I tested Galaxy AI on last year's phones

I also noticed that they will do the same with the even older Galaxy S22, Fold4, Flip4 and also Galaxy S21, where the function of instant slow motion is not available. Still, this is great news for all existing Samsung phone owners who won't have to part with their phones in search of AI features.

In fact, I am very surprised by the move of the South Korean manufacturer. By enabling AI features on older phones, they have taken away one part of the important reason for users to buy the latest Galaxy S24 series. Yes, the Galaxy S24, especially the Ultra, are great phones, but even though they're older phones, they're all still great for almost any use. The cameras have stood the test of time well, the chips (especially Snapdragon versions) are still powerful enough for most tasks, the design is the same or very similar... In short, older phones have become even better, more useful after years of use, and with new AI functions they extended their life by a year or two. It's clearly Samsung's desire to introduce Galaxy AI to as many people as possible, even in exchange for fewer Galaxy S24 phones being sold.

For now, Samsung has committed to keeping Galaxy AI free until 2025. We don't know what happens after that. The features may be available via subscription, or Samsung may continue to be generous and leave the features free, especially if the competition does the same.

Let's leave the future. Right now, you want to know how the features work on older phones. I tested them on the Samsung Galaxy S23+, which I was unable to test last year, and the Galaxy Fold5. Although they are two very different phones in terms of shape, the guts are very similar, so I did not expect major differences in the use of AI functions.

Google search still the most useful feature

If you have one of the supported Samsung phones and don't have AI features yet, go to Settings and check if you've already upgraded your system to One UI 6.1.

The first feature I tested, and which I found most useful on the Galaxy S24 Ultra, was Circle to Search. I'm still glad that Samsung decided to access it with a long press on the home button. Yes, sometimes it happens that we turn it on accidentally, but at least it wasn't too annoying for me. Maybe the developers will find an even more accessible solution for next year.

The feature works flawlessly as expected. It needs an internet connection to work, the internal components of the phone do not play an important role here. What you circle is what you search for on Google. And the results are great. I almost always found what I circled. As I mentioned before, this is a feature that complements Google Lens very well, which also has this kind of search among others.

Removing reflections and other photographic magic

I took some photos and played around with the Generative Edit feature. You can find it in the Gallery, where you will find a special symbol that you can click on and start editing. I tested how it removes objects and subjects and again I was quite pleased. If the scene was extra complex, I found cases where the Galaxy AI had a harder time filling the void after removing the subject. The same goes for moving motifs. I'm still amazed at how easily you can circle a subject (as in Photoshop with the lasso tool) and move it around the image. It's not always perfect and I expect they'll only make it better with each generation, but for now I like the feature when I need it of course, which isn't too often.

I also played around with reflections, and as long as there's only one or maybe two reflections in the scene, the Galaxy AI successfully eliminates them. If there are more of them, the task is quite difficult for him. Overall, though, the feature works well.

The slow-motion feature, which can be used on every shot in the Gallery, works as expected, or the same as on the Galaxy S24 Ultra. I didn't find any differences, but I can say that it turned some of my footage (mainly of snarling cats) into much more interesting videos.

Help with content creation

Every Samsung keyboard has AI features that can help us write and browse. It can correct minor grammatical errors, change the writing style, create notes from documents, translate and more. There are 13 languages available (Slovenian is still not among them, as before) and I still have a very similar opinion as during the Galaxy S24 Ultra test. In the right hands, I can see scenarios where the features will come into play. The function for creating summaries is the most helpful for me, I used the rest very rarely.

Similarly with Interpreter and translating phone calls. In languages that are supported (I tested English), it works well, provided that we are not in a noisy environment. If they want these features to be truly great, they'll need to find a way to improve their performance in the presence of multiple disruptors.

Galaxy AI can be a good tool in the right hands

We are only at the beginning of the AI wave, which has now flooded telephony as well. Samsung was among the first to test a whole new area and it is understandable that there will be mistakes and room for improvement. I believe that by next year we will get more similar features, and the existing ones will be improved. For now, I can say that the photo and video editing features and Google Search are the most helpful for me.

If you have a Samsung phone, check if you have already updated it and see for yourself which features are most useful to you.