Samsung releases two big features for millions of Galaxy phones coming next month

Owners of older Samsung models can look forward to a new update in the coming weeks - and it's bringing a tonne of AI features.

With Galaxy AI features set to arrive on the Galaxy S22 series soon, the South Korean tech giant is rolling out the AI-packed One UI 6.1 update to its older devices as well.

Owners of the Samsung models released in 2022, including the Galaxy S22, will see the upgrades in "early May," according to a new post on Samsung’s Korean community forum.

Additionally, across the 2021 line-up, owners of the Galaxy S21, Galaxy S21 Plus, Galaxy S21 Ultra, Galaxy Z Flip 3 and Galaxy Z Fold 3 will also receive the update.

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Samsung Mobile boss TM Roh has teased this update for “previous models” following its debut rollout on Galaxy S24 and Galaxy S23 devices.

The AI suite will include features such as Live Translate, Circle to Search, Note Assist and generative image editing, Chat Assist, Interpreter and AI-generated wallpapers.

However, the availability of AI features will vary depending on the year of your model, mostly whether it was released in 2021 or 2022.

For example, Samsung’s 2022 flagships, including the Galaxy S22 series, Galaxy Z Fold 4, Galaxy Z Flip 4 and Galaxy Tab S8 series – will receive all Galaxy AI features minus Instant Slow-Mo.

Meanwhile, the 2021 flagships will only be updated with two AI features: Circle to Search and Magic Rewrite.

If you're wondering why, it all comes down to the device's compatibility. Instant Slo-Mo requires the most up-to-date software and so will only be available on Galaxy S24 and Galaxy S23 devices.

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As per a previous Samsung community forum post, Instant Slow-Mo requires 16.6 milliseconds of processing time for smooth real-time video playback, which is why it's not feasible on older devices like the Galaxy S22.

“For now, we’re limiting Galaxy AI to last-gen devices,” Samsung executive Patrick Chomet announced at Galaxy Unpacked 2024.

Samsung has long expressed its intention to extend core AI capabilities across as many of its Galaxy devices as possible, provided the software allows as such.

According to TM Roh, the mobile company is actively assessing which of its older tablets and handsets are capable of running the latest AI technology.

As for the possibility of extending Galaxy AI features to even older models like the Galaxy S20, it seems unlikely given the minimum software requirements.