Galaxy S24 Special AI Features and Their Significance for Users

What you should know

Full Story

Samsung’s Galaxy S24 series is now official, and so is Galaxy AI, a host of AI-based features that have found their home in these flagship phones. It’s safe to say that AI was the buzzword of 2023. The technology, which wasn’t new in concept, exploded in popularity due to a few apps that could recreate you in different art styles – a novelty, but somewhat expected.

If you thought AI was a passing trend, I’ve got news for you. It’s about to become a central part of the best phones of 2024. Samsung is leading the charge, with Galaxy AI being a significant part of the Korean giant’s marketing strategy. But what’s this all about? Is Samsung just cloning ChatGPT, or are these features genuinely useful for a Galaxy fan’s daily routine, should they decide to upgrade to a Galaxy S24 series phone? What is Galaxy AI on the Galaxy S24?

Galaxy AI is more than just photography-related features. Samsung introduced it alongside the official reveal of its Galaxy S24 series. It’s a mix of familiar and new AI-enabled features found on these latest flagship phones. Samsung’s approach to AI is rational: no single function is so outlandish that people would struggle to understand or use it. While tech enthusiasts may be disappointed by this approach, as the selection isn’t groundbreaking, it makes total sense. AI is becoming mainstream, but it’s not quite there yet. This is a great way to get more people on board.

Samsung cleverly chose to mix on-device and cloud-based AI computing to minimize user data concerns. Most of the data involved in Galaxy AI processes stays on your phone, which many users will appreciate. The Galaxy AI suite isn’t centralized either. You won’t go to a dedicated Galaxy AI app to get things going. Instead, the features are seamlessly integrated throughout OneUI and are one tap or gesture away from being used: some are hidden on the Galaxy S24’s keyboard, others in the camera app, etc. So, what features does Galaxy AI on Galaxy S24 bring?

One of the features is Circle to Search. It’s Samsung’s fun, new way to search for things more seamlessly on your Galaxy S24 phone. If you’re watching a video about plants on YouTube and you see one that you’re not familiar with, you can tap and hold on the Home button, circle (or tap) on the plant, and get results about what that plant is, without ever leaving YouTube. But that’s not all. While “circle to search” sounds catchy, you can also scribble over items or tap on them. This feature is user-experience-focused, which is crucial if Samsung wants it to catch on with users.

Live Translate is another feature. Don’t confuse it with Google’s version. Google’s variant can translate texts or transcribe audio from videos pretty quickly. But Samsung’s take is literal: real-time translation during a live phone call. Well, almost real time. Even translators can’t translate in real time, as they’d have to hear what is being said first. The AI does the same: it hears what the speaker is saying and after a short time, translates that into a language you can understand. Currently, 13 languages are supported, but Samsung may introduce more depending on the popularity of Live Translate. And by the way, this feature happens entirely on your device, so your data is safe.

But what if you’re not on a call? Samsung has considered that too. The Interpreter feature turns your Galaxy S24 into a split-screen experience, allowing you to break the language barrier. People on both sides get a transcription of what the other one is saying in a language they can understand. Chat Assist is another feature. You’ve seen this one before: you get a text in a foreign language, and the Galaxy S24 will be able to translate that for you. Neat. However, what’s new here is Tone Tweak. This AI feature aims to simplify the brainstorming process during texting. Say you want to say “Thanks a lot” in a professional manner, but the words just aren’t coming for whatever reason. With the push of a button, Galaxy AI can bring up several variants for you to pick from.

The Hands-free communication assistant on the road feature integrates seamlessly with Android Auto, even bringing a touch of OneUI’s design magic to your car. But how does Galaxy AI come into play? The assistant can go through your texts and summarize them for you out loud, so you don’t have to look at your phone or your car’s screen. Not only that, but it can offer you suggested actions. You’ll be able to pick one from the list, and then the AI will do the texting while you focus on the road. Sweet.

Transcript Assist is another feature. We’ve seen this one on Google’s Pixel line of phones before, but it’s nice to see it becoming more mainstream: live transcriptions. Basically, you can let the voice recorder on your Galaxy S24 run, and it will transcribe the recording as it happens. Will the feature become more advanced, introducing things like speaker labels in the future? We hope so.

Note Assist in Samsung Notes is another feature. Galaxy AI can help you set up notes from pre-existing templates, which seem to be based on your recurring needs. This means that the AI will monitor to check if you’re making, for example, grocery lists often and if you are, it may start offering you premade templates to save you some time. What’s cool about this one is that the templates get these little custom covers with summaries and icons. A really neat personal touch! Oh, and for those of you who are eager to get their hands on a Galaxy S24 Ultra: the Samsung Notes app will now utilize AI to read your handwriting better. What’s more, it will be able to straighten out handwriting via the S Pen too, so that it looks better. Neat.

Another cool trick that Samsung showed off during its Galaxy AI presentation was especially designed for note takers (just like me!). With Samsung Notes, you don’t need to add bullets: you can just jot everything down as it comes and, with a tap of a button, Galaxy AI can reorder and rephrase your notes in a more presentable and understandable manner.

Galaxy AI also has photography features on the Galaxy S24. AI Photo Editing includes Edit Suggestion, where AI will be able to scan your shot and suggest ways to improve it automatically. AI-powered editing allows users to remove blurring, reflections, or make their photos more crisp manually if they don’t like the automated suggestions. Generative editing allows you to straighten out your shot without cropping it. This feature can fill in the empty spaces created in the process. It will also allow you to delete objects from a photo, without leaving an ugly blemish behind. Oh, and it can also let you move things around entirely, if that’s your preferred way of doing things.

AI Zoom is another feature. Digital zoom? Not enough! The Galaxy S24 series is rocking AI Zoom too, which basically means that it’s using some AI magic to fill in the blanks between digital zoom distances. Sure: digital zoom already isn’t winning the populace’s favor, but having another option on board can’t hurt, right?

Instant Slow-Mo is another feature. Have you ever wanted to slow down a video, only to find that it becomes choppy and unpleasant to view? Well, this one takes care of that issue via AI. Essentially, what is happening is that the AI is making up new frames between the existing frames, allowing you to enjoy a slow motion video even with clips captured outside of a dedicated slow-mo mode.

There are two facts that must be noted when talking about features related to Galaxy AI. Some features will need you to have an active internet connection in order for them to work, and others will require a Samsung account too. Some AI-fueled features related to images won’t be supported by all social media platforms (likely, instant messaging apps too), so what you see on a Galaxy S24 phone won’t always be what other people are seeing.

Any photos or videos produced with the help of Galaxy AI will contain special metadata traces, so that bad actors won’t be able to fool anyone. For a quick refresh: metadata is basically hidden info about files. For photos, it could contain the device they were captured with or for videos: the date when they were taken. Metadata isn’t hard-coded into files, though and can be altered with a bit of effort, so keep that in mind.

And that’s about all of the Galaxy AI features that we know about for the time being. A lot of them sound pretty familiar, right? Most of those: from Google’s Pixel line of phones. While it is nice to see those leave the mothership so that other Android fans can enjoy them too, it will be interesting to see if Samsung brings even more to Galaxy AI in the future. In the meantime, if this was enough to tip the scales and make you crave a Galaxy S24 series phone, you should know that pre-orders are already live and will last through to the end of January.