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Why smart homes across the UAE and Saudi are evolving into healthier, immersive living
Across the GCC, connected living is being shaped by family routines, cultural habits, immersive entertainment and a growing focus on healthier, more sustainable design
- PUBLISHED: Mon 6 Jul 2026, 8:00 AM
The smart home is no longer a futuristic idea reserved for luxury villas or technology enthusiasts. Across the UAE and wider GCC, it is becoming part of everyday life, shaping how families manage comfort, entertainment, spirituality, cooking and relaxation.
What was once measured by the number of connected devices is now being defined by something more practical: how naturally technology fits into daily routines. The strongest smart-home features are not always the most complex. They are the ones that quietly remove friction.
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In 2025, smart-home control emerged as the single biggest driver of voice usage, accounting for 175 million commands. Voice assistants are no longer used only to ask questions or play songs. They are becoming household managers, helping residents control lighting, cooling, ambience and entertainment through simple spoken instructions.
Routines take over
In the UAE, families are leaning into multi-step routines that allow several actions to be triggered by one phrase. A single command can dim the lights, adjust air conditioning and set ambient sound, creating the right setting for dinner, prayer, sleep, study or family time.
This is where smart-home technology becomes valuable. The benefit is not only convenience. It is control, especially in households where family life is busy, multilingual and shifting between work, school, social commitments and rest.
While Saudi Arabia has 9% more routine users, UAE households perform more routines per dwelling. That points to deeper integration. UAE residents are not simply experimenting with smart-home features. They are using them regularly enough for automation to become part of how the home functions. Lighting is one of the clearest examples. Lighting commands alone crossed 30 million voice requests last year, marking a 25% year-on-year increase. Lighting is one of the simplest ways to change a room’s mood, energy use and purpose.
Family-first technology
Dr Raf Fatani, Amazon - Regional General Manager for Alexa Mena, said the growing adoption reflects more than a technology trend. “What moves me most about these findings is seeing how families across the region are weaving voice technology into the fabric of their everyday lives,” he said. “Behind every statistic is a real moment, a parent turning down lights while holding a sleeping child, an elder managing his schedule, or a family creating new traditions through technology that respects their language and culture.”
Entertainment at home
Entertainment is the second major pillar of voice usage, with 106 million interactions in 2025, including 34 million music tracks played. The home is not only becoming smarter. It is becoming more immersive.
The UAE’s music preferences reflect the country’s diversity. After children’s content, Hindi music ranks as the second-most popular genre, followed by funk and pop. In Saudi Arabia, the pattern differs, with Khaleeji music leading adult requests after children’s content, followed by Iraqi music and funk.
Relaxation-focused audio is also gaining ground. Rain sounds were triggered more than 500,000 times, with white noise close behind. Beyond entertainment, voice assistants are being used for spiritual routines. In 2025, families across the UAE and Saudi Arabia requested morning and evening Athkar more than 400,000 times, while Surat Al-Baqarah, Al-Kahf and Al-Mulk ranked among the most frequently accessed surahs from the Holy Quran.
Kitchens with character
The kitchen is also being redefined. It remains one of the most functional areas of the home, but it is increasingly being treated as a space for creativity, design and wellbeing.
For Teka, the kitchen is much more than a place for cooking. Its Van Gogh Museum Edition, created in collaboration with the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, reflects this shift by turning everyday appliances into design-led pieces inspired by Vincent van Gogh.
“The Teka Van Gogh Museum Edition is the perfect fusion of art and innovation, where Van Gogh’s visionary spirit meets cutting-edge design. Just as he transformed the ordinary into the extraordinary, we have reimagined everyday kitchen appliances as a canvas for creativity. With Van Gogh’s authentic signature and the original Sunflowers sketch, each product is more than an appliance, it’s an invitation to bring beauty, passion, and inspiration into the heart of your home,” said Leonardo Capelas Romeu, Global Design Manager at Teka.
This reflects a broader change in consumer expectations. Homeowners want appliances that perform well, but they also want them to contribute to the identity of the home.
The low-carbon reset
At the same time, kitchen renovation is moving in a more responsible direction. Homeowners are investing in kitchens not only because they improve daily comfort, but also because they can support long-term property value. A well-executed kitchen renovation can increase property value by an estimated 10 to 15 per cent.
However, the smarter renovation conversation is no longer only about expensive finishes or imported cabinetry. It is about health, durability, carbon impact, air quality and long-term value.
Dubai-based Building Biologist Valentina Cereda, who has spent more than a decade specialising in design for health, challenges the idea that cheaper renovation is always the practical route. “Cheap renovations are often more expensive in the long run. If you plan your budget upfront, you can decide where and how to invest. Instead of buying a very expensive Italian cabinet or designer bag, you can channel that money into a healthier, carbon-neutral kitchen. It’s always about choice.”
A smart kitchen should not only look premium. It should be healthier to live with, more efficient to maintain and less wasteful over time. Poor material choices, weak planning and short-term upgrades can quickly become expensive mistakes.
Cinema moves in
The living room is undergoing a similar transformation. Across the GCC, living rooms are increasingly doubling as private cinemas, where immersive screens, surround sound systems and streaming platforms are reshaping family entertainment.
This is not only a lifestyle trend. It is a market shift. The GCC home entertainment devices market was valued at $4.6 billion in 2024 and is projected to reach $8.9 billion by 2034.
As consumers curate private environments, they expect technology to deliver more realistic viewing. Picture quality, brightness, colour accuracy and contrast are becoming major differentiators. Technologies such as Sony’s proprietary True RGB reflect the push towards purer colour, stronger brightness and greater depth.
Public meets private
Smart cities and smart homes are no longer developing separately. They are beginning to mirror each other. The same expectation of immersion, participation, personalisation and connectivity that is shaping public spaces is now shaping private ones.
For the real estate sector, this changes the meaning of value. Square footage, location and finishes still matter, but technology, sustainability and lifestyle integration are becoming harder to ignore. Buyers and tenants increasingly want homes that are beautiful, intelligent, efficient and emotionally comfortable.
The next phase of smart homes will not be defined by adding more devices. A home packed with disconnected gadgets is not smart. It is just cluttered. The real opportunity lies in integration, where lighting, climate, entertainment, kitchen design, wellness and cultural routines work together without making life more complicated.
In the GCC, the home is becoming more than a private address. For homeowners and developers, the question is no longer whether technology belongs in the home. It is whether it can make the home healthier, easier and more responsible to live in.
As Cereda says: “Ultimately, it is not only about creating a beautiful home, but also about understanding our impact on the health of the Earth and of people, and the legacy we leave for our children.”
Sana Eqbal is a journalist and media strategist with over a decade of experience at the intersection of media, business and emerging technologies. She specialises in corporate communications, digital storytelling, public relations and AI-powered content strategy.