A Samsung refrigerator firmware update has reportedly left some smart refrigerators without cooling in South Korea, with owners describing spoiled food and repair delays just before the Chuseok holiday.
According to Tom’s Hardware, an update distributed through Samsung’s SmartThings platform became stuck on some Bespoke AI refrigerators. Reports described dark interior lights, unresponsive touch panels and units appearing offline in the app.
Samsung refrigerator firmware update caused cooling failures
The complaints began on 22 September, according to Star News Korea, with most reports involving Bespoke AI four-door refrigerators released from 2024 onwards. Some owners said the display remained on a message telling them to check the SmartThings app during the update. Others said the refrigerator stopped cooling entirely after the update, leaving food to be thrown away.
Ars Technica reported that Samsung stopped issuing the update on 23 September and was aiming to restore some affected refrigerators by 24 September. The company said the problem came from software intended for internal testing being distributed to customers by mistake, rather than a wider SmartThings outage or a confirmed mechanical defect.
Samsung halted the rollout and promised emergency repairs
Samsung said it had activated emergency measures through its service centres and asked affected owners to contact support. Seoul Economic Daily reported that the company planned to cover repair costs and was reviewing compensation for spoiled food. Some customers were told that engineer visits could be delayed until after the holiday, adding a second problem to the first.
The incident is limited to reports from South Korea at the time of writing. Samsung has not published a complete list of affected models or confirmed whether the same update reached refrigerators in other markets. UAE owners should check Samsung’s local support channels before installing any pending appliance update if their refrigerator shows similar power, display or cooling symptoms.
Samsung’s connected-appliance range has featured in its UAE push into smarter homes, including The Movingstyle launch and its broader AI Home plans. This incident does not establish a wider failure with Samsung refrigerators, but it does show that an update can affect the basic job people bought the appliance to do.
Which Samsung refrigerators were reportedly affected?
Reports mainly identify Bespoke AI four-door refrigerators released from 2024 onwards, but Samsung has not published a complete model list. Owners should use Samsung support rather than relying on a model guess.
What should owners do if a Samsung refrigerator stops cooling after an update?
Contact Samsung’s service centre, avoid treating repeated power cycling as a repair and move perishable food to a working cold-storage option if possible. The reported incident required engineer support for some units.
Has Samsung confirmed the problem affects UAE refrigerators?
No. The reports available at the time of writing concern customers in South Korea, and Samsung has not confirmed that the same update reached UAE appliances.
