SmartThings compatible devices, and what the badge means

The compatibility question has a real answer here. Samsung publishes a filterable index of certified SmartThings products, with model codes on each entry and a flag telling you whether the device needs a hub, and anyone can open it. That is the part you can settle before you buy. What it will not tell you is what certification actually promises, or where it stops, which is the rest of this page.

Where to find SmartThings compatible devices

The index sits at samsung.com/au/smartthings/compatible-devices/, titled "SmartThings compatible devices". It filters by category across home appliances, kitchen, TV and AV, lighting and switches, sensors, hubs and connectivity, wearables, and fitness and health, and the brands go well beyond Samsung's own: Hue, Aqara, Nest, Ring, Aeotec, Arlo, Nanoleaf, Yale and Schlage are all in there. It opened on 201 brands and 3,473 products when we checked it on 4 August 2026. Samsung's own figure for the programme, published in December 2025, is over 4,700 certified models from over 390 partner brands.

Each entry carries model codes, so you can match the exact variant in front of you instead of a family name, and a "Hub required" flag, which tells you whether the device needs a hub at all. That flag is set per product, not for SmartThings as a whole. A hub also does not have to be a separate box, because some Samsung TVs, monitors, soundbars, projectors and Family Hub fridges have one built in, though which protocols that built-in hub reaches depends on the model.

Two caveats. The page builds its results in the browser rather than in the page source, so open it directly rather than trusting a cached or scraped copy. And a listing proves certification, not Australian availability: the page carries a country selector, Samsung's own note says availability may vary by country, and a product can sit in the index with no Australian seller at all.

What the badge actually certifies

Certified means a manufacturer took one specific product through Works with SmartThings, the programme Samsung runs through its SmartThings Developer Center. Compatible is the looser claim: the device pairs, appears in the SmartThings app and does its job. A device can be exactly that and never enter the programme, which is neither a defect nor a warning sign.

Samsung muddies its own wording here. Its index of certified products is titled "SmartThings compatible devices", and the page states that SmartThings compatible devices "are certified for connectivity and compatibility by Samsung's 'Works with SmartThings' program". So on Samsung's site, compatible means certified. On a box or a listing written by anyone else, it means only that it works.

Samsung describes two qualification paths. A manufacturer can self-test with Samsung's own test suite, currently open to four protocols: Matter, Zigbee, Z-Wave and cloud-to-cloud integrations. Otherwise the product goes to Samsung's Authorized Test Provider, UL, for evaluation. Some device types may not qualify for self-testing at all, whatever protocol they use, and the examples Samsung gives are cameras, doorbells, smart locks and health and safety products. Those are the categories where getting it wrong matters most. Since 17 June 2025 there has also been a shortcut: Matter devices sent for Matter testing at the CSA ITL are tested for SmartThings certification at the same time, at no extra cost. The CSA is the Connectivity Standards Alliance, which publishes the Matter specification.

Certification is granted per model, not per brand, so one certified product says nothing about the rest of a range. Samsung does run a Certification by Similarity route for variants, but it needs the brand and the underlying implementation to match. A variant that adds capabilities needs partial testing; a variant whose capabilities are a subset of the certified product can qualify without that extra testing. The upshot is that certification is tied to the implementation that was submitted, and does not automatically survive a manufacturer rebuilding its integration.

Hub connected or cloud connected

The programme covers two kinds of device, and the badge alone does not tell you which one you are holding. A hub-connected device runs on an Edge driver, the software format SmartThings hubs execute locally. A cloud-connected one is reached through the manufacturer's servers. The difference shows up in daily use rather than on the box.

Hub connected buys local execution at the cost of needing a hub in the house. Cloud connected needs no hub, and leans on cloud servers staying up. Note what "keeps working" means in that first column: local control and automations, from inside the house. Remote access, cloud notifications and anything tied to your Samsung account go with the internet connection either way.

What our own badges mean

Ours are set from Samsung's directory and nowhere else. We do not show the Works with SmartThings logo on a product we have not found there, and we do not write "Works with SmartThings" as a badge on a device that merely functions. Where a device connects properly but is not certified, we say what it does, such as connects to SmartThings over Matter. That is a statement about the device. The badge is a statement about a programme, and the programme is Samsung's.

One last boundary. A Works with SmartThings certification is a claim about SmartThings and nothing else, and it says nothing about how the same device behaves once it is shared out into Google Home, Alexa or Apple Home. Apple runs a badge programme of its own, and the Works with Apple Home badge is the same idea under different rules.