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Two basic types of kitchen innovations catch our eyes when roaming the floor at CES. One type is those that wow with impressive engineering -- for example, a travel mug that both grinds and brews cold brew coffee in the same vessel. The other is less mind-bending but driven by pure function and usability, solving an age-old problem or daily nuisance.
GE Profile's new smart fridge, featuring a built-in grocery barcode scanner, falls squarely in the latter category. While technology is not a feature that has us wondering how they did it, it does make us wonder why it took so long for someone to implement it.
I got to play around with the smart fridge at a private press preview in Las Vegas. What stood out was how easy the barcode scanner is to use and how beneficial it would be for keeping track of weekly groceries and streamlining the list-making and grocery shopping experience.
How it works
The scanner system recognizes more than 4 million groceries and household products.
David Watsky/CNETA simple barcode scanner is mounted near the water dispenser in the fridge's small hub screen, recognizing over 4 million common groceries and household products. When you're running low on your preferred brand of coffee beans, garbage bags or 2% milk, you simply scan the barcode, and the item is then added to your weekly shopping list, which is accessible through the mobile app, of course.
Even foods that don't have a barcode can be added using a voice command. Simply engage the fridge and say something like, "Add Granny Smith apples to the grocery list." Boom, it's there.
I tried it. Even in the loud and busy showroom, the fridge heard me and acted dutifully.
You can scan and order groceries directly from your fridge
Scanned items go directly to a grocery list, accessible from your phone or tablet.
David Watsky/CNETTaking things a step further, GE Profile has partnered with Instacart. If you do your grocery shopping online, you can either make an individual purchase or order your entire list directly from the fridge or via your mobile device.
The barcode scanner is universally applicable, even if you don't use Instacart. The scanning process takes literally seconds, which is far faster and quicker than creating a manual list. Currently, the brand works with a handful of national retailers through Instacart. The fridge scans over 4 million household products -- not just groceries -- with more to be added in system updates.
A well-rounded smart fridge with loads of features
The scanner function is what caught my attention, but GE Profile's new fridge has other impressive innovative features, including a top-down camera that allows you to view your produce drawers and take inventory from anywhere. This is a handy feature to be certain but one we've seen in fridges before.
A top-down camera shows you the contents of your produce in real time. A handy feature, but by no means an industry first.
David Watsky/CNETAnother new addition is a recipe generator that suggests ideas based on the food in your fridge. Snap a photo of the contents, and the hub screen populates recipe ideas for lunch or dinner. You can instantly add missing ingredients for a given recipe to your grocery list.
For easier hydration, the fridge sports hands-free autofill. Using sensors in the refrigerator dispenser, it dispenses the precise amount of filtered water for the given vessel and then stops. You're free to walk away while the glass or bottle fills up.
Pricing and availability
The smart fridge will be available starting in April.
GE ProfileThe Smart 4-Door French-Door Refrigerator with Kitchen Assistant will be available in both standard depth and counter-depth models starting in April 2026, with a suggested MSRP of $4,899.
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