Samsung SmartThings Station turns smart life into a button

Samsung just unveiled its SmartThings Station at CES, a new piece of smart home technology that’s shaped like a big button.

The idea is that the button acts as a multi-function hub that brings smart home activities to a single point of control.

Jayeon Jung, Executive Vice President and Head of SmartThings Device Platform Center at Samsung Electronics, said, “A smart home doesn’t have to be complicated or expensive. Therefore, we wanted to create SmartThings Station as a simple, reliable and expandable smart home hub.”

In case you doubt that simplification is the name of the game, the press kit for SmartThings Station includes photos of people pushing a button and some bizarrely patronizing infographics showing cartoon characters using the Station’s various features. Enjoy below!

When a station is tuned in, a short, long or double press of the button can start up to three procedures. So you can turn on the TV and dim the lights in preparation for watching a movie, or turn on the music, or turn on sleep mode, which will turn off the thermostat and turn everything off.

But in a world of smart assistants and hands-free systems, isn’t adding a big button to your smart home system a step backwards?

Maybe not. According to a 2022 CCS Insight survey, 34% of UK households and 39% of US households use some form of smart home device. The industry wants this number to rise. One of the challenges for companies that want to get more people to embrace smart home technology is to get them to understand exactly what these new products can do for them.

As such, Samsung has made sure Station has a range of easy-to-understand features, and that’s a real reason to have it in your home. In addition to being a hub, SmartThings Station can also help you find your devices nearby with Samsung SmartThings Find. In addition, it is also a 15W QI wireless charger.

Samsung

The charger is helpful. Finding a phone is helpful. The big button is helpful. You can see thinking. If people buy into their smart home ecosystem with such a physical device, then perhaps more purchases will follow.

Smart home devices in people’s homes also have the issue of exclusivity. Without smartphone access, guests can be locked out, and less tech-savvy family members may find they don’t know how to turn things on and off.

The big button solves this problem too.

And there is also the question of simplifying the purchase and configuration of a smart home. Manufacturers want smart home devices to be more affordable. But there is a perception that making products work will be time-consuming, frustrating, or confusing.

It’s also unclear how the devices interact. Will you need to use Wi-Fi or Bluetooth? What is a hub for? What products work together?

The SmartThings station is also designed to fix this. Plug in the Station and, if you have a Galaxy phone, a series of pop-ups will appear to guide you through the startup process. You can then connect your new smart home technology to your system by scanning the QR code with your phone’s camera.

Once Matter-based smart home systems become the norm, all smart home systems can get simpler, but first we’ll have to deal with some new terms like Thread and edge routers. (Want to learn more? Read our Matter explanation.)

So what should companies do during this time? In Samsung’s case, it’s a damn big button. And some cartoons to show people how to use it.

Samsung hasn’t revealed a price for the SmartThings Station, but it will launch in the US and Korea, with its first availability in the US in early February 2023.