We Tested the "AI-Powered" Smart Ovens from Samsung and LG: Is the Hype Real?

The promise of the truly smart kitchen has been just around the corner for years, always feeling more like a tech demo than a practical reality. But in 2025, the latest generation of "AI-Powered" smart ovens from industry giants Samsung and LG claim to have finally cracked the code. These expensive, feature-packed appliances promise to use artificial intelligence and internal cameras to identify your food, suggest the perfect cooking settings, and monitor it to prevent burning. But is this just marketing hype, or can an oven actually be "smart"? We put the latest models to the test to find out.

The Promise: Your Oven as a Personal Chef

The core feature of these new ovens is their built-in AI-powered camera. The concept is simple and futuristic: you place your food in the oven (for example, a chicken, a frozen pizza, or a tray of cookies), and the internal camera identifies what it is. The oven then automatically suggests the ideal cooking mode, temperature, and time. As it cooks, the AI continues to monitor the food, sending you a notification on your phone if it detects that your cookies are perfectly golden-brown or if your chicken is about to overcook. It's an ambitious promise to take the guesswork out of cooking entirely.

The Real-World Test: Hits and Misses

We tested both a new Samsung oven with "AI Pro Cooking" and an LG oven with its "InstaView AI" technology by cooking a series of common household meals.

The Hits:

• Standardized Foods: For common, easily recognizable items like a whole chicken or a standard frozen pizza, the AI was impressively accurate. It correctly identified the food, set the temperature and time, and in the case of the chicken, cooked it to a perfect internal temperature, sending a notification to our phone when it was done.
• Baking Monitoring: The AI was particularly good at monitoring baked goods. For a tray of chocolate chip cookies, the LG oven sent a notification that they were "browning nicely" and suggested we check on them, which prevented us from over-baking them.
• Remote Pre-heating and Monitoring: The basic smart features are undeniably convenient. Being able to preheat the oven on your way home from the grocery store or check the remaining cooking time from your phone is a genuine quality-of-life improvement.

The Misses:

• Complex or Unfamiliar Dishes: The AI struggled with more complex or less common items. It failed to identify a homemade casserole and simply classified it as a "baked dish." It also had trouble with a tray of mixed, roasted vegetables, unable to differentiate between the potatoes and the broccoli.
• The "Burn Detection" is Not Foolproof: While the monitoring is good, it's not magic. In one test, we intentionally left a pizza in for too long. The oven sent a notification that it was "well-done," but it didn't automatically shut off, and the pizza was still burnt by the time we got to it.
• Smudges and Steam: The internal camera, like any camera, is susceptible to smudges on the glass door and can be temporarily obscured by a large release of steam, which can interfere with its recognition capabilities.

The Verdict: Is the Hype Real?

After a week of testing, our verdict is a qualified **yes**. The hype is real, but with important caveats. These AI ovens are not magical appliances that will turn a novice into a Michelin-star chef overnight. The AI is best thought of as a highly advanced and helpful set of training wheels. It is brilliant for common, everyday items and provides a fantastic safety net to prevent you from completely forgetting about what's in the oven.

However, it is not a replacement for a cook's intuition and experience. For complex dishes, or for those who enjoy the art and science of cooking, the AI's suggestions can feel basic. But for a busy family that just wants to cook a frozen pizza perfectly without having to read the box, or a new baker who is nervous about burning their cookies, these smart features are genuinely helpful and a significant step forward for the smart kitchen.

Conclusion: A Glimpse of the Future

The AI-powered smart ovens of 2025 are impressive pieces of technology. While they may not have perfected the automated chef just yet, they represent the most significant and genuinely useful innovation in home cooking in years. They are a clear glimpse into a future where our kitchens are not just a collection of appliances, but an integrated, intelligent system designed to help us cook better, with less stress and more confidence.