It’s only been a couple of weeks, but AI is absolutely the big buzzword of 2024, and Samsung’s Galaxy S24 series is betting big on the tech. And, somewhat shockingly, the Galaxy AI suite is really quite good, but the problem I’m facing so far is that the Samsung apps they’re tied to are not ones I want to use.
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On the Galaxy S24, S24+, and Galaxy S24 Ultra, Samsung has a suite of a bunch of AI features. Some work on-device while others are powered by Google’s Gemini models in the cloud, but the whole suite is baked throughout Samsung’s experience. Chat Assist lives in Samsung Keyboard, Transcript Assist is in Samsung’s Voice Recorder apps, and so on.
Here are all of Samsung’s new Galaxy AI features [Gallery]
I’ve been testing the Galaxy S24 Ultra for the past few days, and I’m actually rather happy with Samsung’s work on these AI features. That said, I’d probably like them all a whole lot more if they weren’t baked into apps that I don’t want to use.
My main example here comes with Samsung’s Chat Assist features. These features can translate messages in any messaging app, help you better phrase your messages, or help out with spelling and grammar. To Samsung’s credit, it works really well! But do you know what doesn’t work very well? Samsung Keyboard! Autocorrect is rough as it constantly ignores when I undo a “correction,” and it’s lacking on simple features I’ve come to rely on after years on Gboard, like GIF insertion. I’m forcing myself to use Samsung Keyboard to try out these AI features but, I really don’t want to. And the voice-to-text is impressively bad. Google’s voice-to-text on Pixel phones pretty much puts everything else to shame, but I’ve had some of the worst, least understandable typos this week while forcing myself to use Samsung’s keyboard.
Another place I’m finding myself struggling to use Samsung’s apps is the Gallery app.
There’s a lot of really cool AI going on in Gallery, but since that app doesn’t hold all of the photos I take on my other devices like Google Photos does, I don’t really find myself wanting to use it. Samsung Gallery syncs with OneDrive, which is good, but given Samsung’s really tight partnership with Google, it’s honestly a little disappointing that I can’t do the same with Google Photos (though I’m sure Google is partially to blame here).
Similarly, I would love to start using Samsung Notes as its AI summaries seem useful, but because it’s not available on non-Galaxy devices, that’s simply not going to happen.
Samsung’s apps aren’t necessarily bad, but they’re not for me. These AI features are really good, but they don’t make the apps they’re attached to any drastically better and, as a result, I think Samsung is going to be fighting a battle to change user habits for these features. That’ll be an especially tough sell when these features are paid in the future too.
What do you think? Do you use Samsung apps? Let’s discuss!
The Samsung Galaxy S24 series is available for pre-order now, starting at $799. Pre-orders come with doubled storage, boosted trade-ins up to $750, and bonus credit up to $150.
Galaxy S24 Ultra at Samsung.com
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Top comment by Dan Gilley
Liked by 11 people
I switched to Samsung after I was incredibly disappointed with the Pixel 6 line. I was also very high on foldables and wanted a Fold 4. I switched literally every app I possibly could from Samsung’s version to Google’s. I have switched since back to Pixel with the Pixel Fold and Pixel 8. When I saw Samsung’s event, I have to say that I was intrigued- especially by Circle to Search. But once I heard that feature is coming to the Pixel 8 series, and that the other AI features are tied exclusively into Samsung apps, there’s zero chance I’m switching back to Samsung.
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