Samsung's making a huge change to older Galaxy phones

Last month, Samsung’s (SSNLF) latest smartphones — the Galaxy S24, S24+, and S24 Ultra — hit the market with refreshed designs and a big focus on software features, specifically a bevy of capabilities under the “Galaxy AI” umbrella.

Features like Circle to Search, Instant Slow-Mo, Live Translate, and Note Assist have proved functional and helpful in the weeks since my review of the Ultra went live. Now, just a few weeks after Samsung announced on-stage that Galaxy AI features would eventually arrive on other Galaxy devices, we’re finally getting more information.

Parts of “Galaxy AI” will come with Samsung’s next software update, One UI 6.1, which will hit devices beginning at the end of March. That means your Galaxy S23, S23+, and S23 Ultra, as well as the Z Fold 5, Flip 5, and the Tab S9 lineup, will get some Galaxy AI features.

A snapshot of what results look like with Circle to Search on the Galaxy S24 Ultra.
Jacob Krol/TheStreet

TM Roh, Samsung Electronics’s President and Head of Mobile eXperience Business, said in the release, “This is only the beginning of Galaxy AI, as we plan to bring the experience to over 100 million Galaxy users within 2024 and continue to innovate ways to harness the unlimited possibilities of mobile AI.”

Opening the door for other Galaxy AI features coming to these and expanding to other Samsung Galaxy devices, potentially even old smartphones like the Z Fold 4 or S22 lineup.

For now, Samsung is trickling down some of the most functional aspects of its latest Galaxy AI feature set. In my review of the S24 Ultra and my extended testing, “Circle to Search” has been incredibly useful, allowing me to quickly see what a product featured in a TikTok or Instagram Reel might be or just look up something I might not know. I can’t wait to use this on a massive screen like the Galaxy Z Fold 5 with the S-Pen.

If you’re planning spring or summer travel, Live Translate can be helpful if you have to call to make a dinner reservation or even get a cab to pick you up in another country or a spot where you don’t speak the language. Additionally, you can chat with others and see translations in close to real-time with Interpter—it’ll split the screen and show you the original speech and translated speech and repeat it aloud.

Additionally, these devices will get Note Assist baked into Samsung Notes and Browsing Assist, which offers summaries of articles and other web content. The Gallery app will also be updated with revamped editing tools like Instant Slow-Mo and Generative Edit.

Samsung’s Galaxy AI features will be included in One UI 6.1, which the company says will start rolling out to eligible devices as soon as late March.

Here are the devices slated to receive the update:

Samsung Galaxy S23 FE
Samsung Galaxy S23
Samsung Galaxy S23+
Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5
Samsung Galaxy Tab S9
Samsung Galaxy Tab S9+
Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra

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