SmartThings were a rather interesting series of devices that I hadn't expected to see at the event. It was one of those casual check outs while I was on my tour. The whole; this thing is neat, come take a look. They're actually rather cool as you can program them to a degree and use them for various purposes. To start, you'll need a SmartThings Hub which starts at $69.99 USD. These are the heart of your setup and they can be grouped together with multiple versions in order to cover more ground around your house.

From there, you place extras around the house that can perform different functions. I should also mention that some of the hubs produce Wifi so that might be helpful for those looking to extend the coverage in their house. So in general, these devices are about automation of the home. They can be passive, or generally reactive to your presence.

There are Sensors, these can detect your passage and turn things on or off based on settings. They can also monitor things such as a water leak. I'd say a good example is having your motion sense set to turn the lights on when you walk by during say 6pm when you get home from work. The sensor line-up is about $20 USD each. They also have an outlet at $34.99 USD which can turn things on at certain times. I didn't quite get the point of this one however as it doesn't have any USB charging ports and is just a single plug-in spot. I'm very focused on having USB charging spots in every port I can, that's modern living to me.

There's also a SmartThings Button at $14.99 USD that can be set to do various tasks with varying levels of options. Tap, double tap or hold tap. Finally, there's a Tracker ($99.99) that can be used to track certain things, objects or people I suppose. It is small, light and LTE connected. Anyways, those are the SmartThings Samsung showed off at the event, they're generally available and rather neat for various tasks. You can check out our CES 2019 hub below for more coverage from the event or learn about the awesome Samsung Bot options showcased at the same show.

Read about the Samsung Bot Line-Up
View our CES 2019 Hub