When the Samsung Galaxy S24 series launched last year, there was one thing that made it stand out beyond any other phone in the industry (yes, even the Pixels), and that was Galaxy AI. It was built with AI in mind and it brought a whole bunch of pretty impressive applications for the technology.
It’s a full year later, and the Galaxy S25 family is here. Almost nothing changes on the hardware front, so the software has no choice but to make up for it. With everything that the South Korean tech giant has brought to the fore, for some, the new tricks might be enough to make up that deficit.
The Software Steals the Show with the Samsung Galaxy S25 Lineup
Ever since the generative AI flair of ChatGPT became mainstream, every major tech company has aimed to stick its fingers in that pie. For some, it is done with zero precision and purpose, and for others, it is performed with the grace of a synchronized swimmer. For the most part, Galaxy AI leans towards the latter.
This year marks a full year around the sun for Galaxy AI and it is the focus of the Galaxy S25 devices. Let’s take a look at the new features and see how close to its “true AI companion” goal the manufacturer was.
The Now Bar and the Now Brief
One of the biggest changes that comes with One UI 7 is the Now Bar. There’s definitely some Dynamic Island inspiration in there, but it’s a lot more uniquely executed than other attempts. The Now Bar on the lock screen can give you information on compatible actions that are currently running, like music that’s playing or a stopwatch that’s running.
And with the Now Brief, you can see relevant suggestions and information show up in the Now Bar throughout your day. For instance, do you have an event in a few hours? You’ll never forget because Now Brief will keep you… briefed.
Exclusive Google Gemini Features
Google Gemini is great, especially because of its tight integration with the Android operating system. However, it can be even better, and with the exclusive upgrades that it has brought to the S25 series (just like that Circle to Search exclusivity back then), it has become even better. Plus, you get the option for six months of Gemini Advanced for free.
Gemini now has Screen Share, which allows it to provide responses based on exactly what is on your screen at the time. Even cooler, is Live Video, which lets you use your camera to show Gemini something in front of you. The launch event used the example of someone kneading dough and asking Gemini for advice. Plus, all it takes is holding down the power button to activate Gemini.
On top of that, Gemini Live now goes fully multimodal, allowing you to discuss images, files, and even YouTube videos with it. You also get new Gemini extensions for Samsung apps like Calendar, Clock, Reminder, and Notes.
One UI 7 Brings Multimodal AI Agents That Understand You So Much Better
We’ve been waiting for One UI 7 for ages, and now, it is finally here and official. There’s been a lot of talk about “natural language understanding”, which is expected to make your Galaxy AI understand text, speech, images, and videos in a way that is a lot more similar to a human. That means you’ll be able to type and talk to your S25 more naturally, and it will still understand what you’re saying.
The S25 family focuses more on agentic AI, which is intended to more seamlessly perform actions across different apps. For instance, you can tell your device to search for all of your favorite sports team’s games for the season and add them to your calendar—that involves two actions: searching the web and adding events to your camera. That one command will get it done in one fell swoop.
LOG Video Recording and 10-Bit HDR Come to Your Videos
For content creators with any of the Galaxy S25 devices, things are getting even better. First off, 10-bit HDR becomes the default for your recorded videos, bringing colors that are four times richer than 8-bit.
On top of that, the devices introduce LOG video recording, which you can think of as a sort of equivalent to RAW for photos. It will allow for much more expressive color grading in the post-production phase.
Audio Eraser Might Be Shockingly Good
Still on videos, Samsung has introduced the new Audio Eraser feature. By using Galaxy AI to analyze the videos that you’ve shot, it’ll be able to determine what unwanted background sounds are wind, nature, crowds, and so on. It will make it possible to tone down each of these categories of sounds individually, and based on the demonstration at the launch event, it seemed pretty solid.
The S25 Series Can Summarize Your Phone Calls
If you’re the kind of person who can never remember every important point that was touched during a long phone call with someone, then you’re a person like me. Don’t worry though, as the power of Galaxy AI will allow your S25 to transcribe and summarize your phone calls, making it possible to easily reference all that was said.
The Personal Data Engine Ensures On-Device Data Analysis
With as much good as AI can do, there’s surely a lot of bad that it can be party to if care isn’t taken. For tougher AI processing jobs, data has to be sent to the cloud and processed there, but that brings a lot of concern regarding the privacy of your data, especially when it is more personal.
Thankfully, the Galaxy S25 series comes with its Personal Data Engine, which makes sure that all your data is processed on-device. It also allows for a deeper understanding of your preferences and usage patterns, for more tailored responses.
