2023 was arguably the year of AI, but the influence of artificial intelligence is only set to grow in 2024 and just about everything has AI slapped on it now.
Samsung is starting the year off strong with its flagship Galaxy S24 series smartphones and alongside the usual high-end specs and polished software, AI is at the forefront of all three new devices.
But ‘AI’ is a generic term – what does it actually mean for Galaxy S24, S24+ and S24 Ultra? Here are five new ‘Galaxy AI’ features that will make a noticeable difference to the way you use your smartphone.
Circle to Search
If you’ve ever used Google Lens before, you’ll know the power of capturing something and easily being able to find out information about it. But Circle to Search (see above) takes it to the next level.
Within any app, simply long-press the home button and then circle anything you see on the screen (using your finger, or S Pen on the S24 Ultra). It will then search and display relevant content on Google, such as the location or name of the object in the frame. There’s also the option for follow-up generative AI prompts, such as a trip to see the city you searched for.
It even works within the viewfinder of the camera app, avoiding the need to take a photo or screenshot and clutter up your photo library.
Transcript Assist
Most meetings and interviews can easily be recorded these days, but how do you make sense of the audio? Rather than relying on a third-party service or going down the painstaking manual route, Samsung has its Transcript Assist tools built into the Voice Recorder app.
After you finish recording, a full transcript of the conversation will be displayed. You can then create a summary, translate it for sharing in another language or export to Samsung’s Notes app. If you choose the latter, Note Assist can be used to make sure everything is nicely formatted.
Dominik Tomaszewski / Foundry
Live Translate for calls
Ever spoken on the phone with someone who doesn’t speak the same language? Understanding the other person and making yourself understood can be difficult or impossible.
Samsung’s new Live Translate feature is designed for that situation. It translates what you’re hearing on a call into your native language in real-time, displaying the text on the screen at the same time. Even if the other person doesn’t have an S24 phone, they’ll hear it in their language.
All this translation is handled on your device, so no internet connection is required and it’s built directly into the native phone app.
Chat Assist
Many people who use a Galaxy phone also use Gboard, but you might want to stick with the Samsung Keyboard now.
It has the new Chat Assist feature built in, which includes a range of tools for improving written communication. Tone Tweak lets you make a text, caption or email more professional, casual or fun, while there’s also the option to create new ones from scratch.
Another tool allows you to summarise the document or webpage you’re looking at, plus there’s an option here to translate it into one of 35 supported languages.
Dominik Tomaszewski / Foundry
Upgraded photo editing
Samsung phones have had powerful photo editing tools for a while, but AI takes them up a notch to better compete with the Google Pixels of this world.
When you edit a photo, the Gallery app makes better suggestions, such as adding a portrait effect, removing unwanted reflections, erasing an object or remastering. None of these options are new, but they’re often hard to find.
However, Generative Editor is a brand-new feature. If you ever need to straighten an image or move a subject within the frame, generative AI will fill in the gaps with surprisingly good accuracy.
Dominik Tomaszewski / Foundry
Not wanting to be left out, videos are also getting new functionality. Instant slow-mo allows you to increase the frame rate of any video up to 120fps after it was taken.
While the Samsung Galaxy S24, S24+ and S24 Ultra have other hardware and software upgrades, it’s the AI that you’ll really be buying them for. And these features might just change the way you use your phone.
Another thing all three have in common is seven years of software updates. However, there are several other features that are exclusive to the S24 Ultra.