From Concept to Reality: A Five-Year Journey
In an industry constantly chasing the next significant innovation, Samsung’s Ballie has become something of a legend before even reaching consumers. First unveiled as a prototype at CES 2020, this basketball-sized rolling robot has captured imaginations for half a decade, making multiple comeback appearances with promises of imminent release that have yet to materialize. As of December 2025, Ballie remains in development limbo, though Samsung insists the technology is still very much alive.
Ballie’s journey is a fascinating case study in consumer robotics ambitions versus market realities. While Samsung initially positioned it as merely a concept, the company has gradually shifted its stance, investing significant resources into transforming it from a curiosity into what it claims will be a genuine home assistant capable of revolutionizing domestic life.
What Is Ballie?
Imagine a bright yellow sphere roughly the size of a bowling ball that navigates your home independently, responds to voice commands, and serves as a mobile AI companion. That’s Ballie in a nutshell. The robot is designed to roll around on wheels, using spatial lidar sensors to map rooms and navigate obstacles while avoiding hazards.
The most distinctive feature of the newer iterations is their built-in projector. With dual lenses and 1080p resolution, Ballie can project content onto walls and ceilings, automatically adjusting for distance, lighting, and viewing angles. The robot also packs cameras, microphones, speakers, and multiple sensors, all running on Samsung’s Tizen OS with Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connectivity.
Key Features and Capabilities
Samsung has progressively revealed an expanding list of features designed to make Ballie indispensable in the modern home:
Smart Home Integration: Ballie can control connected devices throughout your home, adjusting lighting and managing air conditioning units. It can even operate older, non-smart devices through a built-in infrared transmitter. The robot maps floor plans to identify device locations, creating a detailed understanding of your home’s layout.
AI-Powered Assistance: Powered by Google’s Gemini AI (announced as part of an expanded Samsung-Google Cloud partnership), Ballie can engage in natural conversations. It can manage schedules, set reminders, provide weather updates, offer style and health recommendations, and search the internet for information. If you ask what to wear in the morning, Ballie can provide outfit suggestions based on the weather and your preferences.
Projection and Entertainment: Whether projecting movies onto walls, displaying video calls, or creating a starry ceiling for bedtime, Ballie’s projector transforms any surface into a screen. The robot adapts projections based on wall distance and lighting conditions, ensuring optimal viewing experiences.
Monitoring and Wellness: When you’re away from home, Ballie can send video updates about pets or loved ones, providing peace of mind. For older household members, it offers access to remote medical services and health monitoring.
Unique Interaction Methods: Beyond voice commands, Ballie can be controlled via text messages and responds to “foot presses,” allowing users to interact with the robot by tapping when they need something specific.
The Gemini Partnership Game-Changer
The April 2025 partnership between Samsung and Google Cloud marked a pivotal moment for Ballie’s development. By integrating Google’s Gemini multimodal AI, the robot gained capabilities that go beyond simple task automation. Gemini’s multimodal reasoning allows Ballie to process audio, visual data, and environmental sensor information simultaneously, enabling it to understand context and respond more intelligently.
This partnership reflects a broader industry trend where companies recognize that no single entity can create a world-class AI assistant alone. Samsung contributes hardware expertise and proprietary language models, while Google provides cutting-edge generative AI technology. The result, in theory, is a more capable home robot than either company could create independently.
The Delay Saga
Despite repeated promises, Ballie has failed to meet every self-imposed deadline. The timeline reads like a frustrating rollercoaster for those anticipating the robot’s arrival:
- 2020: Introduced as a prototype with no consumer release plans
- 2024: Reintroduced with upgraded features, but still not ready for market
- January 2025: Samsung promised a “first half of 2025” launch
- April 2025: Narrowed to “summer 2025” release for the US and South Korea
- December 2025: Officially delayed again with no new timeline provided
Samsung’s latest statement offers only vague assurances: “We are continuing to refine and perfect the technology to deliver an even more impactful customer experience.” Translation: Ballie isn’t ready yet, and the company won’t commit to a specific date.
The Broader Context: Home Robotics Struggles
Ballie’s endless delays reflect a harsh reality in consumer robotics. Beyond robotic vacuums, which have become genuinely helpful appliances, home robots have struggled dramatically. Major tech companies have abandoned projects, and numerous startups have shuttered operations. The fundamental challenge is simple: most home robots don’t yet offer enough functionality to justify their high price tags.
Unlike a vacuum that fills a clear need, a mobile AI companion faces skepticism. What specifically does Ballie do that a smartphone or smart speaker can’t? How much more useful is a ball rolling around your home compared to a stationary device on your counter? These questions remain largely unanswered, and Samsung hasn’t yet addressed them head-on with pricing or detailed use-case comparisons.
However, Samsung seems optimistic that Ballie might find traction, particularly in its native South Korea, where consumer adoption of cutting-edge technology tends to be higher than in many other markets.
Price and Availability Remain Mysteries
One of the most glaring omissions from Samsung’s announcements is pricing. The company has never disclosed what consumers will pay for Ballie. Given the technological sophistication involved, expectations range from several thousand dollars to potentially over $10,000, though these are purely speculative.
Similarly, while Samsung confirmed plans for the US and South Korea, availability in other markets remains unannounced. Europe and other regions may never see an official release.
Samsung maintains a sign-up page on its website where interested consumers can register to receive updates on Ballie’s availability. However, as of December 2025, the robot is still unavailable for purchase.
Looking Forward
Samsung will likely showcase Ballie again at CES 2026, providing updates or allowing hands-on demonstrations beyond the looped demos shown at previous events. Whether this marks genuine progress toward consumer availability or merely another iteration of the hype cycle remains to be seen.
The company’s ongoing investment suggests genuine commitment, but Samsung’s communication strategy—making repeated promises it fails to keep—has worn thin with technology enthusiasts. What Ballie truly needs now isn’t more features or partnerships; it needs actually to ship to real customers.
Conclusion
Samsung’s Ballie represents both the promise and the pitfalls of the robotics industry. It’s an ambitious vision of how AI and robotics can improve home life. Still, the inability to deliver it after six years raises legitimate questions about whether the technology is truly ready or whether market forces are simply holding it back.
For now, Ballie remains what it’s been since 2020: an intriguing concept that captivates at trade shows but stays frustratingly out of reach for actual consumers. Whether it ever becomes a real product that millions want remains Samsung’s most pressing challenge.
