What you need to know
- The coveted Galaxy AI features will be available on select older Galaxy models, such as the Galaxy S23 series, S23 FE, Z Fold 5, Flip 5, and Tab S9, by the first half of 2024.
- Unfortunately, the 2022-released S22 series won't be included in the Galaxy AI update despite sharing the same chipset as the Galaxy S23 FE.
- Phones preceding the S22 won't receive Galaxy AI, but can expect an upgrade to One UI 6.1.
The highlight of Samsung's new Galaxy S24 series is Galaxy AI, and it's supposed to hit older Samsung phones too. But a Samsung executive has confirmed that only a few older models will actually get it, and the S22 series is the odd one out.
Patrick Chomet, Samsung’s head of customer experience, told TechRadar that certain 2023 flagship Galaxy devices are set to pick up the latest Galaxy AI features, including the Galaxy S23, S23 FE, Z Fold 5, Z Flip 5, and Tab S9.
Galaxy AI hogged a big part of the spotlight at Samsung's Galaxy Unpacked event a few weeks ago. It brings cool capabilities like Circle to Search, Live Translate, Note Assist, Photo Assist, and more to the table. Plus, since the phones are pledging seven years of software updates, you can bet the feature list will keep expanding down the road.
However, the Galaxy S22, S22 Plus, and S22 Ultra won't get any cool AI features. So, the lineup of devices that actually get these features turns out to be way smaller than initially expected.
"First of all, to get [these features] on the Galaxy S24 series was so much work," Chomet told TechRadar following the Galaxy Unpacked event. "I’m exhausted. And actually, TM Roh wanted to announce that we can support Galaxy S23 devices with Galaxy AI, which we will [now be doing] within the first half of the year."
Chomet added that Samsung wants to ensure the AI experience matches mobile performance, focusing on CPU and GPU capabilities.
"So for now, we are learning; we are going step-by-step," Chomet said. "We know that Galaxy AI works well on the Galaxy S24 series and we know it will work well on [the Galaxy S23 series]. But we don’t know what the intensity of AI usage will be for the average customer, and [therefore how that] intensity will impact on-device resources and cloud resources."
For Galaxy S22 owners, this news is a major letdown, especially considering the S22 includes the same chipset as the Galaxy S23 FE, which is getting Galaxy AI anyway.
"For now, we’re limiting Galaxy AI to last-gen devices," Chomet explained.
Regardless, the AI features on the Galaxy S24 won't be free forever—only until the end of 2025. After that, Samsung is slapping on some subscription fees, although we're still in the dark about the pricing details.
While the Galaxy S24 might look like its predecessor, it rocks a slightly larger display and a polished design. The real stars of the show, though, are the Galaxy AI and the promise of long-term software support.
