Samsung Galaxy AI: Major update for older devices too

With the launch of the new Samsung Galaxy S24 series, Samsung primarily advertised the extensive AI features that the basic, Plus and Ultra versions of the flagship series will offer. However, the South Korean tech company has now announced that older Samsung devices will also receive an AI update.

Samsung Galaxy AI not just for the S24 series

Samsung already appeased buyers of an S23 or other powerful gadgets from the manufacturer at the first presentation of Galaxy AI. In the same breath, the promise was made that some features of the new AI would also be made available on older devices via an update. A corresponding download of the One UI 6.1 version will be made available soon. The list of compatible devices is pleasingly comprehensive.

Not only the models from last year’s flagship Galaxy S23 series, including the FE version, will be included. The Galaxy Z Flip and Fold 5 are also set to receive the AI update. With the Galaxy Tab S9, one tablet is also to be affected by the roll-out of the update. The scope of the new features should not come close to that of the S24. Nevertheless, some of the most popular functions such as “Circle to Search”, real-time translation and “Chat Assist” are on board. The S23 series is due to be launched at the end of March.

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Is this just the beginning?

Samsung is the second largest smartphone manufacturer in the world. The user base of gadgets from the South Korean tech group is correspondingly large. And the company apparently wants to enable far more smartphone and tablet owners to use Galaxy AI than just buyers of the current flagships. The manufacturer itself is giving indications of this. According to a report by t3n, TM Roh, President and Head of Mobile Experience Business at Samsung Electronics, has made it clear that the company wants to make the possibilities of Galaxy AI available to many more users. He is talking about 100 million owners of a Galaxy device. This means that a corresponding update will probably not only be available for the devices listed above.

It is possible that the company is currently working at full speed to set up a suitable infrastructure to outsource the computing processes to server farms. Galaxy AI would then no longer necessarily be linked to high-performance hardware. Furthermore, the company could be working on an exciting unique selling point here. It is already clear that Galaxy AI will not be free forever. Samsung itself is limiting the free phase to the end of 2025. If this proves to be the case, Samsung would not only be one step ahead of the competition, but would also have created a promising source of income.