Samsung is bringing some of its eye-catching new Artificial Intelligence (AI) features to older Galaxy phones. At the moment, you’ll need to have the brand-new Galaxy S24, Galaxy S24+, or Galaxy S24 Ultra in your pocket to take advantage of these clever AI tricks, but that all changes next month.
With the release of its latest One UI 6.1 operating system update in March 2024, Samsung will bring some of its flagship AI functionality — known as Galaxy AI — to last year’s Galaxy S23 range, including the Galaxy S23 FE launched at the end of last year, and recent folding phones and tablets.
You’ll be able to Galaxy AI free of charge until the end of 2025, with the small-print buriedat the bottom of Samsung’s website suggesting that a monthly fee could apply after that deadline. Microsoft recently started to charge for AI tricks in its Windows and Microsoft Office products too.
One of the features built into its Galaxy AI suite is Generative Edit, which lets you adjust the size and position of subjects in your photos, with Artificial Intelligence filling in the blanks
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If your Samsung device can be updated to One UI 6.1, which is based on Android 14, then you’ll be able to get real-time translations for incoming phone calls and text messages. Samsung’s AI will also be able to help adjust the tone of messages and emails written on-device too.
Circle To Search, which lets you start a Google search for anything on-screen by simply encircling it with your fingertip, is also coming to all One UI 6.1-compatible devices, as well as Note Assist, which quickly summarises the contents of notes into bullet-points or reformats your writing.
Interpreter, a clever feature to help when travelling that splits your screen and provides real-time translates for in-person conversations, will also make its way to older Galaxy phones.
Photo editing also enjoys a boost with One UI 6.1, allowing you to resize, reposition, or realign any objects in your photos to create the perfect shot. For example, if you’d rather that someone was standing a little further to the left, you can shift them over and the AI will fill-in any blank space.
Samsung says its Galaxy AI uses a combination of on-device and cloud-based artificial smarts, so you might need an active internet connection to make use of some of the functionality.
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Speaking about rolling out AI features to more phone owners, James Kitto, Vice President and Head of MX Division for Samsung UK and Ireland, said: “In January of this year we announced a new era of mobile AI with the Samsung Galaxy S24 series incorporating Galaxy AI. The performance to date has been extremely positive.
“Across the UK & Ireland we have seen record demand with pre-orders of the S24 Series surpassing the total pre-order quantity for S23 in half the time, thus proving a real appetite for our AI features.
"Our global mission is to make AI more accessible, and that’s why we’re proud to be announcing that Galaxy AI features will be made available across a range of Samsung mobile devices throughout 2024, and for us here in the UK that’s over 1.8 million customers who will receive a Galaxy AI update on their current Galaxy device.”
There’s no exact release date for One UI 6.1, but Samsung says to expect the software to start rolling out across the UK “from end of March”.
The full list of devices eligible for the upgrade is as follows: all models in the Galaxy S23 range, Galaxy S23 FE, Galaxy Z Fold5, Galaxy Z Flip5 and all tablets in the Tab S9 series.
Samsung has packed a number of communication-focused features in Galaxy AI features, including the ability to adjust message tone and translate messages in 13 different languages using Chat Assist. Galaxy phone and tablet owners can also leverage real-time interactions through Live Translate, which provides voice and text translations for phone calls.
With Interpreter, users can also engage in spontaneous conversations with locals while travelling as the split-screen feature generates text translations for live conversations as they’re taking place.
One UI 6.1 supercharges search with the new Circle to Search with Google, which generates intuitive search results with a swift circle-motioned gesture.
Never manually organise your digital life again, with features like Note Assist that lets you create formats, generate summaries and translate notes, while Browsing Assist keeps you up-to-date faster by generating summaries of news articles.
Transcript Assist can also easily transcribe meeting recordings and generate summaries and translations in seconds.
Samsung's AI can quickly summarise long paragraphs into easy-to-read bullet points, which can be saved as a separate note or added as front page to the original note
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With Galaxy AI, Samsung has doubled down on creative features too. With Generative Edit, AI-supported devices can easily resize, reposition, or realign objects in photos to perfect a great shot.
You’ll also be able to polish photos faster and easier than ever with Edit Suggestion. No need for multiple re-shots as Instant Slow-Mo uses Artificial Intelligence to generate additional frames to make any existing videos play in slow-motion.
And lastly, customizing your Galaxy device is easier than before with Samsung’s AI-generated wallpapers. With a simple written prompt, the AI will paint an entirely new image for you.
