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Samsung has spread its Galaxy AI tech to several older phones after it debuted on the Galaxy S24, but one line of devices has been left out so far: the A-series.
In a surprise move, that is now changing. Samsung has announced that Circle To Search, which has been front and center in almost all Galaxy S24 marketing, will make its way to the Galaxy A55, A54, A35 and A34. The Galaxy Tab S9 FE and Tab S9 FE+ will also be updated.
This is a major addition to those mid-range handsets. After it was confirmed that A-series phones had no AI tools despite being updated to One UI 6.1, it was fair to assume that the cheaper Galaxy devices would never see that technology.
At the time I asked Samsung why some phones hadn’t received the AI suite update, and it intimated compatibility was an issue while keeping the door open. I theorized in that story that there’s no reason why Circle to Search shouldn’t make it to Samsung’s budget phones if the decision is based on performance.
The A55’s Exynos 1480 chipset, for example, is newer than the base Galaxy S21’s Exynos 2100 processor (which runs Circle to Search), but it’s not wildly different in CPU performance, and it’s not far behind the processor found in the Galaxy S22. The Galaxy S22, however, can run almost all Galaxy AI tools.
Circle to Search is a rehashed version of Google Lens, which lets users do a Google search by drawing a circle around images. The feature has expanded its functionality by adding full-page text translations, QR code scanning, and a homework help component that creates a step-by-step guide for solving math problems (without actually solving it).
Google and Samsung are expanding the tool’s functionality to incorporate as many different AI tasks as possible. This makes sense considering it’s likely one of the first ways many people will interact with AI on their phones—through search.
Adding Circle to Search to the 2024 and 2023 A-series phones also means it will be one of the most widely distributed AI features on Android. Because of this, both companies will likely expand the tool’s abilities as it seeks to vacuum up more people into their AI ecosystems.
The question now is, what other AI features will make it to these phones? Some, like Instant Slow Mo, are too demanding for older or cheaper handsets. But if the Galaxy S22 can run Live Translate, Chat Assist and others, perhaps the A-series can too.
We will have to see what Samsung plans for the entire lineup in the coming months. But if it wants to charge for Galaxy AI next year, having it available on as many phones as possible makes good business sense.
