Earlier this year, Samsung held an event in San Francisco where it introduced its new family of high-end mobile phones, the Samsung Galaxy S24. I’ve since tested the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra to see if all those AI features were really useful, or if they were things that, once you tried them a few times, wouldn’t be useful anymore. . Since then, and with the exception of the weeks when I had to analyze another model, it is the device that I use every day, that I take on trips, etc.
In Europe, the use of services like ChatGPT has exploded, both among workers and students, and even among users who simply use AI to plan trips, schedules, etc. That’s why he have various artificial intelligence functions on your mobileon a device that we already have in our hands almost all the time, could mean a change.
It’s true that Not all functions of the S24 series are equally useful to all users. Some will value those related to images, others those used in simultaneous translation services and still others those that help with visual searches.
Samsung and AI
Samsung was the first of the major companies in the equip your smartphones with advanced artificial intelligence functions. Beyond those that had been applied to cameras or photo editing applications, Samsung had made an important commitment to stand out from its competitors.
The three Samsung models, the S24, the S24 Plus and the S24 Ultra functions built into the system that are not limited to photography. There were a few designed for the work section, such as translating text and audio, a recorder that became a multi-tool, or a very useful on-screen search system. SPen could also be used to convert handwritten text to editable text.
And the news in the the picture sections weren’t uncommon either. For starters, the S24 series can generate wallpapers using a short text description, making each design unique. On the other hand, the gallery application has been enriched with generative filling functions, allowing you to edit photos without loss of quality, being able to generate borders depending on the image. Of course, objects could be deleted or even moved and resized, which until recently was only possible in complex editing programs on desktop and laptop computers.
The change was so significant that it almost overshadowed the hardware innovations presented by Samsung. This movement has not been, at least for the moment, followed by other companies. It is possible that at the end of this year Apple or Google will announce new features on their iPhone and Pixelbut for the moment, the S24s remain the cell phones best prepared to use artificial intelligence.
4-star functions
· Circle to search. The first of the functions to highlight, because it is perhaps the most important, is Circle To Search. It is a novelty presented in these mobile phones but which is gradually reaching other devices from other brands, such as the Pixel.
It is very convenient to want to know something about an image, or a known character, and by simply holding down the lower gesture bar, the system will perform a search for you. Of course, this should improve further in people search, as it only gives results for extremely famous people, not those who appear on Google.
· Crop elements in images. Another function that I use a lot, but not daily, is to cut out an element of an image to share it as if it were a sticker. This is something that can be done very easily by simply opening an image with the Samsung Gallery app and holding down the item to be cropped.
The system will detect the edges and give you the option to copy it, share it or save it as a sticker. Cropping isn’t always perfect but the vast majority of the time, especially with elements separated from the background, is very useful.
[TM Roh, presidente de Samsung Mobile: “La IA será la tecnología más importante en 10 años, y el móvil es clave”]
· Slow motion in videos. The S24 series allows you to view any video recorded with your mobile phone in slow motion, without having to use this form of recording first. This allows you to watch any video, even downloaded from the Internet, very slowly. Personally, I use them with videos of my nephews playing sports, or jumping, especially to show them to them, since they are not used to seeing themselves like that.
· Change wallpaper. The last of the functions that I use about once a week is to change the wallpaper. I used to use certain apps, but now I just tell the system to create a background specifically for my phone, based on the settings that Galaxy AI allows you to change.
There are other things I use, but not constantly. A good example is the voice recorder, which I use when traveling for interviews, so that I can then transcribe the text and summarize it, or the real-time translator. The fact is that these trips take place several times a year, but not every month. Another function is to correct an image using generative fill. I almost always edit photos on my computer, so it’s rare that I need to use this feature on my mobile.