GE’s new Smart Refrigerator automates grocery shopping with a barcode scanner and Instacart
Smart refrigerators are selling out in spades at CES, and LG and Samsung have explored in depth what’s possible when you connect your fridge to the internet or put a touchscreen on the front. The new GE Profile smart refrigerator with Kitchen Assistant that GE is announcing ahead of CES 2026 doesn’t reinvent the wheel in this regard, but it does include a first: a built-in barcode scanner for adding items to your shopping list.
GE’s Scan-to-List feature uses the barcode scanner to quickly (and accurately) add items to a shareable shopping list in the GE SmartHQ app. You can refer to this list while you’re shopping in person, or sync it with Instacart and have it delivered, eliminating the need to go grocery shopping. Inside the refrigerator, GE also includes a recessed LED bar with a built-in camera that can provide “real-time, on-demand snapshots of the crisper drawers, focusing on the most expensive and perishable items.” This “FridgeFocus” feature is supposed to prevent you from buying too many perishable products that you may already own, by allowing you to see which perishable products might go bad first.
GE’s refrigerator is made of stainless steel and has a built-in touchscreen. (GE)
In addition to these smart features, the GE Profile Smart Refrigerator features a four-door stainless steel design, with door-in-door storage and a temperature-adjustable drawer. The refrigerator also has an 8-inch touchscreen for viewing recipes or current weather conditions, as well as microphones to accept voice commands. When dispensing water, the refrigerator’s water dispenser is supposed to be smart enough to fill a container with exactly the right amount of water using built-in sensors as well.
The GE Profile Smart Refrigerator with Kitchen Assistant will be available from GE and select retailers starting in April 2026 for a suggested MSRP of $4,899.
