Samsung phones are better value for money than ever in 2024 thanks to the introduction of much longer software support. If you have a Galaxy in your pocket, gone are the days when your Android phone would only get a year or two of free updates before being forgotten about – Samsung now offers a whopping seven years of updates on its latest and greatest smartphones.
The newest trend in mobile is AI, and Samsung’s recent Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Z Flip 6 introduced clever new tools such as an interpreter mode that can perform live language translation, or Chat Assist, which can help you draft anything from emails to Instagram posts, even letting you pick tone of voice.
Samsung has announced that lucky owners of the Galaxy S24 series, S23 series, S23 FE, Z Fold 5, Z Flip 5 phones and Tab S9 series of tablets will be getting these new AI goodies thanks to a new free software update, which is rolling out over the course of September worldwide.
If you have one of these devices, check your phone now to see if you have One UI 6.1.1 waiting to download. It’ll also add features such as Note Assist that can summarise long note text, as well as transcribe audio voice recordings. These phones and tablets are also getting the much-talked about Sketch to Image that came out with the Z Fold 6 and Z Flip 6, where you can sketch a rough drawing of an object or animal in an existing photo and AI will add it.
So if you think you really need a parrot on your shoulder in that group photo, Samsung will let you do it. It’s a bit of fun that works surprisingly well.
The older Samsung devices listed will also all be updated to have Google’s excellent Circle to Search, where you hold down the home button or bar at any time while using your phone and Google scans what’s on your screen – you then draw a circle around an image and it performs a quick Google search. It’s great for finding out about a product or place you see online, or in old photos.
Finally, those Galaxy phones and tablets will gain Portrait Studio for creating cartoon- and art-like renders of people from photos, and Instant Slo-mo that can use AI to add frames to a video and create a slow motion version of it that looks smooth.
UK owners of any Galaxy S24 phone can get this free update from 9th September, while those with any S23 series, S23 FE, Z Fold 5, Z Flip 5 or Tab S9 series can expect to see it hit their gadgets in the coming weeks.
