The portable, 8.4-inch touchscreen tablet has Samsung’s Bixby voice assistant built-in and will use AI to anticipate what you might need (we’ll see how that pans out). The Home Hub sits vertically in a charging dock and has two microphones and two speakers for hearing notifications and giving voice commands. Based on the images the company has shared so far, it appears to run Android.

Samsung says at launch, the Home Hub will “be able to connect to every product within the SmartThings ecosystem,” with integrations for other devices, such as lights and door locks coming soon. There was no specific mention of this being a SmartThings software hub itself (Samsung has said it is integrating SmartThings hub software into many of its smart appliances), but it’s hard to imagine it won’t be. There’s no pricing available or a US release date, but it is scheduled to launch in Korea in March and globally after that.

There are still a lot of things we want to know about this: Will Bixby be the only voice assistant option? Is the AI thing going to be super annoying? But, at first glance, this looks a lot like the smart home controller we wish Apple, Amazon, or Google would make.

The Home Hub features Samsung SmartThings Cooking service, which is powered by Whisk, an AI-powered recipe platform.

Image: Samsung

The transition from smartphone control of the smart home to voice control has not been a seamless one. There are many times when it’s easier to tap on a screen to turn on the lights or lock the back door than it is to raise your voice, and a simple, easily accessible interface to do this is something the smart home still needs.

Smart displays from Google and Amazon have largely failed to provide a usable dashboard for this type of control, instead requiring multiple swipes and taps to get to what you need. These displays also try to be multitaskers in the home, part calendar, part radio, part TV, part smart home device, partly failing to do well most of what they attempt.

Case in point, Amazon’s new Echo Show 15, which I thought would be the solution I’d been looking for to control my smart home; since I took down the aging iPad Mini I had installed in my wall. (Its screen finally gave up the ghost — turns out being permanently plugged in and sitting vertically on my wall for four years was not good for it.)

Sadly, the software on the Show 15 doesn’t live up to the promise of the hardware, and while it looks fantastic, its limited smart home controller interface means it just won’t work for my home.

What I, and many like me, want is a dedicated smart home dashboard, something that has shortcuts to control devices, trigger scenes, and view live camera feeds. That’s not to say there isn’t room for Echo Shows and Google Nest Hubs that do part of what they’re supposed to do really well. But a dedicated smart home interface mounted on a wall or set up on a counter is what is needed.

There have been a few attempts at solving this problem — the touchscreen Brilliant Control Panel that replaces your existing light switches is an innovative solution that takes advantage of a house’s existing wiring. But installing that system in every room will set you back a pretty penny, and the screen is much smaller than a tablet, making it less intuitive for all users.

The Samsung Family Hub refrigerator features a built-in tablet that acts as a smart home controller.

What I like about Samsung’s Home Hub so far is its size, its orientation, and its potential portability. A vertical screen is actually more useful for smart home control than a horizontal one, as you can fit more icons on the screen that way and ideally have quick access to more controls. The stand for the Samsung Home Hub looks like it could also hold the screen horizontally if you preferred, although it probably will only charge in the vertical position, and Samsung has said it can be picked up and moved around when required.

The other thing it looks like they’ve done right here is make it a shared device. The problem with shoehorning existing tablets like the iPad into the role of a smart home dashboard is they’re designed as personal devices. A dedicated tablet for the home needs different software and a different approach.

Energy monitoring of compatible appliances and services is part of Samsung SmartThings and can be monitored on the Home Hub.

Image: Samsung

I’ve used the Samsung Family Hub smart fridge, and the Home Hub interface looks similar. Both largely resemble a blown-up version of Samsung’s SmartThings smartphone app. There’s a Favorites home screen with your favorite devices on it, a Devices tab for all your gadgets, and a Life tab where you’ll find Samsung’s connected services — such as Cooking, Clothing Care, Energy, Pet, Air and Home Care Wizard. That last one monitors your Samsung smart appliances and tells you when you need a new water filter for your fridge, as well as offers troubleshooting tips when needed.

It’s not the smart home dashboard of my dreams, but it is a step in the right direction: a dedicated device for controlling the many aspects of your smart home that doesn’t attempt to do unnecessary party tricks but gives you and your household an easy way to turn the home on and off.