Mea culpa, I tried to GalaxyS24 some tough love. I thought I was being logical, even correct. No, I was wrong when I said any iPhone was a better buy than Samsung’s flagship S24.
In fact, after testing AI features and learning about Apple’s intelligence Plans, I am particularly impressed with what Samsung is offering on the Galaxy S24 that Apple will not give iPhone15 Owner.
Why was I so mean to the Galaxy S24? I don’t want to dwell on the mistakes, that’s not what this is about. It’s about saying I was wrong.
I was very disappointed with Samsung’s software, however, and I have more than just a professional interest in it. I own Samsung phones myself and have recommended them. My father wears a GalaxyS22. He is Fear of upgrading to a phone with AIbut I’m slowly changing his mind.
Then Apple’s iOS 17 came out and it’s really cool. It’s useful, social and innovative. It has features that Apple finally stole from Android and features that I wish Android would steal.
With the new Safety Check In, contact cards, close-range sharing features, standby mode, and everything else, you really feel like Apple has created a thoroughly modern mobile operating system and left Android behind.
Sure, StandBy is cool, but have you ever seen an AI moon?!
Then comes AI. I was initially skeptical about smartphone AI. In my tests of the first AI phones Pixel 8 Pro And Galaxy S24 UltraI called these features silly or creepy, but then I dug deeper.
While writing TechRadar’s list of the best AI phones, I thoroughly tested the latest AI features. I left out the weird and redundant features and focused on the useful stuff, and it turns out that smartphone AI really is useful.
You don’t have to wait for Apple Intelligence, the next Snapdragon chips, or new big language models. AI makes today’s phones better, and for the AI tools I actually use, the Galaxy S24 is one of the best phones you can buy.
There are currently five or six very useful AI tools on smartphones – including AI camera enhancements, AI generative photo editing, AI generative writing, AI voice assistants, AI language translation, and general AI interface improvements and suggestions.
The first feature we looked at as AI on a smartphone was the “magic” photo editing in Google Photos. Photo editing tools are the most common AI feature on smartphones, and even phone makers that eschew AI, like OnePlus, offer some form of AI photo editing.
There are also AI tools that assist the camera, and Samsung has been using AI for scene optimization in its camera app for some time. The amazing AI moon photos you can take with the Galaxy S24 Ultra owe their perfect exposure and color settings to AI recognizing your subject and adjusting accordingly.
Even though the cheaper Galaxy S24 doesn’t have the same zoom lens as the Galaxy S24 Ultra, it still has AI helping the camera, and smart shooting modes make Samsung cameras even more fun to use. Photos tend to look better when I use a Galaxy phone, especially food photos and pictures from a long distance.
Generative writing is much newer than photo AI tools, but AI can rewrite your text in a new style. You can ask Samsung’s Galaxy AI to rewrite an email and you’ll get options in a formal tone, a casual style, or full of emojis.
The Google Pixel 8 can do the same, but Samsung’s Galaxy S24 is much better at rewriting messages. The Pixel often composed messages that I found embarrassing, but Samsung’s AI was useful enough that I used its suggestions in my own personal messages to avoid sounding curt or when I was annoying my teenager.
Samsung becomes the leading provider of AI technologies for smartphones
Samsung’s lead so far is significant. AI tools, especially large language models, seem to be evolving exponentially. If Samsung already has a lead now, it may be able to extend it even further as its AI models evolve with Galaxy AI.
One feature you probably think needs more AI is Samsung’s voice assistant, Bixby. Except when I tested it Bixby vs Siri and Google’s GeminiBixby was already by far the most effective voice assistant. Samsung calls Bixby “AI,” but it was invented before today’s advances in large-scale voice models. Still, it’s way ahead of the competition and there’s plenty of technological room for improvement.
So Samsung has the best voice assistant, the best AI writing tools, and the best AI camera enhancements. We’re still testing different AI voice translators for smartphones to find the best one, but Samsung representatives tell us that Galaxy AI can translate between 16 different languages. Google’s Pixel Live Translate can only do about a dozen.
Apple has ceded leadership in AI to Samsung for the time being…
Samsung’s Galaxy AI features are not only available on the latest Galaxy S24 family. You can also use Live Translate if you have a GalaxyS23 or a Galaxy S22. Most of the new AI features can be used with the foldable Galaxy Z phones from 2023 and 2022, as well as the Galaxy Tab S8 and Galaxy Tab S9 Tablets from the last two years.
That’s an incredible level of support, especially compared to the competition.
That’s where Samsung really changed my mind. I would rather say Apple changed my mind when it announced Apple Intelligence and explained that the new features are only for the iPhone 15 Pro and better.
If you buy a brand new iPhone 15 today—Apple’s latest iPhone model—the new Apple Intelligence features, as far as we know, will not work on that device.
Are the tides finally turning? Samsung already offers seven years of major OS updates for its latest phones. Apple only offers five years, and unless you’ve spent at least $999 / £949 / AU$1,849 on an iPhone 15 Pro, you’re not getting the REALLY cool stuff.
The stuff everyone’s talking about. The stuff that dominated the news from Apple’s WWDC 2024, Google I/O 2024, and the party Samsung is throwing for developers in 2024.
If you’re buying a new phone today and are interested in AI features, I wouldn’t recommend buying an iPhone 15 or any older iPhone model that Apple still sells. Buy a Galaxy S24 instead.