Free Samsung Galaxy AI update coming to older phones
Old dogs, new tricks
If you’re rocking a slightly older Samsung device and are a bit miffed that the free Samsung Galaxy AI update passed you by, there’s some good news. Samsung has announced that more of its older generation devices will receive a One UI 6.1 update in early May, complete with Galaxy AI features to breathe new life into your trusty handset and/or tablet.
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According to a Samsung community post (via Android Central), Samsung is getting ready to roll the One UI 6.1 update out to select devices launched between 2021 and 2022. The devices in question are the Galaxy S22, Flip 4, Fold 4, Tab S8, Galaxy S21, Flip 3, and Fold 3.
The last three devices above will only be graced with two new AI features due to hardware limitations — namely, Circle to Search, and Chat Assist. Circle to Search is a new Google AI feature which lets users circle on-screen objects to instantly search for them without leaving the app, while Samsung’s Chat Assist offers real-time translation for incoming and outgoing messages. The rest of the devices will have all of Samsung’s new AI features available to them, bar Instant Slow-mo —an AI-powered feature that generates new frames based on the on-screen content to produce a rather convincing slow-motion video. The omission is again likely due to hardware limitations.
There’s no specific release date for the free Samsung update bar the “early May” clue, but we could see the update roll out alongside Samsung’s regular monthly security patch. Either way, we’re glad to see new features making their way to older handsets (something that Google has also been doing with its Pixel updates), and it’s a trend we hope will inspire other manufacturers to follow suit. Old dogs, new tricks, and all that.
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Esat Dedezade
Contributor 
