For some reason, the folks over at Samsung think the cold box in your kitchen deserved to be equipped with a premium quality sound speaker from AKG. Yes. AKG on a refrigerator. Perhaps, having a speaker on a fridge solely for the purpose of audio alerts is nothing of a biggie or even news, but to put an audiophile equipment maker’s item on a fridge is rather eyebrow raising. The AKG speaker will be a staple on Samsung’s 2018 refrigerator line up with Family Hub and it is the first Samsung products to incorporate AKG, or any brand under the Harman marque, since the South Korean electronics giant acquired the 37-year-old U.S. marque last year.

2018 Samsung Refrigerator with Family Hub with AKG Speaker
You can mirror your Samsung Smart TV to this display too…

The speaker, which appeared to consume quite a fair amount of space under the touchscreen on the right of the fridge, promised to deliver deep bass and rich mid-range, so you can rock out to your favorite tunes, streamed from your smartphone, while you check out the expiration dates of your perishables inside the cold box, or whipping up a storm in the kitchen. Seriously, imagine that. AKG speaker on the fridge. So, what’s next? Perhaps, a 4K display, perhaps with Dolby Vision and/or Dolby Atmos? Maybe we should all migrate to the kitchen for our home entertainment?

2018 Samsung Refrigerator with Family Hub with AKG Speaker
This fridge blurs the line between home entertainment equipment and home appliance.

In addition to the chunky block of speaker stuck under the touchscreen that has already graced the previous Family Hub-enabled refrigerators, you can expect all the smart and connected goodness Family Hub has to offer, including syncing up food storage with meal preparation, Bixby voice control, and integration with Samsung’s SmartThings IoT ecosystem. The latter allows you to control and monitor your connected home right on the Family Hub screen.

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2018 Samsung Refrigerator with Family Hub with AKG Speaker
Aesthetically, the 2018 lineup looks quite similar to the 2017 models.

Those are, of course, in addition to the ability to see what’s insider the fridge from the grocery store, leaving a note on the White Board to remind your kids of something (like doing their damn homework, or pizza’s in the oven), seeing who’s at the front door, adjusting the thermostat, monitor your baby sleeping in another room, and more. And yes. It is still a fridge that we are talking about. Apart from the newly added AKG speaker, there’s a new function called Meal Planner that will help you manage the food by providing recipes for the family in accordance to the food preferences, dietary restrictions (if any) and food expiration dates.

2018 Samsung Refrigerator with Family Hub with AKG Speaker
Another look at this handsome piece of kitchen gadget.

And oh, remember we joking said about having Dolby Vision in the future earlier? Well, the huge ass display there can also mirror your Samsung Smart TV too. And lets not forget that it can pump music from live radio apps also. Furthermore, contents from Pinterest, HomeAdvisor, The Weather Company and Buzzfeed’s Tasty are expected to grace this TV-in-a-fridge-door in near future, presumably, via software update.

Now, for the good and not-so-exciting news. The good news is, Samsung’s 2018 lineup of refrigerator with Family Hub will be available soon and the not-so-good-news, it is going to be pricey, like very pricey. Though we do not the actual pricing at this point, a look at the current 4-door Family Hub lineup suggests it will command over $4,000 a unit.

2018 Samsung Refrigerator with Family Hub with AKG Speaker
And here’s another look…

Images courtesy of Samsung.

Published by Mike

Avid tech enthusiast, gadget lover, marketing critic and most importantly, love to reason and talk.